National Museum of the Pacific War - 118 Matching Results

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Oral History Interview with Robert Hodenson, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Hodenson. Hodenson joined the Navy around May of 1940. He completed Fire Control School. He served aboard the USS Whitney (AD-4) as Fire Controlman. Their job was to tend destroyers, either at sea, in port or in dry dock within Pearl Harbor. He was in Pearl Harbor during the attack in December of 1941 and describes what he witnessed and his actions through that fateful day. The day after the attack, Hodenson recalls his cr… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Hodenson, Robert

Oral History Interview with Arthur Herriford, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Arthur Herriford. Herriford joined the Navy in April of 1940. In July of 1940 he was assigned to the USS Detroit (CL-8). They traveled to Hilo, Hawaii. He completed Fire Control School and worked as a striker for the Fire Control gang. He later became a rangefinder Operator. He describes both of these positions, and life aboard the ship in general. The Detroit was moored at her base with the USS Raleigh (CL-7) and the USS Utah (B… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Herriford, Arthur

Oral History Interview with Joe Fritcher, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joe Fritcher. Fritcher joined the Navy in 1940 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS California (BB-44) where he operated the catapult, launching seaplanes. Although he survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, his family received notice that both he and his brother were killed in action; his family held a memorial service, and Fritcher later married one of the musicians who perform… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Fritcher, Joe

Oral History Interview with Hilliard Elliott, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hilliard Elliott. Elliott joined the Navy in March 1940 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to the USS Lexington (CV-2) at Pearl Harbor as part of the landing crew. On 7 December 1941 he fought fires in a seaplane hangar and manned a gun late into the night in anticipation of a Japanese invasion. He recalls that American planes were shot down by friendly fire later that evening, before … more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Elliott, Hilliard

Oral History Interview with Herbert Elfring, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Herbert Elfring. Elfring was with the California National Guard, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft), when it was federalized in September 1940. He was sent to Honolulu and trained with a searchlight battery. Elfring became leader of the radar squad, directing antiaircraft searchlights. On 7 December 1941 he was in his office when a string of bullets struck the ground 15 feet from where he stood. His radar equipme… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Elfring, Herbert

Oral History Interview with William Crawmer, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Crawmer. Crawmer joined the Marine Corps in 1939. He was assigned to the 4th Defense Battalion, trained as a .50 and .30 caliber machine gunner. In September of 1941, they transferred to the Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor. Crawmer was stationed on the island when the Japanese attacked. Shortly after the attack, he was transferred to Johnston Island. In mid-1944, he joined an aviation group in New Hebrides, repairing military a… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Crawmer, William

Oral History Interview with Bernard Comito, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernard Comito. Comito joined the Navy in September 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was sent to Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station as a seaman. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he fired a Lewis gun, despite having only learned to shoot a carbine. After the bombing, he and a group of soldiers stood watch until the following morning, expecting to be invaded. He recalls that American planes were … more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Comito, Bernard

Oral History Interview with Robert Brunk, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Brunk. In November 1940, 17-year-old Brunk joined the Navy. Upon finishing hospital corps school, he was assigned to the USS Curtiss (AV-4), a seaplane tender at Pearl Harbor. While on liberty ashore on the morning of 7 December, he received orders to report to his station. As he passed Battleship Row, he gaped at the extensive damage to other ships and soon found the Curtiss listing. He climbed aboard and fulfilled h… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Brunk, Robert

Oral History Interview with Joedy Adams, December 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Joedy Adams. The daughter of Naval aviator Joseph Cronin, 12-year-old Adams lived on Kaneohe Naval Air Station in 1941. On 7 December 1941, the drone of Japanese planes shook her family home. When her father left and reported to base, Adams and her mother fled to Honolulu. Their Japanese maid had gone missing earlier that morning; she was later found to be a spy. While Adams was en route to Honolulu, she saw a Japanese plane… more
Date: December 5, 2008
Creator: Adams, Joedy

Oral History Interview with Andy Visnovsky, September 5, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Andy Visnovsky. Visnovsky enlisted in the Marine Corps and upon completion of emergency equipment school was assigned to the 111th Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF-111) as a mechanic. As a ground crewman, he served in the Pacific from September 1944 through December 1945. On Roi-Namur, Visnovsky developed coral poisoning, a condition none of the medics in his unit had ever encountered. On the way to Okinawa, he weathered a typho… more
Date: September 5, 2008
Creator: Visnovsky, Andy

Oral History Interview with Randy Watson, December 5, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Randy Watson. Watson joined the Army Air Corps in 1939. He was assigned to Puerto Rico for two years and felt fortunate to have narrowly missed being sent to the Philippines. While in Puerto Rico, he was assigned to Air Material Command, working with supplies. Afterward, he attended flight school and was assigned to India as a C-46 pilot. There he flew over the Hump to deliver supplies into China. During Watson’s first fligh… more
Date: December 5, 2007
Creator: Watson, Randy

Oral History Interview with Thomas E. DuPree, June 5, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas DuPree. DuPree joined the Navy in March 1941 (accepted as a naval cadet), went to Pensacola in May 1942, went to fighter school in Miami (finishing there on December 6, 1941) and then reported to the USS Wasp (CV-7) in Norfolk, Virginia. DuPree tells the story (while he was on the Wasp) of Admiral Wilcox falling off the admiral's bridge on the USS Washington during a North Atlantic gale; he was never found. After a co… more
Date: June 5, 2007
Creator: DuPree, Thomas E.

Oral History Interview with Rudolph Fanska, July 5, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Rudolph Fanska. Fanska was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1943. He mentions his first landing at Cape Gloucester. Fanska then took part in the landing at Peleliu and describes how he was wounded and the treatment he received on a hospital ship. He also served at Okinawa and earned a Silver Star. Fanska was wounded in the leg and describes lengthy recovery. He was discharged in 1946.
Date: July 5, 2007
Creator: Fanska, Rudolph

Oral History Interview with Jack Bailey, July 5, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Bailey. Bailey joined the Texas National Guard when he was 14 years old, lying about his age. In November 1939, his unit was mobilized and he left for the Philippines with the 36th Division. Bailey shipped overseas and his group was diverted to Australia after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They boarded a Dutch troop ship and headed for Java. On Java, outnumbered and out of ammunition, his unit surrendered to the Japanese … more
Date: July 5, 2007
Creator: Bailey, Jack

Oral History Interview with Arthur Schrieber, March 5, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Schrieber. Schrieber joined the Navy after 7 December 1941. He joined the crew of USS Indianapolis (CA-35). Schrieber worked in the engine room and describes how he studied each piece of equipment and eventually became a machinist mate first class. He broadly covers the actions that his ship participated in from the Aleutians through Saipan.
Date: March 5, 2007
Creator: Schrieber, Arthur

Oral History Interview with Claude Olds, September 5, 2006

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Claude Olds. Olds joined the Navy in February of 1943. He served as Motor Machinist 2nd Class aboard the LCI-498 during the landings on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944. Olds worked as a mechanic tending to landing craft. In late 1944 through mid-1945 he served aboard USS LSM-134, traveling to Cebu, Leyte, Subic and transporting troops to Lingayen Gulf and Ie Jima. They delivered supplies from the Philippines to Okinawa. He was dischar… more
Date: September 5, 2006
Creator: Olds, Claude

Oral History Interview with Albert Dimminger, July 5, 2006

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Dimminger. Dimminger worked for Hammond Aircraft and Consolidated in 1939, building aircraft. He joined the Navy in March of 1942. Beginning in mid-June Dimminger served as Aviation Metalsmith Third Class aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8). From August through October they operated around the Solomon Islands. On 26 October, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the ship was struck and sank by a dive bomber and torpedo pla… more
Date: July 5, 2006
Creator: Dimminger, Albert

Oral History Interview with William Belt, December 5, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Belt. Belt joined the Navy after earning a master's degree and went to midshipman' school. He earned a commission and reported aboard USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)in May 1943. Belt was aboard when the Tuscaloosa participated in the invasion of France and was at Iwo Jima. He also recalls being off Okinawa. Belt went aboard HMS Duke of York and met Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser one day. He also attended the Japanese Language Schoo… more
Date: December 5, 2005
Creator: Belt, William T.

Oral History Interview with Marie Speer, April 5, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Marie Speer. Speer was born 9 May 1921 in Tappan, New York. After graduating from high school in 1938 she worked at various jobs and attended classes at New York University. She tells of meeting her first husband Edward Hawley Jordan at the college and getting married in May 1942. Her husband was drafted in January 1944 and took his basic training at Fort McGraw, Alabama. In September 1944 he joined the 175th Regiment, 29th … more
Date: April 5, 2005
Creator: Speer, Marie

Oral History Interview with Ben McDonald, May 5, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben McDonald. McDonald entered the University of Texas Navy ROTC program in July, 1943 and graduated and was commissioned in January, 1945. He then joined USS Wichita (CA-45) as a gunnery officer in time for the Okinawa invasion. McDonald discusses kamikazes, suicide swimmers, and going ashore on Okinawa to serve as a fire control forward observer for his ship. When the war ended, the Wichita proceeded to Nagasaki Bay. McDon… more
Date: May 5, 2005
Creator: McDonald, Ben F.

Oral History Interview with John Holt, August 5, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Holt. Holt was drafted into the Army in May 1944 and had basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After basic training, Holt was assigned as an infantryman in the 16th Armored infantry Battalion, 13th Armored Division. He describes his experiences in France and Germany being under sniper fire and moving forward to the Ruhr Valley. Holt returned to the US with his unit in June, 1945, as they were slated to invade Japan. He was … more
Date: August 5, 2005
Creator: Holt, John H.

Oral History Interview with Johnnie Singleton, January 5, 2005

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Johnnie Singleton. Singleton entered the Navy at 16 in June 1941 and trained at Corpus Christi. Singleton is African American and served as a mess attendant in a segregated Navy. He went aboard the USS Maryland (BB-46) at Pearl Harbor in September 1941. On December 7, 1941, Singleton was in the officers' galley when the Japanese struck. He went to his battle station in an ammunition handling room below deck. Next, Singleton … more
Date: January 5, 2005
Creator: Singleton, Johnnie

Oral History Interview with Edwin Koehler, September 5, 2003

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edwin Koehler. Koehler joined the Army in December of 1943. He completed basic training at Camp Fannin in Texas. He continued there through mid-1944 training new recruits. In February of 1945 he joined the 4th Infantry Division in Germany and fought against the German SS. He provides details of his combat experiences. Koehler continued serving in Germany after the war ended. He returned to the states in late 1945. He was discharg… more
Date: September 5, 2003
Creator: Koehler, Edwin

Oral History Interview with Harold Tetlie, April 5, 2004

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harold Tetlie. Tetlie joined the Army in February of 1945. He served with the 869th Ordnance Company as a radio operator aboard an M10 tank destroyer. He deployed to the Philippine Islands in August of 1945 aboard the USS President Jackson (APA-18). He worked as a typist at a base in San Fernando, La Union in the Philippines through September of 1946. Tetlie was discharged in December.
Date: April 5, 2004
Creator: Tetlie, Harold
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