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1941: Texas Goes to War
This book is a collection of essays discussing the role of Texans in World War II. It examines both the Texas soldiers fighting in the European and Pacific theaters as well as the Texans on the Homefront. The essays describe both the military and social aspects of the war. Index starts on page 241.
Oral History Interview with Admiral Donald M. Showers, March 13, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Admiral Donald M. Showers, Navy veteran, concerning his experiences as a naval officer assigned to the Combat Intelligence Unit, Pearl Harbor, during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Admiral J. Lloyd Abbot, Jr., March 14, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Admiral J. Lloyd Abbot, Jr., a Navy veteran, comments about his service in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Abbot discusses the U. S. Naval Academy, 1935-39; assignment to USS Enterprise, 1939; assignment to USS Gilmer, 1939-41; flight training at Pensacola, 1941; assignment to Advanced Carrier Training Group (Pacific), 1941-42; assignment to VF-6 (Fighting 6) aboard the USS Enterprise, 1942; assignment to VS-1D-14 in the South Pacific, 1942-43; commanding officer of VS-66, Wallis Island, 1943; antisubmarine patrols out of Wallis Island; assignment to Nanumea, 1943; assignment to Tarawa, 1943-44, with an SBD squadron; assignment to the Chief of Naval Air Training, Pensacola, 1944-46, as engineering officer; and his postwar naval and civilian career.
Oral History Interview with Alfred Czerner, January 16, 1990
Interview with Alfred Czerner, a Army WWII veteran and German-Jewish expatriate from Frankfurt-am-Main. Czerner discusses growing up in the crises of the Weimar Republic, politics at the time, his parents' background, the Jewish community in Frankfurt and Jewish identity, his father's unemployment after the rise of the Nazis, fleeing Germany and moving to Brooklyn in 1938, news of concentration camps, work in New York, attending school and perfecting his English, becoming an Army intelligence officer, service at Camp Ritchie with Henry Kissinger and meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, transfer to Europe and service with the 78th Infantry Division, witnessing Buchwenwald, service in Berlin postwar and operations carried out there, meeting and marrying his wife, and reflections on the Holocaust.
Oral History Interview with Allen Stafford, March 12, 1999
Interview with Allen Stafford, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Kiowa County, Oklahoma, who served with the 124th Cavalry Regiment. Stafford discusses his early life, working in Texas oil fields, enlisting and training, deployment to the China-Burma-India Theater and reorganization as an infantry unit, combat operations with the Japanese around the Burma Road, and returning to the United States.
Oral History Interview with Alvin Morgan, February 17, 1997
Interview with Alvin Morgan, U.S. Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard) and a member of the "Lost Battalion," concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and his capture, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944-1945), American air raids, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Anne Pearsall Karr, June 22, 1997
Transcript of an interview with Anne Pearsall Karr from Elgin, Illinois, concerning her experiences on the home front during World War II. Karr discusses her youth in Elgin, Illinois; effects of Depression on Pearsall family; college at Iowa State; courtship with Kenneth Karr, her future husband; reaction to Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor; changes on Iowa State campus after American entry into World War II; wartime rationing and Victory Gardens; effects on Pearsall family having a son and daughter in military service; her marriage to Kenneth Karr, early 1944; housing shortage in Corpus Christi, Texas, during World War II; birth of their daughter; wartime entertainment; experiences as a military wife; attitudes toward the Japanese; husband's training as a naval air cadet at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. Appendix includes various photographs [5] pages.
Oral History Interview with Burton S. Pearsall, April 20 and 21, 1997
Transcript of an interview with Burton S. Pearsall, a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his experiences as a dive-bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Appendix includes photos, newspaper articles, samples of flight log, and US Marine Corps certificate.
Oral History Interview with Caleb H. Canby, III, August 5, 1997
Transcript of an interview with Caleb H. Canby, III, a Marine Corps veteran (Scout-Bomber 243, 1st Marine Air Wing), concerning experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Canby discusses his family background and education; decision to join the Marine Corps, 1942; boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina; advanced training at Quantico, Virginia, 1943-44; assignment to Scout-Bomber Squadron 243 at Emirau, Solomon Islands, 1944-45; his work in the flight department processing pilots' flight logs; transfer to Mangaldan, Luzon, 1945; assignment to Mindanao in March, 1945; contraction of hepatitis and return to the U. S.
Oral History Interview with Captain Victor Delano, March 13, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Captain Victor Delano, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Delano discusses his first assignment to the battleship USS West Virginia and his experiences during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; assignment to the antiaircraft cruiser USS San Juan, 1942; naval battles around Guadalcanal; Battle of Savo Island; assignment to the destroyer USS Wedderburn, 1944; Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944; Pacific typhoons; Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations, 1945.
Oral History Interview with Charles H. Roberts, November 6, 1994
Interview with Charles H. Roberts, a Marines WWII veteran from Denton, Texas, who was present at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station, Oahu, on December 7th, 1941. Roberts discusses the different waves of attacking Japanese aircraft, returning fire, the immediate aftermath, reactions on Oahu and defensive measures, and casualties.
Oral History Interview with Charles W. Lindberg, February 19, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Charles W. Lindberg, a Marine Corps veteran (3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division), concerning experiences during the battle for Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945, in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Appendix includes a photocopy of a map of Iowa Jima and copies of multiple photographs of Mr. Lindberg with other Marines on and around Mt. Suribachi.
Oral History Interview with Cleon Stewart, March 18, 1993
Interview with Cleon Stewart, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Tulia, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (known as the "Lost Battalion"). Stewart discusses joining the National Guard, training and the Louisiana Maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific in November, 1941, diversion to Java after December 7th, Japanese air strikes and the invasion, the American surrender and initial internement by the Japanese, experiences in internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, transfer to Changi Camp, Singapore, and life in captivity there, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Colonel John. E. Olson, March 15, 1998
Interview with Colonel John E. Olson, a Army WWII veteran and POW from Leavenworth, Kansas. Olson discusses his family background, commissioning in the Army from West Point, assignment to the Philippines in 1939 as an infantry officer, the start of the war, withdrawal to Bataan and the ensuing battle and surrender, the Bataan Death March, internment at Cabanatuan, transfer to Osaka, experiences there in internment at a factory labor camp, liberation, organizing the evacuation of POWs, returning to the US, and his postwar career.
Oral History Interview with Commander Alex Vraciu, October 9, 1994
Interview with Cmdr. Alex Vraciu, a Navy WWII veteran and Navy Cross recipient from East Chicago, Indiana. Vraciu discusses his family and educational background, naval flight training, Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the F6F Hellcat, various combat operations throughout the Pacific, his actions at the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," being awarded the Navy Cross and time stateside, and returning to combat. In appendix is an autobiographical sketch by Vraciu, including a picture of him and his Hellcat with visible victory markings on the fuselage.
Oral History Interview with Dan C. Buzzo, February 11 and 16, 1998
Interview with Dan Buzzo, an Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard) and a member of the "Lost Battalion," concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. He discusses the fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma- Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Tamuan and Tamuang, Thailand, 1944; Nakhon Nayok, Thailand, 1944-45; and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Daniel Thomas, February 26, 1999
Transcript of an interview with Daniel Thomas, a Navy veteran (4th Marine Division), concerning his experiences while attached to the 4th Marine Division as a medic in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Thomas discusses his decision to join the Navy in 1943; Hospital Corps School, San Diego, 1943; assignment to the Fleet Marine Force; Field Medical School, 1944; assignment to the 4th Marine Division, 1944; Iwo Jima, February, 1945; detailed description of casualties and their treatment during the battle for Iwo Jima; and the postwar effects of his Iwo Jima experience.
Oral History Interview with Dave C. Sanford, February 25, 1999
Interview with Dave C. Sanford, a Army WWII veteran from Carter, South Dakota, who served as a mortarman in the 37th Infantry Division. Sanford discusses growing up, his experiences in the Great Depression, being drafted and training, the New Georgia, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Philippine campaigns, being wounded and discharged, and life afterwards.
Oral History Interview with David Braden, October 8, 1994
Interview with David Braden, an Army Air Force WWII veteran from Dallas, Texas. Braden served as a navigator/radar-bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress in the Pacific; he recounts being in ROTC at North Texas Agricultural College and signing up for the Air Corps Reserves, flight training, the B-29, his crewmates, assignment to Saipan, organization of a bombing mission, the jetstream, flak and fighters, being shot down, switching crews, targets, briefings, recreation, Japanese holdouts on Saipan, fighter escorts, returning stateside, and leaving the service. In appendix is a letter sent to Dr. Marcello by Braden containing some corrections for the interview.
Oral History Interview with David Thomas, April 28, 1990
Interview with David Thomas, a Marine WWII veteran from Takio, Missouri, who was at the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Thomas discusses joining the Marine Corps in 1940, assignment to Kaneohe Naval Air Station, life and work there, the attack on December 7th, the immediate aftermath, casualties and damage to Kaneohe, leaving the Marines to attempt becoming a naval aviator, and being drafted into the Army as a bomber navigator.
Oral History Interview with David W. Peake, Sr., October 9, 1994
Interview with Acting Sergeant David W. Peake, Sr., a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II as a member of the 5th Marine Division. Peake discusses Iwo Jima and his occupation duty in postwar Japan. Appendix includes a photocopy of a "Veteran's Questionnaire" from the Admiral Nimitz Museum and Historical Center, filled-out by David W. Peake, Sr. [3 pages]
Oral History Interview with Davis Porter Newton, October 12, 1996
Interview with Davis Porter Newton, Army WWII veteran of the Pacific Theater from Birmingham, Alabama. Newton discusses his family background, working during the Depression and his education, commissioning into the Army, assignment to the 346th Harbor Craft Company and deployment to Finschhafen, New Guinea, acting as defense counsel in a court martial, sea-transport operations around New Guinea and the Philippines, working with POWs, and investigating war crimes.
Oral History Interview with Donald W. Peters, August 6, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Donald W. Peters, Army veteran (C Company, 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion), concerning his experiences in the Italian Campaign and experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans in the European Theater during World War II. Peters discusses his entry into the Army and basic training, 1943; transit across the Atlantic to North Africa and then to Naples; assignment as a replacement to the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion; Monte Cassino; Anzio landing and being wounded by shrapnel when his ship sank; recuperation in Naples and return to his unit; murder of German POWs; Rome-Arno Campaign, 1944; invasion of southern France, 1944; transfer of the unit to the French Alps and his capture, 1944; initial incarceration in Torino (Turin); permanent POW camp at Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, Germany; POW life at Stalag VII-A; liberation; and postwar adjustments to civilian life.
Oral History Interview with E. B. Potter, October 8, 1994
Interview with E. B. "Ned" Potter, Navy WWII veteran from Norfolk, Virginia, who served in the intelligence section of the 14th Naval District. Potter discusses his education, teaching, commissioning into the Navy and training in communications, assignment to Oahu, codes and ciphers, interception, President Roosevelt's visit, WAVES, and leaving active duty at the end of the war and becoming a history professor. In appendix is a letter from Potter to Marcello with revisions to the interview.
Oral History Interview with E. Benjamin Dunn, November 16, 1999
Interview with E. Benjamin Dunn, a Army WWII veteran and POW from Gorham, Illinois, who was captured by the Japanese on Java with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Dunn discusses training in the Army, transfer to 2-131 and deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and being captured, experiences in internment in Batavia and later Changi Prison Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Edmund T. Thomassen, May 4, 1993
Transcript of an interview with Commander Edmund Thomassen, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences as a naval officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Thomassen discusses the New York State Merchant Marine Academy in 1941, his assignment to the USS Sheridan (APA 51), Tarawa landing, Marshall Island landings, Saipan landing, his assignment to Newport, Rhode Island, his assignment to the USS Dutchess for amphibious landings, and his Korean War experiences.
Oral History Interview with Elmer Wulf, August 17, 1998
Interview with Elmer Wulf, businessman and U.S. Army Air Forces WWII veteran (535th Squadron, 381st Bomb Group, 1st Air Division, 8th Air Force), about his experiences as a B-17 pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Appendix includes two photocopies from an unknown book and two photocopies giving information on the B-17.
Oral History Interview with Ernest Brown, October 2, 1996
Transcript of an interview with Ernest A. Brown, an Army Air Corps veteran, concerning his experiences at Bellows Field with the 72th Bomb Squadron at Bellows Field during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Includes appendix of various military documents.
Oral History Interview with Fiske Hanley, October 13, 1999
Transcript of an interview with Fiske Hanley, an aeronautical engineer and Army Air Forces veteran (398th Bomb Squadron, 504th Bomb Group, 313th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force), concerning his experiences during World War II, including as a flight engineer aboard B-29s in the Pacific Theater and as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese.
Oral History Interview with Frank Tremaine, March 18, 1995
Transcript of an interview with Frank Tremaine, a journalist and World War II news correspondent, concerning his experiences as a bureau manager in the Pacific Theater for the United Press during World War II. Tremaine discusses the Pearl Harbor attack, military censorship, CINCPAC and Admiral Chester Nimitz, Admiral William ("Bull") Halsey, General Douglas MacArthur, an account of the Japanese surrender and ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.
Oral History Interview with Frederick H. Kline, February 10, 1998
Transcript of an interview with Frederick H. Kline, an Army Air Forces veteran, concerning his experiences as a photographic laboratory technician in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Appendix includes photos of Frederick J. Kline at twenty-five years of age and of him and his wife after fifty-two years of marriage.
Oral History Interview with Frederick J. Holland, Jr., February 16, 1999
Transcript of an interview with Frederick J. Holland, Jr., an Army Air Forces veteran, concerning his experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Holland discusses his early employment with REA Express; basic training, Fort Miles Standish, Massachusetts, 1942; his transfer to the Air Force and assignment to Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio, 1942; Officer Candidate School, Miami, Florida, 1943; assignment to India; assignment to Dum Dum Airport, Calcutta, 1943; his role in supervising and shipping cargo over "The Hump" (Himalaya Mountains) to China; assignment to Baruipur Airport, Calcutta; his role in the development and operation of the first mobile conveyor unit to load and unload cargo; awarding of the Bronze Star for his invention. Appendix includes one leaf that gives history of the mobile conveyor and one leaf that shows four images of the mobile conveyor.
Oral History Interview with Gale E. Nevill, March 23, 1999
Interview with Gale E. Nevill, a Army WWII veteran from Houston, Texas. Nevill discusses his family background and upbringing, jobs in the oil business, joining the National Guard, attending Rice University, getting commissioned, overseeing a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, working through the Depression, activation and assignment to 6th Army HQ, deployment to Brisbane, 6th Army operations in the South Pacific and Philippines, the end of the war and life afterwards.
Oral History Interview with Garlen W. Eslick, April 27, 1990
Interview with Garlen W. Eslick, a Navy WWII veteran from Milan, Missouri who served aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) when it was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Eslick discusses joining the Navy and basic training, assignment to the Oklahoma, accommodations aboard, the food, the crew, liberty, being bombed and torpedoed, the Oklahoma capsizing, being trapped inside the ship, rescue, work after the attack, and service aboard the Saratoga (CV-3).
Oral History Interview with General Alexander R. Bolling, Jr., July 15, 1998
Interview with General Alexander R. Bolling, Jr., concerning his experiences as an infantry platoon leader (3rd Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 302nd Regiment, 94th Infantry Division) in the European Theater during World War II.
Oral History Interview with General Alpha Lyons Bowser, March 12, 1998
Transcript of an interview with General Alpha Lyons Bowser, a Marine Corps veteran (3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division), concerning his experiences as an artillery officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Bowser also discusses his role in planning the Inchon landing, 1950, during the Korean War.
Oral History Interview with General Robert E. Galer, March 14, 1998
Transcript of an interview with General Robert E. Galer, a Marine Corps veteran (VMF-224) and recipient of the Medal of Honor, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Galer discusses his pre-war training at Pensacola and Quantico; assignment to Saint Thomas and reminiscences about the "destroyers-for bases" deal, 1940; experiences at Ewa during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; assignment to Guadalcanal as commander of VMF-224, August 30, 1942-December 31, 1942; air combat around Guadalcanal; his receiving the Medal of Honor; reassignment to the States for war bond drives; experiences on Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945, as commander of a 584 Radar Team; and assignment to the Philippines and Okinawa, 1945.
Oral History Interview with George B. Andrews, March 5, 1999
Transcript of an interview withGeorge B. Andrews, Army Air Forces veteran (526th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force), concerning his experiences as a fighter pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Appendix includes thirty-six pages of recollections from the interviewee.
Oral History Interview with George Charland, December 7, 1998
Transcript of an interview with George E. Charland, a Native American Marine Corps veteran, concerning his experiences during World War II. Charland discusses his experiences with the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; his experiences with the 2nd Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, at Guadalcanal, 1942; his experiences with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, at Tarawa, 1943; his experiences with the 4th Marine Division at Saipan and Tinian, 1944, and Iwo Jima, 1945; medical discharge in April, 1945.
Oral History Interview with George Duncan, October 9, 1994
Interview with Captain George Duncan, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Duncan discusses his pilot training at Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1941, his assignment to Air Group 9 on the carrier Essex, the Hellcat fighter, the sinking of Fubuki-class destroyer in June of 1944 off of Pagan Island, the Marianas Campaign in 1944, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," the Philippines Campaign and the attack on the Japanese battleship Musashi, and his postwar naval career.
Oral History Interview with Gerald E. Miller, May 3, 1993
Transcript of an interview with Admiral Jerry (Gerald) Miller, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Miller discusses his assignment to the USS Richmond, Komandorski Island action, the Aleutians Campaign, and his post-World War II naval career.
Oral History Interview with Glen McDole, October 10, 1996
Interview with Glen McDole, a Marine Corps WWII veteran and POW from Des Moines, Iowa. McDole discusses joining the Marines in 1940, assignment to the 1st Separate Marine Battalion and deployment to Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines, the Japanese attack on December 8th, 1941, withdrawal to Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur, the surrender, experiences in internment at Cabanatuan, transfer to Palawan, American bombing raids, surviving the Palawan massacre, rescue by Philippines civilians, the American liberation, and testifying about his former captors after the war.
Oral History Interview with Glenn C. Blouse, August 3, 1998
Interview with Glenn C. Blouse, a Army WWII veteran from Long Level, Pennsylvania. Blouse discusses his family life, being drafted, basic training, deployment to the European Theater via North Africa, assignment to the 135th Infantry, 34th Infantry Division in Italy, duties as a machine gunner, first combat experiences, fighting on the Monte Cassino front, foxhole life, shelling, tactics, taking prisoners, Italian civilians, the Anzio landing, assaulting a hill, liberating Rome, the Apennines Campaign, nightwatch and a firefight which earned him the Bronze Star, breaking into the Po Valley, Mussolini's corpse, the end of the war. In appendix is Blouse's Bronze Star citation.
Oral History Interview with Hanna K Ulatowska, February 16, 1990
Interview with Hanna L Ulatowska, a Polish linguist and Holocaust survivor from Warsaw. Ulatowska discusses the invasion of Poland, witnessing bombings and atrocities, life in Warsaw after the invasion, the life of Jews, the Warsaw Uprising, being forced out of the city by German forces to Auschwitz-Birkenau, survival there, Josef Mengele, her family, escaping from Birkenau, Russian liberation, and reflections on her experiences.
Oral History Interview with Harry Bradford Urey, Jr., October 14, 1999
Transcript of an interview with Harry Bradford Urey, Jr., a mechanical engineer and Army Air Forces veteran (454th Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, 9th Air Force), concerning his experiences as a B-26 pilot in the European Theater during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Harry Strawn, August 16, 1997
Transcript of an interview with Harry C. Strawn, Army Air Forces veteran (31st Fighter Group, 12th Air Force; and 413th Fighter Group, 14th Air Force), concerning his experiences as a fighter pilot in the European, Mediterranean, and Pacific Theaters during World War II. Appendix includes the introduction to "In a now forgotten sky: the 31st fighter group in WW2" by Dennis C. Kucera.
Oral History Interview with Hilda Rubinstein Green, January 2, 1990
Interview with Hilda Rubinstein-Green, a Holocaust survivor from Memel, East Prussia (now KlaipÄ—da, Lithuania). Green discusses growing up in Memel, the Jewish community, her family background, Hitler, fleeing to Krottingen, returning to Memel to destroy valuables so the Germans couldn't take them, moving to Kovno, having a sympathetic German officer as a tenant, moving to the ghetto, life there, executions, labor, suicides, internment at Stutthof, her mother's declining health, a forced march to Posen, liberation and hospital treatment, living with her uncle in Germany, moving to the United States, her faith, and other reflections. In appendix is a letter by Green, and a letter from the International Tracing Service.
Oral History Interview with Howard Charles, March 25, 1998
Interview with Howard Charles, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Partridge, Kansas. Charles discusses growing up in the Great Depression; joining the Marine Corps and training; assignment to the USS Houston (CA-30) at Manila as a heavy machine gunner and events before the war; the Battle of Sunda Strait and sinking of the Houston; capture by the Japanese and being held at Serang, Java; experiences in internment and forced labor at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, various camps along the Burma Railway, and Saigon; liberation; psychological treatment, trauma, and adjusting to civilian life. In appendix is a letter written by Charles to Marcello including additional information for the interview.
Oral History Interview with Howard L. Patton, January 5, 1999
Interview with Howard L. Patton, a Army WWII veteran from Flora, Illinois. Patton discusses his family background, commissioning into the Army through ROTC, training with anti-air artillery, his marriage, deployment to New Guinea, the assault on Wakde Island, the battle of Leyte, operations at Zamboanga, and the end of the war.
Oral History Interview with Hugh M. Robinson, February 21, 1997
Transcript of an interview with Hugh M. Robinson, a Navy veteran (Patrol-Torpedo Boat Squadron 3), concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Robinson discusses the U. S. Naval Academy, 1934-38; assignment to the carrier USS Yorktown, 1938-39; assignment to the destroyer USS Bainbridge, 1939-41; assignment to Motor Boat Submarine Chaser Squadron 1, 1941; assignment to Patrol Torpedo Squadron 2, 1941; operations around the Panama Canal, 1942; reorganization of PT Squadron 2 and his transfer to Patrol Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 for duty in the Pacific; operations around the Solomon Islands, 1942-43; his promotion to commander of PT Squadron 3, 1942; engagements against the "Tokyo Express," 1942-43; his transfer to the staff of Patrol Torpedo Boat Flotilla 1, 1943; transfer to the States, 1943, to the Motor Torpedo Boats Squadron Training Center, Newport, Rhode Island; assignment as air defense officer aboard the battleship USS Wisconsin, 1944; his description of being caught with the 3rd Fleet in a massive typhoon in the Philippine Sea, December 18, 1944; offshore bombardment for the Iwo Jima and Okinawa Campaigns, 1945; offshore bombardment of Honshu and Hokkaido; and his postwar naval career.
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