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Oral History Interview with Jack Moss, July 19, 1970
Interview with Jack Moss, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Amarillo, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Moss discusses joining the the Guard and deployment to the Pacific, the fall and capture of Java, his experiences in internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, partaking in forced labor on the Burma-Thailand "Death" Railway, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with William Havel, April 22, 1994
Interview with William Havel, an army veteran from Staten Island, New York. This interview recounts his experiences as an adopted child in a farm family and then as a corpsman at Tripler General Hospital during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Oral History Interview with Arthur B. Clark, September 29, 2000
Interview with Arhtur B. Clark, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Abilene, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery. Clark discusses joining the National Guard, training and maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and surrender to the Japanese, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, labor on the Burma "Death" Railway, and liberation. The interview includes an appendix with a reference page and a written flight log by Col. Tom Sledge.
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 William J. Bates, February 7, 2001
Interview with Navy veteran William J. Bates including personal experiences about the Pacific Theater during World War II, youth and education, the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, flight training, leaving naval aviation and attending Midshipman's School, being assigned to APc-21, operations off the coast of New Guinea with the VII Amphibious Force, providing escort duty for LCTs during assaults along the coast of New Guinea, the sinking of APc-21 by Japanese planes off New Britain Island, recuperating in New Guinea, returning to the States and being assigned to ATR-22, transferring to fleet tug ARA-182 as commanding officer, having convoy duty in the South Pacific, riding out a typhoon, disposing of Navy equipment after the war, and returning to the States.
Oral History Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, October 11, 1996
Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, clothier and Navy veteran regarding personal experiences about the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean Theaters during World War II. Ditto talks about his education, enlistment in the Navy V-7 Program, midshipman training, assignment to the USS Langley, pre-war duty in the Philippines, coming of war and combat around the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies, the sinking of the Langley and his transfer to the USS Pecos, the sinking of the Pecos and his rescue by the USS Whipple, various naval battles and assignments, antisubmarine patrols off the Solomons, various escort duties, and his promotion to captain of the O'Toole.
Oral History Interview with John J. Clemens, May 13, 2003
Interview with John J. Clemens. The interview includes Clemens' personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Houston, Texas, World War II-era service in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard USS Wren in the Pacific Theater, and piloting a ship into Tokyo Bay immediately following the Japanese surrender. Clemens speaks about convoy missions across the Atlantic Ocean, the January 4, 1944 sinking of the USS Turner while moored in New York Harbor and the court of inquiry regarding the sinking, actions in the Aleutian Islands, Attu, Okinawa, and Philippine campaigns and anti-kamikaze warfare while aboard the USS Wren, and the effects that Allied bombing had on Tokyo.
Oral History Interview with Richard Donley, February 22, 1997
Interview with Navy veteran Richard Donley. The interview includes Donley's personal experiences about the Mediterranean Theater during World War II, boot camp, Fleet Torpedo School, encounters with German "F-lighter" armed barges and E-boats, various assignments, and combat against enemy destroyers. Donley also talks about screening operations for the invasions of Sicily and Salerno, operations along the coasts of northern Italy and southern France and the interdiction of German barge traffic, torpedo problems, commando and intelligence operations, returning to the States, his reassignment to the Motor Torpedo Boats Training Center, and transferring to Samar, Philippines.
Oral History Interview with Frank Breyer, September 20, 2003
Interview with Army veteran Frank Breyer, including personal experiences about the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, volunteering for the draft, various assignments, his attachment to Merrill's Marauders, medical evacuation to Ledo, combat around Bhamo, Burma, the opening of the Burma Road, transfer to the 612th Artillery and to Kunming, China, for artillery training, teaching artillery tactics to Chinese troops with the Chinese Combat and Training Command, and the resumption of fighting between Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces.
Oral History Interview with John L. Bates, Jr., September 21, 2003
Interview with attorney and Army veteran John L. Bates Jr. The Interview includes Bates' personal experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, Officer Candidate School, being selected for the Counter Intelligence Corps, British Intelligence School, assignment to Kweiyang, China, the end of the war and his transfer to the War Crimes Section as an Assistant Theater Judge Advocate, his assignment to Hankow to investigate the executions of three of Jimmy Doolittle's pilots and to Formosa to investigate war crimes, dealing with Japanese military personnel accused of committing atrocities against Allied POWs on Formosa, and his postwar career in the Army Reserve.
Oral History Interview with Herb Elfering, December 6, 2001
Interview with electrical engineer and Army veteran Herb Elfering, The interview includes Elfering's personal experiences with a searchlight/radar battery, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment, at camp Malekole during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Elfering also gives brief descriptions of his later experiences at Bougainville and Luzon.
Oral History Interview with Harlan W. Crouse, July 2, 2004
Interview with Army veteran Harlan W. Crouse, including personal experiences about combat in the Philippines during World War II, the Japanese surrender in Yokohama Harbor, and being present during the post-war U.S. occupation of Japan.
Oral History Interview with Richard E. Cole, August 8, 2000
Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Richard E. Cole describing personal experiences about being Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot during the Tokyo Raid on April 8, 1942, pre-war education, flight training, volunteering for a secret mission and meeting Colonel Doolittle, being assigned as Doolittle's co-pilot, mission training, various B-25 missions against Japanese targets in China and Burma, flying supplies over "The Hump." transferring to the states and volunteering for service in Burma with the 1st Air Commandos to support Wingate's Chindits and Merrill's Marauders, and reunions of Doolittle's Raiders the following war.
Oral History Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox, February 5, 2004
Interview with LeRoy Ellis Cox. The interview includes Cox's personal experiences about childhood and early adulthood in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, World War-II-era Army Air Corps training in armaments and electronics, stateside service in the 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, aviation cadet training, serving as a B-25 instructor pilot, and as a DC-3 tow pilot for the glider program.
Oral History Interview with Jean Balch, October 12, 1996
Interview with Navy veteran Jean Balch, including Balch's personal experiences about the Pacific theater, being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boot camp, radio, radar, and gunnery school, operations during the Leyte invasion, missions over Luzon, and raids on Japanese installations on Formosa and Saigon, French Indo-China. Additionally, Balch talks about his plane being shot down on a raid to Hong Kong and his capture on January 16, 1945, interrogations and beatings by the Kempei-tai, imprisonment at Ofuna, Honshu, solitary confinement for six months and continued interrogation, beatings by Japanese prison guards, starvation diet, the end of the war and liberation, and his participation in the war crimes trials held by the International Military Tribunal.
Oral History Interview with Douglas R. Crawford, February 25, 2004
Interview with Air Force veteran Douglas R. "Roy" Crawford. The interview includes Crawford's personal experiences about early family life, joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, training as a bulldozer operator, removing radioactive debris from Hiroshima, training as a radar operator at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and working as the radar tracker when Major Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 on October 19, 1947. Additionally, Crawford talks about his assignments to Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, and Korea, as a forward air observer, his role as an airborne radar operator during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his various activities with the NASA Space Program, and clandestine missions with the CIA and Air America over Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Oral History Interview with Elijah Collins, Jr., December 6, 2001
Interview with Navy veteran Elijah Collins Jr. The interview includes Collins' personal experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Blue during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Collins also talks about the Battle of Savo Island and the sinking of the Blue.
Oral History Interview with Frank H. Bigelow, June 13, 2002
Interview with Navy veteran Frank H. Bigelow, survivor of the siege of Corregidor. The interview includes Bigelow's personal experiences about being a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II, boyhood in North Dakota, various jobs during the Great Depression, and enlisting in the Navy. Additionally, Bigelow speaks about volunteering for duty in the Philippines and his assignment to the submarine tender USS Canopus, pre-war military life in the Philippines, the Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard and the destruction of the Canopus, retreating to Bataan and to Corregidor, the fall of Corregidor, his confinement in the 92nd Garage area, the forced march down Dewey Boulevard in Manila and confinement at Cabanatuan, hell ship to Japan, coal mining for Mitsui Heavy Industries, the amputation of his leg by fellow prisoners after a mining accident, liberation, and the destruction in Nagasaki due to the atomic bomb. The interview includes an appendix with an article titled "A Soldier's Story."
Oral History Interviews with Charley L. Pryor, 1972-1973
Interview with Charley L. Pryor, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Lubbock, Texas, who survived the sinking of the USS Houston (CA-30). Pryor discusses the sinking of the Houston, his capture, experiences in imprisonment at Serang, Java, experiences at Bicycle Camp in Batavia and Changi Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, American air raids, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Alan A. Fouts, December 6, 2001
Interview with Navy veteran Alan A. Fouts. The interview includes Fouts' personal experiences while assigned to the Submarine Base during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and his subsequent service aboard the submarine USS Pogy in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Joseph L. George, August 5, 1978
Interview with Navy veteran Joseph L. George. The interview includes George's personal experiences while aboard the battleship USS Vestal during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Oral History Interview with Robert Gregg, March 24, 1971
Interview with Robert Gregg, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Decatur, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion"). Gregg discusses mobilization and deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and his capture, internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia and Changi Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand "Death" Railway, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Jess Stanbrough, April 15, 1985
Interview with Jess Stanbrough, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Wichita Falls, Texas, who served and was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Stanbrough discusses his time in the Guard before the war, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and being captured, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, operating a clandestine radio, transfer to Japan, being an iron smelter at Kamaishi, Honshu, American air and naval bombardment, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Vernon Fuller, July 3, 1974
Interview with Navy veteran Vernon Fuller. The interview includes Fuller's personal experiences while aboard the repair ship USS Argonne during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Oral History Interview with Leigh D. Josephson, May 27, 1986
Interview with executive of Caltex Petroluem Corporation, Leigh D. Josephson, including his personal experiences related to employment with Standard Oil of California, his assignment to Bahrain and transfer to Caltex, the construction of Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia, and the bombing of the Bapco refinery in Bahrain. Josephson also talks about refinery operations in Bahrain during and after World War II, his various positions and responsibilities with Caltex and Bapco, work in Bahrain and the Philippines, his personal relationship with the Bahraini royal family, and the OPEC and Arab oil embargoes in 1967.
Oral History Interviews with Ocie R. Turner, 1991
Interview with the Rev. Ocie Turner, a minister at New Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dallas, Marine WWII veteran, and a longtime resident of the Hamilton Park neighborhood, from Mexia, Texas. Turner discusses his family background, education, serving in the Marine Corps at the Battle of Iwo Jima, working as a butcher in Dallas, working in the oil and gas industry, buying his house in Hamilton Park, the growth and development of the neighborhood, community organizations, local businesses, the schools and his children's education, and changes in the neighborhood over time.
Oral History Interview with Herschel Blackwell, April 26, 1986
Interview with Herschel Blackwell regarding his experiences as a member of VP-14 a Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
Oral History Interview with Joe Gear, July 18, 1970
Interview with Joe B. Gear regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He was captured near Corregidor in the Phillipines.
Oral History Interview with Herman W. Barber, October 14, 1977
Interview with Herman W. Barber and his experiences while stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
Oral History Interview with Mynila Billingsley, October 13, 1977
Interview with Mynila Billingsley regarding her experiences while at Kaneohe naval Air Station with her husband Lieutenant Commander Oliver Billingsley on December 7th, 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Oral History Interview with Raymond E. Abbitt, February 25, 1975
Interview with Father Raymond Abbitt discussing his experiences as a civilian internee of the Japanese during World War II. He was captured on the Island of Mindanao in the Philippines and held in various Japanese camps in the Philippines.
Oral History Interview with Lester C. Rasbury, June 1978
Interview with Lester C. Rasbury, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Decatur, Texas. Rasbury discusses his experiences as a captured member of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion"), including: joining the service and training; the Louisiana Maneuvers; deployment to East Asia in 1941; diversion from the Philippines to Brisbane after December 7th; assignment to Malang, Java; the Japanese attack and American surrender; internment and labor at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, Thanbyuzayat and several camps on the Burma "Death" Railway, and Tamarkan; liberation.
Oral History Interview with M. L. Daman, 1973
Interview with Colonel M.L. Daman, an Army veteran and a survivor of the siege of Corregidor, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Daman discusses the fall of Corregidor and his capture, Bilibid Prison in Manila (1942-1943), Davao Penal Colony (1943-1944), Bilibid Prison again (1945), the fall of Manila, and his liberation. Includes an appendix.
Oral History Interview with Volnie S. Burk, January 10, 1972
Interview with Volnie S. Burk, an Army veteran and survivor of the siege at Fort Hughes near Corregidor, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Burk discusses the fall of Fort Hughes and his capture, Bilibid Prison in Manila (1942), Cabanatuan (1942-1943), the Manila port area (1943), his return to Bilibid Prison (1943-1944), the fall of Manila (1945), and his liberation.
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 Arthur Dodge Jr., January 8, 1971
Interview with Arthur B. Dodge, Jr., a US Army WWII veteran from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dodge recounts his service in M Company, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, which landed in Morocco and moved through Algeria in late-1943, before landing in Italy, where his unit took up position on the Cassino-Rapido-Garigliano front in March, 1944. Dodge describes prolonged skirmishing with German forces near Tremesuoli, Lazio, the breakout from Cassino, advancing into northern Italy, and finishing the war in the Po Valley.
Oral History Interview with George Burlage, November 18, 1970
Interview with George Burlage, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Visalia, California. Burlage was stationed in the Philippines before the war and fought at Corregidor in 1942 before his capture by the Japanese, after which he was interned at Camp Cabanatuan #3 in Central Luzon, Las Pinas airfield near Manila, and Moji, Japan.
Oral History Interview with T. G. Crews, January 22, 1972
Interview with T. G. Crews, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Stephenville, Texas. Crews, among the first Americans taken prisoner by the Japanese during the war, discusses his time with the North China Marines in Peking, his unit's duties there, his capture, and his experiences during internment at Tianjin, Shanghai, Peking, Busan, and Hakodate.
Oral History Interview with C. L. Permenter, October 25, 1972
Interview with C. L. Permenter, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Dallas, Texas. Permenter discusses his pre-war service with the North China Marines at Tientsin (Tianjin) and Peking (Beijing), the situation in Japanese-occupied China, his capture, and his experiences in internment at Woosung, Kiangwang, and Fengtai.
Oral History Interview with Marshall E. Fields, February 13, 1972
Interview with Marshall Fields, a Marine WWII veteran from Arkansas. Fields discusses his deployment to Wake Island shortly before the war, the Battle of Wake Island, his capture, and his experiences in internment at Woosung, China, and Sapporo, Japan.
Oral History Interview with Eugene R. Cronin, February 1, 1972
Interview with Eugene Cronin, a US Army Air Corps WWII veteran and POW from Kansas City, Missouri. Cronin discusses his time as a B-24 crewmember stationed at Cerignola, Italy, the kinds of missions flown, his being shot down over Hungary and captured by the German Army, and his experiences in captivity at Vienna, Frankfurt, and Stalag Luft #1 near Barth in Western Pommerania.
Oral History Interview with Phillip L. Daffron, February 9, 1977
Interview with Phillip Daffron, a Army WWII veteran from Plano, Texas. Daffron discusses his experiences at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 including his education and entry into service, assignment to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in 1940, training in field artillery, events during the day of the attack at Schofield Barracks and Punchbowl Crater, subsequent events on Oahu, and some details about his service afterwards.
Oral History Interview with Thomas A. Whitehead, February 2, 1977
Interview with Thomas Whitehead, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Wichita Falls, Texas. Whitehead discusses his experiences as a member of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, the "Lost Battalion" captured on Java in March 1942, including: joining the National Guard; participation in the Louisiana Maneuvers; departure for the Philippines and diversion to Brisbane; assignment to Sangosari Airfield near Malang; the surrender of American forces; internment at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi Prison in Singapore, several camps on the Burma Railway, and Non Pladuk and Ubon Airfield, Thailand; and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Willard Wall, July 12, 1977
Interview with Willard Wall, a Army WWII veteran from Austin, Texas. Willard discusses his experiences on Oahu during the attack on Pearl Harbor, including his entry into the Army, assignment to Schofield Barracks, the morning of the attack, and preparations of the island for invasion afterwards.
Oral History Interview with John Kuhn, October 25, 1976
Interview with John Kuhn, a Navy WWII veteran from Winnebago, Minnesota. Kuhn discusses his experience at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7th, 1941, including joining the Navy in 1940 and training, attachment to the USS Thornton, radio duty on Ford Island, the events of the attack, and the following evening.
Oral History Interview with Clay H. Musick, May 14, 1976
Interview with Clay Musick, a Navy WWII veteran from Weslaco, Texas. Musick discusses his experiences aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, including joining the Navy in 1940, training, life and work aboard the Arizona, the bombing and sinking of the ship, his wounding and recovery, and work after discharge.
Oral History Interview with Charles Timlin, July 8, 1978
Interview with Charles Timlin, a Navy WWII veteran from Fort Worth, Texas. Timlin discusses his experiences aboard the USS Vestal during the attack on Pearl Harbor, including is entry into the service, assignment to the Vestal, training and life on the ship, the night before the attack, events during the morning of the attack, and some details about service in the war afterwards.
Oral History Interview with Russell J. Hampson, December 15, 1976
Interview with Russell J. Hampson, an Army WWII veteran from West Orange, New Jersey. Hampson discusses his experience during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, including joining the Army in 1940, being stationed at Schofield Barracks, the events of the attack, and operations on Oahu afterward.
Oral History Interview with Billy Allen, March 1, 1976
Interview with Billy Allen, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Van Alstyne, Texas. Allen discusses his entry into the Marine Corps, deployment to Shanghai with the China Marines in 1940-41, arrival in the Philippines, the Japanese attack on Mariveles Navy Yard, the retreat to Corregidor, capture by the Japanese, and experiences in internment at Bilibid Prison in Manila, Cabanatuan, Osaka, and Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture.
Oral History Interview with J. L. Sherman, March 4, 1976
Interview with J. L. "Smokey" Sherman, an Army WWII veteran and POW from Ponder, Texas. Sherman discusses joining the Army in 1940, going to the Philippines and being stationed on Corregidor, the siege and fall of the island, his escape from capture and time as a guerrilla, surrender, and experiences in internment at Cabanatuan and Kobe.
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