Search Results

Oral History Interview with Jean Balch, October 12, 1996

Description: 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 t… more
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Date: October 12, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Balch, Jean

Oral History Interview with Frank H. Bigelow, June 13, 2002

Description: 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 Cav… more
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Date: June 13, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bigelow, Frank H., 1921-

Oral History Interview with John J. Clemens, May 13, 2003

Description: 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 sinkin… more
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Date: May 13, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Clemens, John J., 1921-

Oral History Interview with Harlan W. Crouse, July 2, 2004

Description: 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.
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Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Crouse, Harlan W., 1926-

Oral History Interview with Lanson B. Ditto, October 11, 1996

Description: 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 … more
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Date: October 11, 1996
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Ditto, Lanson B.

Oral History Interview with Herb Elfering, December 6, 2001

Description: 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.
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Date: December 6, 2001
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Elfering, Herb

Oral History Interview with Gale E. Nevill, March 23, 1999

Description: 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.
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Date: March 23, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Nevill, Gale Erwin

Oral History Interview with Willie Fred Sander, May 22, 2002

Description: Interview with Willie Fred Sander, a Navy WWII veteran from Brenham, Texas. Sander discusses his background and life before the war, joining the Navy and aviator training, flying PBM patrol bombers throughout the Pacific, and his family life after the war.
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Date: May 22, 2002
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Sander, Willie Fred

Oral History Interview with Dave C. Sanford, February 25, 1999

Description: 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.
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Date: February 25, 1999
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Sanford, Dave C.

Oral History Interview with Melvin R. Baird, 1998

Description: Interview with Navy veteran Melvin R. "Pancho" Baird. It includes a combination of interviewing and reading from Baird's personal correspondence about his pre-World War II experiences with the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and his later experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Baird talks about his stationing aboard the destroyer USS Alden as a radioman, the grounding of the SS President Hoover off of Hoishito Island, the Sino-Japanese War, liberty ashore various Asian port cities, events o… more
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Date: August 18, 1998
Creator: Baird, James & Baird, Melvin R.
open access

Oral History Interview with Rufus Smith, June 13, 1989

Description: Interview with Rufus Smith, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Hughes Springs, Texas, who survived the Palawan Massacre. Smith discusses joining the Marines, the bombing of Cavite Naval Yard, his capture at Corregidor and internment at Cabanatuan, transfer to Palawan and experiences in captivity there, the massacre and escaping, rescue by Filipinos and traveling with them, evacuation, returning to the United States, and life after the war.
Date: June 13, 1989
Creator: Burlage, George & Smith, Rufus

Oral History Interview with Dorothy Still Danner, March 19, 1995

Description: interview with Dorothy Still Danner. Danner graduated from nursing school in Los Angeles in 1935. In 1939, she applied and was accepted as a nurse in the Navy. After a while, she received orders for the Philippines and arrived in early 1940 on a two-year assignment. Danner recalls the idyllic setting prior to the war before describing activities just after the Japanese invasion. She was stationed at a hospital at Sangley Point near Cavite in Luzon, Philippines. She was captured by the Japanese … more
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Date: March 19, 1995
Creator: Byrd, Richard W. & Danner, Dorothy Still

Oral History Interview with Ken Towery, March 19, 1995

Description: Interview with Ken Towery. Towery joined the Army in early 1941 and was sent to Corregidor to join a coast artillery unit. He recalls several details about life under siege at Corregidor before he was captured by the Japanese and taken to Cabanatuan. He left the Philippines later that year and was taken to China. Towery shares his opinions about being a POW as well as several anecdotes. He also comments on being liberated by Russians and how the Russians and Chinese communists cooperated right … more
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Date: March 19, 1995
Creator: Byrd, Richard W. & Towery, R. Ken
open access

Oral History Interviews with Charles W. Burris, 1984-1985

Description: Interview with Charles Burris, Army Air Corps veteran from Tulsa, Oklahoma, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II and as a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Burris discusses his training, the fall of Bataan, Camp O'Donnell, Fukuoka, Kyushu, and being set free.
Date: {1984-04-05,1985-02..1985-05}
Creator: Cruz, Richard & Burris, Charles W.

Oral History Interview with George and Wanda Holcombe, January 2, 2017

Description: Interview with George Holcombe, a Methodist pastor and civil rights activist from Houston, Texas, and his wife and associate Wanda, from Sims, Texas. The Holcombes discuss their family origins, initial exposure to racial problems and civil rights, their respective educations, pastoral work in Baton Rouge and Chicago, the Ku Klux Klan and dangers encountered, work with the Ecumenical Institute of Chicago and empowering black communities, the 1968 Chicago riots, Fifth City, and similar work in Au… more
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Date: January 2, 2017
Creator: Czap, Joseph; Holcombe, George & Holcombe, Wanda

Oral History Interview with Dolphus Compere III, June 9, 2009

Description: Interview with World War II veteran Dolphus E. Compere III as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Compere's personal experiences of childhood in Dallas, Texas, medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Dallas, and interning at the University of Michigan prior to his enlistment in the Army Air Corp as a surgeon with the Third Air Commando Group. Additionally, Compere discusses his experiences in the Philippines providing medical care to mili… more
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Date: June 9, 2009
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin P. & Compere, Dolphus E., III

Oral History Interview with Ernest Kelley, February 20, 2003

Description: Interview with Ernest Kelley, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Antioch, Texas (now the Red River Army Depot), who served with the 112th Cavalry. Kelley discusses growing up in the Depression, joining the Guard, mobilization and training, horses, the Louisiana Maneuvers, deployment to New Caledonia, landing on Woodlark island and action there, the Battle of Arawe, redeployment to Australia, the Battle of Driniumor River in New Guinea, the Battles of Leyte and Luzon, returning to the Unit… more
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Date: February 20, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn & Kelley, Ernest L.

Oral History Interview with Charles C. Brabham, Jr., September 9, 2003

Description: Interview with Army veteran Charles C. Brabham Jr. The interview includes Brabham's personal experiences about the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II, his youth in Dallas during the Great Depression, joining the 112th Cavalry at age 16, his mobilization and various assignments, and his medical evacuation die to malaria, dysentery, and hookworm.
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Date: September 9, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Brabham, Charles C., Jr.

Oral History Interview with George E. Fortenberry, September 24, 2003

Description: Interview with George E. Fortenberry, who is an Army veteran and college professor from Arlington, Texas. In the interview, Fortenberry discusses his experiences in the Southwest Pacific Theatre during his time as a member of the 112th Cavalry of the Texas National Guard during World War II. He also describes what it was like growing up during the Great Depression and attending various different schools in both Texas and Oklahoma. Fortenberry discusses why he decided to join the National Guard,… more
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Date: September 24, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Fortenberry, George E.

Oral History Interview with William Garbo, Sr., 2003-2004

Description: Interview with landscape architect and Army veteran William Garbo Sr. The interview includes Garbo's personal experiences about the G Troop, 112th Cavalry, in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World-War II, growing up in an Italian-American family in Mississippi during the Great Depression, volunteering for the draft and processing at Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, basic training at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, being assigned to the 26th War Dog Platoon and to New Guinea in 1944, … more
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Date: November 24, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Garbo, William, Sr.

Oral History Interview with W. W. Hughes, November 17, 2003

Description: Interview with W. W. Hughes, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Grand Prarie, Texas. Hughes discusses growing up in the Great Depression, joining the National Guard and equestrian service in the 112th Cavalry at Fort Clark, the start of war and deployment to New Caledonia and Australia, preparations for combat, amphibious landings at Arawe Island off New Britain, scout patrols and combat, operations in New Guinea at the Driniumor River, Japanese POWs, actions in the Philippines at Leyte … more
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Date: November 17, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Hughes, W. W.

Oral History Interview with Clarence Kingsley, November 21, 2003

Description: Interview with Charles Kingsley, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Dallas, Texas, who served in the 112th Cavalry. Kingsley discusses his upbringing, joining the Guard, the Louisiana Maneuvers, deployment to New Caledonia, his troop's machine gun section/platoon, Woodlark Island, the Battle of Arawe, New Guinea and the Battle of Drinumor River, the Battles of Leyte and Luzon, his thoughts on the generals he served, and thoughts on the 112th.
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Date: November 23, 2003
Creator: Johnston, Glenn T. & Kingsley, Clarence

Oral History Interview with Bennie G. Snider, June 10, 2002

Description: Interview with banker and Navy veteran Bennie G. Snider. The interview includes Snider's personal experiences about the Pacific Theater during World War II, youth and education in Denton, Texas, joining the Navy, and boot training and electrical engineering school. Snider talks about duties aboard the USS Hancock, his assignment to Task Group 58 and the invasion of the Philippines, as well as the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, kamikaze attacks and the Hancock being hit by a kamikaze, burial… more
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Date: June 10, 2002
Creator: Lane, Peter B. & Snider, Bennie, G.

Oral History Interview with Warren Amy, April 17, 1996

Description: Interview with Warren Amy, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences aboard the submarine USS Chub in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Amy discusses Submarine School in New London, Connecticut (1943-1944), his assignment to the Chub (1944), his responsibilities as an electrician's mate, and various patrols in the North China Sea, the Java Sea, and off the Philippines.
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Date: April 17, 1996
Creator: Maglaughlin, Barry & Amy, Warren
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