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Oral History Interview with Albert E. Kennedy, April 15, 1987
Interview with Albert E. Kennedy, a United States Navy veteran from East Prairie, Missouri, regarding his experiences and memories as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese after surviving the wreck of the USS Houston during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Albert E. Kennedy, April 15, 1987
Interview with Albert Kennedy, a businessman, a Navy veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Kennedy talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Saigon, French Indo-China (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Ben Kelley, March 26, 1982
Interview with Ben Kelley regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He was part of the 36th Division, Texas National Guard, 131st Field Artillery, 2nd Battalion. He was captured on the island of Java in March of 1942 and spent the duration of the war thereafter as a prison of war in camps in South East Asia and in Japan.
Oral History Interview with C. L. Pryor, December 5, 1987
Interview with Charley Pryor, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Elmore City, Oklahoma. Pryor discusses joining the Marine Corps, operations with the North China Marines in Tsingtao, interactions with Japanese troops before the war, surviving the sinking of the USS Houston (CA-30), being captured and participating in a Japanese landing on Java, thoughts on Japanese soldiers and military life, experiences working on the Burma Railway in Thailand, experiences in internment at Bicycle Camp in Batavia and a camp at Kachanaburi in Thailand, liberation, and postwar service.
Oral History Interview with Cecil Minshew, February 18, 1983
Interview with Cecil T. Minshew regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He was part of the Texas National Guard, 36th Division, 131st Field Artillery, 2nd Battalion, also known as the "Lost Battalion." He was captured on the island of Java in March of 1942 and spent the duration of the war thereafter as a prison of war in camps in South East Asia and in Japan.
Oral History Interview with Clyde J. Shelton, July 27, 1987
Interview with Clyde J. Shelton, a United States Army veteran from Mexia, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II after being captured when his artillery unit, the "Lost Battalion," was captured off the coast of java in 1942.
Oral History Interview with Darwin McMillan, September 16, 1985
Interview with Darwin "Mac" McMillan, a long-term employee of Caltex from California, discussing his background, employment with Texaco and Standard Oil, the history of Caltex and his work as an executive there, his various assignment experiences in China the Philippines, Germany, India, and South Africa, and the oil market.
Oral History Interview with Donald C. Brain, March 11, 1981
Interview with Donald C. Brain, a United States Navy veteran from Long Beach, California. Brain discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II after his cruiser, the USS Houston, was sunk off the coast of Java in 1942.
Oral History Interview with Eldridge Rayburn, January 16, 1980
Interview with Eldridge Rayburn, 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. Rayburn discusses the 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), Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China (1945), American air raids, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Eldridge Rayburn, January 16, 1980
Audio interview with Eldridge Rayburn, a veteran of the Texas National Guard from Lubbock, Texas, about his experiences as a member of the "Lost Battalion" captured at Java in 1942 by the Japanese army during World War II. Rayburn discusses his memories of being in a Field Artillery unit, a prisoner of war, and surviving.
Oral History Interview with Eugene Nielsen, December 11, 1989
Interview with Eugene Nielsen, a Army WWII veteran and POW from Logan, Utah. Nielsen discusses his prewar assignment to Corregidor Island, the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor, capture by the Japanese, experiences in internment at Bilibid Prison, Cabanatuan, and Palawan, surviving the Palawan Massacre, and his rescue by Filipinos and American forces. Included is Nielsen's obituary of February 6, 2011.
Oral History Interview with Frank W. Ficklin, January 16, 1987
Transcript of an interview with Frank Ficklin, a businessman, an Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard) and a member of the "Lost Battalion." Ficklin discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Ficklin discusses the 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), Changi Jail (1944), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Garth W. Slate, August 13, 1980
Interview with Garth Slate, 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. Slate discusses the 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), Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China (1944-1945), American air raids, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Granville T. Summerlin, June 9, 1981
Interview with Granville T. Summerlin, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Hughes Springs, Texas. Summerlin discusses his experiences as a captured member of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, or the "Lost Battalion" of the 36th Infantry Division, including: being drafted in 1940 and training; deployment to East Asia and diversion to Brisbane after December 7th; assignment to Sangosari Airfield, Malang, Java; the Japanese assault and American surrender; internment and labor at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, Changi in Singapore, Thanbyuzayat and several camps on the Burma "Death" Railway, and Bangkok; liberation, and recovery in Calcutta.
Oral History Interview with H. William Taylor, January 20, 1986
Interview with William Taylor, an executive at Caltex Petroleum Corporation from New York, about his experiences working for the company in the Philippines and Thailand, the joint venture refinery in Thailand, expansion of the company, and the move of headquarters from New York to Dallas.
Oral History Interview with Herbert M. Fish, July 31, 1985
Interview with Herbert M. Fish, an executive at Caltex Petroleum Corporation from Boston, Massachusetts. Fish discusses his time working at Shell Oil during the Depression, experience in the U.S. Army, his duties at Caltex, marketing with Chinese agents and visiting China, dealing with Japanese executives, and Caltex European operations.
Oral History Interview with Herbert R. Morris, May 8, 1989
Transcript of an interview with Herbert Morris, 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. Morris discusses the 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), Changi Jail (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Huddleston W. Wright, November 1989
Interview with Huddleston Wright, 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. Wright discusses the 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), Phet Buri, Thailand (1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Ilo B. Hard, March 26, 1980
Interview with Colonel Ilo Hard, 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. Hard talks about the 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), Singapore (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Jack Kenner, April 4, 1980
Interview with Jack Kenner, 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. Kenner talks about the fall of Java and his capture, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), the hell ship to Japan (1942), Hakodate, Sapporo, and Muroran, Hokkaido (1942-1945), and his 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 John R. "Jack" Price, June 18, 1986
Interview with John R. "Jack" Price, an executive at the Caltex Petroleum Corporation, discussing his background, working for Caltex in China, India, and South Africa, relations between Caltex headquarters and branch offices, the construction of the Caltex refiner at Vishakhapatnam, and the formation of Caltex East and Caltex West.
Oral History Interview with John W. Wisecup, July 28, 1987
Interview with John Wisecup, a Marine Corps veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Wisecup talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Changi Jail (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with John Wisecup, July 28, 1987
Interview with John Wisecup, a Marine Corps veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Wisecup talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Changi Jail (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Jonathan Burns, July 21, 1981
Interview with Jonathan Burns, an Army veteran (200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard) and a survivor of the Bataan Death March, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Burns discusses the fall of Bataan and his capture, the Bataan Death March, Camp O'Donnell (1942), Cabanatuan (1942-1944), Bilibid Prison, Manila (1944), the hell ship to Japan (1944), Moji (1944-1945), A-bomb damage at Nagasaki, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Jonathan Burns, July 21, 1981
Interview with Jonathan Burns, a veteran of the New Mexico National Guard from Hereford, Texas. Burns discusses his recollections as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II and the conditions he experienced during the Bataan Death March.
Oral History Interview with L. B. Smith, February 20, 1989
Interview with L. B. Smith, a Army WWII veteran from Magnolia, Mississippi, who was present at the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Smith discusses entering the Army and training, events prior to the attack, the morning of December 7th and the bombing of Schofield Barracks, the aftermath and defensive preparations, and his later service in the Pacific Theater.
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 Interview with Luther G. Prunty, 1986
Interview with Luther Prunty, civil servant, Army veteran, and member of the "Lost Battalion." The interview includes Prunty's personal experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Prunty talks about the Fall of Java and his capture, Bicycle Camp, Changi Prison Camp, building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, American air raids, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with M. L. Rea, April 14, 1980
Transcript of an interview with M. L. Rea, a Texas native, Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard), and a member of the "Lost Battalion." Rea discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II.
Oral History Interview with M. T. Harrelson, May 9, 1985
Interview with M. T. Harrelson, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Wichita Falls, Texas, who was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion"). Harrelson discusses National Guard training and operations before the war, deployment to the Pacific and diversion to Java, the Japanese invasion, surrender and initial confinement, internment at Tanjong Priok and Bicycle Camp in Batavia, transfer to Changi Camp in Singapore, and the end of the war.
Oral History Interview with Martin Chambers, April 8, 1982
Interview with Martin Chambers, 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. Chambers discusses the 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), Bangkok, Thailand (1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Martin Chambers, April 8, 1982
Interview with Martin Chambers, a United States Army veteran from Milam, Texas. Chambers discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II and as a member of the 26th Brigade and eventually the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, also known as the "Lost Battalion."
Oral History Interview with Martin J. Rodgers, June 22, 1988
Interview with Martin J. Rodgers, a Army WWII veteran from Butler, New Jersey, who was at the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Rodgers discusses joining the Army and training, assignment to coastal artillery at Fort Shafter, operations there, work in communications, alerts, life in the peacetime Army, the morning of December 7th and reaction to the attack, handling communications at battalion HQ, the aftermath and following days, and his subsequent service in the Pacific War. In appendix is a letter by Rodgers to his mother of December 31, 1941, and a journal of his experiences typed during the war.
Oral History Interview with Marvin Robinson, May 25, 1982
Interview with Marvin Robinson, a Marine Corps veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Robinson talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Changi Jail (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Marvin Robinson, May 25, 1982
Interview with Marvin Robinson, a veteran of the United States Marines from Handley, Texas. Robinson discusses his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II after his cruiser, the USS Houston, was sunk off the coast of Java in the Sunda Strait in 1942.
Oral History Interview with Melford L. Forsman, July 28, 1980
Transcript of an interview with Melford L. Forsman, a Navy veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II.
Oral History Interview with Nipawan Teepanont, February 17, 1984
Audio interview with Nipawan Teepanont, a graduate student from Thailand studying education at North Texas State University. Teepanont discusses his background, comparisons between education in Thailand and the United States, adjusting, the international community at the university, and his job.
Oral History Interview with Paul E. Papish, January 30, 1989
Interview with Paul E. Papish, a Navy WWII veteran and POW from Denver, Colorado, who survived the sinking of the USS Houston (CA-30). Papish discusses joining the Navy in 1939 and training, assignment to the Houston and operations in the Pacific, the start of war and initial engagements, the Battle of the Java Sea, getting sunk at Sundra Strait, surviving on a raft and reaching shore on Java, capture, initial internment, transfer to and experiences in Bicycle Camp in Batavia, transfer to Changi Camp in Singapore, and liberation.
Oral History Interview with Paul Kempff, October 13, 1980
Interview with Paul Kempff regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He was a member of the Royal Dutch Navy and was later transferred the Marines before being captured on the Island of Java. During his time, he came into contact with members of the "Lost Battalion", the 2nd Battalion of the 131st Field Artillery in the 36th Division.
Oral History Interview with Philip Brodsky, December 11, 1989
Interview with Philip Brodsky, a pharmacologist, a civil servant, an Army veteran, and a survivor of the Bataan Death March, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Brodsky discusses the Japanese bombing of Nichols Field, the fall of Bataan and his capture, the Bataan Death March, Camp O'Donnell (1942), Palawan Island (1942-1944), the hell ship to Formosa (1944), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Preston E. Stone, February 20, 1980
Interview with Preston Stone, 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. Stone talks about the 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), Nakhom Pathon, Thailand (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Roy G. Armstrong, October 15, 1980
Interview with Roy Armstrong, 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. Armstrong discusses the 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), Tamarkan and Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1943), Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China (1944-1945), American air raids, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Rufus Smith, June 13, 1989
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.
Oral History Interview with Sidney C. Matlock, September 9, 1981
Interview with Sidney Matlock, 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. Matlock discusses the 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), railroad maintenance work in Burma (1944), Phet Buri, Thailand (1945), and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with Stephen E. Van Nostrand, April 20, 1987
Interview with Stephen E. Van Nostrand, former executive at Caltex Petroleum Corporation. The interview includes Van Nostrand's personal experiences about service during World War II, employment with Caltex in China, the formation of Ryuku Oil Corporation, and holding various positions within Caltex. Van Nostrand talks about joint ventures with Nippon Oil Company and Koa Oil Company, increasing the refining capacity from 60,000 bbls. to 900,000 bbls. per day, crude oil contracts, the Nippon Petroleum Refining Company, refinery rehabilitation and construction, his role in Caltex operations in Japan, the Nippon Oil Staging Terminal Company, relations between Caltex (Japan) and New York headquarters, OPEC and its effects upon Caltex, character sketches of Neal Lilley, Alec Singleton, and James Voss, and various Japanese oil executives. The interview includes a personal history of S. Nomura.
Oral History Interview with W. W. Baer, Jr., July 8, 1986
Interview with W.W. Baer, Jr., an executive at the Caltex Petroleum Corporation from Illinois, discussing his World War II experiences, training at Texaco, work with Caltex in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, the establishment of Caltex East, and his appointment as managing director in Tanzania.
Oral History Interview with Weldon O. Western, February 16, 1987
Interview with Weldon Western, 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. Western discusses the 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), Saigon, French Indo-China (1945), American air raids, and his liberation.
Oral History Interview with William A. Visage, July 15 and 16, 1987
Interview with William Visage, an accountant, 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. Visage discusses the fall of Java and his capture, Surabaja, Java (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), the hell ship to Japan (1942), the Nagasaki shipyards (1942-1945), Arao, Kyushu, his liberation, and his observations of Nagasaki after the dropping of the A-bomb.
Oral History Interview with William J. Stewart, June 11, 1981
Interview with William Stewart, a Navy veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Forsman talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), the hell ship to Japan (1942), Ohasi, Honshu (1942-1945), and his liberation.
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