Oral History Interview with David Newton, October 12, 1996
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Oral History Interview with David Newton, October 12, 1996 (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David P. Newton. Newton was born in Birmingham, Alabama 2 December 1915. In 1937 he enrolled in the Birmingham School of Law, graduating and passing the bar examination in 1942. He was inducted into the US Army in 1943 and had basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the 346th Harbor Craft Company. Traveling to Finschhafen, New Guinea he was assigned to a port battalion as a deck officer. He tells of the battalion commander assigning him as the defense counsel for a pending court martial trial. He outlines in detail the cause of the trial and of the favorable ruling rendered toward his client. Soon thereafter, he was sent to Hollandia, New Guinea and assigned to a small boat used for evacuation of wounded from shore. He recalls being part of the invasion force during the landing at Tacloban, Leyte and participating in the evacuation of the wounded. He recollects being ordered to report to the War Crimes Commission in Tokyo in October 1945. He was appointed as a special investigator/prosecutor into the operations of a number of prisoner of war camps. Newton gives an excellent narrative about the investigative findings and trial procedures as well as the results of the prosecutions in which he was involved.
Oral History Interview with David Newton, October 12, 1996 - ark:/67531/metapth1607542
Oral History Interview with David Newton, October 12, 1996, text, October 12, 1996; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1603575/: accessed June 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.