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Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr.Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr.Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith:
Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley:
Yes it did. What stood out in boot camp for you? The beauty of Farragut, Idaho. Did you have any difficulty in adjusting to the regimen or discipline? Was that difficult? No I didn't find it difficult at all. Were you working pretty long hours in boot camp? Yes, it wasn't bad. I had good quarters. What did you specialize in? When I got out of boot camp I went to radar school in San Diego. How long were you there? Oh about two months. Radar was pretty new in those days, so we were in on the ground floor. Do your recall anything outstanding about radar school? It was all new to me. I didn't dream there was such a thing. The radar school was out on Point Wilma which was nice, really beautiful. Then I went to radar school again at Camp Catlin in Pearl Harbor. You weren't assigned to a ship at this time? I had been signed to an APA. But it wasn't ready to go and I asked to be transferred out of there. That was at San Pidre (sp?). What type of a ship was an APA? It was a cargo carrier. It wasn't a war ship. They had a gunnery crew aboard. How long were you in radar school in Hawaii?
Another two months. I came out with a Third Class rank. At this time were you assigned to a ship? Shortly after that I was assigned to the USS Whitehurst. It was a Destroyer Escort. How long were you aboard the Whitehurst? They flew me out to Iwo Jima and I was waiting to go aboard. It was the day Roosevelt died it was hit by a Kamikaze and I went on board two days after that. Then we brought it back to Pearl Harbor. This was in 1945. It was about May 12th when Roosevelt died.
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Ainley. Ainley joined the Navy in September of 1944. He completed Radar School in Hawaii, and served as a Radar Specialist and navigator aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Guam, Leyte and maneuvered along the China Coast, with a carrier task force. They transported prisoners-of-war from Taiwan and Formosa to Manila. They traveled to Saipan and completed occupation duty in Hong Kong, completing air sea rescue and charting harbors. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.
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