Oral History Interview with Elmer Freeman, September 30, 2000

Oral History Interview with Elmer Freeman, September 30, 2000

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Track One 1:01:41

Description

Transcript of an oral interview with Elmer Freeman. Mr Freeman graduated from high school in 1938 and joined the Navy in 1939. He had three other brothers in the service during the war. After training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, he was assigned to Aviation Machinist Mate School in San Diego. Upon completion of that, he was sent to VP-12, a PBY squadron in San Diego for a short while then sent to Patrol Wing 4 in Seattle. He was assigned to VP-41 first and then VP-42, both PBY squadrons; he was there when the war started. On December … continued below

Physical Description

1 sound recording (1 hr., 1 min., 41 sec.)

Creation Information

Freeman, Elmer September 30, 2000.

Context

This audio recording is part of the collection entitled: National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection and was provided by the National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. More information about this recording can be viewed below.

Interviewee

Freeman, Elmer

Interviewers

Publisher

National Museum of the Pacific War
Place of Publication: Fredericksburg, Texas

Audiences

Check out our Resources for Educators Site! We've identified this sound as a primary source within our collections. Researchers, educators, and students may find this recording useful in their work.

Provided By

National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Established in 1967, the Museum honors the 8 million Americans who served in WWII in the Pacific Theater by sharing their stories with the world. Located in Fredericksburg in the restored Nimitz "Steamboat" Hotel, the Museum partners with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve the historical resources of the era.

Description

Transcript of an oral interview with Elmer Freeman. Mr Freeman graduated from high school in 1938 and joined the Navy in 1939. He had three other brothers in the service during the war. After training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, he was assigned to Aviation Machinist Mate School in San Diego. Upon completion of that, he was sent to VP-12, a PBY squadron in San Diego for a short while then sent to Patrol Wing 4 in Seattle. He was assigned to VP-41 first and then VP-42, both PBY squadrons; he was there when the war started. On December 8, 1941, they were ordered to Tongue Point, Oregon (in the mouth of the Columbia River) and began flying anti-submarine patrols from there, flying PBY-5s. In Feb 1942, his squadron was ordered to Alaska (Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor). He was a plane captain/crew chief, flight engineer and gunner. They flew pie-shaped sector searches for around ten hours. The squadron came back to Whidbey Island in Feb 1943 for about a month and then went back to Alaska but changed over to the PVs then (PV-1 Ventura). They operated from a variety of islands in the Aleutian chain. He was shipped back to the States in October 1943, after the U.S. had taken back Attu and Kiska. He then went to Panama with VP-1 which was flying PB2Ys. They patrolled the Caribbean and had a detachment in the Galapagos Islands. After this tour, Mr Freeman was sent to Memphis, Tennessee for SC (single place float plane) School. At the beginning of 1945, he went to Scout Observation Service Unit 2 in Norfolk, Virginia ; he was there on VE-Day. Next he got orders to go to Floyd Bennett Field in New York and assigned to the cruiser USS Fargo which had not been commissioned. Freeman spent about a year and one half in the Atlantic Fleet and was there when the war ended. After the war was over, he went to the Philippines (Cavite) and was in VP-28 (flying PBMs) for about one and one-half years. Mr Freeman retired from the Navy in 1959. Mr Freeman authored a book titled 'Those Navy Guys in the PBY's'.

Physical Description

1 sound recording (1 hr., 1 min., 41 sec.)

Subjects

Keywords

Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

Library of Congress Subject Headings

World War, 1939-1945

University of North Texas Libraries Browse Structure

Language

English

Item Type

Sound

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this recording in the Portal or other systems.

Accession or Local Control No: OH00070
Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metapth1607400

Relationships

Oral History Interview with Elmer Freeman, September 30, 2000, [transcript] ark:/67531/metapth1603432

Collections

This recording is part of the following collections of related materials.

National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection

This oral history collection depicts an instrumental era in American history. In these transcripts of interviews with World War II veterans are personal experiences with the war, from the Doolittle Raid and D-Day to the Battle for Bataan.

National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive

The Digital Archive presents digitized collections from the Center for Pacific War Studies collections at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Collections and material are continuously being added and represent only a small portion of the archives' physical holdings.

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