National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Collection - 20 Matching Results

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Oral History Interview with Abner Aust, March 19, 2013

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Abner Aust. Aust joined the Army Air Forces in September 1941 and completed flight school in April 1943. He was assigned to Venice, Florida, as an instructor, often receiving extra runway duty on account of his mischievous acrobatics. In October 1944, he joined the 506th Fighter Group, 457th Fighter Squadron, as flight commander. Upon familiarizing himself with the P-51, he flew his first missions out of Tinian, moving next … more
Date: March 19, 2013
Creator: Aust, Abner
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Adrian Miller, August 3, 2001

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Adrian Miller. Miller was born in Winamac, Indiana 16 November 1924 and graduated from high school in 1942. He entered the Army in March, 1944 and took his basic training at Ft. Blanding, Florida. He volunteered for the paratroopers at Fort Benning, Georgia and describes the six weeks of rigorous training, which included jumps. In November, he joined the 101st Army Airborne and was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry, C… more
Date: August 3, 2001
Creator: Miller, Adrian
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Afton Keeton, April 5, 2003

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Afton Keeton. Keeton joined the Navy in early 1942. He completed Hospital Corps School, and served as a Pharmacist’s Mate. He volunteered for Submarine School. From 1944 through the end of the war, Keeton worked in the sick bays aboard USS Seadragon (SS-194) and USS Tilefish (SS-307). He shares numerous anecdotes of his work aboard the submarines, though does not go into detail of where they traveled through the Pacific. Keeton c… more
Date: April 5, 2003
Creator: Keeton, Afton
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Afton Keeton, August 30, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Afton Keeton. Keeton joined the Navy in July of 1942. He completed Hospital Corps School and became a Pharmacist Mate. He first served aboard the USS Sea Dragon (SS-194). They patrolled the Aleutian Islands. He was then stationed at the Submarine Base in Pearl Harbor, working in a sick bay. He then served aboard the USS Apollo (AS-25) with a relief crew. He provides some detail of working aboard a submarine, serving as the Doc, l… more
Date: August 30, 2007
Creator: Keeton, Afton
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Al Hiegel, September 18, 2005

Description: Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS F… more
Date: September 18, 2005
Creator: Heigel, Al
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Alan Hildebrandt, November 12, 2009

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alan Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt enlisted in the Army Air Forces in July of 1942. He describes the planes he flew during training, including the PT-19, the BT-13 and the UC-78. Hildebrandt was commissioned and received his pilot rating in November of 1943. Upon graduation he trained on the B-26 at Laughlin Field. Hildebrandt served as a pilot in the 95th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force. They first traveled to Morocco,… more
Date: November 12, 2009
Creator: Hildebrandt, Alan
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Albert Donaldson, April 14, 2009

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Donaldson. Donaldson talks about how the Great Depression affected his family. He joined the Navy in 1944 and provides details of his training. He traveled aboard the USS Buckingham (APA-141). They traveled to Pearl Harbor, which he describes along with his responsibilities with work parties unloading and reloading ships. He assisted with trading out old ammunition for new ammunition. He was transferred to the John Rodgers… more
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Donaldson, Albert
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Annie (Amy) May Webb, March 24, 2001

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Annie May Webb. She discusses her husband's service and her experiences on the homefront. She describes delivering word of the birth of their daughter to her husband while he was aboard the USS Bennington serving with VMF-112
Date: March 24, 2001
Creator: Webb, Annie (Amy) May
Location: 30.713581 -95.547276
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Charles H. Tucker, April 18, 2017

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles H. Tucker from Orange, California. He discusses volunteering for the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and going to basic training in Miami Beach, Florida, then going to Aircraft Armament School in Buckley Field, Colorado, and finally air gunnery school in Fort Myers, Florida. In air gunnery school, Mr. Tucker learned to shoot in B-17 by shooting into the Gulf of Mexico. After gunnery school he was sent to the B-25 crew tr… more
Date: April 18, 2017
Creator: Tucker, Charles H.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Clifton P. Fox, January 4, 2008

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clifton P. Fox. He discusses his childhood growing up during the Great Depression and what led him to join the US Marine Corps. He describes his experiences during bootcamp and in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two.
Date: January 4, 2008
Creator: Fox, Clifton P. & Osborn, Oakley E.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with David Lee Hill, September 20, 2003

Description: Interview with David Lee "Tex" Hill of San Antonio, Texas, a veteran from the United States Navy during World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences while in the Navy, including memories of pre-war flight training in Florida, the Flying Tigers, and the Salween River Gorge attack. There is a photograph and a short biography of Hill after the interview transcription.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Cox, William G. & Hill, David Lee
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Dean Caswell, December 8, 2021

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dean Caswell. Caswell volunteered for the Marine Corps two weeks prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He eventually went to flight training before being assigned aboard USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) from which he flew Corsairs. Caswell made over 100 combat flights from Bunker Hill, eventually becoming an ace with Marine Fighter Squadron 221 (VMF-221). He shares on anecdote about getting seven enemy planes in one mission. He also shares… more
Date: December 8, 2021
Creator: Caswell, Dean
Location: 42.360091 -71.094160
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Francis R. Ferry, September 30, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Francis R. Ferry. Ferry grew up in Nebraska and taught for a year before joining the Navy in 1942. He had enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program prior to enlisting. He trained on the N3N, the SNJ, the OS2U, the BT, the SBC3 and other types of aircraft. He was assigned to be a dive-bomber, flying the SB2C Helldiver. Ferry was initially assigned to VB-14 and left aboard the USS Wasp to the coast of Venezuela where he … more
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Ferry, Francis R.
Location: 40.701188 -99.101429
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Harold Buell, September 30, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harold Buell. While attending college in Iowa, Buell took advantage of the Civilian Pilot Training program and earned a pilot's license in 1940. He volunteered for the Navy and went to flight school at Pensacola, Florida, where he earned his wings and a commission in November, 1941. He was assigned to go aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-5) as a member of Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) and arrived in time for the Battle of the Coral S… more
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Buell, Harold
Location: 41.0174 -91.968
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with James H. ""Herb"" Macia, July 21, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James H. ""Herb"" Macia. He discusses being a navigator/bombardier on the 14th plane in the Doolittle Raid, including the training leading up to the raid, the trip on the USS Hornet, the raid itself, bailing out over China, the weeks spent there before making it out through India and Egypt and stories about other men in the Raiders. He also discusses meeting with Generalissimo and Madam Chiang Kai-Shek, seeing the Egyptian p… more
Date: July 21, 2000
Creator: Macia, James H. ""Herb""
Location: 32.233869 -110.948133
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with James R. Hood, June 21, 2007

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James Hood of Indianapolis, Indiana. He discusses entering the U.S. Navy in September of 1942 without basic training as he was a college graduate. After being sworn in at Wabash College he was sent to Harvard Business School for Supply Corps for 4 months before being assigned to a ship in Pearl Harbor despite having no sailing training. Mr. hood was assigned to the Cummings DE643, he was supposed to be on the Samuel B. Rober… more
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Hood, James R.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with John G. Solis, March 31, 2009

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John G. Solis of Irving, Texas. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Navy on September 17, 1942, and was sent to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for bootcamp. In bootcamp Mr. Solis talks about learning to shoot rifles by shooting clay pigeons and presentations held to teach how to identify enemy aircraft. While learning to fly, Mr. Solis was assigned to Bombing Squadron 1. In 1944 Mr. Solis ended up with the Tor… more
Date: March 31, 2009
Creator: Solis, John G.
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with R. Bruce Porter, September 30, 2000

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with R. Bruce Porter. After a few years of college at the University of Southern California, Porter joined the Marines as an aviation cadet. After training on the F4F, Porter was assigned to Squadron 111 and shipped out on the USS Garfield to American Samoa. Porter mentions training with and talking with Joe Foss when his squadron passed through Apia. Porter then went to Turtle Bay, New Caledonia. He next flew F4F's in Guadalcana… more
Date: September 30, 2000
Creator: Porter, R. Bruce
Location: 34.022352 -118.285117
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Raymond F. Higgins, October 25, 1997

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond F. Higgins. Higgins joined the Navy in February 1941 as a commissioned officer. He trained with the Marines at Quantico and then with the Medical Corps at Paris Island. He also trained in tropical and aviation medicine and learned to fly N3N's at Pensacola. Higgins was transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor. He then transferred to islands in the southwest Pacific. He was in Fleet Air Wing 101, a fligh… more
Date: October 25, 1997
Creator: Higgins, Raymond F.
Location: 32.328746 -80.694790
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Oral History Interview with Samuel Spencer, February 1994

Description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Samuel Spencer. He discusses his experiences fighting in the battle of Tarawa in November of 1943 and other stories as a Marine in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two.
Date: February 1994
Creator: Spencer, Samuel
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation
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