Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO)

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Zamperini, Louis 1936 Berlin Olympics, Military Training and Bombing Wake Island
Louis Zamperini qualified for the 1936 Olympics and went to New York to compete with Don Lash [Annotator's Note: Donald...
O'Hara, Richard 1st Provisional Marine Brigade
Richard O'Hara and his outfit [Annotator's Note: 18th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion] saw very little action. When...
Aust, Abner 30 Years in the US Air Force
[Annotator's Note: Abner Aust stayed in the military after the end of World War 2.] The 36th Tactical Fighter Wing was...
Pierce, William "Bill" 37mm Anti-Tank Gun
William Pierce went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina following his tour in Hingham, Massachusetts. Because he had been...
Zamperini, Louis 47 Day Adrift, 18 Months of Torture and Being Born Again
They [Annotator's Note: Louis Zamperini, his pilot and their tail gunner] spent 47 days fighting off sharks, the...
Freligh, Robert 47 days with geurillas then going home
[Annotators Note: Robert Freligh served as a TBF and TBM Avenger torpedo bomber pilot in Torpedo Squadron 13 (VT-13),...
Higgins, Archibald 494th Bombardment Group Operations
Archibald Higgins was in the Palau Islands with the mission of keeping those islands neutralized and flying missions to...
Hoff, Donald 5 June 1942 at Midway
Donald Hoff [Annotator's Note: a rear seat gunner and radio operator on Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers in Scouting...
Hoff, Donald 6 June 1942 at Midway
Donald Hoff [Annotator's Note: a rear seat gunner and radio operator on Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers in Scouting...
Killam, Arthur 7 December 1941
Arthur Killam was born in San Francisco and lived there until he was six years old when he moved to San Jose,...
Tso, Samuel A Code Talker at Saipan and Okinawa
[Annotator's Note: This interview is conducted with a group of Navajo veterans present, many of whom answer questions...
Winter, William A Common Bond
William Winter agrees with the interviewer's statement that many black veterans felt more freedom in the Army than they...
Ferris, Robert A Difficult Mission
[Annotator's Note: Robert J. Ferris was pilot with Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) and took part in the...
Tso, Samuel A Dream on Iwo Jima
[Annotator's Note: This interview is conducted with a group of Navajo veterans present, many of whom answer questions...
Kneflin, Charles A Family of Soldiers
Charles Kneflin was born in December 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had a very nice childhood. His mother was a home...
Jones, Gerry A Fool's Errand
Gerry Jones and his scout partner, Mack [Annotator's Note: unable to verify identity], were out on a patrol mission on...
Yusen, Jack A Lost Friend
Jack Yusen still frequently thinks about the men who died [Annotator's Note: when his ship, the USS Samuel B. Roberts (...
Rackerby, Archibald "Archie" A Marine for Life
Archibald Rackerby stayed in the Marine Corps after the war ended. He was not 100 percent after his injury. [Annotator'...
Varone, Francis "Dick" A Marine in Combat
On Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: with the 5th Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945...
Charles, Howard A Marine on the USS Houston (CA-30)
Howard Robert Charles was inducted into the Marine Corps [Annotator's Note: in June 1940] in San Diego [Annotator's...
Nakagawa, Ittsei A Maze of Destruction
[Annotator's Note: Ittsei Nakagawa was in a factory in Hiroshima, Japan when the atomic bomb exploded over the city on...
Carroll, Orville A Mechanic's Life on Guam
When Orville Carroll arrived at Northwest Field on Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], the Marines had...
Thrift, Clem A New Ship and a Small Miracle
Clem Thrift went to Norfolk, Virginia for turboelectric training. The ship he helped commission, and on which he...
Sullivan, George A New, Good Life
George Joseph Sullivan spent six months in a hospital at home after he got back. The diet was one of the bad things. He...
Beynon, Robert A Submariner's Life
[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Dr. Robert Beynon what it was like to go out and come back from patrols on a...
Winter, William A Unique Childhood
William Winter was born in 1923 in Grenada County, Mississippi. He came up during the depression on a cotton and cattle...
Schilling, Ira A Very Dangerous Enemy
As the American advance through the Pacific moved closer and closer to the Japanese mainland, enemy resistance grew...
Jones, Gerry A Visit From First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
Gerry Jones discusses Eleanor Roosevelt's visit the South Pacific to assess the well being of the 1st Marine Division....
Henleben, Edwin A Week on Attu
Edwin Henlebin described the beachhead as glutted with supplies. The problem was getting the material from the beach to...
Newberg, Peter Abandoning Ship
Peter Newberg did not have much choice in abandoning ship [Annotator's Note: after the USS Yorktown (CV-5) was mortally...
Roy, William Abandoning the USS Yorktown (CV-5)
[Annotator's Note: William G. Roy served in the Navy as a Photographer's Mate 2nd Class aboard the aircraft carrier USS...
Johnsen, Erik Aboard the SS Louis Hennepin
After Erik Johnsen graduated from his final training at Kings Point, [Annotator's Note: US Merchant Marine Academy,...
Strausbaugh, Leo Action Around the Philippines
Next, Leo V. Strausbaugh's unit [Annotator's Note: Company B, 6th Ranger Battalion] joined the rest of his battalion at...

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