Prewar life

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Ebersole, William Advanced Flight Training
After finishing Army Air Forces basic training in Miami Beach, Florida, William Ebersole was sent to Nashville,...
Bellecci, John Advanced Training
John Bellecci completed engineering training at Clemson [Annotator’s Note: Clemson College in South Carolina]. He...
Beck, Carl Airborne Training
Carl Beck joined the Army at 17 in November 1942. He was born in 1925. He had been working with his father during the...
Higgins, Francis "Jack Higgins" Andrew Jackson Higgins
Francis Higgins says a female off camera had his uncle in a spell. [Annotator's Note: His uncle was Andrew Jackson...
Morrow, John Angry About Pearl Harbor and Overseas Deployment
John Morrow was born in April 1924 in Marksville, Louisiana. It is a small town and he knew almost everyone in town. He...
Fitzmorris, James Applying to OCS
James Fitzmorris did not have much college education when he enlisted. He was studying business but wanted to be a...
Purvis, Frank Attack on Pearl Harbor
Frank Purvis volunteered before Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7...
Brignac, Martin Attack on Pearl Harbor and Defending Puget Sound
Everybody was scraping by during the Great Depression. Martin Brignac and his family made out with what they had. They...
Allen, George B-29 Training
George Allen was in New Orleans, Louisiana on a trip with his family when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was...
Oreck, David B-29 Training and Saipan
David Oreck enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in 1942 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He wanted to fly in the Air...
Zygmuntowicz, Itka Beaten by the Gestapo
Itka Zygmuntowicz was born in April 1926 in Ciechanów, Poland. It was a small town. They lived in two different places...
Kawamoto, Yukio Becoming a Japanese Language Specialist
Yukio Kawamoto was born in Berkeley, California in November 1919. He was drafted into the Army from the University of...
Bourgeois, Henry "Hank" Becoming a Marine Aviator and Deployment to Guadalcanal
Henry Bourgeois was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He first flew when he was about seven years old. After...
Godbold, Bryghte Becoming a Marine Officer
Bryghte Davis Godbold joined the Marine Corps and attended the basic school for new officers in Philadelphia. The...
Mayeur, Russell Becoming a Merchant Mariner
Russell Mayeur left New Orleans for St. Petersburg, Florida to train for the Merchant Marine. He had no problem with...
Tacket, Henry Becoming a Sailor
Henry A. Tacket was an amateur radio operator in his youth. His friends coaxed him into joining the Navy's V3 program...
Long, Donald Becoming a Sailor
Donald Long would have preferred to be in the Coast Guard since a station was near his home. He enlisted in the Navy...
Halloran, Walter Becoming a Soldier
Walter Halloran had never thought about joining the military until the attack on Pearl Harbor. He knew no one who had...
Lombardo, Frank Becoming a Soldier and Overseas Deployment
Frank Lombardo was inducted into the service and became a private in the Army [Annotator's Note: on 5 March 1942]. His...
Hurley, Wallace Becoming a Soldier, Overseas Deployment and Camaraderie
Wallace Hurley was initially trained as a scout but reassigned to regular infantry. His training was at Camp Robinson...
Grieves, Billy Becoming a Submarine Sailor
Billy Grieves was born in Liberty Center, Ohio. At a young age his parents moved the family to Detroit, Michigan for...
Aupied, Mildred Becoming a Welder
Mildred Bonvillian Aupied was born in Bayou Black near Houma in Terrebonne Parish [Annotator’s Note: south of New...
Field, Richard Becomming a Paratrooper
Richard J. Field was born and raised in Upstate New York in the small town of Liberty. He lived on the outskirts of...
Alexander, Samson Black Servicemen
Reading, writing, and arithmetic were important to black people when Samson Alexander was growing up. They knew they...
Soong, Tsuyin Born into War with Japan
Tsuyin Soong was born in January 1933 in Hunan Province, China. He has two brothers and two sisters. He remembers the...
Nolan, Warren Brothers and the Navy
Warren Nolan grew up in Algiers and New Orleans, Louisiana with two brothers. His older brother was in the Navy and was...
Bussel, Norman Building B-25s
Norman Bussel worked building B-25 bombers [Annotator’s Note: North American B-25 Mitchell] at the Fisher Body plant [...
DeSalvo, Vincent Business Success then Drafted
Vincent DeSalvo was a barber in New Orleans and was at the hospital to visit a customer of his who had been in accident...
Kuskie, Glen Childhood, Joining the Army, and Attack on the Philippines
Glen Kuskie was born in February 1924 on a dairy farm in Lincoln, Nebraska. When his family moved to town, his dad...
Alexander, Samson Christmas Toys
Growing up, Samson Alexander used to follow around his brother who was in Boy Scouts. The white people had what they...
Overcash, Raymond Drafted, Training, D-Day and Injury
Raymond Eugene Overcash was born in Lanett, Alabama in 1923. He was drafted in 1943. He did his basic training in...
Brien, Russel Early Farm Life
Russell Brien was born in June 1925 in Houma, Louisiana. His father was a sugar cane farmer and Brien would run to the...
Gurr, Robert Early Interests
Robert Gurr had an early interest in automobiles and airplanes. In his earliest recollections, there are memories of...
Martinez, Benigno Early Life
Benigno Andres Martinez, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 1919. His father was a native of Spain. He...
Summers, Calvin Early Life
Calvin Summers was born in February 1925 in Westminster, Maryland. When he was 11 months old he moved with his mother...
Hurley, Wallace Early Life
Wallace G. Hurley was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1923. His mother and father divorced. His alcoholic father headed...

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