| Interviewee | MESKILL, David T. (b. 1917) |
| Military Service | U.S. Navy WWII Veteran |
| Interview ID # | OH 1182 |
| Date(s) of interview | |
| Description | His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II aboard the USS Spence. His duties in the S Division as paymaster and disbursing officer; battle station in the Combat Information Center; comments about the skipper, Lieutenant Commander Henry J. Armstrong; assignment to Solomon Islands as part of Destroyer Squadron 23 (DesRon 23); combat in "The Slot"; comments about Commander Arleigh Burke; Bougainville landings; Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, November 1, 1944; morale and recreation ashore; treatment of Japanese prisoners-of-war; everyday life aboard the Spence; origins of the "Little Beavers" nickname for DesRon 23; action off Truk; invasions of Saipan and Tinian, 1944; transfer off the Spence to stateside duty; separation from the Navy; lasting effects of wartime experience. |
| Interviewer(s) | William J. Alexander |
| Physical Description | 63 pp. plus documents (12 pp.) |
| Terms of Use | Open |
