William J. Alexander | Oral History

William J. Alexander

OH 1391

Mechanical engineer. His experiences with the Corps of Engineers in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Pre-war job experiences; enlistment in the Corps of Engineers Reserve, 1933; service with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona and Colorado, 1933-34; active duty, December, 1941; assignment to Headquarters, 3rd Army, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, 1942; transfer to Headquarters, 6th Army, 1943; various responsibilities with the Engineers in the Southwest Pacific and the Philippines, 1943-45; rebuilding the Japanese infrastructure as part of the Army of Occupation, 1945.

OH 1379

His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. Pre-war education and employment; basic training in the artillery, Camp Bowie, Brownwood, Texas, 1942; general comments about his experiences at Normandy, Saint-Lô, liberation of Paris, Huertgen Forest, Remagen Bridge, Battle of the Bulge, and the liberation of Czechoslovakia.

OH 1277

Survivor of the Bataan Death March. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Bataan and capture; Bataan Death March; Camp O'Donnell, 1942; Cabanatuan, 1942; Clark Field, Manila, 1942; Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1942-44; hell ship to Japan, 1944; Nagoya, Honshu, 1944-45; American air raids; liberation; his role in the Tokyo war crimes trials, 1946-47.

OH 1182

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.

OH 1317

Survivor of the siege of Corregidor; survivor of the Palawan massacre. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Enlistment in the Marine Corps and assignment to Cavite Navy Yard, Philippines; bombing of Cavite by the Japanese and evacuation to Corregidor; fall of Corregidor, 1942; his personal comments about General Douglas A.

OH 1377

His experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Training at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as a radio operator/mechanic, 1943-44; radar fundamentals school at Chanute Field, Illinois, 1944; LORAN training at Boca Raton, Florida, 1944-45; assignment to the 13th Squadron at Chittagong, India, 1945; servicing radar and radio equipment for C-46 cargo planes flying “The Hump”; plane losses due to accidents and Japanese action; reassignment to Myitkyina, Burma, 1945; his postwar career in television.

OH 1355

His experiences while aboard the battleship USS Maryland during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.