William J. Alexander | Oral History

William J. Alexander

OH 1302

Attorney. His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Educational background; entry into the Navy, 1941; Northwestern Midshipman School, 1941; Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center, Melville, Rhode Island, 1942; operations around the Solomon Islands, 1943; New Georgia Campaign, 1943; accounts of individual exploits of his boat, PT-105; action with Marine paratroopers on Choiseul Island, 1943; his association with future President John F.

OH 1278

Attorney. His role as the defending attorney for four Japanese soldiers accused of spying during the Philippines Campaign, 1944-45. Assignment to 6th Army Headquarters and appointment as defense attorney by General Walter Krueger; description of the trial proceedings; conviction and execution of the accused Japanese soldiers; personal doubts about the fairness of the trial

OH 1372

His experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Enlistment in the Army Air Forces, 1940; acceptance in the Aviation Cadet Program, 1941; his resignation from the Aviation Cadet Program during basic flight training as the result of the death of a close friend in a plane crash; assignment to the 426th Air Force band, Waco, Texas, 1943; stateside band activities, 1943-45; transfer to India and entertainment of troops, 1945.

OH 1381

Businessman. His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Enlistment in the Navy, December, 1941; assignment as a radio communications officer; duty on an LST around Kavieng; construction of a radio station on Emirau; transfer to the cruiser USS Boise, 1944; personal observations about General Douglas A. MacArthur; Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944, and kamikaze attacks; postwar career in the television industry.

OH 1437

His experiences as a member of the Marine detachment on the light cruiser USS Helena during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; also his experiences in the Solomon Islands Campaign and the amphibious assault on Peleliu Island.

OH 1250

Businessman. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Navigator training in Texas, New Mexico, and Kansas; assignment to Saipan, 1944; his B-29 shot down over Tokyo, January, 1945; capture and interrogation by Japanese army personnel; beatings and torture; solitary confinement in Tokyo at the "The Stables"; Tokyo fire bomb raid of March 10, 1945; interrogation, beatings, and torture by Kempei-tai; transfer to Omori camp; liberation in August, 1945; postwar psychological problems and adjustments.