Pacific Theater | Oral History

Pacific Theater

OH 1856

Retired Santa Fe Railroad agent. Childhood in rural North Texas; the Great Depression; war work at Consolidated Steel Shipyard; draft into infantry; training at Camp Howze and Camp Livingston; European Theater; push from Cologne to Altena, Germany; the Ruhr Pocket; push into Austria; V-E Day; reassignment to Pacific Theater; Philippines; post-war work experience; post-war life in Dallas.

OH 0957

His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Assignment to 2nd Marine Division; landings on Gavutu and Tanambogo in Florida Islands; Tarawa landing; Marianas campaign and Tinian landing.

OH 1058

His experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Melvin during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Marianas invasion; Carolines invasion; Battle of Leyte Gulf; Battle of Surigao Strait; Iwo Jima; Okinawa; Kurile operations and occupation of Japan.

OH 1288

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15, USS Randolph, USS Noble. His experiences as a PT boat skipper in the North African and European Theaters and various other duties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Early naval career, 1941-42; assignment to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Center, Melville, Rhode Island, October, 1942; association with future President John F.

OH 1166

Scientist, engineer, physicist. His role in the development of the proximity fuze in World War II. Education and technical training; employment with the Office of Scientific Research and Development, 1942; technical aspects of developing the proximity fuze; practical applications of the proximity fuze in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean Theaters; comments about the roles of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins, and Vannevar Bush.

OH 1293

His experiences concerning his association with General Roger Ramey, 1937-57. Operations against Rabaul in the Pacific Theater during World War II; atomic bomb tests at Kwajalein and Eniwetok, 1946 (Project CROSSROADS); relationship between Ramey and Fort Worth, Texas, promoter Amon Carter; his personal and professional relations with Ramey; Ramey’s relationship with General Douglas A. MacArthur; Ramey’s relationship with President Harry S Truman; establishment of a separate, independent Air Force.

OH 1169

His experiences while aboard the submarine USS Sailfish in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Submarine School, New London, Connecticut, 1942; his responsibilities as a motor machinist’s mate; qualification examinations; various patrols off the Aleutian Islands and in the South China Sea; lifeguard duty off the Mariana Islands for downed airmen.

OH 1065

Engineer. His experiences aboard the destroyer USS McGowan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Everyday life aboard ship; Iwo Jima; Okinawa and kamikazes; operations off northern Japan, 1945.

OH 1520

Landscape architect. His experience as a member of PRISIC in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Educational background including graduation from Kansas State University with a degree in landscape architecture; commissioning as a U.S.