World War II | Oral History

World War II

OH 1397

Dairyman. His experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Enlistment and boot camp, San Diego, California, 1942-43; tank training, El Cajon, California, 1943; tank mechanics school, Fort Knox, Kentucky, 1943; assignment as a replacement to the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion at Guadalcanal, 1944; invasion of Guam, July-August, 1944; reminiscences of coming under Japanese mortar fire on Guam; invasion of Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945; his role in hauling supplies ashore to the infantry on Iwo Jima; his return to the States for training in the V-12 Program, June, 1945.

OH 0425

Survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Sinking of Houston, 1942; capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942;building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi and Tamarkan, Thailand, 1944; Prachin Buri, Thailand, 1944-45; liberation.

OH 0074

Business executive. His experiences as a combat infantryman in Italy during World War II. Operations around Minturno; liberation of Rome; audience with Pope Pius XII; operations around Arno River; receiving battlefield commission; Po valley Campaign and fall of Verona; German surrender.

OH 0675

Executive. Education; early job experience with Standard Oil Company of California; Dittus-Boelter equation; pre-World War II experiences in Nazi Germany; construction of the Bahrain refinery for Bapco; formation of Caltex, 1936; transfer to Caltex; activities during World War II; postwar refinery expansion; evolution of Technical Services Division.

OH 0475

Survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Sinking of Houston, 1942; capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Singapore, 1944-45; hell ship to Japan, 1945; coal mining at Senju, Kyushu, 1945; liberation.

OH 1076

His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in the Netherlands East Indies during World War II. Fall of Java and imprisonment in Surabaja; torture by Kempei Tai; Bandung, 1945; liberation.