Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM World War II

Joe Wyche | U.S. Army - Army

1:35 | Joe Wyche recalls how the poor economic times of the Great Depression led him to join the Army in the late 1930s.

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WWII

Joe Wyche | WWII | U.S. Army | 1:35

Joe Wyche recalls how the poor economic times of the Great Depression led him to join the Army in the late 1930s.

Showing : WWII Videos

Jack Houston - Marines +10 Total Videos

G Company, 22nd Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division

Jack Houston had just helped his buddy dress a wound when he volunteered to return to the Okinawa hilltop where they were getting the enemy cleared out. When he got the jump on three of them, his muzzle flash gave him away and he had to leave in a hurry. He flung himself off the hill where he came face to face with a rifle. Part 5 of 6. (This interview made possible with the support of JOHN & BARBARA MCCOY.)
Jack Lemonds - Army Air Corps/Air Force +9 Total Videos

567th Bomb Squadron, 389th Bomb Group

The Russians were close enough that the American POW's could hear the fire in the distance. Their guards roused them all and put them on the road in a forced march, leaving their camp in Poland and heading for Germany. It was seventy nine days of freezing cold out in the open, with very little food. (This interview made possible with the support of PHILIP J. O'NEILL.)
Ed Harrell - Marines +12 Total Videos

USS Indianapolis

Ed Harrell describes in detail the sinking of the USS Indianapolis from Japanese torpedoes, which left nearly 900 Sailors and Marines in shark-infested Pacific waters. Part 1 of 4.
LtGen Lawrence Snowden - Marines +16 Total Videos

23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division

The first operation for the 4th Division was the landing on Roi-Namur. Lawrence Snowden remembers that, though it was an easy victory, valuable combat experience and important lessons were imparted on the Marines.
Don Scott - Army Air Corps/Air Force +8 Total Videos

560th Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

Two engines were out, a third smoking, and they were were losing airspeed and altitude, but they were flying level and pointed home. Then time ran out for the B-17 and Don Scott had to slip down the hatch into the slipstream. Part 2 of 3.
Clyde Burnette - Army Air Corps/Air Force +13 Total Videos

713th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

It was their third mission over Berlin and they were heading home. Four German fighters pounced on the B-24 and it was engulfed in flame and going down. Clyde Burnette fought for consciousness as the other crew in the back of the plane bailed out. He woke in free fall with no idea how he had made it out, and soon he was in German custody. Everyone made it out of the plane except George "Danny" Daneau, the nose turret gunner, who went down with the aircraft.
B.E. Vaughan - Navy +9 Total Videos

USS O'Brien (DD-725)

After a nerve-wracking mission to bomb Tokyo and a typhoon, B.E. Vaughan and the destroyer O'Brien suffered a second kamikaze attack which killed all three of his hometown pals who served with him on board. Then, began the grim task of collecting the personal belongings of the dead and preparing them for burial at sea.
Walter Marshall - Marines +7 Total Videos

G Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division

He was ready for the Marines after a disciplined, patriotic upbringing, a stern principal at his school and training in the National Guard. Walter Marshall was also influenced by movies about the Marines, especially the uniforms. When war broke out, he was already aware of conditions in Europe, as told to him by Jewish friends.
Nathan Radin - Army +7 Total Videos

Multiple Units

Most guys were already assigned and shipped out of camp but Nathan Radin found himself in charge of marching new recruits around. Finally, he got an assignment that matched up with his college degree, a medical dispensary in Charleston. Then it was on to a laboratory in Ohio where he trained pilots in a decompression chamber. His eventual wartime assignment was still waiting for him. (This interview made possible with the support of KETURAH THUNDER-HAAB.)
Dan Magill - Marines +8 Total Videos

1st Marine Division

Marine Lieutenant Dan Magill arrived in the Philippines after the enemy was on the run. Very soon, the islands were out from under the thumb of the Japanese, and he had an interesting idea for the colonel about a little commemoration involving a diving exhibition. (This interview made possible with the support of ANITA E. MANUEL.)
Chan Rogers - Army +13 Total Videos

Marine Air Base Squadron MABS-16

The taking of Munich becomes a symbol, for Chan Rogers, that the war has come to its end. Now transitioning to an occupying force, he faces the possibility of shipping out to the Pacific for an impending invasion of Japan. (This interview made possible with the support of TIMOTHY R. COLLINS.)
P.G. Caudell - Navy +6 Total Videos

USS Adair (APA-91)

Navy gunner P.G. Caudell recalls his experience with two hazards to ships in the Pacific, mines and kamikazes. (This interview made possible with the support of Vietnam Veteran, Capt. GRAHAM G. KYLE, JR.)
Jack Litchfield - Merchant Marine +7 Total Videos

Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)

If you were sick, you either got better or you died. There was no medicine for the prisoners, and Jack Litchfield had an infected leg injury which could have killed him. Men were dying all around the camp from illness and malnutrition.
Bill Vaughan - Army +4 Total Videos

43rd Infantry Division

When Bill Vaughan's unit started out to secure Ipo Dam in the Philippines, they had 180 men. At the end, there were 34 left. Soon he was serving occupation duty in Japan, courtesy of President Truman's fateful decision to use the atomic bomb. (This interview made possible with the support of MARILYN M. WOODHOUSE.)
Nathan Radin - Army +7 Total Videos

929th Quartermaster Petroleum Products Laboratory

He's not sure, but Nathan Radin thinks he saw some sumo wrestling going on in the Japanese POW camp across the way. He was in New Guinea and his job was to test the loads of fuel tankers for quality and contamination. The men in the unit had to scrounge for the lumber and build the lab themselves, but at least the Japanese never bothered them. (This interview made possible with the support of KETURAH THUNDER-HAAB.)
P.G. Caudell - Navy +6 Total Videos

USS Adair (APA-91)

You were not supposed to have a camera aboard ship, but P.G. Caudell had a miniature novelty camera that he broke down and brought with him anyway. He was wondering if the little thing would work, so he and a buddy gave it a try. (This interview made possible with the support of Vietnam Veteran, Capt. GRAHAM G. KYLE, JR.)
Frank Fancher - Army +10 Total Videos

Troop A, 32nd Cavalry Squadron, 14th Cavalry Group

His battlefield commission from Stromberg Hill finally caught up with Frank "Lindy" Fancher and he received his Lieutenant bars. By this time, the Battle of the Bulge was on and he was in several firefights in Belgium where the Germans had superior numbers. It was during this time that he spotted an idle tank and took off in it to help a pinned down unit. (This interview made possible with the support of RICHARD & BARBARA ROSENBERG.)
Nathan Radin - Army +7 Total Videos

Multiple Units

With a chemistry degree in hand, Nathan Radin headed home from Berkeley to New York City. He forgot to notify the draft board, but they found him eventually, working for the War Department in a parachute flare factory. (This interview made possible with the support of KETURAH THUNDER-HAAB.)
James Tabb - Army Air Corps/Air Force +3 Total Videos

Army Air Corps

He was finally on his way to flying, but aviation cadet James Tabb kept playing a waiting game at each level of training. First some college, then some flight training. All the while, the Allies were progressing in the fight and the need for new aviators was lessened. There was this new plane, however, the B-29. (This interview made possible with the support of KETURAH THUNDER-HAAB.)
Roy Scribner - Navy +11 Total Videos

USS Dorsey (DD-117/DMS-1)

The physical training in Navy boot camp was no problem for Roy Scribner, who played football in school. He was sent to radio operators school at Texas A&M and then he joined the crew of the USS Dorsey, a minesweeper converted from a World War I era destroyer.
Jack Womer - Army +7 Total Videos

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Jack Womer becomes part of the infamous Filthy 13, an elite unit of demolition paratroopers. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
Dr. C.B. Skelton - Army +6 Total Videos

538th Quartermaster Group, 3rd Field Command, Graves Registration Service

In post-war Europe, C.B. Skelton was a 19 year old 2nd Lieutenant working to identify and recover the missing remains of American servicemen. He was the Special Investigations Officer, which meant he got the difficult and unusual cases, like the possible spy and the gruesome casket with multiple bodies. (This interview made possible with the support of DONALD FAWCETT (Capt.) R)
Chan Rogers - Army +13 Total Videos

Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (HMM 364)

Rogers travels 500 miles into France, destined for combat in the Vosges Mountains. While on patrol, he discovers a gruesome scene that he has trouble shaking off. (This interview made possible with the support of TIMOTHY R. COLLINS.)
Rock Merritt - Army +12 Total Videos

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

Rock Merritt had no idea where the rest of his unit was. The paratrooper had dropped into Normandy and soon became part of a group of 37 men from many outfits. A chaplain among them did a great job of keeping up morale as they tried to get a foothold and move on the Germans. When his unit finally assembled, his platoon was issued weapons with which he was totally unfamiliar. Part 2 of 4. (This interview made possible with the support of JOHN & BARBARA MCCOY.)
Frank Noonan - Navy +14 Total Videos

USS Helm (DD-388)

When the Japanese fleet came down "The Slot" to support its troops in the Solomon Islands, an American force was rapidly gathered to engage them. Frank Noonan was loading projectiles on the USS Helm, so he could not see the action, but he could sure hear it. After the battle, the ships that were damaged were told to make for port at what speed they could manage. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.)
George Starks - Army +12 Total Videos

Multiple Units

After an amazing adventure in France and Switzerland, George Starks was instructing B-17 pilots at the war's end. He took a job with an airline, but decided upon another path, one which would lead him back into the army, but not as a pilot.
Rock Merritt - Army +12 Total Videos

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

Former paratrooper Rock Merritt discusses the origin of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment's logo, the Red Devil. (This interview made possible with the support of JOHN & BARBARA MCCOY.)
Albert Sturgess, Jr. - Navy +12 Total Videos

USS Radford (DD-446)

Hank Sturgess was in college when he joined the Navy and they told him to finish and then report to Midshipmen's school. A brief stay at Notre Dame was followed by a an intense, shortened session at Northwestern University. He was ready for the Pacific fleet. (This interview made possible with the support of ALBERT SMALL.)
P.G. Caudell - Navy +6 Total Videos

USS Adair (APA-91)

P.G. Caudell chose Navy because his two brothers chose Army and he wanted to be contrary. There was only one problem, he weighed less than a hundred pounds and they wanted at least ten more on a recruit. (This interview made possible with the support of Vietnam Veteran, Capt. GRAHAM G. KYLE, JR.)
Rock Merritt - Army +12 Total Videos

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

Rock Merritt had no knowledge of what he was training for in Nottingham, but soon the paratrooper was part of the vast invasion of Normandy. He describes the huge scope of the effort, the airplanes they used, and a unwanted responsibility he had regarding a bicycle. (This interview made possible with the support of JOHN & BARBARA MCCOY.)