2:48 | Lou Zoghby describes what it was like to ride into Germany, and into combat, in a lightweight glider. Provided by LifeCairn, Inc.
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.
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.)
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
He had to serve in the post-war occupation of Berlin and that was an experience in itself. Charles York describes the chaotic times and the hustles of the victorious Allied soldiers as they tried to make a buck. For a while, the currency standard was a pack of American cigarettes. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
The British prisoners were well treated on board the German cruiser that sank their cargo ship. This came to an end when they were sent to Japan to be imprisoned there. Jack Litchfield watched as the first group of men went down the gangplank and promptly received a beating. When they arrived at the prison camp, the Japanese commander had some sobering words for them.
There were 40,000 paratroopers deployed in Operation Market Garden, an assault into the Netherlands and Germany. Paratrooper Mario Patruno approached his target bridge, only to see the Germans blow it up. Before taking Eindhoven, he captured a frightened young enemy soldier and, immediately, several more showed up.
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.)
It was the end of the war, but Navy Radioman Hal Puett was finally being deployed to the Pacific. After a queasy week of seasickness aboard an LCI, he was put in charge of radio operations on Kwajalein. (This interview made possible with the support of T. RICHARD BARBER, JR.)
The men headed to Saipan were already on edge, especially the Marines who had participated in the previous invasion of Tarawa. Then, as they waited on board ship in the dark, someone dropped a grenade. Having survived that, they next faced a very difficult task, going over the side and down a rope net to board bobbing and heaving Higgins boats.
Before Roy Scribner headed home from the Pacific, he had to watch his ship, the USS Dorsey demolished and scuttled after being slammed by a typhoon. Back home, he was sent to Camp Shoemaker, a place he knew very well.
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)
Iejima was a little island off Okinawa that saw some fierce fighting when Malhon Shoemake was there. He was shot twice and earned a Bronze Star for shooting the enemy right off the back of his sergeant, as well as carrying many wounded to safety. He received a third gunshot wound on Okinawa. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
What is it like for a Florida native, seeing snow for the first time, while simultaneously making first contact with the enemy? When Chan Rogers jumps into a freezing creek, he comes to regret it. (This interview made possible with the support of TIMOTHY R. COLLINS.)
Hank Sawicki remembers some of the troubles they had on deck, a lot of which included how fortunate he and his crewmates were to make it out of their time on the Kalinin alive.
As he readied for the next operation on Tinian, Walter Marshall received the word that he had enough points to go home. He was carrying a bullet in his leg and had a fractured vertebra and the latter condition was destined to plague him for a long time. Determined to make a better life for his children, he ignored the pain and worked on.
It took a while for the Army to decide how to best use Nathan Radin's chemistry degree. He was assigned to a petroleum products unit which was formed to test tanker loads of fuel for quality and possible reuse. He just missed his deployment when he was delayed by a storm and the man who replaced him probably was headed to a much better place than he was. (This interview made possible with the support of KETURAH THUNDER-HAAB.)
Roy Scribner sailed under the Golden Gate bridge in September of 1944 on his way to join the fray. The radioman was also a loader on one of the ship's 20mm guns. The USS Dorsey, a minesweeper, was also armed with depth charges to engage with submarines.
Tarawa was an atoll that had a fishing and coconut oil operation before the war. After 76 hours of US Marines versus entrenched Japanese, there was not much standing. Walter Marshall was lucky enough to come in on an amphibious tractor. Most had to wade through hundreds of yards of coral reef. Once ashore the enemy had to be removed from fortified pillboxes and spider traps.
The Okinawa beachhead was not much different than the others, but after a couple of weeks there, Malhon Shoemake was on his way back to Hawaii for three months to recover from a wound. Once he returned to his unit, it was not long before the war ended and he was sent to Tokyo as a victor. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
You will never forget the first combat order you are issued. Paratrooper Rock Merritt was a corporal when he was given his first real task during the invasion of Normandy. Part 3 of 4. (This interview made possible with the support of JOHN & BARBARA MCCOY.)
On Kwajalein, a tiny atoll in the Pacific, the Naval personnel manning the communications station were very resourceful, says Hal Puett who was in charge there in 1945 at the end of the war. They had some appropriated steaks and some blowtorches, so you can guess how they worked that out. (This interview made possible with the support of T. RICHARD BARBER, JR.)
Chan Rogers experiences a couple of close calls on the Siegfried Line. His unit stumbles upon a nest of sleeping Nazis, suddenly finding themselves in a harrowing firefight. Later, when facing off against a group of German pillboxes, they are showered with deadly shrapnel from tree bursts. (This interview made possible with the support of TIMOTHY R. COLLINS.)
In the waning days of the war, Charles York came across many slave labor camps, but he was spared the terrible sight of extermination camps. The stories he heard were gruesome enough. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)
During one battle, the destroyer USS Radford was guarding some small carriers when a Japanese submarine got in close and sank one. Soon, Hank Sturgess picked up a blip on SONAR and the fast ship closed in to seek revenge. On another occasion, a well known pilot was missing and the men of the Radford joined the search. (This interview made possible with the support of ALBERT SMALL.)
The going home banner was strung aloft after victory in the Pacific was won, but before the USS Dorsey left the dock, a typhoon struck and grounded the ship. Mother Nature had done what the Japanese could not. Roy Scribner was given the task of securing the sensitive communications material.
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.)
