Douglas Holmes Blair was born in December 1925 in Roseburg, Oregon with one brother and a half-brother. Both of his brothers served in World War 2. One was killed in an airplane accident. His grandfather owned a cattle ranch, so Blair did a lot of work on the ranch during his high school years. His father worked as a telegrapher for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and his mother died when she was 32 years old. After graduating from high school in June 1943, Blair worked various jobs until he was drafted into the Navy in May 1944. He chose the Navy so he would have a place to sleep every night. He said even though he grew up during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], he does not recall going hungry or not having enough to eat. He was 16 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was sitting in the living room listening to the radio when the announcement of the attack interrupted his program. Soon, many of his older friends had joined the military. Blair could not wait to graduate and join the military. He initially wanted to go into naval flying, but did not pass the physical. He was sent to Farragut, Idaho for boot camp for nine weeks to learn how to row a whale boat. After his boot camp, he went home for 30 days and then reported to Camp Bradford in Norfolk, Virginia for advanced training as a fire control man in the Naval Amphibious Forces. He was assigned to the USS Hampden County (LST-803) in Jeffersonville, Indiana and was there for its commission and first launch. The crew took Hampden County down the Ohio River and into the Mississippi River heading for New Orleans, Louisiana. His vessel hit a large storm and Blair became seasick for three days.

After joining the Navy, Douglas Holmes Blair was assigned to the USS Hampden County (LST-803). The crew left New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] and headed for Panama City, Florida for a shakedown [Annotator's Note: a cruise to evaluate the performance of a naval vessel and its crew]. The Hampden County then returned to New Orleans for more training and supplies before leaving for the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: manmade canal in the country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America]. The convoy his ship was in went through a horrible storm. One of his friends got so sick that his appendix ruptured. The captain had his friend transported off the ship to have surgery. Blair spoke about reunions and learned that his friend eventually was assigned to another LST and took part in the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. His friend believes that the captain saved his life by taking him off the ship in time to have surgery. After going through the Panama Canal, his crew landed in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] where they picked up 10,000 tons of Portland cement where is was stored in the tank deck. The ship headed to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and then onto Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. The cement was unloaded and the captain found out that it was going to be used to build an officer’s swimming pool. During the next month, the crew of Hampden County prepared at Guam, Saipan [Annotator’s Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands], and Tinian [Annotator’s Note: Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands] for the invasion of Okinawa.

During World War 2, Douglas Holmes Blair was assigned to the USS Hampden County (LST-803) as the fire control man and took part in the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. The landing ship approached Kerama Retto [Annotator’s Note: the Kerama Islands off the coast of Okinawa] on 2 April. A few days later, they came under heavy enemy air raids and suicide attacks for the next week. The ship continued to unload cargo before proceeding to Saipan [Annotator’s Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] for reinforcements. [Annotator’s Noe: Interviewee stops talking and pulls an object out to show interviewer at 0:32:09.000.] Blair describes one instance where he shot a kamikaze plane headed for his ship, but missed and it crashed into another LST next to his. For the rest of the war, LST-803 shuttled cargo between Okinawa and the Philippines. After the Japanese surrendered, the ships in the water opened fire in celebration. His ship arrived in Tokyo Bay [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] on 12 September 1945 with occupation troops. Blair was able to go ashore in Tokyo. The Japanese would not come close to any of the Americans.

After the war ended, the captain of the USS Hampden County (LST-803) threw a huge party in Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. Douglas Holmes Blair was then transferred from LST-803 to LST-832 and thought that he was going home. He was sent to Chuuk Island [Annotator’s Note: Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, an atoll in the central Pacific] to process Japanese prisoners. He remarked about the large Japanese firearms and ammunition that he saw on the island. In December, he left Chuuk to head back to the United States. He landed in Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] on 20 December 1945. He returned to San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] in January 1946 where he was discharged from the Navy. Blair used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to attend Oregon State University [Annotators Note: in Corvallis, Oregon] for a degree in Industrial Engineering and worked for the Oregon Metallurgy Corporation until he retired in 1984. Being part of the Navy during World War 2 is very important to Blair and he feels blessed to share his story. He believes that many Americans do not understand the importance of World War 2. He retired as fire controlman third class. He began attending reunions in the 1980s. Blair believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He remarked that he and Gary Sinise [Annotator’s Note: an American actor] are best buds.