Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior was born in Gramercy, Louisiana in September 1923. He attended Lutcher High School in Lutcher, Louisiana. He wanted to attend college after graduation but could not afford the expenses. Instead, he obtained a job with a local bank. He worked there for a couple of years but when Pearl Harbor happened [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], he became interested in going into the service. He began to be interested in flying when Lindbergh [Annotator’s Note: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American aviator] flew across the ocean in 1927 [Annotator’s Note: the Atlantic Ocean]. The war afforded Arceneaux the opportunity to become a pilot. The Army Air Corps had dropped the college prerequisite for pilot training, so Arceneaux attempted that route. Dental problems resulted in his application rejection. After having his teeth corrected, he saw that the Navy had lifted its ban on enlistments, so he joined that branch. He applied for the Navy and was accepted as a seaman 2nd class in July 1942.

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior could not initially enter Navy flight school because of the number of new potential pilots. Instead, he was sent to civilian flight training where he learned to fly. He was told to remain at home until he received his orders which he did in December 1942. Sent to University of Georgia in Athens [Annotator's Note: Athens, Georgia], he attended preflight school. It was his first big trip from home, and it was Christmas time. It snowed plus he had to get multiple inoculations, so it turned into a miserable Christmas for him. There were four difficult months ahead with athletics in the morning and books in the afternoon. Afterward, he was sent to Norman, Oklahoma for elimination base where he flew Stearman N2S aircraft [Annotator's Note: Stearman Model 7t Kaydet trainer aircraft] referred to as the Yellow Peril. The plane was a single engine, biplane with double cockpit. It was fun to fly a real airplane. He succeeded at Norman and then went to Corpus Christi, Texas. He flew the Vultee SNV single engine, lower wing, heavy plane [Annotator’s Note: Consolidated Vultee BT-13 Valiant trainer aircraft; nicknamed Vibrator; called SNV by the Navy]. He attended instrument school, formation flying school and then advance fighter flight training. He graduated in October 1943 as a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He was anxious to get overseas and thought the Marines would be his best opportunity to do so. After a 30-day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] at home, he was ordered to Opa-locka, Florida for fighter operation training. He was happy to go into fighter training. There were a few SBDs [Annotator’s Note: Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber] which was newer than the old and decrepit Brewster Buffalos [Annotator’s Note: Brewster F2A Buffalo fighter]. The dive bombers were flown with a fighter syllabus near Miami [Annotator's Note: Miami, Florida] which was a great town. He was then ordered to Cherry Point, North Carolina [Annotator’s Note: Marine Air Station in Havelock, North Carolina], it turned out to be a beautiful place with a large Marine installation. He was placed in a fighter pool where he awaited assignment to a squadron. When an opportunity to join a new night fighter squadron arose, Arceneaux grabbed it. The training was to be at Vero Beach, Florida near Miami. That really cinched it for Arceneaux. It was the best thing that happened to him. The training and flight time was extensive. Following his qualification, he was shipped back to Cherry Point where four new night fighting squadrons were being formed—541 [Annotator’s Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 541 (VMF(N)-541)], 542 [Annotator’s Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 542 (VMF(N)-542)], 543 [Annotator’s Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 543 (VMF(N)-543)], and 544 [Annotator’s Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 544 (VMF(N)-544)]. Arceneaux was assigned to VMF 542. They worked hard. It was sometimes 120 hours a week. Radar was introduced to them. The pilots were vectored by controls on the ship and then individually closed on the enemy based on the radar set information in the cockpit. The set was used to home in on an enemy plane at night. There were 200 to 300 hours of practice flights using the radar skills employed over the course of several months. He was well trained when he flew from Cherry Point with 17 other night F6F fighters [Annotator's Note: Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter aircraft] headed to the Pacific. Flying cross-country, the pilots enjoyed each nightly stop because they realized where they were headed. Reaching San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California], they boarded a Liberty ship, the USS Kitty Hawk [Annotator’s Note: USS Kitty Hawk (APV-1/AKV-1)] where the aircraft were loaded below deck. The pilots were given canvas cots and told to sleep under their planes. During a 30-day voyage, the ship with its passengers reached Espiritu Santo [Annotator's Note: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu], then Finschhafen [Annotator's Note: Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea[ and finally Manus Island [Annotator's Note: Manus Island, Papua New Guinea] After the voyage, Arceneaux did not know if he could walk again. Japanese dead still littered the large island since a big battle had just been fought there. The planes were offloaded, and the pilots flew them a few weeks before being ordered to nearby Momote [Annotator's Note: Momote, Papua New Guinea] off the coast of Manus. There, the squadron embarked on even more serious training. Pilots alternated roles of friend and foe to simulate the combat radar direction techniques learned earlier.

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior and his squadron [Annotator’s Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 542 (VMF(N)-542)] had to fly to Peleliu while the battle still raged [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau]. They were bound for Ulithi [Annotator's Note: Ulithi Atoll, Micronesia]. There was a huge convergence of ships at Ulithi. The fighters landed on a short strip. The pilots reunited with their ground crews and had a good celebration. The squadron’s mission was to guard the fleet at Ulithi. The Japanese flew high altitude flights overhead to take reconnaissance photographs. The Marine pilots in their F6Fs [Annotator's Note: Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter aircraft] could not reach that high altitude with the armor plate and heavy load of six machine guns with ammunition. Two F4U Corsair fighters [Annotator’s Note: Vought F4U Corsair fighters] were stripped back on weight and managed to intercept and down the snooping enemy plane at 45,000 feet. The squadron continued to train and flew missions to a nearby island called Yap [Annotator's Note: Yap, Federated States of Micronesia] which was near their base. There were some missions in search of submarines. The pilots were notified to prepare for a relocation. Their airplanes were loaded aboard the Sitkoh Bay [Annotator’s Note: USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86)] which was a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] with a deck on it. It was called a jeep carrier [Annotator's Note: escort aircraft carriers (CVE)]. It was small and unaccommodating. It was used to transport planes. The destination was Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] where the invasion was slated for 1 April [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan] and the pilots were to land on the island five days later afterward when the airstrip was secured. Living on the carrier provided fresh food, nice beds and clean clothes. There was a lot of swimming as the tour of South Sea islands proceeded. As the carrier approached Okinawa, four Japanese suicide kamikaze [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] bombers attacked the convoy. Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English-speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] had announced Arceneaux’s squadron nearing their destination. She even named the commander, the number of pilots in the group, and where they had trained. Arceneaux was surprised by their intelligence capability. To reduce risk of loss of planes, all the aircraft were to be immediately launched. Arceneaux’s CO [Annotator’s Note: commanding officer] was catapulted off the carrier first. As Arceneaux readied himself to be next, an enemy plane was horizontally targeting the carrier. The kamikaze bomber nearly hit the Sitkoh Bay but the mess men, who were colored boys [Annotator's Note: or coloured, is an ethnic descriptor historically used for Black people in the United States], poured the 20mm [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] and 40mm [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] fire into the plane until it blew up. Arceneaux had been frozen with fear until then. If it had not been for the downing of the kamikaze, Arceneaux might have been killed. The mechs [Annotator’s Note: mechanics] came out and catapulted Arceneaux’s Hellcat off the ship. He was not quite ready for that after surviving the kamikaze but recovered and joined up with his fellow pilots. The other enemy aircraft were shot down and Arceneaux proceeded to Okinawa and landed at Yontan [Annotator's Note: Yontan Airfield (Japanese name Kita Airfield), Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan] on its coral airstrip. The Japanese used coral to make runways. The strip had not been watered for a while so dust swirled up with the prop wash from the first plane that landed. The following 17 planes nevertheless managed to land without a scratch. They had covered 600 miles in four hours which was a lengthy time for a fighter to travel that distance. Arceneaux reached his revetment and ran out of gas just as he positioned his plane.

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior arrived after the field [Annotator's Note: Yontan Airfield (Japanese name Kita Airfield), Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan] was secured but supplies and accommodations were not established [Annotator’s Note: 6 April 1945 with Marine Night Fighting Squadron 542 (VMF(N)-542)]. They were told to dig a foxhole, but the pilots were not used to that idea. Later, the Japanese bombed and strafed the island. Arceneaux was frightened. If the enemy would have hit the high-octane fuel storage near Arceneaux, he would have been fried. He learned to dig deeper foxholes. During the attack, 16 of the 18 planes in VMF(N)-542 sustained damages that made them unflyable. It took a week and a half before his group could fly an airplane. Because the pilots were selected in alphabetical order, Arceneaux along with Bill Campbell [Annotator's Note: US Navy 2nd Lieutenant William W. Campbell] were picked for the first flight. Vectored out by flight control, the two pilots spotted a small ship being attacked by enemy aircraft. Arceneaux dove on one of the attackers and fired on him. He could see his hits on the aircraft. He passed about ten feet from the enemy and looked right at him. That made him vulnerable to counterattack. The Japanese plane was smoking and beginning to burn. The adversary turned away from Arceneaux. Arceneaux pursued him and gave him another short burst. The enemy blew up scattering debris and oil on the Hellcat [Annotator's Note: Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter aircraft]. Returning to base alone, Arceneaux found out from his wingman that another Japanese Zero [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft, referred to as the Zeke or Zero] had gotten on his tail but had been shot down by Campbell. Campbell became an even better friend after that. Later in the month, Arceneaux and Campbell attacked an island between Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and Japan. Campbell attacked a formation of seaplanes and shot one down. A huge amount of anti-aircraft fire erupted from the island. Arceneaux fired his six rockets and pulled out radically, but the enemy fire continued to pursue him. It seemed he was backing up with the antiaircraft fire passing him up. He finally eluded the enemy fire and made for his base. He kept calling for Campbell but without a response. Arceneaux spotted an enemy night fighter converging on his course. When Arceneaux got on his adversary’s tail, the enemy fighter raced down to the sea. Finally, at 3,000 feet, the Japanese plane pulled up. It surprised Arceneaux because he did not think the enemy planes could withstand that kind of force, but it did. The night fighter pulled up and raced to the clouds. Arceneaux could not keep up with him. It was a missed opportunity for a kill. Arceneaux might have gotten him had he fired on him, but he was concerned that he was not in range. When he reached base, Arceneaux had to report that he lost his wingman. It was sad to lose Campbell, but he had to move on. The squadron searched for Campbell but could not even find debris. It shook Arceneaux up. A week later, he shot down a Kate [Annotator’s Note: Japanese Nakajima B5N torpedo bomber, referred to as the Kate]. Arceneaux felt he had gotten revenge for the loss of Campbell since that was the same type of plane that shot his friend down. The Kate performed no evasive action as Arceneaux downed him. He felt good that he had gotten one for his friend, Bill.

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior [Annotator’s Note: a pilot with Marine Night Fighting Squadron 542 (VMF(N)-542)] was credited with a probable kill when he shot down a plane, but his gun cameras did not record the incident. He had several other misses in dog fights. He came up behind a large, four-engine floatplane called an Emily [Annotator's Note: Kawanishi H8K Type 2 flying boat, referred to as Emily]. When Arceneaux told the fighter director that he was in pursuit of the Emily floatplane, the director ordered the pilot to stand-down from the sure kill. A friendly PBM [Annotator’s Note: Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber floatplane] had been recently downed by Army night fighters. Arceneaux debated with the fighter controller but to no avail. The plane had the meatball [Annotator’s Note: Japanese rising sun insignia] and its waist gunner fired on Arceneaux but they both pulled away and survived. Too much light on his cockpit sighting system resulted in him being blinded temporarily and losing a different potential kill. He stayed there [Annotator's Note: Yontan Airfield (Japanese name Kita Airfield), Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan] until near the end of the war. A relief squadron came on at that time. Arceneaux and his squadron mates boarded a Curtis Commando [Annotator’s Note: Curtis C-46 Commando transport aircraft] and were headed home. Reaching Ewa, a Marine airbase, on Hawaii, they were given praise by a general and then told to prepare for the assault on Kyushu [Annotator's Note: Kyushu, Japan]. Before being sent back to Okinawa, they were granted a two week leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] on Diamondhead [Annotator’s Note: on Oahu Island in Hawaii]. The leave was outstanding. It included good food, entertainment and everything they wanted including a beautiful beach. The problem was that all the souvenirs the pilots had stored in lockers at Ewa were stolen. Returning to Okinawa, the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Bockscar landed on Okinawa after he got into trouble [Annotator’s Note: sometimes called Bock’s Car was a Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber that dropped the nuclear weapon on Nagasaki]. The incident was kind of funny. The news of the second bomb was announced by the pilot. The pilot was invited to several VMF(N)-542 reunions. Arceneaux bought the book the pilot authored [Annotator’s Note: "War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission" by Charles W. Sweeney, James A. Antonucci, and Marion K. Antonucci, published 1999].

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior returned home via San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California]. He made a lot of money playing cards but spent most all of it before reaching home. He married his childhood sweetheart in October 1945. They were married for 63 years [Annotator’s Note: at the time of this interview]. They had four wonderful children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He has lived in Harahan [Annotator’s Note: Harahan, Louisiana] since Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and loves it. He talks to students and clubs about World War 2. He enjoys doing that. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] and three Air Medals [Annotator's Note: US Armed Forces medal for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while in aerial flight] for World War 2. He did not receive any decorations for Korea or Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975] when he trained night fighter pilots. The Distinguished Flying Cross was received for flying 25 search and destroy and ground support missions. He actually flew 49 missions and would have received another Distinguished Flying Cross at 50 missions. Arceneaux’s son followed his father and became a Marine pilot. He reached the rank of major. After his service, his son flew commercial aircraft for a handsome salary. Arceneaux had difficulty finding work after the war. He did not want to attend school. He eventually found good work and retired in 1982. He enjoys life. He completed his reserve duty in 1964 after 22 years of military service which began in 1942. He had a storybook life with wonderful children. He feels he can make 100 years of age. He can do anything around the house. He does not want his wife to do anything because she put up with him for 63 years.

Arthur Joseph Arceneaux Junior went into the service as a green, inexperienced young man. During the war, he travelled the world and gained experiences he otherwise would not have acquired. He and his wife travelled extensively after the war. His squadron has frequent reunions. The friendships were strong in the group. The numbers of veterans attending the reunions have dropped considerably over the years. VMF(AW)-542 [Annotator's Note: Marine Night Fighting Squadron 542 (VMF(N)-542)] is still active and flying as an all-weather squadron in Iraq. The original cadre of pilots who flew with Arceneaux has fallen off significantly. America was in a poor way at the time of the Depression [Annotator’s Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. Arceneaux had a poor housing situation during those years. He made it through the era and the war and went to college. He is grateful for his great life. The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is important to the area and Ambrose is to be celebrated for that [Annotator’s Note: Historian and author Stephen E. Ambrose; founder of National D-Day Museum, now The National World War II Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana]. Arceneaux has been interviewed by the museum previously. It was displayed in the exhibit area. He donated artifacts to the museum. Some of those have been returned to him.