Clyde Barber was born in May 1924 in Drennan, Colorado. Each of his five brothers and one sister were born in different towns as their father, a farmer, moved them around a lot looking for land to farm. Living on a farm, his family always had food to eat and lots of chores to complete 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]. His family had a cream separator, so they always had cream and butter. They also had a vegetable garden. They did not have plumbing or electricity in the house. Barber considered his childhood a good one, even though he was without many things. He had no idea about military tensions around the world in the late 1930s, as his family had no access to radio or newspapers. Nevertheless, determined to avoid being drafted into the Army, Barber joined the Navy in May 1941 at the age of 17. He did not want to be in the Army because he heard horrible stories from his uncle who had fought in World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918]. He also had an interest in aviation and thought he may be able to pursue that through the Navy. After induction in Denver [Annotator’s Note: Denver, Colorado], Barber boarded a train to San Diego [San Diego, California] for boot camp. As he rode on the train, he saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in his life and was amazed by it. His training was an excellent period for growing up and he enjoyed it. He was one of 30 men selected for aviation machinist’s mate training and was sent to Alameda, California. He graduated in November 1941, and received orders to go to Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. He boarded a cargo ship on 6 December and was greeted the following day by news of the Japanese attack [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Barber and the other sailors onboard manned the ship’s guns around the clock until reaching Pearl Harbor on 18 December. He describes the wreckage he saw as they sailed through Battleship Row on their way to Ford Island. He was a member of Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) stationed at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station. Upon arrival, Barber discovered that 33 of the 36 PBYs that had recently been assigned to the unit were destroyed in the Japanese attack. While waiting for replacement planes, Barber spent the next several weeks in a foxhole on the beaches of Oahu [Annotator’s Note: Oahu, Hawaii] awaiting a Japanese land invasion.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Clyde Barber immediately began flying training missions and familiarizing himself with the aircraft as a member of Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) stationed at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station [Annotator’s Note: in Hawaii]. He did his first patrol in March 1942. He got a little nauseous, but that feeling eventually went away. The primary mission was search and rescue for anti-submarine patrols. His squadron was sent to Midway Island to patrol the area before the battle started [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942]. After victory at Midway, VP-11 was sent to the Solomon Islands to assist in the landings at Guadalcanal. Daytime flying was very dangerous for PBYs [Annotator’s Note: Consolidated PBY Catalina] and Barber lost two of his closest friends during those days around Guadalcanal. One of his friends was captured by the Japanese and died in a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp from starvation. Barber returned home in December 1942 for a 30-day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] before reporting back to training and returning to the Pacific in April 1943. He was promoted to plane captain and was responsible for the enlisted crewmen and the aircraft. During his leave, he got engaged to his future wife, and did not return home for another 20 months.

For Clyde Barber’s second deployment, he returned to Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) stationed at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station [Annotator’s Note: on Oahu, Hawaii] where the reforming of his squadron was completed. He continued to fly PBYs [Annotator’s Note: Consolidated PBY Catalina] which were painted black to fly night missions against enemy shipping. Known as the “Black Cats,” VP-11 was credited with sinking thousands of tons of enemy cargo. In December 1943, Barber flew missions into New Guinea to assist in the evacuation of Australian commandos. [Annotator’s Note: There is a dinging noise in the background at 0:29:00.000.] He lived in a tent city while on New Guinea and he ate food prepared by the Army. The military would pack them in a cattle car and drive 10 miles to where the Army were stationed to eat. He thought the food was good, but he hated the cattle car ride. In his down time, Barber arranged talks for the men he oversaw. One time he asked a medic to speak to his unit about what to expect from them if needed. He also wrote letters home. After two or three months in the combat zone, they would go to Australia. His unit also completed patrols in the Indian Ocean. During the battle in New Guinea, his unit took part in dropping supplies to Australian commandos, and then later helped with their evacuation.

Clyde Barber was a member of the Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) that flew PBYs [Annotator’s Note: The Consolidated PBY Catalina] in the Pacific during World War 2. He felt great to be doing his part in the war. He was part of missions to bomb enemy ships at night. In September 1944, one of the squadrons did not return. They had to wait for a replacement squadron before doing missions again. Barber shared a story about transporting 200 cases of beer in his PBY. As he travelled with the beer, his engine froze up. He made an emergency landing in the Bismarck Sea. A few hours later, the USS Taylor (DD-468) arrived and towed them to Manus Island [Annotator’s Note: Manus Island, Papua New Guinea]. [Annotator’s Note: There is a dinging noise in the background at 0:59:13.000.] Barber learned that there were Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions] and other troops on the island waiting to have some beer.

Clyde Barber was a member of Patrol Squadron 11 (VP-11) which flew PBYs [Annotator’s Note: Consolidated PBY Catalina] in the Pacific during World War 2. As the war was coming to an end, Barber was reassigned after his squadron was relieved of duty. He was sent to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. His fiancée was working in San Francisco and made all the arrangements for their wedding ceremony, so when he finally arrived, they could get married after 20 months of being separated. They married on 20 December 1944. Barber received orders to report to Oakland, California to fly in the naval transport squadron. When Barber and his wife were visiting his parents, he learned the news that World War 2 was over. He was elated and glad that his brothers would be returning home soon. After the war, Barber remained in the Navy as a member of a naval transport squadron and took part in the Berlin Air Lift [Annotator's Note: Allied military operation which delivered food and other supplies to the people of West Berlin between 24 June 1948 and 12 May 1949].

After the war, Clyde Barber remained in the Navy as a member of a naval transport squadron, VR-8 (Air Transport Squadron 8), and took part in the Berlin Air Lift [Annotator's Note: Allied military operation which delivered food and other supplies to the people of West Berlin between 24 June 1948 and 12 May 1949]. Planes took off every three minutes as part of the operation. He was a maintenance chief at the time, and made just three flights into Templehof [Annotator’s Note: Berlin Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany]. He recalled how hard-nosed the Russian leaders were to freeze out the Germans. The Berlin Air Lift was one of the most humanitarian operations during Truman’s [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] term. For Barber’s role, he had to know when planes needed inspections and perform any maintenance in certain time frames. Everything had to be coordinated well. A plane did not sit a minute before a flight crew came in for inspection. The USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] crew was always out handing food to the crews. Each crew could make three trips in one day.

Clyde Barber later completed two tours of duty in Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975] as a member of Patrol Squadron 42 (VP-42) tasked with patrolling the waters off the coast of Vietnam to prevent enemy ships from going ashore to resupply the Viet Cong. [Annotator’s Note: There is a dinging sound at 1:27:35.000.] For this, VP-42 was awarded a distinguished unit citation. Barber retired in July 1971 after 30 years of service. He and his wife bought an RV and traveled the country. Many Americans did not like service members during the Vietnam War. The Japanese were more brutal during World War 2 than the communist conflicts in Vietnam.

Clyde Barber’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was his “Black Cat” operation and rescuing Australians. He fought because he wanted to preserve our freedom and the country’s freedom. World War 2 made him grow up and gave him the opportunity to do what he wanted to do. He is proud of his service and believes America is a great country. It takes all the citizens to make this country great. He believes World War 2 means a lot to America today. Barber 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 because young people do not know what his generation went though to fight and win World War 2.