[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the sound does not sync with video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr. was born in Utica, Mississippi in June [Annotator’s Note: 1919]. [Annotator’s Note: Video skips at 0:00:18.000. Sound and video do not sync 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], Hammond’s family were farmers and grew mostly corn. He graduated from high school in 1937, and then graduated from Mississippi State University [Annotator’s Note: in Starkville, Mississippi] in 1941. While in college, he completed ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps]. Upon graduation, Hammond received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve. With World War II fast approaching, he was called to active duty with the Army, but instead accepted a regular commission as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He did military training in Philadelphia [Annotator’s Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] and right before completing it, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Hammond had just eaten at the officers’ club and was on his way back to the base when he heard the news. He graduated from training in January 1942 and headed west. He was assigned to the USS Astoria (CA-34) as the number two for the Marine Corps group aboard. Officers had to pay for their uniforms.

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr. was commissioned at a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and assigned to the USS Astoria (CA-34) as the number two for the Marine Corps group aboard. Hammond left San Diego, California and stopped in Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] before continuing on to the Pacific on his ship. Hammond was surprised by what he saw in the harbor with all the damage and sunken ships [Annotator's Note: resulting from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. The first battle he was involved in was at Midway [Annotator’s Note: The Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942; Midway Atoll] and he was positioned at gun one and gun two. The Japanese attacked the USS Yorktown (CV-5) and Hammond watched it sink into the water. After the Battle of Midway, the Astoria returned to Pearl Harbor to restock supplies and provisions before heading to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. Hammond went ashore in a Marine transport. During the first two days, the Astoria shelled the island before the Marines made their landing. On the night of 8 August 1942, Hammond had just finished watch duty and went to sleep. Forty-five minutes later, the Japanese hit and sunk the Astoria and two other ships. The Astoria lost steering control on the bridge, shifted control to central station, and began steering a zig-zag course [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] south. Before she made much progress, though, the heavy cruiser lost all power. Hammond and the remaining survivors boarded the Bagley [Annotator’s Note: USS Bagley (DD-386)].

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr. was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and assigned to the USS Astoria (CA-34) when it sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. He was rescued by the Bagley [Annotator’s Note: USS Bagley (DD-386)]. After he returned to Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii], Hammond applied for flight training and was accepted into the program. He began his flight training in Texas on the first of January 1943. While he was on the Astoria, it was difficult fighting at night with out any power against the Japanese. The Astoria slowly sunk after the morning came. Hammond was wounded by a shell fragment while he was on his gun. A medic had to pull the fragment out with a pair of tweezers.

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with the video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr. was commissioned at a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and assigned to the USS Astoria (CA-34) which sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. He was rescued by the Bagley [Annotator’s Note: USS Bagley (DD-386)] and then transferred onto a transport where he was treated for his shrapnel wound. The transport stopped in Pago Pago, American Samoa where he met a fellow graduate from Mississippi State University [Annotator’s Note: in Starkville, Mississippi]. He returned to Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and learned that it had not been announced to the public that the Astoria had been sunk. Hammond applied for flight training and was accepted into the program. He began his primary training in Dallas, Texas on the first of January 1943. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:54:50.000.] After completing training in March 1943, he was sent to Pensacola, Florida for basic flight training, and then to Alabama to train on AT-6s [Annotator's Note: North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer aircraft]. He received his wings in July 1943 after flying the SNJ [Annotator’s Note: North American SNJ-4 (AT-6)]. He was assigned to fly F4U Corsair fighters [Annotator's Note: Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft] and trained for six more months to build up some flying hours.

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with the video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr. received his wings and was promoted to captain in the Marine Corps. He was assigned to fly F4U Corsair fighters [Annotator's Note: Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft]. He trained for six months in Jacksonville, Florida to build up some flying hours, and then he also instructed other pilots on how to fly the plane. The Corsair would sometimes stall. The military made some changes to the model of the plane to make it more reliable and added a bubble to cover their heads. Many of the corsairs are at the bottom of the Great Lakes because of so many training crashes. During the winter of 1943, he went up to New York to test the newly built Corsair. He later was promoted to major and was given the task of investigating military plane accidents. He was eventually transferred to the West Coast and then to Kwajalein [Annotator’s Note: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands] as a replacement.

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with the video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr., a captain in the Marine Corps, was sent to Kwajalein [Annotator’s Note: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands] as a replacement in Marine Fighter Squadron 224 (VMF-224). He participated in operations at Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. He prepared an airfield on the island and the first flight landed six days after they arrived at Okinawa. He led eight planes on combat air patrol and when they returned to land on the runway, they did not have any lights. Somehow all of the planes landed safely. During his time there, he lost a few pilots on their patrol missions, and also had to order search missions for some of the missing pilots. There were Japanese kamikazes at Okinawa. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewer adjusts microphone on interviewee at 1:31:44.000.] Hammond shot down three kamikazes while at Okinawa.

[Annotator’s Note: Video skips throughout the segment and the audio does not sync with the video.] Robert C. Hammond Jr., a captain in the Marine Corps, led his group in Marine Fighting Squadron 224 (VMF 224) during Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. He had his first killings while he patrolled the island. One of his fellow pilots had a bad jeep accident and became a vegetable. Hammond left Okinawa on 22 June 1945 and headed back to Midway Atoll. He did one hop a day and then played volleyball until the war ended. He was slated for the invasion of Japan, but the war ended before he received his orders. He was going to lead a 120-plane strike on Japan. The military called off the mission three times due to the weather. [Annotator’s Note: Video ended abruptly while the interviewee was still talking.]