Robert J. Ferris was born in January 1922 in Pittsford, New York. He had one older brother. His father worked as a signal maintainer on the New York Central Railroad. Ferris worked for the railroad in the summers during his high school years and for some time after he graduated. When he saved up enough money, he went to the University of Rochester in 1941 to study engineering. Ferris was part of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Ferris recalls the shock of hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. His brother was drafted, and he wrote home telling his parents to not let Ferris be drafted. After his freshman year in college, Ferris enlisted in the Naval Air Corps at the recruiting office in Rochester [Annotator's Note: Rochester, New York]. They sent him to Buffalo [Annotator's Note: Buffalo, New York] for testing and physicals. They failed him because his teeth were not up to physical standards. Ferris made his own arrangements to New York. He spent three days there and passed. He was sent home to wait to receive orders. Ferris wanted to join a group called the Rochester Rockets and he convinced the Navy Lieutenant Commander of the group to let him join with them. In October 1942, Ferris left Rochester and went to University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill [Annotator's Note: Chapel Hill, North Carolina] and went through pre-flight training, then to Millington Naval Air Station [Annotator's Note: Memphis, Tennessee] for training, and then Pensacola [Annotator's Note: Pensacola, Florida] for advanced training. He then applied for an appointment in the Marine Corp and was accepted. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and shipped out to El Centro, California to a torpedo combat squadron. His squadron flew TBF [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber] single-engine torpedo bombers. In 1944, he spent several months in Santa Barbara, California with a torpedo bombing training unit. He was then put on a transport out of San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] on a lone ship to the Pacific. It took them 19 days to get to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], and then traveled to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides where he joined a combat squadron [Annotator's Note: Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232)]. [Annotator's Note: A side discussion happens between the interviewer and interviewee's spouse from 0:12:45.000 to 0:13:39.000].

Robert J. Ferris joined Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) as a replacement pilot [Annotator's Note: when he was deployed to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides]. They traveled to the Caroline Islands and to the Falalop Island. For two months, his job was to fly over several Japanese-held islands and bomb the area. In February 1945, his squadron received orders that they were being divided up because they did not have enough planes for everyone. Ferris was with a group put on an assault personal amphibious transport and they were on the ship for about 45 days, stopping at various islands picking up troops. They had nothing to do on the transport, so they played a lot of poker to keep busy. They were finally given information that they would be going to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] as part of the invasion force. Their mission was to take over a landing strip and set up operations. On 1 April 1945, Ferris went out on deck after eating breakfast to witness the naval shore bombardment on Okinawa. He recalled seeing hundreds of ships. There were battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and carriers, all hitting the shore as kamikazes attacked the massive fleet. Ferris and his squadron got on a landing craft and went into the invasion. They had no resistance when they came ashore and were able to set up operations at the landing strip. Throughout two and a half months on Okinawa, his squadron was there to give close air support to the troops on the ground. He recalled getting shot up a lot by the Japanese. One time, he was taking photographer, David Duncan, to capture images of the Japanese lines and the enemy hit the plane and wounded the radio man, luckily, he survived. He had another instance where the Japanese hit his engine and he had to make an emergency landing and wrecked the aircraft. Towards the end of the invasion, Ferris recalled witnessing women and children jumping the cliff of the island and he felt so helpless and did not know what to do. He found out years later that the Japanese told the civilians that the Americans were barbarians.

[Annotator's Note: Robert J. Ferris was pilot with Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) and took part in the invasion of Okinawa.] Robert J. Ferris spent over 12 months without going on leave. Ferris did write home a lot. He was also in charge of censoring letters. [Annotator's Note: A phone rings in background at 0:32:21.000.] There was an instance when Ferris was asked to go and make a drop of ammunition supplies to a group of Marines that was cut off. The task was very difficult due to the poor weather conditions and heavy ground fire from the enemy. After a few attempts he successfully dropped the supplies to the Marines and headed back. Upon his arrival to land, the cloud coverage was so bad that he could not land on his own and needed ground support. He received a DFC [Annotator's Note: Distinguished Flying Cross Award] for successfully completing the mission.

[Annotator's Note: Robert J. Ferris was pilot in Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) and took part in combat operations on Okinawa.]. Robert J. Ferris was on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] for two and half months. Once they secured the island, he was given the mission to hit the airfields on Kyushu [Annotator's Note: Kyushu, Japan]. He recalled that the Japanese would only attack with antiaircraft guns, but never used their planes. He found out later that the Japanese were reserving their planes for the invasion of Japan. On one trip with eight other planes, they were carrying six 250-pound proximity fuse bombs each. They dropped the bombs on the airfield and headed back to Okinawa. During the debriefing, an ordinance officer came in and told one of the pilots that he had two bombs still in his bomb bay. Ferris explained it was a close call because if they stayed in the air for 20 minutes longer, the bombs would have gone off and obliterated all nine planes. Ferris never had to go up against a kamikaze plane in the air, but he witnessed kamikazes hitting supply ships of the island of Okinawa. He also remembered that they received aerial bombardment almost every night, along with shells from a gun that the Japanese fired from a cave. Ferris lived in a tent while on Okinawa. [Annotator's Note: Ferris asks for a break to get water and the interview is paused.] Ferris reflected on doing his job after someone in his squadron or friend was killed. He explained that that people just rolled with it. Everyone knew that not everyone would survive. He also talked about how the Marine Air Corp was a small group and he knew a lot of the guys when he came in as a replacement. Ferris could not recall a time when a pilot did not get along with another. They all respected each other. He also reflected on how aviation was in its prime at that time and he believed that he was lucky to be in aviation. [Annotator's Note: A clock gongs in background at 0:53:40.000.]

[Annotator's Note: Robert J. Ferris was pilot in Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) and took part in combat operations in the Pacific Theater.] Robert J. Ferris and his squadron-mates invaded the beaches on Okinawa even though they were pilots. He carried a duffle bag with clothes and other supplies, carbine, .38 [Annotator's Note: .38 caliber revolver] in a shoulder holster, and wore a helmet. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the camera to change tapes.] They headed up the beach and got to the airstrip. The weather conditions were poor, so they received their planes three weeks later. Until they received their planes, they had to guard the perimeter of the airstrip. Once the island of Okinawa was secured around mid-June 1945, they began to bomb Kyushu [Annotator's Note: Kyushu, Japan]. During the summer of 1945, Ferris received leave orders to return to the United States anyway he could. He managed to get on a plane to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], but then was stuck there for a week before he could get on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship Tank]. It took 19 days for him to finally reach Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. While on the ship, he found out about the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan and the end of the war. He got a ride on a destroyer into San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. Ferris was relieved that the atomic bombs were dropped and caused the end of the war. He reflected on the massive loss of military men on both sides and civilians at Okinawa and believes that Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] made the right choice to drop the atomic bombs. Ferris stayed in San Diego and was later released from inactive duty. He returned home [Annotator's Note: to Pittsford, New York] for Christmas [Annotator's Note: Christmas 1945] and stayed until he was called up for the Korean War in 1951. Ferris used the G.I. Bill for education and a loan for a house. He recalled that adjusting to civilian life was not difficult. He went back to school, got married, had a few kids, and worked at his job. He did not have time to talk about his war experiences.

[Annotator's Note: Robert J. Ferris was pilot in Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 232 (VMTB-232) and took part in combat operations in the Pacific Theater.] Robert J. Ferris explained that while he was a pilot, he spent much of his time on the ground. He visited many islands in the pacific by island-hopping. They stayed mostly at the airstrip [Annotator's Note: on Okinawa] and did a lot of water recreation. He did tours around the island and observing the wildlife. [Annotator's Note: Ferris' family members discuss when he began talking about his war experiences between 1:13:35.000 and 1:14:51.000.] Ferris talks about how his experience as a pilot differs from those fighters on the ground.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Robert J. Ferris to talk about the photo album that he has with him. He points out people, aircrafts, maps, and equipment in the pictures to the interviewer, and references some of the stories he already talked about previously. This takes place between 1:18:20.000 and 1:50.000.] During this time, he also mentions the following: He had to pay for his uniform when he graduated in Pensacola [Annotator's Note: Pensacola, Florida]. Ferris played on a Santa Barbara Marine baseball team. He mentioned one of the pilots he served with was stealing morphine and taking it because he had anxiety. The pilot was later sent to Guam to get some help. He recalls when he returned to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] there were no welcome celebrations like he seen in the movie reels. He talks about an incident when Japanese suicide planes landed at an airstrip and they blew up the American planes with heavy tracer fire.

Overall, Robert J. Ferris enjoyed his experience in World War 2 and was glad he was a pilot. He comments on serving with Ted Williams [Annotator's Note: Professional baseball player for the Red Sox] in the Korean War.