Thomas Kolesa was born in July 1924. He married at 18 and had three children. He is originally from Illinois and moved to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] 30 years ago. His grandparents are immigrants from Europe. His father was born in Europe. His wife's mother was born in Europe. As the war started, they were all very interested in the war. His wife's family came from England and France. Kolesa walked to school. He met his future wife in grade school. He has been interested in doing strange, exciting, unusual, and risky things. He worked as a field hand in Illinois. He followed his older brother in newspaper delivery. While in high school, they were kept up to date, but did not know too much about it [Annotator's Note: the build-up to war]. He was hitchhiking home one day when a truck stopped. The driver told them about the bombing of Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941].

Thomas Kolesa got married. He went to Edwardsville [Annotator's Note: Edwardsville, Illinois] and his mother was crying because she knew a lot of people would be in the war right away. He turned 18 and registered for the draft. On 1 April [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1942] he was told to report for service. He had a going away party at his grandmother's house. It was near the train station. He took the train to Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] to be inducted, tests, and examinations. He was accepted and a Marine Corps officer came up and asked him if he would like to join them. He was inducted into the Navy, then discharged and inducted into the Marines. That was standard practice then. He then went to boot camp in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. His wife moved out with him. She had taken a welding course and gotten a job building gliders for the military. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa talks about the glider in The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana]. His wife got a job as a riveter on B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberqtor heavy bomber]. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa gets emotional.] He was asked to serve in the mess group as a PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class].

Thomas Kolesa and his wife were able to get a place to live in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] that turned out to be a bordello. They were walking down the street once and a sailor was drunk and carrying a machete down the street. Kolesa stopped and tried to calm him down. SPs [Annotator's Note: Shore Patrol] came and took him away. They got a nice apartment later on. He was selected to go to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for training in antiaircraft radar and searchlights. His wife went home, and he went to North Carolina. He made corporal and went to work on searchlight control, and 90mm [Annotator's Note: 90mm heavy antiaircraft artillery] control. He was then to work on the new Mark 20 radar [Annotator's Note: unable to locate]. He made sergeant but the radar wasn't produced yet. They were learning about it from books and parts they had. He was moved then to Camp Pendleton, California. His wife became pregnant. She developed problems and he was asked to return home. The Red Cross arranged for leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa gets emotional.] It all turned out well. He went to every school in the Signal Corps. The radar was still not produced yet. Army officers were getting infantry training from the Marine Corps. He was assigned to that. The radars finally were available, and he was told to pack for going overseas. They were put on an LSM [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Medium] and they were all seasick. They ended up at Kauai, Hawaiian Islands and waited there for the Mark 20s, which were en route.

[Annotator's Note: Thomas Kolesa was on Kauai, Hawaii with the Searchlight Battery, 8th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, 2nd Marine Division awaiting the delivery of radar sets to his outfit.] When the Mark 20s [Annotator's Note: unable to locate; he is likely referring to the SCR-268 radar] finally came, they were assigned to units. A sergeant was in charge of each unit with a crew to get the radars operational and secured. One radar was not going together. The sergeant of that crew was a good friend of Kolesa's, so he stuck around to help that crew. After about a half an hour, he was asked what he could do to help out. He took out a finger nail file that he always carried and used it take out one of the connectors. He reconnected it and it worked. He was then put in charge of all of the radars. He then got on a ship to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. They spent a little time on Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] exercising. Aboard ship, he ate well and had books to read. On 1 April [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1945] they were due to land on Okinawa and Iwo [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] was in full swing. They were escorted from Guam to Okinawa. The Japanese were after the troop ships with kamikazes. The Japanese plan was to let the Americans come ashore and then attack. That was a mistake. The Navy was in charge and he was put in front of the Higgins boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP] for the landing. The shoreline was bogged down with equipment. Kolesa had to teach people to drive the trucks off the beach.

[Annotator's Note: Thomas Kolesa landed on Okinawa, Japan with the Searchlight Battery, 8th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.] The kamikazes were not interested in small groups. They were interested in the ships. The Navy gunners were really good. Later in the war, the kamikazes were after specific targets. The war was getting close. It was pouring rain. Kolesa's M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] was taken away and he was given a carbine [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic carbine]. On Okinawa, Kolesa had to ensure all of the equipment was working. They captured the airfield quickly which gave damaged B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] a place to land. The kamikazes were interested in antiaircraft artillery. Kolesa calls himself a quiet Marine. He was not engaged in hand-to-hand combat. His nephew was a Marine that was in a hospital. Kolesa took a truck to go see him that was loaded with dead Marines. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa gets emotional.] A bomb hit the cliff a number of feet below them and that was a close call.

Thomas Kolesa was told to clean up his area and get everything ship shape. General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] drove up one of the roads. Kolesa saw him. When Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] was secured, they packed their gear up. He was packed up and ready to go into Japan when the first atomic bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945]. He is certain that everyone said a prayer thanking Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] for making that decision. When the second one dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945], they were ready to go. His brother was in the Army in Europe and he was assigned to occupy Europe. Kolesa was able to load up on a plane and leave. They stopped in Hawaii and then went to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans [Annotator's Note: American actors] came in to see them and the Red Cross brought them ice cream and cake. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa gets emotional.] He did not stay in. He had a family started. He got back to civilian life and got a good job. He and his wife were in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] when the Korean War started [Annotator's Note: 1950]. They felt sorry for the people who had to report for it [Annotator's Note: Kolesa references a book he wrote titled "It Was Our World War, Too!". His pen name is Thom Kolesa].

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Thomas Kolesa to talk about the radar he worked with.] Antiaircraft artillery operate in the day time. Planes like to fly at night. A searchlight is used to show the gunner where the plane is, and the radar is used to tell the searchlight where the plane is. They had a lot of good success. There were a few casualties among the 90mm [Annotator's Note: 90mm heavy antiaircraft artillery] crews but not a lot. He knew the radar inside and out. It had a range. The Japanese are smart and soon learned the range of the Mark 20 [Annotator's Note: unable to locate any references] and would maneuver themselves into positions out of the range. Kolesa changed the circuitry on one to pick them up sooner. It was a portable radar that could be put together easily. The searchlight had to be out in the open, making them good targets for the enemy. An improved version was being developed and the lieutenant wanted him to go back to help them. But he did not get to.

Thomas Kolesa feels he had the best education he could have ever gotten from the Marine Corps. When he got into civilian life, he had to dress for his job. He still dresses in a uniform of the day. He did get some college. He had a corporal in boot camp who was mean. He spent his time and fired his rifle with the highest rating for accuracy. While on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan], he never fired one round. He directed thousands of artillery rounds. He has had triple-bypass surgery and a tumor removed from his skull. He is extremely thankful and happy that he can still drive and walk around [Annotator's Note: at his age]. His wife of 72 years died and knew she was going. She said she knew he was thinking of California. She knew him. [Annotator's Note: Kolesa gets emotional. Somebody off-screen talks about Hawaii.] On his letters home, Kolesa would draw pictures on the envelopes. His captain asked him if he was trying to send a message and told him to stop, he had not sent his envelopes on. Kolesa was actually trying to send codes as to where he was. He did not do anything like that on Okinawa. When his wife died, he made a promise and commitment to do something in her memory and honor. She supported scholarship funds. Instead of flowers, they made a scholarship fund in her name at her alma mater. He funded it for five years and now has written it into his own will to continue funding it. He is writing a book now. He also created a prayer room in her memory.