Prewar life

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Snyder, Phillip "PB" Supporting the War Effort
"PB" Snyder was born in Vernon, Texas in June 1927. His father was an independent drilling contractor and moved the...
Moskin, Alan Teaching Kids Today
Alan Moskin went to Syracuse [Annotator's Note: in Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York] when he was 17 and got his...
Niederer, James Texas Boy to Army Man
James “Jim” William Niederer was born in January 1921 in Waco, Texas. He grew up with 5 siblings and his mother died...
Hanley, Fiske Texas Boy to Aviator
Fiske Hanley II was born in January 1920 in Brownwood, Texas. The Hanley family moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, then...
Adams, J. Texas Boy to Bombardier
[Annotator's Note: The interview begins with Jones Quincy Adams Jr. and the interviewer in conversation.] Adams was...
Mather, James Texas Boy to V-5 Program
James Mather was born in February 1923 in Caddo, Texas. His father was in the oil business by maintaining the oil wells...
Bice, Austeen Texas Farm Boy to Combat Soldier
Austeen Bice was born in August 1923 in New Boston, Texas with five brothers and one sister. His father was a farmer...
Cummings, John The Asiatic Fleet
Albert Elmer "John" Cummings was with the Asiatic Fleet [Annotator's Note: United States Asiatic Fleet, 1902 to 1942]....
Inoshita, Masaji The beginning of Japanese-American internment
Masaji Inoshita was born in central California. At an early age he moved down to the Santa Barbara area. His father had...
Irvine, Elizabeth "Elizabeth Lautzenheiser" The Beginning of the War
Elizabeth Lautzenheiser Irvine and the people in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Luzon, Philippines] were very...
Amram, Fred The Bris Ceremony
Fred Amram was born in September 1933 in a Christian hospital. Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]...
Kelley, Archie The Coming War
Archie Kelley had done very well in high school and had no academic problems at all [Annotator's Note: while attending...
Thomas, Wilbur "Will" The Depression and Attending College
Wilbur Thomas was born in March 1923 and grew up in Swissvale, Pennsylvania with two older brothers. During the Great...
Oldberg, Nils The Depression to the Navy
[Annotator’s Note: There is someone in the background that is assisting the interviewee in answering the interviewer’s...
Maymon, Paul The Depression to Wartime
Paul Maymon was born in June 1920 and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. His father worked with a fabric company until it...
Hurd, Francis The Depression, Being Drafted and Deploying to England
Francis Hurd was born in Woodhall, New York to parents who were farmers. When he was 16 years old he was forced to quit...
Tweedt, Vernon T. The Great Depression
Vernon Tweedt was born in July 1921 in Estherville, Iowa. He grew up there on a farm. [Annotator's Note: The...
Norberg, Willard "Bill" The Great Depression
In 1929, Bill Norberg's father lost his job due to the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a...
Campbell, John The Great Depression and the Merchant Marine Act of 1936
John Campbell was born Clinton Township, Ohio in 1926. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks about life during the...
Evans, James The Great Depression to Army Training
James O. Evans was born in 1925 in Rustin, Louisiana. His father owned a cotton farm and from an early age Evans worked...
Duff, Clarence The Great Depression to the Invasion of Saipan
Clarence Robert Duff was born in 1923 in the farm country of North Dakota. He was one of nine children. His family was...
Nussenbaum, Seymour The Holocaust and War's End
[Annotator's Note: There is a loud hissing noise throughout this clip.] Seymour Nussenbaum heard about the Holocaust [...
Bala, Walter The Invasion of Poland and Drafted into the Air Force
Walter Bala grew up in Detroit [Annotator's Note: Detroit, Michigan]. His parents were Polish immigrants, and Bala had...
Evensen, Janice The Munitions Plant
Janice Evenson was shown how to do her job. [Annotator’s Note: Evenson worked at a munitions plant]. She looked at a...
Foster, Robert The Navy, Pearl Harbor, and the Army
Robert E. Foster entered the Navy in November 1934. He was drafted [Annotator's Note: into the Army] in 1942. Foster...
Leaming, Jack The Prisoner Experience
Before the war, Jack Leaming had a Japanese friend in the second grade, whose parents sold Japanese clothing on the...
Harrell, Edgar The Sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
Edgar Harrell was born in October 1924 in Cadiz, Kentucky. He was 18 when he joined the United States Marine Corps in...
Cohen, Jack The War Begins for Greece
The war started for Jack Cohen when Mussolini [Annotator's Note: Italian fascist dictator Benito Amilcare Andrea...
Andriano, Louis The War Ends
Louis Andriano does not remember celebrating the war ending. They were always the last to know and it made no...
Cummings, Mary The War Ends
Mary Cummings was on duty on the night shift when she got news that an atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon...
Forcinella, Frank The War Ends
Frank Forcinella liked the Rhine River crossing [Annotator's Note: at Nierstein, Germany, 22 March 1945]. They had...
Uttero, Cosmo Thoughts on Combat Life
Cosmo Uttero was in H Company [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry...
Achee, Lorraine Thoughts on the War
Lorraine Achee feels that the war made it difficult in the sense that she no longer had her big brother around. As kids...
Ramsey, Rosemary Jane Thoughts on the War
Rosemary Ramsey feels that there should be institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans...
Baker, Sterling Thoughts on War
Sterling Baker was in the National Youth Administration and trained to be a carpenter. He was also in charge of the...
Ambrose, Haney Time to Serve
Haney Ambrose was born in 1922 in Baton, Rouge, Louisiana. His father was a carpenter and farmer during the Great...

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