World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Japan--Okinawa Island

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Private First Class Richard E. Anderson who served with Company L, 381st Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, during World War II in the Philippine Islands and Okinawa. The collection includes a letter, memoir, and newspaper clippings.

Scope and Contents This collection includes a United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas Intelligence Information Bulletin on Okinawa, dated 15 November 1944. It also includes a U.S. Naval Training School (Hollywood Beach Hotel, Hollywood, Florida) graduation class 4-44 yearbook entitled "The Quarterdeck," dated 21 July 1944.  Other content includes Thanksgiving and Christmas 1945 dinner menus for U.S. troops in Samar, Philippines. Class photographs included int he collection are from Landing Craft School, A.T.B. Coronado, CA, as well as, Naval training class photographs. The collection also contains photograph album pages...

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Arthur G. Johnson served in a U.S. Navy Construction Battalion (Seabee) from December 1942 through the end of World War II. This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript.

In the transcript, Johnson recounts his experiences from basic training to North Africa, then on to Banica River in the South Pacific, Okinawa and back to Guam where he broke his neck, taking him out of the war. The interview also talks generally about the Seabees, family life after the war, camaraderie with the Marines, and censorship.

Content Description

This collection contains letters, documents, poetry, and photographs related to the military service of Jason M. Austin who served with the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II in the Pacific Campaign and the Korean War. The collection includes documentation regarding the overseas service of Austin with the African American Marines who were part of the First and Fourth Marine Depot based in the Russell Islands.

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This collection follows Joseph T. Bannan as he served aboard the U.S.S. Panamint (AGC13). He was under the command of Admiral Arthur D. Struble. On this ship were photograph developers that obtained the picture of renowned wartime journalist, Ernie Pyle, lying dead on the island of Le Shima. Only two copies were ever made and the original was destroyed shortly after its creation to prevent a decline in American morale. This collection contains a photocopy of one of the original copies owned by Bannan.

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This collection relates to Henry Fremont Blake who served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater as a Store Keeper 2nd Class during World War II aboard the U.S.S. Tyrrell (AKA-80).  The collection includes personal items and artifacts.

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This collection contains two oral histories; one with Dr. Philip Gilman, Jr. and one with James Izumizaki. It also includes the reprint of a letter by Pvt. Lavern Borg, Jr. written on April 2, 1945. The letter tells about his experiences with the 5th Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corp in the battle of Iwo Jima. The next document includes a service record and medallist dated June 1967, January 1969, and August 1973. A pamphlet collected by the Pajaro Valley Arts Council, California entitled Nihen Bunka Japanese Culture: One hundred years in Pajaro Valley is also in the collection.

Abstract

These papers relate to Private First Class Anthony T. Demuro who served with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Demuro participated in the Battle of Okinawa. The papers include letters and photographs.

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This collection contains Donald Preston Ward's letters, postcards, and miltary documents. Ward served with the 40th Heavy Bombardment Squadron, 20th Air Force during World War II.

Content Description

This collection relates to Charles Donati who served as a Machinist's Mate in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. The collection contains military records and a history of the U.S.S.Hornet (CV12) on which Donati served.

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Ensign Madison D. Farnum, a staff member for the commander of the Amphibious Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II. Farnum participated in the campaigns for Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Okinawa. Farnum was assigned on the Flagship USS Eldorado under Admiral R.K.Turner in the South Pacific Theater 1944-1945. The collection includes photographs, documents, and letters.

Scope and Contents Frederick W. Ritter served in the Marine Corps as an engineer officer during World War II. He specifically served as a Vought F4U Corsair engineer. He trained at Parris Island, Jacksonville Naval Base, and attended Officer training at Quantico. He met his wife when he joined a church choir in Jacksonville, corresponding with her throughout the war. During the battle of Okinawa, he oversaw the maintenance of the Corvairs that protected the Navy from Kamikaze attacks. The collection includes Ritter's military documents, official paperwork, various letters, photographs, pins and badges, as well as magazines, articles, programs, and photographs from reunions and other postwar events related...

Scope and Contents

This collection includes letters, personal papers, manuscripts, books, maps, and artifacts from E. Thomas and Margaret Fitzell Tifft Gilliard. The letters are from before, during, and after World War II between friends and family of Thomas and Margaret. The bulk of the letters include correspondence with Therese "Teddy" "Butchi" Waelchli, Thomas's aunt. The personal papers are official military documents, non-military documents, and notes. There are family photographs, photographs taken while Thomas served with the 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division,  in the Pacific Campaign, and photographs from the many scientific expeditions they took.

Scope and Contents The materials in this collection document the experiences of Helen Toles Buffington, a young woman growing up during World War II, as well as the experiences of Herman Buffington, who served with the 96th Infantry Division as a combat soldier who fought in the Battle of Okinawa. Included in the collection is a transcript of Mrs. Buffington’s high school diary, in which she details her daily activities and emotions from 1941 to 1945. Also included in the collection are excerpts from a diary Helen kept while attending Young Harris College and excerpts from a diary Helen kept during the summer of 1945 while working as a phone operator at the Bell Aircraft Corporation, a major...

Scope and Contents James Wesley Fackler served as a U.S. Navy corpsman during World War II in a medical company that directly supported the U.S. Marines during the Battle of Okinawa. The collection includes the daily log of Medical Company C for the period April-June 1945 while the company was in direct support of the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division on Okinawa. The manuscript describes the activities of a member of a medical company, probably written by Fackler. It describes life as a corpsman, liberty, neuropsychiatric wards, battle fatigue, transportation, training at Camp Lejeune, entertainment onboard ship, training on Benika Island of the Russell Island group, food on the islands...

Scope and Contents This collection contains the World War II 7th Infantry Division personal letters of U.S. Army Chaplain Assistant and Mess Sergeant Job C. Martin to his family in Pennsylvania. The collection also contains photographs and documents. Beginning with letters written while at the St. Fidelis Seminary in 1940 through his discharge in 1946, Martin discusses induction, basic training, anti-air training, reclassification, Pacific theater training in Ft. Ord, California, service in Oahu, the Philippines, Okinawa, and Seoul, Korea. His letters numbering, on average, several per week, provide a unique insight into the daily life of a G.I. Though he does not discuss combat due to...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to John W. Rockwood who served with the U.S. Navy during the Second World War in the 145th Construction Battalion Seabees. He served in the Solomon Islands and Okinawa. This collection contains ten letters from Rockwood to his cousin, Jane Brunkow, and her father in Pelham Manor, New York and a photograph of Rockwood with his children during a duck hunt in 1950. His letters reference his time in the Solomon Islands. He mentions sending mementos, such as a whiskey shot glass and bracelet made from Japanese planes and shells, some crafts from the local natives, as well as some dirt from his foxhole. He also spends some time describing the environment of...

Scope and Contents This World War II collection relates to First Lieutenant Carl Johnson and his wife Marion Bennett Johnson and includes various letters, photographs, telegrams, cards, documents, and memorabilia. Carl's letters to Marion comprise the bulk of the collection and detail his college experiences as well as his training and overseas military experience as a United States Marine Corp officer during and after the war. During his career as a Marine, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, then went to San Francisco to start his voyage in the Pacific. He went to Pearl Harbor, Guam, and Okinawa before arriving in China where he served as a Commanding Officer. Marion's letters to Carl...

Scope and Contents

Kenneth D. Kelly served in the 78th US Naval Construction Battalion during World War II on New Caledonia, the Admiralty Islands, and on Okinawa. Included in his collection are a number of news articles related to the Seabees, his typed memoir, and a copy of the unit's battalion log.

Content Description

This collection relates to the wartime correspondence between Margarita King and her husband William H. King, who served in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines during World War II. The collection contains letters collected and sent between Margarita and William, personal photographs, newspaper clippings, postcards, and employment documents.

Scope and Contents The collection of Seaman First Class Giles Odell Lofton, III contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Lofton served in the Navy aboard the USS Wisconsin in the Third Fleet, under Admiral Halsey in the Pacific Theater (PTO) during World War II. The collection also contains documents, U.S.S. Wisconsin papers, photographs of the USS Wisconsin and the Third Fleet during the invasion of Iwo Jima and the surrender of Japan. The photographs show the ships in combat, bombing the shoreline defenses of Iwo Jima, as well as Kamikaze attacks against the fleet. Also, there are photographs of the amphibious landings at Iwo Jima on invasion...

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This collection contains letters of personal correspondence written by Ronald Morgan, who served with the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He saw action in Luzon and Okinawa and was among the first wave of American soldiers to enter Japan. The collection also contains two artifacts, an 11th Airborne patch and Morgan's Staff Sergeant patch.

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Francis E. Ridgway who served as a Gunners Mate, Second Class, on the United States Naval Destroyer Ship U.S.S Ellyson. This collection contains 36 letters from Francis Ridgway to Ruth De Rosier and two letters from "Father Bill" to Ruth De Rosier. There is also a personal handwritten journal from Francis which documents his time aboard the Ellyson, and an Official Order for awards earned by Ridgway.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert H. Spiro who served aboard the U.S.S. Morris destroyer during World War II in the Pacific Theater of Operations.  The collection includes two journal articles about Spiro's time in the Pacific theater and one article related to the battle history of the Morris. One newsletter article was written in 1996 for the naval history magazine United States Naval Institute, by Rear Admiral Robert H. Spiro. In his article, he describes briefly some activities performed in the USS Morris several days before the...

Scope and Contents This World War II collection covers the overseas experience of a sailor in the U.S. Navy aboard the escort aircraft carrier U.S.S. Natoma Bay (CVE 62), Composite Squadron 63 (VC-63). The collection includes sets of uniforms, a bomber jacket, personal papers, medals, awards, and a plaque. His personal papers include personnel documents, two journals, captured Japanese papers, the Bluejacket Manual, Natoma Bay records, and various publications from and about the Natoma Bay Association. The papers primarily document his time spent in the Pacific Campaign, although his records also date his trainings in Rhode Island and Jacksonville, Florida. This sailor also...

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Todd Silverman who served in the U.S. Navy as a radio and radar operator on PBY and PBM flying boats in the Pacific Theater Operation during World War II. The collection contains an oral history transcript and photographs.

Content Description

This collection relates to Corporal Charles F. Silzer who served with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during World War II in the Pacific Theater. He participated in the battles of Cape Gloucester, New Britian, Peleliu, and Okinawa and occupation of China. The collection contains letters Silzer wrote to his fiance, later wife, Florence Erickson, photographs of Silzer, and a framed discharge document.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history and the three brief memoirs of Rolf Slen who served as a navigator with the 494th Bomb Squadron, 7th Air Force, in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Abstract

This collection relates to Eli Solomon who served as a Pharmacist's Mate 3rd Class and medic in the United States Navy on board the U.S.S. La Grange in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The collection contains an oral history transcript, photographs, letters, and documents.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 278 photographs taken by an American Seabee in the Pacific during World War II. Many of the photographs document native life on the islands of New Caledonia, the Russell Islands, and Okinawa. There are images of native communities and homes, religious items, burial sites, workers, and other aspects of native life. They also document the operations of the 20th Naval Construction Battalion and various other US military units and operations. This includes photographs of construction, stevedoring, camp life, and American servicemen.