Lindquist enlisted in the Navy in 1938 and was put through maneuvers off the west coast of Africa. Later, he went to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean islands. Following that, he spent time in the in the Hawaiian islands and was there when Pearl…
Biehler is the only Korean War veteran interviewed. He was an MP working in the motor pool by a happy accident. On the way to Korea, he was able to sit in the co-pilot's seat. He experienced a fast train in Japan, where they did some training.
Brostad was stationed in Oran, North Africa for two years as Army base ordnance and was lucky to live within the officers' club. From there, he was posted to Gray, France for another two years. When Germany surrendered, Brostad thought he might get…
Goodman was a clerk for the military police and traveled to Hawaii and then to Japan. He maintained the rosters for 800 soldiers, ensuring they had food and a place to sleep. Because he wasn't a smoker, he sold his cigarettes in exchange for laundry…
Glasgow served as staff sergeant and supply sergeant for the Army in the South Pacific. They were slated to go to the southernmost island of Japan, but the dropping of the atomic bombs prevented that and they were routed to Saipan instead.
Barr was drafted into the infantry and was sent to Japan where he saw a lot of devastation near one of the sites where the atomic bomb was dropped. To him, the country smelled like onions. He did reconnaisance but said there was little to see or do…
McDanel enlisted as a replacement and intended to go to Europe, but while he was in basic training, the war in Europe ended, and he was sent to Japan instead. He never saw combat and served in an Army postal unit in Hawaii, where he saw a two-person…
Brashears had worked at Look magazine before she entered military service, so she spent her time working in an office. She met her husband, Leroy (also interviewed), while she was on duty in the library. She says that for years neither she nor Leroy…
Pace entered the Coast Guard which was under the Navy's auspices in WWII where he started as a seaman and spent some time on a lighthouse off the coast of Connecticut. Later he became a radio operator in the Aleutian islands.
Geisinger served in the European theater, specifically Holland, Germany, and Austria in the Army. He was a mortarman in a weapons platoon. He got sick that winter and postponed going to sick call, but when he did, he realized it saved his life in…