John T. MASON - The Pacific War Remembered: An Oral History Collection

THE PACIFIC WAR REMEMBERED

THE
PACIFIC WAR
REMEMBERED

AN ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION

Edited by John T. Mason, Jr.

Naval Institute Press
Annapolis, Maryland

The latest edition of this work has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest.

Naval Institute Press

291 Wood Road

Annapolis, MD 21402

1986 by Naval Institute Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Bluejacket Books printing, 2003

ISBN 978-1-61251-214-3 (eBook)

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

The Pacific War remembered: an oral history collection / edited by John T. Mason, Jr.

p. cm. (Bluejacket books)

Originally published: Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1986.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. World War, 1939-1945Personal narratives, American. 2. Oral history. 3. AdmiralsUnited StatesBiography. 4. World War, 1939-1945CampaignsPacific Area. 5. World War, 1939-1945Naval operations, American. I. Mason, John T., 1909 II. Series.

D736 .P28 2003

940.5426dc21

2002075394

Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

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TO BETTY

CONTENTS

JAMES LEAMON FORBIS

JAMES ANDERSON

ADMIRAL THOMAS C. HART

REAR ADMIRAL KEMP TOLLEY

ADMIRAL ROBERT LEE DENNISON

CAPTAIN WILLARD G. TRIEST

ADMIRAL THOMAS H. MOORER

ADMIRAL DONALD B. DUNCAN

REAR ADMIRAL HENRY L. MILLER

VICE ADMIRAL PAUL D. STROOP

ADMIRAL JOHN S. THACH

ADMIRAL JOHN S. THACH

ADMIRAL JAMES S. RUSSELL

REAR ADMIRAL JOSEPH M. WORTHINGTON

THE RIGHT REVEREND PAUL MOORE, JR.

REAR ADMIRAL ARTHUR H. McCOLLUM

REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM AUGUSTUS READ

REAR ADMIRAL CARL J. MOORE

REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM D. IRVIN

VICE ADMIRAL FELIX JOHNSON

ADMIRAL ARLEIGH BURKE

REAR ADMIRAL CARL J. MOORE

VICE ADMIRAL BERNARD M. STREAN

VICE ADMIRAL LAWSON P. RAMAGE

REAR ADMIRAL DRAPER KAUFFMAN

ADMIRAL HARRY W. HILL

ADMIRAL THOMAS C. KINKAID

REAR ADMIRAL RALPH KIRK JAMES

ADMIRAL HARRY W. HILL

REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM A. SULLIVAN

VICE ADMIRAL HERBERT RILEY

ADMIRAL STUART S. MURRAY

This is not an account of the war in the Pacific. Many good histories have been written about that war and many more will be written. The excerpts that follow come from the large collection of oral interviews I and others have conducted over the past twenty-four years with naval personnel, men and women, who participated in the Second World War and whose remembrances contribute color and something in the way of historical fact to the permanent record. In all instances they offer a unique point of view because they are personal. Their accounts do not necessarily reflect the overriding strategy of the situations in which they found themselves. In many cases where there was a master plan, they did not even know it.

Oral history is indeed the presentation of personal perspectives. It is colored by a mans predilections and by the great collection of events and experiences that have shaped his life. While he relives a particular event, these stand behind him as a stage setting stands behind actors speaking strong, vibrant words. For this reason oral history has sometimes been accused of being self-serving.

In the course of conducting interviews oral historians try to guard against this possibility as well as errors of fact. The interviewer serves, consciously, as a surrogate for the historical record. He has a role to play, a role that makes the interview a joint creation. It is not, as many assume, a soliloquy. The interviewer must be pleasant, unobtrusive, rarely appearing as devils advocate. At the same time he must ask the right questions, know when a mans story is incomplete, and prod gently for more detail. He best performs his role when he does not reveal too much knowledge of an event. He is the willing student who sits at the feet of his mentor. All this takes preparation and detailed research of the period or event under scrutiny. Only out of such a chrysalis can significant questions emerge.