WW2 Stories » Stories

Alex O. Bernal

Alex Bernal was 17 when he dropped out of Tucson High and enlisted in the Navy. He served for almost two years throughout the Pacific and was part of the “second” tragedy at Pearl Harbor. For his bravery during this tragedy, he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.

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Ed Blum

Ed Blum was sixteen and living in the Bronx, NY when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He enlisted as soon as he could, joining the Navy and becoming a Radio Man, Third Class. During the war, his ship was stationed in Hawaii, the Marianas Islands, the Marshall Islands, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and China. Ed Blum earned 6 medals during his time in the Pacific.

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Gordon Burgess

After finishing college Gordon Burgess enlisted in the Air Force. During the war, he served on Tinian, one of the Northern Marianas Islands, and piloted B-29 planes. He saw the Enola Gay before Hiroshima. After the bomb was dropped, he flew over Hiroshima and witnessed the damage it had caused.

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James Clark

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American military desperately needed new warships. Shipyards sprung up in California to meet the demands of the Navy. When James Clark was in his late twenties, he served as a firefighter at one of these shipyards in Los Angeles, where large cargo carriers called Liberty Ships were being built. The welding process used in the construction of ships created high fire dangers. Clark extinguished many fires in his years at the shipyard.

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Bill Ersthaler

William “Bill” Ersthaler lived in Detroit before the war. He enlisted in 1943, one month before he was scheduled to be drafted. He went through army boot camp and continued on to flight school. He trained at various military bases and schools across the country. In 1944 he joined the 22nd Bomber Group as a navigator, and later was deployed to the Pacific. Ersthaler flew forty missions in the Pacific in areas of Japan, China, and the Philippines. During his time in service he navigated some very dangerous missions, at one point even crash-landing in enemy territory. He received several awards, including the Philippine liberation medal.

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Jack Glover

Jack Glover served in the Infantry during the Pacific Theater of War, where he was awarded numerous medals, including four Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, two Presidential Citations, and a Silver Star. He shares stories of combat in Okinawa as well as the tale of “Doss,” the medic who refused to carry a weapon, and in the end, saved his life.

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Charles Grant

Charles Grant proudly served in the Pacific Theater from 1944 to 1946. This is his retelling of the events he experienced in those two years. Grant served on a Navy tanker—the U.S.S. Chotauk—and his highest rank achieved was Signalman 2nd class.

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David Hardy

David Hardy enlisted when he was 18 (1943) an served as a Signalman in the U.S. Navy all over the Pacific Theater with some close calls with kamikazes in the Philippines. He came back home and attended the University of Arizona which led to his 35-year career as a teacher, coach, administrator, and principal in the Sunnyside School District.

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Warren Hayes

Warren Hayes was a Boy Scout of America as a child. When he entered Los Angeles High School, he joined ROTC, and extended that into college. Finally, he enlisted into the Army as an “extension to the Boy Scouts.” He served patriotically as a 1st Lieutenant, training America’s young men for war. When the war was finished, he remained in the Army Reserves, until he had a mandatory retirement at age 60. He now enjoys his memory of the service, meeting the native people of Guadalcanal, and service to his country with all his heart.

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Bert Jerman

Bert Jerman was serving on the Philippines when he was captured by the Japanese and survived the infamous Bataan Death March. He was a POW throughout World War II. His story is one of the will to survive and a horsehead pipe that survived with him.

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Warren Eyer

When America entered WWII, Warren Eyer was 20 years old, He joined the Air Corps (the Air Force at that time), participating in many important missions and flying a variety of planes. He served in the Pacific Theater and held a record for the fastest flight from San Francisco to Hawaii (10 hours, 58 minutes) for 2 years.

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H.E. “Gene” Jones

Jones went into the Army Air Forces in 1940 and ended up serving as a B-24 pilot for two and a half years. He conducted bombing operations throughout the Pacific Theater of Operations. He advanced quickly in the ranks and became a Lieutenant Colonel. Jones earned two distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air medals, one Silver Star, and one Legion of Merit for his service. One of his best stories is about how he escorted an “important person” into Guadalcanal with a nighttime formation of 40 fighter planes.

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Fred Keegan

Fred Keegan’s father died in 1936, leaving his mother with three children to raise on her own. He later joined the Navy and survived the sinking of three ships—the U.S.S. Nevada at Pearl Harbor, the U.S.S. Lexington in the South Pacific, and “a wooden submarine chaser” in the Atlantic Ocean. He retired as a Chief Warrant Officer in the Navy.

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Charles S. Laubly

Charles Laubly served in the Malaria and Clinical Laboratory with the U.S. Army. He helped locate mosquitoes’ breeding grounds in order to stem the spread of malaria in New Guinea and the Philippines. During World War II, there were 60,000 malaria-related American deaths in Asia and Africa.

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George Miller

George Miller was born on October 24, 1922. He was 19 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Miller served in the South Pacific as a Marine and fought in Saipan. The highest rank he achieved was corporal.

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Donald Moore

Donald Moore was drafted in Tucson, Arizona on August 1, 1942. He was sent to Camp Roberts, California where he was trained in combat infantry. He fought on New Guinea and was also part of the re-taking of the Philippines when General MacArthur “returned.” He fought in the treacherous jungles of northern Luzon as part of that campaign and was injured. After Japan surrendered, he was sent to Nagasaki where he witnessed firsthand how the A-bomb had devastated that city and its adults and children His only brother, a Marine, also served in the Pacific Theater of Operations and was killed.

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Francis “Bob” O’Brien

Bob O’Brien joined the Marine Corps December 8, 1941—the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had to endure months of difficult training before fighting in two of the most horrific battles of the Pacific Theater of Operations—the battles for Guadalcanal and Peleliu. This is his riveting story.

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Bob Rovan

Bob Rovan enlisted in the Navy as soon as he graduated from high school. He
served as a Petty Officer, 3rd Class on board the USS Thurston. Rovan
traveled to many islands in the South Pacific during his course of duty,
including Saipan and Iwo Jima.

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Mario Sivilli

Mario Sivilli enlisted in the Navy in 1940, when he was 18 years old. He served as a Radio Man, 3rd Class, but did the job of a 1st class Radio Man. Mr. Sivilli’s ship was torpedoed on September 15th, 1942, killing two of his good friends and creating a 32-foot hole in the side his ship.

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