COMBAT STORIES FROM World War II

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Showing : WWII Videos

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The mission to Bremerhaven was rough. From his seat up in the nose, bombardier Bill Couch saw other B-17's going down with parachutes streaming out, some on fire. When German fighters were attacking, the leading edge of their wings seemed to have sparklers and he came to dread that sight.

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  Don Scott - Army Air Corps +8 Total Videos

  560th Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Two engines were out, a third smoking, and they were were losing airspeed and altitude, but they were flying level and pointed home. Then time ran out for the B-17 and Don Scott had to slip down the hatch into the slipstream. Part 2 of 3.

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  Clyde Burnette - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  713th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was their third mission over Berlin and they were heading home. Four German fighters pounced on the B-24 and it was engulfed in flame and going down. Clyde Burnette fought for consciousness as the other crew in the back of the plane bailed out. He woke in free fall with no idea how he had made it out, and soon he was in German custody. Everyone made it out of the plane except George "Danny" Daneau, the nose turret gunner, who went down with the aircraft.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  After they had to ditch their B-17 in the ocean between Naples and Sicily, it was the Germans who got to them first. Bill Couch and the rest of the crew were now POW's. They were sent to Stalag Luft III, a huge camp in occupied Poland. It was no country club but at least they weren't abused by the guards. The SS and the Gestapo, though, you wanted to steer clear when they were around. Part 2 of 3.

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  B.E. Vaughan - Navy +9 Total Videos

  USS O'Brien (DD-725)

  After a nerve-wracking mission to bomb Tokyo and a typhoon, B.E. Vaughan and the destroyer O'Brien suffered a second kamikaze attack which killed all three of his hometown pals who served with him on board. Then, began the grim task of collecting the personal belongings of the dead and preparing them for burial at sea.

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  Ed Harrell - Marines +12 Total Videos

  USS Indianapolis

  Ed Harrell describes in detail the sinking of the USS Indianapolis from Japanese torpedoes, which left nearly 900 Sailors and Marines in shark-infested Pacific waters. Part 1 of 4.

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  LtGen Lawrence Snowden - Marines +16 Total Videos

  23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division

  The first operation for the 4th Division was the landing on Roi-Namur. Lawrence Snowden remembers that, though it was an easy victory, valuable combat experience and important lessons were imparted on the Marines.

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  George Barber - Navy +1 Video

  USS Denebola (AD-12)

  He chose the Navy because of the bunk and the chow. George Barber was an experienced welder so he was assigned as a metalsmith on a destroyer tender. He left the ship in Sardinia for a time attached to a motor torpedo base, maintaining PT boats. He was touched by the hungry children who would gather at the chow hall and he made friends with sailors from the Italian navy, who were also hungry.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  It was a long trip home from Peleliu to San Diego. There were no cheering crowds but Phillip Gamache didn't care. What he cared about was the plush Pullman cars they initially traveled in before being replaced by less comfortable accommodations. When he found out he was at the top of the list for promotion to corporal, he had to take action.

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  George Barber - Navy +1 Video

  USS Denebola (AD-12)

  After serving off Italy and southern France. the destroyer tender USS Denebola sailed all the way to Kwajalein in the Pacific. There, metalsmith George Barber worked on repairing destroyers that had been damaged. The Denebola would also take on wounded sailors for transfer to a hospital ship. He remained in the reserves after the war but had more important things to do than go to Korea.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  When Phillip Gamache entered Sasebo for occupation duty, he was amazed at how clean the place was, despite repeated bombings. After scaring a few Japanese traffic cops, the Marines moved into the city and were greeted by the residents but they were puzzled by the Japanese latrines.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was Christmas in 1944 and the prisoners at Stalag Luft III wondered if they would see the next Christmas at home. A lot of uncertainty was added when the Germans forced them out on the road in a march southward into Germany. Bill Couch describes that trip and their short stay at the next Stalag.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  If you ran out of hand grenades, you could just pick them up on the battlefield because they were everywhere. That's one memory of Iwo Jima for Phillip Gamache. Another is the many scenes of heroic action from his fellow Marines, such as the time the smallest man in the unit carried the largest man to safety. One of the bravest was their Corpsman, who suffered the indignity of losing a rank once they were back aboard ship. Part 3 of 3.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  As the advancing Russians were getting closer, the POW's at Stalag Luft III were forced to travel from occupied Poland into Germany. Before that, there had been an ill fated mass escape that was immortalized in the movie, The Great Escape. Bill Couch was one of those POW's and he gives his perspective on all that as the war was winding down. Part 3 of 3.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  After occupation duty in Japan, Phillip Gamache had one more stop before returning home and that was Peleliu. There were still a lot of Japanese on the island under the watchful eyes of the Marines but there were some who had not been captured.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  For you, the war is over. That's what Bill Couch heard from the first German to speak when he and the rest of the B-17 crew were taken into custody. First they were held at a naval base where the piano playing radio operator entertained their captors. Then they were taken to Naples where an Italian mob posed an unexpected menace.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  After witnessing a Marine bravely pick up and throw a dropped, live grenade, Phillip Gamache and his "Guardian Angel" Corpsman Bob Rhodes fled and fell in with another group. He assaulted a Japanese position and relieved an officer of his Samurai sword. Because of the thermal activity on the island, digging in was replaced by piling stones. Part 2 of 3.

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  Harper Brame - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Besugo (SS-321)

  Harper Brame had some cousins who served during the second World War, but the rest of his family was involved in the war effort back home. He describes his family’s military history that goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The target was a Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg. That made it a labor of love for the B-17 crews. Bill Couch recalls that, once their fighter escort had to turn back, it was a running gun battle all the way to the target. There was heavy flak, too, and their engines took some damage. They lost one, then another. How long could they stay up? Part 1 of 3.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  It was 1942 when New York native Philip Gamache entered the Marine Corps. He had decided on the Marines because, if he had to fight, he didn't want to fight in the cold. He underwent a year of training in California and Hawaii before he entered the fray.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  There were many escape attempts at Stalag Luft III. In fact, one ill fated mass escape was immortalized in the movie, The Great Escape. Bill Couch recalls his experiences as a prisoner at that camp and relates what happened in the aftermath of that incident.

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  Harper Brame - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Besugo (SS-321)

  Growing up in rural Virginia, Harper Brame was a member of a hardworking family. He recalls some of the people he grew up with and a doctor who treated his broken femur.

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  Phillip Gamache - Marines +6 Total Videos

  1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

  The first job for the 26th Marines on Iwo Jima was to bisect the island. They accomplished that but the terrain and the dedicated enemy meant that this battle would continue for a while. Phillip Gamache describes the chaotic situation as the combat split units apart and threw ad hoc teams together. He witnessed some brave acts that would surely have led to medals, if they were known. Part 1 of 3.

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  Jack Wall - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Pinkney (APH-2)

  His ship was in dry dock in New Zealand when Jack Wall missed the last boat that would get him back in time from his liberty. Would he be able to sneak on board? Several guys were already busted that night.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was a drab place but at least Bill Couch was among his own. Stalag Luft III was in occupied Poland and life at the huge camp proved to be bearable. There was athletic equipment, a library, and an orchestra. He even developed a taste for the infamous German black bread.

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  Jack Wall - Navy +6 Total Videos

  USS Pinkney (APH-2)

  The USS Pinkney was an evacuation transport. It was designed to deliver troops to an invasion site and then evacuate the wounded. The ship participated in three memorable landings, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Pharmacist's Mate Jack Wall recalls an episode that unfolded in the psych ward regarding a suicidal sailor.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Wake up time was 3:30 AM. This tended to make bombardier Bill Couch rather grouchy. No time for that. There was a briefing, there was breakfast and the gear had to be loaded onto the plane, including the bombsight.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  B-24 radio operator Burt Vardeman fondly remembers the Italian locals who lived in the village near his air base. They were kind and helpful and, after the war, his squadron returned the favor.

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  Bill Couch - Army Air Corps +15 Total Videos

  349th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Veronica Lake's films about aviators had a lot to do with it, that and the draft. Bill Couch thought his survival chances would be better in the air so he went for the Air Corps but, once he was in training, he realized there were a lot of ways to die up there.

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  Burt Vardeman - Army Air Corps +17 Total Videos

  824th Bomb Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force

  On his first mission, B-24 radio operator Burt Vardeman saw a plane explode after a direct hit from a flak shell. No parachutes. It was a real quick lesson in how deadly this game was.