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Frank Noonan

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A veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Frank Noonan reenlisted after the war and served on the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge during the Korean War. He details the awesome firepower its dive bombers carried and the technology of launching and landing jets on a floating runway. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.) (4:43)

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After a short bit of shore duty, Frank Noonan was assigned to the USS John R. Craig, a destroyer that was bound for a goodwill tour in the Pacific. It berthed in some unlikely places, including up the Irrawaddy River at Rangoon. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.) (4:08)

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A veteran of World War II and Korea, Frank Noonan served long enough to make it to Saigon on the first American warship to venture up the Mekong River. There, he observed a German civilian use an unusual defensive technique when attacked at a sidewalk cafe. (This interview made possible with the support of JANIS HAUSER In Memory Of Alfred W. Hauser, Army Air Corps.) (2:52)

Frank Pomroy

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After the Pearl Harbor attack, seventeen year old Frank Pomroy tried to enlist in the Marines but was told he was too young. Undaunted, he and another eager teen concocted a scheme to get in. (First interview) (6:26)

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Boot camp was compressed early in the war to get Marines ready for fighting. Frank Pomroy recalls how the drill sergeant was tough as nails but bought them beer after the graduation.Then he was off to Camp Lejeune, which was being built as the men trained. A long train ride to California gave many of the young Marines their first sight of the West. (First interview) (5:35)

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After a stop in New Zealand where the men made their own liberty, the Marines of the 1st Regiment went to the island of Guadalcanal. It had been chosen for the initial confrontation with the Japanese. Frank Pomroy was ordered to stay on the transport to help unload but an enemy torpedo bomber crashed into it and the crew abandoned ship. Part 1 of 2. (First interview) (10:10)

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Frank Pomroy was on a raft with another Marine after their troop transport was consumed by fire. They were fortunately rescued by a US destroyer just in time to witness the Battle of Savo island, a disastrous defeat for the US Navy. Part 2 of 2. (First interview) (10:28)

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Frank Pomroy had been rescued at sea and was at New Caledonia trying to get passage to rejoin his unit on Guadalcanal. He didn't know it yet but they been all but abandoned by the Navy and were fighting the Japanese with very few supplies. (First interview) (6:27)

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He was on the 37mm gun and he only had 55 rounds to last the night. Frank Pomroy chose his targets carefully and the grapeshot he was firing was really an anti-tank weapon mowing down the charging enemy. Finally the Banzai attacks ended. This was the first defeat for the Japanese in the Pacific. (First interview) (7:19)

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The Japanese were defeated for the first time by a few Marines. The battle fought at the Tenaru River marked not only the beginning of the Guadalcanal campaign but the turning point in their dominance in the Pacific. Frank Pomroy explains why they lost. (First interview) (3:55)