Sailor Series Oral History Collection
Dates: 2011-2019
Interviews with current and former sailors discussing specific events and moments in their careers. This is an ongoing interview series conducted by Navy Historians. We will update this page periodically as more oral histories are completed.
For more information on how to access these oral histories, please contact the Navy Archives.
Avery, Timothy J. LT
Date of Interview: 5 March 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: 2009 OIF deployment, serving as Intelligence Officer, Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center, 2007-2011
Key words: ET CLAS A SCOL; Nuclear Power School; U.S. Naval Academy; Flight School; NAS Pensacola, FL; Tactical Intelligence Support Team (TACTIS); Basra, Iraq; NSW Special Operations Task Force (SOTF)
Cox, Samuel
Date of Interview: 23 January 2019
Interviewer: Nicholas Roland and Curtis Utz
Overview: 1999 Operation Allied Force deployment, serving as Intelligence Officer, Carrier Group EIGHT Staff, rank in 1999 was CDR
Key words: Operation Allied Force; Kosovo; Serbia; Montenegro; USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT; Sixth Fleet; Tomahawk missiles; forward air controller (airborne); Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) missions; suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD); EA-6B Prowler; F/A-18; F-14; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); Podgorica airfield strike; Pristina strike; targeting; USAF and Navy interoperability; rules of engagement; casualty aversion; operational deception tactics
DeBuse, Robert CDR
Date of Interview: 24 January 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: 2010 OEF deployment, serving as Commanding Officer, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit FIVE
Key words: MCM Rotational Crew BRAVO; USS Champion (MCM 4); USS Patriot (MCM 7) and USS Pioneer (MCM 9); EODMU TWO; EODMU FIVE; Kandahar; Combined Joint Task Force Paladin-South
Dungan, Fred L.
Date of Interview: 20 May 2011
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: World War II ace Naval Aviator awarded Distingushed Flying Cross (DFC) for action over Guam in June 1944; Awarded Navy Cross for action in vicinity of Bonin Islands in July 1944 and received Purple Heart for injuries sustained during that action; prior to seeing combat, Dungan flew as the safety pilot on the first GCA blind landing in December 1942.
Key words: Project Affirm (nightfighter development unit working with radar), F4F Wildcat; F6F Hellcat; RADM Joseph J. "Jocko Clark"; USS HORNET (CV 12); USS YORKTOWN (CV 10); Nighttime Aerial Combat Missions; Nightfighters; Guam; Marianas; Dogfights; New Guinea April 1944; Orote Field June 1944; Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands July 1944; Chichi Jima; Japanese Destroyer Escort; first Ground Controlled Approach (GCA); Charles Lindbergh; Allstate Insurance
Fonseca, Luis E. Jr. HM2
Date of Interview: 19 May 2011
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Awarded Navy Cross for actions taken on 23 March 2003 in Iraq, three days after invasion and start of OIF.
Key words: Marines; Boot camp; Hospital Corpsman "A" School; Field Medical Service School; Pre-deployment experiences; Deployment; Invasion; Al-Nasiriyah; Northern Bridge; Subsequent tours in Iraq and Afghanistan
Link, James A. CDR
Date of Interview: 26 January 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Volunteered to serve in Iraq as an Individual Augmentee (IA) with Navy JAG Corps in 2007
Topics Discussed: Career as JAG Corps Officer in years prior to IA billet; IA service in Iraq; the individual experience, civilian-military disconnect; observations and opinions of Iraqi people
Mason, Donald E.
Date of Interview: 19 May 2011
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Navy veteran who served as Hospitalman (HN) and was awarded Navy Cross for service in Korean War, also received Purple Heart for injuries sustained while in service during Korean War.
Key words: USS Albany (CA123); Hospital Corps School; U.S. Naval Hospital Corpus Christi, Texas; “Baker” Company, 1st battalion, 7th Marines; “The Hook”; Advanced Hospital Corps School; Portsmouth, Virginia; USS Current (ARS 22), American Embassy (AMEMB) Manila; American Embassy (AMEMB) Saigon; Clark Air Force Base; PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome); TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
McKnight, Terence E. RADM
Date of Interview: 23 February 2012
Interviewer: Gina Akers
Overview: As commander of Expeditionary Strike Group TWO (ESG-2), while deployed to NAVCENT AOR in 2007, he began dealing with maritime piracy.
Topics Discussed: Personal experiences dealing with maritime piracy as commander of ESG-2 as well as U.S. Navy's policies and strategies and experiences dealing with maritime piracy.
Moses, Allen D. & Elizabeth
Date of Interview: 16 October 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Both served as Naval officers, Allen Moses served during Operation Passage to Freedom, the 1954 evacuation of North Vietnam following the Geneva Accords; Elizabeth Moses received her commission under the Reserve Office Candidate (ROC) program and served at the Registered Publications Issuing Office (RPIO).
Key words: USS Boxer (CV 21); WAVES; Geneva accords (1954); Dien Bien Phu; USS George Clymer; COMPHIBGRUONE (Commander Amphibious Group One); USS Luzon (PR 7); Shanghai; Hankow; Chungking; Yangtze Patrol
Paz, Roberto OS1
Date of Interview: 10 February 2014
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Received the Navy and Marine Crops Medal for his emergency response actions at the Pentagon on 9/11. He also saw service in Iraq during OIF and worked search and rescue in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
Smith, Edward G. CAPT
Date of Interview: 29 August 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Served in Iraq as a Navy JAG Corps officer beginning in 2007, he was assigned to U.S. Atlantic Fleet Task Force 134 (Rule of Law Task Force)
Topics Discussed: Naval Air Force; U.S. Atlantic Fleet Task Force 134 (Rule of Law Task Force); Abu Ghraib prison; Major General Douglas Stone, USMC; Camp Bucca; Chief Justice Medhat Mahmoud
Taitt, Sean L. LSC
Date of Interview: 12 October 2011
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Sailor who was deployed aboard USS COLE (DDG-67) and survived the bombing in 2000; he also served on an Individual Augmentee (IA) assignment in Afghanistan.
Key words: Logistics Specialist rate; USS Forrestal (CV 59); USS Cole (DDG 67); Lieutenant Denise Woodfin (SC) USN; Purple Heart Medal; Arlington National Cemetery; Naval District of Washington(NDW); Fort Riley; Kansas; Regional Command West; Forward Operating Base Stone; USS Ardent (MCM 12), Warrior Transition Program (WTP); Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
Vaidyanathan, Rajan CAPT
Date of Interview: 27 October 2011
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Overview: Naval officer who served as an Individual Augmentee (IA) with Army Corps of Engineers in 2009.
Key words: NUPOC Program; USS Spadefish; Iraq Security Force Fund; Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction
Victoria, John L.
Date of Interview: 16 March 2012
Interviewer: Tim Frank
Topics Discussed: Naval officer who served as an Individual Augmentee (IA) with the Army Provinical Reconstruction Team (PRT) Program in Afghanistan beginning in 2008.
Key words: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; General Dynamics (NASSCO Shipbuilding); Military Sealift Command; Farah, Afghanistan; Heart; Regional Command West; Shuras
