Frank J. Kern Interview (2007)
World War II Oral Histories
Details
Collection:LPB
Genre: Interview
Place Covered: Tarawa, Kiribati, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, Nagasaki, Japan
Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority
Date Issued: 2007-10-11
Duration: 00:37:23
Subjects: Kern, Frank J. | World War II | World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives | United States. Marine Corps. | World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Ocean | Tarawa, Battle of, Kiribati, 1943 | World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Japan -- Okinawa Island | Military | Veterans | Kamikaze airplanes | Tinian, Battle of, Northern Mariana Islands, 1944 | Saipan, Battle of, Northern Mariana Islands, 1944
Contributors:
- Kern, Frank J. Interviewee
- Lefebvre, Marian Interviewer
Description
An oral history interview conducted on October 11, 2007, with Frank J. Kern, an artillery loader in the 2nd Marine Division during World War II. He discusses: joining the Marines; his deployment to the Pacific; fighting in the Battle of Tarawa; gathering the dead bodies after the battle; losing Marines during two naval accidents between battles; fighting in the Battles of Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa; serving as a part of the occupation forces in Nagasaki, Japan; destroying kamikaze planes near Nagasaki; and returning home to the United States on Christmas Eve 1945.