Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:16 | The rigors of war were interrupted as Victor Miesel found time to make a batch of home made Coca-Cola with a wayward container of concentrated syrup. Then, it wasn't only Two O' Clock Charlie that disturbed the night, but a giant reptile and the call of nature. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
Keywords : Victor Miesel projector movie Tokyo Rose radio Coca-Cola Coke fire extinguisher carbonation CO2 Douglas MacArthur 2 O'Clock Charlie gas dump B-24 Biak Island LST 688 Morotai Phillippines Ebony AA anti aircraft tracer Japanese plane
Victor Miesel volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1942 and began a train odyssey across the United States as his unit grew to 330 men. They trained on the East Coast and the West Coast as they wondered where they would be deployed. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
Victor Miesel's first stop in the Pacific was Townsville Australia, which resembled an old West town on the American frontier. He built Quonset huts and prepped new fighter planes for service and began island hopping toward the action with a move to Port Moresby. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
As the 5th Air Force pounded the Japanese forces in the Pacific, Victor Miesel's support role did not shield him from the war. He encountered booby trapped enemy corpses, endured raids from the local Two O' Clock Charlie, and created possibly the best designed foxholes of the war. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
As his transport joined a massive convoy, Victor Miesel watched as a lone Kamikaze dove straight for the ship, leveled off and withdrew. On Okinawa he prepared for the coming invasion of the Japanese homeland. Then word came of an unusual air strike on Hiroshima. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
The war was over but all the transport ships were busy in the Atlantic. Before he arrived home on foot in Pittsburgh, Victor Miesel had to endure a typhoon, possibly the last Japanese war plane, New Year's Eve in the Chicago stockyards, and a train journey to rival the one he had as a recruit. (Interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh: veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com)
