Archival Collections

This collection relates to Forest Duane Hunsley who served in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Mechanic 2nd Class on the aircraft carrier U.S.S Lexington during World War II. The collection includes work notes and manuals while involved in aviation metal smithing aboard the U.S.S Lexington and Hawaii. The collection contains short letters and brief accounts of the Battle of Coral Sea, and the journalism that followed him in his hometown in Illinois. Informational booklet about New Caledonia is also included.

This collection consists of 278 photographs taken by an American Seabee in the Pacific during World War II. Many of the photographs document native life on the islands of New Caledonia, the Russell Islands, and Okinawa. There are images of native communities and homes, religious items, burial sites, workers, and other aspects of native life. They also document the operations of the 20th Naval Construction Battalion and various other US military units and operations. This includes photographs of construction, stevedoring, camp life, and American servicemen.

This collection relates to James Thomas who served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. This collection contains an oral history transcript where Thomas recounts his experiences training with the 10th Mountain Division, and later combat and living conditions in Bougainville and the Philippines.

Kenneth D. Kelly served in the 78th US Naval Construction Battalion during World War II on New Caledonia, the Admiralty Islands, and on Okinawa. Included in his collection are a number of news articles related to the Seabees, his typed memoir, and a copy of the unit's battalion log.

This collection pertains to Lawrence Burzynski, who enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Chief Electrician Mate. This collection contains a compilation of entries from Burzynski's diary during his seven years in the Navy. The diary provides ample insight into nearly every facet of Navy life during WWII and provides testimony on key moments of the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor.

This collection relates to Linville E. Evans who served in the U.S. Navy as a Chief Boatswain's Mate on the U.S.S. San Juan (CL-54) Atlanta-class light cruiser in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The collection includes photographs, documents, a newspaper clipping about the San Juan, a ship's newsletter, and two histories of the vessel.