Oral History Interview with Wendell Mayes, November 27, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Mayes. Mayes joined the Navy on 10 December 1942. He was trained as a radio and radar technician. He completed radar school in Corpus Christi, Texas, which included a course on night fighter radar. He was then assigned to a night fighter squadron in Rhode Island. Mayes served in Fighter Squadron 3, Air Group 3, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10). He ensured that the radar used on night fighter aircraft was in good working order. They participated in the campaign to retake the Philippines, the Battle for Iwo Jima and the first full-scale air raids on Tokyo by carrier-based planes. He provides details of his experiences traveling aboard the troop trains, and visiting the USO clubs. Mayes was discharged in March of 1946