Oral History Interview with Ernest Major, May 31, 2008

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ernest Major. Major volunteered for the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Upon completion of diesel school, he became a PT boat motor mechanic. After getting injured in a boating accident, he spent nine months recovering and was then assigned to PT-309 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 22. Following stops in North Africa and France in early 1943, he experienced a close encounter with Italian ships at Sardinia before arriving at his base on Corsica. Using radar, the PT boat conducted night patrols along the coast of Italy, torpedoing and sinking five supply barges. His unit captured an Italian MAS boat attempting to smuggle out German officers from Elba, and they also transported French commandos to Southern France. After being stationed in Golfe-Juan, Major returned to the States and was later sent to the Philippines. He finished the war at Okinawa, surviving a typhoon and heartily celebrating V-J Day. Major was discharged in December 1945