Oral History Interview with Bill Hardin, October 8, 2010

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Hardin. Hardin joined the Navy’s underwater demolition team after attending Officers Candidate School at Columbia University. He received water training and depth training at Pearl Harbor. He cleared underwater obstacles in Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa in preparation for invasions, often under enemy fire. At Guam, he noticed a native girl in need of serious medical attention. He called in a medic, who arrived by plane and treated the girl. When Hardin returned during a second trip to Guam, he met the girl at the newly erected aid station and learned that she named her infant daughter after him: Bill. In Saipan he recalls seeing the atomic bomb being loaded, although he didn’t know what it was at the time. At Okinawa he and his team tied together several tons of explosives and towed them six miles out to sea before detonating them. Although he was miles away at the time of detonation, he could still feel its impact in the water. He returned home and elected to join the Reserves after the war ended. He was the only of five brothers in his family to survive the war