Oral History Interview with Frederick Waigand, October 15, 2011

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Frederick Waigand. Waigand joined the Marine Corps just after the attack on Pearl Harbor and received basic training at Parris Island. Upon completion of mechanic training, he became a plane captain and was assigned to VMO-155. After serving on Midway, he transferred to VMF-311 as the executive officer’s crew chief for the invasion of Okinawa. There he shot a Japanese soldier who charged him in a banzai attack springing from an enemy bomber that crash-landed near the flight line. After the island was secured, Waigand oversaw Okinawan work crews, noting that the natives were incredibly jovial. When it came time for his return to the States, he transferred ships after the first one was struck by a kamikaze. Waigand remained in the Marine Corps into the 1950s and retired as a master sergeant