Oral History Interview with Leo Wilcox, December 1, 2011

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Leo D. Wilcox. Wilcox joined the Navy in December 1942 and trained at Farragut, Idaho. Eventually, he was assigned to the Amphibious Force and reported aboard USS LCI-70 at Tulagi. The USS LCI-70 was a variant and was converted to include several other guns to support infantry during a landing. Wilcox describes some action he saw aboardUSS LCI-70 in the Solomon Islands. He also discusses his role in the invasion of Leyte in October, 1944 and then Mindoro. During a typhoon, a ship drug anchor and collided withUSS LCI-70, which ended up beached after the typhoon. After getting off the beach,USS LCI-70 participated in the invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf. Wilcox describes the 70 being struck by a kamikaze. Wilcox also describes operations around Borneo. When the war ended, Wilcox was headed home to attend electricians school. Before he could go to school, he was assigned to the USS LST-611. He spent the next year decommissioning Seabee bases in the Pacific before being discharged in San Diego on his 21st birthday. He returned to the service, this time in the reserves and served aboard the USS Wedderburn (DD-684) during part of the war in Korea