Oral history interview with Forrest Biard, 1992 June 11.

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Oral history interview with Forrest Biard, 1992 June 11.

Interview with Forrest Biard, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences as a cryptanalyst during World War II. Biard describes his time at the U.S. Naval Academy, 1930-34, the qualities of a good cryptanalyst; Japanese language training in Tokyo, 1939-40; evacuation from Tokyo, August, 1941; assignment to HYPO, Pearl Harbor; impressions of Commander Joseph Rochefort; comments about Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dyer, Lieutenant Commander Joseph Finnegan, Lieutenant Wesley ("Ham") Wright, Jasper Holmes; description of "The Dungeon" (Combat Intelligence Office); breaking of JN-25; relations between Rochefort and Fleet Intelligence Officer, Captain Edwin Layton; comments about "Magic" and "Winds Message"; evaluation of intelligence data; relations between HYPO and Office of Naval Intelligence; comments about Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner; Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor; Battle of the Coral Sea and Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher; comments about the Battle of Midway; off-duty activities; Rochefort's transfer to CAST (Melbourne, Australia), November, 1943; Japanese withdrawal from Rabaul; ambush of Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto's plane; return to HYPO; interrogation of Japanese POWs; H-bomb test at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952; and his retirement. Includes Appendix.

189, [1], 3, 17, [1] leaves : ill., facsims. ; 29 cm.

Related Entities

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University of North Texas. Oral History Collection.

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World War II Pacific Theater (Naval Engagements) Oral History Project.

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Biard, Forrest R., 1912-

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Marcello, Ronald E.

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United States. Navy

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Built and launched at New York Navy Yard; commissioned Nov. 12, 1944; scraped in 1993. Served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. From the description of USS Bon Homme Richard (CV/CVA-31) photograph collection 1944-1971. (The Mariners' Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 41657866 The federal government decided in 1941 to send Supply Corps personnel to Harvard Business School for training in the business of equipping the Navy. This was effected by a transfer...