Oral history interview with William Kail, [videorecording], 2002.

ArchivalResource

Kail, William T., 1926-2005. Oral history interview with William Kail, [videorecording], 2002.

Oral history interview with William Kail, [videorecording], 2002.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/764607819

William T. Kail, a Barneveld, Wisconsin native, discusses his service aboard a PT boat in the Navy during World War II. Kail speaks of growing up during the Depression, getting his parents' permission to enlist in the Navy at age seventeen, and being sent to radio school after boot camp in Farragut (Idaho). He addresses getting ear infections, training as a ship-to-shore radioman with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, being ordered aboard the wrong ship, and his initiation when crossing the equator. After arriving at Milne Bay (New Guinea), he talks about volunteering to stay as a replacement on a Patrol/Torpedo (PT) boat, despite not meeting the age restriction or having any PT boat training. Kail comments on lack of formal protocol aboard the boat, such as never saluting officers and giving tours to airmen while wearing the skipper's hat. Kail describes the armaments, radar, and crew aboard his PT boat and the purpose of PT boats during the war, including attacking troop-transport barges in shallow water. He shares an anecdote about John F. Kennedy racing his PT boat to the fuel dock and crashing into it. Kail tells of being given the duty of aircraft recognition as well as gunner's mate and, later, head gunner of the boat. He details doing a better job setting the headspace for guns by feel than another officer who insisted on setting them with a gauge, the way he had been taught during training. Kail addresses the small arms the boat was issued and practicing shooting them at flying fish. He explains their method for using the boat hook to pull Japanese prisoners of war out of the water. He comments on transporting Alamo Scouts to occupied islands and occasionally going on shore to scout with them. Kail discusses phrases used in ship-to-shore communications, learning a little French so he could communicate with French exile coast watchers, and listening to Tokyo Rose. He describes some of his missions, including shooting at Japanese "Daisy Cutter" airplanes, joining a convoy to invade the Philippines at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and operating out of Lingayen Gulf. Kail comments on avoiding suicide boats and converting a captured suicide boat into a tow saucer for fun. He describes seeing kamikaze planes attack bigger ships, picking a couple of burned survivors out of the water, and tactics for attacking ships with torpedoes. Kail states his crew felt invincible. He portrays an admiral who liked to use their boat for transportation due to their informal wearing of uniforms and he details how their boat would scrounge food from destroyers. Kail speaks of celebrating the surrender of Japan before the official V-J Day, the stripping and burning of the PT boats after the war, and working as petty officer of the watch on Base Seventeen in the Philippines until he had enough points to come home. He details his homecoming at his girlfriend's house and getting married while waiting for his discharge at Great Lakes (Illinois). Kail explains that everyone on a PT boat had to know everyone else's job, and he touches on boredom, doing laundry, hearing loss from the loud guns, and inaccurate Navy records that do not acknowledge his boat's presence at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He portrays the camaraderie on his boat, fishing with grenades, being visited by some Filipino guerillas, getting attacked by strafing airplanes, the difficulty of getting credit for sinking or damaging ships, and being one of the first PT boats with a torpedo rack rather than tubes. Kail comments on the crew's typical day uniform being boxer undershorts, bringing home a souvenir Japanese pistol, and enjoying real milk when he got back to the States. He tells of a close call with shrapnel, having bad dreams caused by 4th of July fireworks, and not talking about his experiences after the war. Kail mentions not being a fan of McHale's Navy, a television sitcom about a PT boat crew, due to its inaccuracies.

Video recording : 4 video cassettes (ca. 50 min.) ; sd., col.; 1/2 in.Transcript : 33 p.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center