Donald A. Binns World War II Interview

Donald A. Binns World War II Interview

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States.

United States -- History -- 1933-1945.

United States. Navy -- History.

United States -- History, Military.

Lawrence (Kan.) -- History.

Lawrence (Kan.) -- Oral history.

Prisoners of war.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Interviews.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Pacific Area.

Donald A. Binns joined the United States Navy in 1936 and attended boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. He retired after twenty years as a Chief Petty Officer. Interviewed on May 9, 2003, by Luke Thompson as part of the Lawrence Remembers: The World War II Years Project, Binns talked about his military experiences during the Second World War. Binns was born on August 5, 1917. Prior to World War II, Binns worked as a destroyer tender on the USS Melville and spent two years on the USS Bittern. After reenlisting, Binns was stationed in Guam, where he worked on a patrol boat. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 10,000 Japanese soldiers landed on Guam and captured many American soldiers, including Binns. The Japanese soldiers then took Binns and the others to Zentsuji, a prisoner of war camp in Shikoku, Japan. Binns spent four years at the camp. During his time there, he worked at the railroad freight station. Binns discussed his time in the military before the war, the experience of being captured in Guam, and his time as a POW in Japan. He talked about the conditions of the camp, the Doolittle Raid, and his encounters with Japanese civilians and the guards. Following his retirement from the Navy, Binns taught at Lawrence High School and served on the Lawrence City Commission. He passed away on February 3, 2005.

Binns, Donald A.

Kansas Veterans of World War II Oral History Project / Lawrence Remembers: The World War II Years Project

Lawrence Public Library (Lawrence, Kan.)

2003-05-09

Thompson, Luke

Kansas State Historical Society

The original copy of this video is available through the Lawrence Public Library. The Watkins Museum of History and the Kansas State Historical Society may also have interviews associated with this project. Researchers are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions for uses other than educational or scholarly research. Contact the Watkins Museum of History for additional information: https://www.watkinsmuseum.org/

To access the video recording of this oral history, go to: https://archive.org/details/binns-wwii-interview

Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/donald-binns-obituary?pid=3128310

The Watkins Museum of History also holds items related to this collection.

Transcripts for this project are available through the Kansas Memory Digital Collection: https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/212282

Other resources for interviews with World War II veterans are available through the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project: https://www.loc.gov/vets/vets-home.htm

MP4

eng

Oral History

Binns, WWII Interview

1936 - 1945

VHS

0:38:32

317 kbit/s (audio)

10318 kbit/s (video)

Thompson, Luke

Binns, Donald A.

Lawrence (Kan.)