John "Buck" W. Newsom World War II Interview

John "Buck" W. Newsom World War II Interview

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States.

United States -- History, Military.

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

World War, 1939-1945 -- Pacific Area

United States. Navy -- History.

Lawrence (Kan.) -- Oral history.

John W. “Buck” Newsom served as a Captain in the United States Navy from 1941 to 1964. Interviewed by Kristen Miller in 2002 as part of the Kansas Veterans History Project, Newsom talked about his experiences during the Second World War. Newsom was born on July 24, 1919, in Durham, North Carolina. He attended Duke University before going to the Naval Academy in 1937. He first served on the USS Hopkins DMS-13 as Chief Engineer and Gunnery Officer. Newsom spent time in Pearl Harbor and took part in the invasion of the Solomon Islands. He then trained as a blimp pilot in 1944. He was assigned to the USS California as an air-defense officer. He took part in the Okinawa campaign and was part of the Japanese invasion fleet. After retiring from the military, he worked at Centron Productions in Lawrence, Kansas. Newsom passed away on November 26, 2015.

Newsom, John W. “Buck”

Kansas Veterans History Project

Lawrence Public Library (Lawrence, Kan.)

2002

Miller, Kristen

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/newsom-interview_202008

Obituary: https://obituaries.ljworld.com/obituaries/ljworld/obituary.aspx?n=john-newsom-buck&pid=176696155&fhid=24990

A transcript of another interview with Newsom is available through the Kansas Memory Digital Collection: https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/218569

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

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

Newsom Interview

Solomon Islands

Japan

1941-1945

VHS

01:1:00:42

317 kbit/s (audio)

10169 kbit/s (video)

Miller, Kristen

Newsom, John W. “Buck”

Topeka (Kan.)