George Mendonsa oral history transcription, 2005

Youth in Newport, R.I.; Occupation as a fisherman, Enlisted in the U.S. Navy, 1942; Boot Camp and Quartermaster School, Newport, R.1.; USS The Sullivans; Battle of the Marshall Islands and Truk; Escorted USS Intrepid to Pearl Harbor; Battle of the Marianas and Leyte Gulf; Ty­ phoon, December 1944; Operations in Formosa, Okinawa, lwo Jima, and Japan; Comments on his billet as helmsman, ship's morale, patriotism, and recreation; V:J Day, New York City and sub­ ject of the iconic photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt; V:J Day in San Francisco, Calif.; USS The Sullivans, San Diego, Calif.: Discharged, 1946; Attempt to prove himself as the sailor in the Life Magazine V:J Day photograph; consultation with Richard Benson and Mitsubishi Corpora­ tion; Cruise in USS The Sullivans; Reunion of USS The Sullivans crew, Waterloo, Iowa. Part of WWII Veterans project.