The Historic Vienna Oral History Project: Pearl Harbor

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Richard C. Kirkland - June 16, 2014

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Kirkland joined the Army Air Corps and was trained to be a fighter pilot. During the war, he served in the famous "Flying Knights" fighter squadron, which included Major "Dick" Bong, the great flying ace. Kirkland discusses some of his flying missions and time living in New Guinea, including his brief encounters with Charles Lindbergh and, later on, with General Eisenhower.

After WWII, Richard Kirkland was assigned to test atomic bombs on the Marshall Islands. For our project, he discusses his fruitless search for a lost atomic bomb. Following this assignment, Kirkland spent the Korean War in the Air Force Rescue Service. He enjoyed this work immensely, and discusses it here in some detail.

Richard Kirkland's work with helicopters carried past his time in the Air Force Rescue Service and into his career working for Howard Hughes' Aircraft division, where he helped to develop and distribute helicopters to every police station in America.

Richard Kirkland moved to Vienna, VA, to raise a family with his wife, Maria. He resides here to this day. An artist since childhood, Kirkland spent his free time in the Army Air Corps drawing a serial comic for his fighter squadron. Still an artist, the walls of his home are lined with his and his wife's paintings.

Read more at Richard Kirkland's website, here.

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Joining the Army Air Corps

The Japanese Fishing Boat "Mission"

Meeting Charles Lindbergh

Working in the Jungles of New Guinea

Landing Predicament at Leyte Gulf

Remembering Richard Ira "Dick" Bong

How WWII Fighter Pilots Spent Their Days Off

Working for the Air Force Rescue Service

Meeting General Eisenhower

Searching for the Lost Atomic Bomb

Working with Helicopters (3-part video)

Rescue Work while Stationed at a M.A.S.H. Unit

High Rent at Watergate

Meeting his Wife, Moving to Vienna

Living Next Door to Joe Theismann, Helicopter Rides for the Neighbors

Raising a Family in Vienna, "Peace, Love, & Ice Cream"

All interviews by Sophie Abramowitz and David Shelby

Monday, June 23, 2014

Roger Neighborgall - June 11, 2014

Roger Neighborgall was born in Garrett, Indiana, in 1923. A freshman at Duke University when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and he enrolled in the 69th Division of 5th Ranger Battalion that same year, at 18 years old. He recounts his rather harrowing enrollment process, followed by the first and only time he met commanding General Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. He also displays some of the ephemera he brought back from WWII.

After returning from the war and receiving his college degree, Roger Neighborgall was employed at American Car and Foundry, where he eventually ended up in Technical Marketing as Vice President of the company. After 10 years, he began working at a new company that moved him around the US, eventually stationing him in the Washington, DC area in the 1960s.

Neighborgall recounts his time on Country Club Road, emphasizing Vienna's change in size over the years. He also describes the landscape, the commute to Washington, DC, where he had an office in the Pentagon working as a defense contractor, and institutions (the theater, the country club) and celebrations (former Mayor Charlie Robinson's 4th of July Celebrations) of Vienna's past and present.

Roger Neighborgall has involved himself in many groups, including a past presidency of The Ranger's Association and a current presidency of the Virginia Tennis League. He recounts his involvement with the committee at Our Lady of Good Council and his position as president of the W&OD trail, with attention to the history of and changes in each institution over the years.

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Joining the 69th Division of the 5th Ranger Battalion