William Dean Whitaker was born in 1925 and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Dean, as he is known, talks briefly about his parents and his brothers, for his youth quickly ended when he joined the Air Force and became an aviation cadet once he had turned 18 years old. The year was 1943 and World War II was raging. He became a member of the 398 th Bomb Group and flew twenty missions before being captured by the Germans. In this oral history, Dean talks with vivid recollection of the day he was captured and details of being a POW in Germany. Among his anecdotes are those of his mother's unwavering belief that he would return home, the humanity of a German soldier, and of meeting Gen. George Patton. Included are photos and excerpts from his personal history of his life during the war. Dean and his wife Lucille moved to Las Vegas in 1990.

Connie Hill Sheldon and her identical twin, Billie, also were members of Rancho High School 's first graduating class of 1962. Connie and Billie were born in 1944 in Oklahoma and spent their early years in southern California before moving to Las Vegas in 1956 with their mother, brother, and stepfather, Gerald Elmore. In Las Vegas Connie and her siblings attended Sunrise Acres Elementary School before going to Rancho, and the family was active with Homesite Baptist Church. While she was at Rancho Connie worked at the Huntridge Theater, and she continued working there after she graduated. In 1968 Connie married fellow Rancho '62 classmate Clyde Sheldon in Goldfield, Nevada. At the time of their marriage Clyde was an active-duty Marine. Over the course of his twenty-year USMC career the Sheldons lived in several places, but following his 1983 retirement they returned to Las Vegas and then moved to Pahrump. In this interview Connie particularly focuses on military life in New Yo

Jim Marsh in Denver, Colorado. Father was the chief for the Colorado Patrol. Mother lived in Nebraska. Jim split time in both places while growing up. He was a service member of the Army and once getting out of the service he started his work with his father at a Ford dealership. Jim went on to work and own dealership in several different areas, Colorado, California, New Mexico, and Washington states before arriving in Las Vegas, NV in 1971. Once arriving in Las Vegas Marsh purchased a dealership called American Auto Mart. Around 1976 Jim Marsh bought the Santa Fe Saloon along with the twenty lots surrounding it for 12,500. This was his first experience in the gaming industry Marsh was the only dealership in the world for 25 years to have a gaming license in a new-car dealership. Marsh discovered interest in Belmont when there was a lone resident Rose Walter. The two bartered and Jim gained land in Belmont and went on to build a bar and church for the town. Marsh eventually went on to own the Skyline Casino. Jim Marsh founded the Nevada Auto Auction in 1987 on Las Vegas Boulevard South Eventually sold it and used the investment to build the Longstreet Casino. Marsh was' also a member of business organizations, Better Business Bureau and The Red Cross Marsh has been a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board for at least 25 years. Tonopah is another location that Marsh has invested in. After leasing the gaming at the Mizpah Hotel to later buying the Valley Bank building and moving the gaming from Mizpah. It is still successful today. He also purchased the Tonopah Station House which is a hotel bar, and restaurant; along with owning the grocery store Scolari's next-door. Tonopah has proved to be a very good investment for Jim Marsh.