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In reply to the discussion: My uncle enlisted in the Navy, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I found this picture of him [View all]truckin
(576 posts)My Dad then tried to enlist in the Marines 3 times but was rejected each time for high blood pressure. The 4th time he got in. He went on to serve in the 3rd Marine Division and fought in Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima.
I am so grateful that I interviewed my Father 3 months before he passed in 2008 about his WW2 experiences. My sister and brothers have bugged me since then to write up the interview so they could read it and this year I finally did. I used my notes, notes my Dad wrote, a book issued by the Marines about the 3rd Marine Division in the Pacific, and a book called "Stories from the Pacific" by Lawrence Kirby. I have read a handful of books about the battles my Dad fought in the Pacific and "Stories from the Pacific" is the best of the bunch. Mr. Kirby's eloquent writing and his brutal honesty make for a great read and I highly recommend this book if you are interested in this topic.
When I completed the project this year I learned many things. First was that while my Dad shared many interesting stories with me when I interviewed him, he never discussed any of the actual combat. I also learned that his experience on Iwo was worse that I thought. When we started to talk about Iwo, his last battle, he broke down and couldn't continue. The interview ended there after 3 hours.
That generation has my deepest respect and I don't know how they did what they did.