Here is a short statement of my tour in the United States Marine Corps.
I went to Canvas Grade School and I started to high school at (Old Main) at Summersville, WV.
I quit at the start of my second year and volunteered in the Marine Corps. I took my basic training at Paris Island, S.C.; then on to training at Camp LeJune, NC., then on to Camp Pendleton, Calif. I was assigned to the 3rd Marine Division to a 14 month tour in the Far East. I was in the Far East at the age of 17.
I was also stationed at Okinawa during the latter part of 1952-53. This was following WWII and I witnessed some of the aftermath of that war.
This is where the Japanese were during WWII. There were holes dug out in the mountains and skeletons of Japanese soldiers were still in the holes. The soldiers had been killed with flame-throwers and the remains were still there and so were the machine guns. The skeletons were black where they had been burned.
There was a memorial on a cliff for the Japanese and bones were piled up around the Memorial.
Okinawa Island was three miles wide and 21 miles long. While I was stationed there I help build an airstrip from ocean to ocean. I was in the engineering division but I also carried and M-1 rifle.
"War is Hell".
end of interview.