Transcribed by: INA C. LeBLANC, CSR, RPR Transcription date: OCTOBER 5, 2010 MS. EILEEN HURST: Today is April 29th, 2005. I'm interviewing a World War II veteran, John
Pease, at his home in East Windsor, Connecticut. Interviewer
is Eileen Hurst from Central Connecticut State
University. John, would you please state your full name, your date of birth, and your current address. Q: John, would you tell me which war you served
in and which branch of the service. A: Served in World War II with the United
States Marines. Q: What was your highest rank? A: PFC. Q: And that stands for private first class? A: That is correct. Q: John, were you drafted or did you enlist? A: I enlisted. Q: Where were you living at the time? A: Broad Brook, Connecticut. Q: You lived here your whole life? A: Yes. I was born here. Q: Can you tell me about why you enlisted? A: Yes. Because it was right after I was watching
the news and the Battle of Wake Island and then Guadalcanal, and I felt like I would want
to do my duty in the military. So on December 26th, 1942,
I went to Springfield, Massachusetts and signed the
papers to become a Marine. Q: Why did you choose the Marine Corps? A: Because they were tough and ready, and
hard, and that's what I wanted to be. Q: How old were you at the time? A: I was 19. Q: After you signed up in Springfield, how
long before you actually left for basic? A: Approximately two weeks. I believe it was January 19th, 1943, that I went to Parris
Island. Q: After you enlisted and left Broad Brook,
Connecticut, you went straight to Parris Island? A: Yes. Q: And that was for your basic training? A: Yes. Q: Can you describe what that was like. A: It was hard and good and fair. They trained
us very well. We were satisfied. We spent three weeks
on a rifle range, and the rest of the time was
learning different things, and how to act, and etiquette
of the Marines. And that lasted a period of 13 weeks. Q: Did you go with other Connecticut Marines,
or did you go on your own? A: I joined with a friend of mine. It was
just the two of us from this area at that time. Q: So you went for basic training together? A: Yes, we did. Q: Do you remember any of your instructors
at basic? A: Instructors -- I remember the -- yes. Sergeant
Roakes was in charge of our squad, and I don't remember
any other names. But I just want to add that the
Marine that I joined with, he went into -- he never
came back. I came back, and he did not. Q: Do you remember his name? A: Yes. George Nealens (phonetic). N-e-a-l-n-e-s,
I think. Yes. Q: After your 13 weeks at Parris Island, where
did you go? A: Went to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Q: What did you do there? A: Just did some more coast-water drilling.
We were just waiting to be assigned to wherever we were
going to go. And a few of us volunteered to go overseas.
And after we were at Camp Lejeune for about two weeks,
three weeks, we were sent to San Diego Marine base
and getting ready to ship out to go overseas into
the Pacific. Q: Did you receive any other special training
at Camp Lejeune? A: No, none. Q: Did you know what your assignment was going
to be? A: No, nothing other than we were going to
go overseas. Q: Did you have a chance to go home before
you shipped out -- A: No. Q: -- or did you go from Camp Lejeune to San
Diego? A: Went to San Diego. Q: And did your friend George go with you
then too? A: No. He went elsewhere. Q: All right. When you shipped out of San
Diego, do you remember what ship you were on? A: Yes. It was the Lurline. Oh -- yes. The
Lurline and the Matson lines. The Lurline is the name
of the ship, and it was run by the Matson lines. Q: And what was your trip like overseas? A: It took nine days, and at times the water
was rough. And we arrived in American Samoa, as I indicated,
nine days later. It was a luxury liner during peacetime. Q: Did you get all the luxuries that went
with it? A: No. It was six of us in a cabin for two. Q: Oh, I guess not luxurious. A: Not at all. Q: Did you have duties on ship -- A: No. Q: -- or just passengers? A: Just passengers on that ship. Q: So actually it was probably run by the
Navy, which _________ +. A: Yeah, it was. There were civilians on there,
but they had one gun, and it was a big six-inch gun.
There were some sailors there. They were the ones in
charge. Q: When you arrived on America Samoa, where
did you go and what did you do? A: We arrived, and we were sent out to the
end of the island on what I call a jungle. And from there
we were assigned as machine gunners to -- to become
machine gunners and to learn all about the 30-caliber
Browning machine gun. Q: So on America Samoa is where they assigned
you to be a machine gunner? A: Yes. Q: And that's when you learned that's what
you were going to learn? A: Yes. That's correct. Q: Did they train you there on that 30-caliber
Browning? A: Yes. We had -- we called it schooling,
and that lasted, I would say, at least a month. And
at the same time we were having schooling, we built a
machine-gun range which was 1,000 inches. They call it
the 1,000-inch machine-gun range. Why I -- Q: That's a range for shooting with 1,000
inches? A: That's correct. Q: What did the schooling entail, just practice,
practice, practice? A: Yeah. Well, it was a lot of book work and
instruction by our sergeant of how to operate. You had
to learn every part of the gun, learn to take it apart,
put it back together again, all of that. And then
of course training shooting a machine gun. Q: And from what I understand, you were a
pretty good shot. A: I got very good on the test. It was 97
on my written test. Q: Ninety-seven out of 100? A: Yes. Q: That's pretty good. How many men would
you say were in your class for training? A: I would say there was probably about eight.
There was eight and then the sergeant, who was the teacher. Q: Now this unit that you trained with, were
you going to stay together as a unit and go into combat
together, or were you all going to split up after your
training? A: No. We were going to stay right there and
guard American Samoa. We were the 2nd Defense Battalion,
and we just stayed there by our machine guns waiting
for action. Q: Did you always use the 30-caliber Browning? A: While I was there, yes. Q: Can you tell me anything about that weapon? A: No -- it was a very good -- I think they
had it in World War I even. It was a good weapon, but.... Q: Do you think you could still take one apart? A: No, not now, but I could then (laughter). Q: How long did you stay on America Samoa? A: Five months. Q: And then where did you go? A: We boarded a liberty ship, the USS Biddle,
and went to Wellington, New Zealand. Q: What were you going to do there? A: We were waiting to pick up some more troops
of the 2nd Marine Division, which we did do, but we were
there quite a while. Q: About how long? A: Between the time we left Samoa and the
time that we went into Tarawa from Wellington was 57 days. Q: What did you do while you were on New Zealand? A: We never got off the boat. We lived on
the boat. We had to stay on the boat and did practically
nothing. Q: Oh. Boring. So you never actually stepped
on the shore of New Zealand? A: Oh, yes. Yes. We had liberty a few times.
Yes. Q: What did you do while you were on liberty? A: Went to the local tavern. Q: So you didn't get to see much of New Zealand? A: No, no. We did not (laughter). Q: After your 57 days and you picked up additional
troops, where did you go? A: Right to Tarawa. Q: Did you know what your assignment in Tarawa
was going to be? A: We knew what we were going -- or a couple
of days before we actually got there, because they
started training, telling us where we were going to
go in and how we were going and everything. But before
that, we didn't know where we were going. Q: Do you remember what your feelings were,
knowing you were going into Tarawa? A: Yes, but they told us there wasn't going
to be much, because they were going to bomb the place
from the air, battleships were going to soften it up, and
we shouldn't have much trouble. So we didn't
-- We didn't worry too much about it. Q: And your duty when you landed was going
to be the machine gun? A: No. Then we was going to go and -- the
40-millimeter antiaircraft gun. Q: So you knew how to operate that also? A: Yes. We learned that at American Samoa
also. Q: Do you remember when you landed on Tarawa? A: Yes, I certainly do. Q: Can you describe what that was like? Do
you remember the date? A: The date had to be November 21st. Q: Which year? A: 1943. Q: Can you describe what that landing was
like? A: Well -- yes. It was -- We'd come down the
rope, nets down, with all our gear where we had three
days of food and two canteens of water and 200 bullets,
come down that net with 200 -- you see, your fingers
were being stepped on, because the guy before you -- We
had about a 60-pound pack, plus our rifle. We got into the Higgins boat, and we started
to shore. We got pretty near there, and they
said we can't get in. It's too bad and too late in
the day. So we pulled out in the Higgins boat -- We
stayed in the Higgins boat. They went back out on the
range of the Tarawa guns, and we stayed there overnight.
During the early night, the Jap planes come in strafing
the beach along the water, and the Higgins boats,
they were out, and amphibious tractors. Next morning,
we -- well, we didn't -- We stayed there overnight. Q: You stayed in the Higgins boat all -- A: All night, yes. Um-hmm. And then the next
morning we come and made our landings, coming up onto
Red Beach 2, which was along the pier that was set -- jutted
out into the water and where the Jap machine gunners
were lined up under the pier. On the way in on the Higgins boat, they transferred us to amphibious tractors, so
we got aboard those and we came. And the tractor couldn't
get into the beach either, so we jumped off the side
of the amphibious tractor with our packs and our
gear, and ran ashore as quick as we could amongst the dead
bodies that were floating around and in the way,
both Marines and Japanese. And we got to the concrete rods, embankment, and we stayed there for a while. Q: What is an amphibious tractor; can you
describe what that vehicle is? A: Yes. That's a tractor -- well, it's got
-- It's not a tank and it's not a boat. It's got Caterpillar
tractor wheels like a tank, but only you go on water
and land. But it is not bulletproof, or it doesn't have
any protection. I don't know why they used them. I had to stand at -- of 110 or so that went
in there, 90 -- 90 of them were disabled or wrecked. Q: At that landing? A: At that landing, yeah, or during the course
of the two days of landing. Q: Do you remember about how many men, how
many Marines, were going ashore that day? A: No, I don't. In our bunch, there was probably
about 30 of us that was to come in -- on there at that
time, but there was others coming aboard -- coming in
too. But I don't know. I wasn't paying much attention
to the them. I was looking out for myself (laughter). Q: Essentially, you weren't expecting that
kind of a welcome, and you thought it was nothing. You
must have been -- A: Oh, everybody was fine, but this was not
the first wave or the second wave, because there was Marines
gone in before us, and they were in there fighting
and ________, but they wanted us to go -- The setup was we were defense battalion, but this was the first time they were going to
try to send the defense battalion in if the other Marines
had gotten into trouble, and sure they did. There
was a high casualty. I think pretty near 90 percent
of the first few waves that went in were casualties. Q: Were those all Marines? A: Yeah, all Marines. Q: And that's why they sent in your defense? A: Yeah. And then they sent us in to set up
our guns for the defense of airplanes that were going to
come in and for any other reason. They could use those
for antitank too. Q: Do you know what the casualty rate was
for your unit? A: No. I have no idea. The only thing I know
is our executive officer, Captain Rose, was shot
when the raft went down for him to go ashore. Q: Did you see that? A: No, I did not see that, but we heard it
later. Yes, um-hmm. Q: And he was your exec? A: He was the executive officer of our company. Q: Now when the Japanese were also firing,
were they on the island as well as bombing from the air? A: Well, yes, yes. The only time that the
Japanese came strafing was at night when we were in the
Higgins boat, and then they came the next night, but no. Sure. There was 4,000 Japanese on this island. It doesn't sound like much, but the island
was 800 yards wide and two miles long. That was the
size of Betio Island. And 4,000 Japanese. And I think
there was, you know, about 8,000 Marines trying
to get _______+. So it was close -- close fighting. Q: Now once you did land and you got up to
the barrier, you said you stayed there for a short period
of time? A: Stayed there for a time, yeah, and then
we moved up to near the airport runway, which was only couple
hundred yards up there. Yes. Q: And what did you do there? Did you set
-- A: Started to send the guard up and be ready
for the planes to come in. We knew they would be coming
in at night again, but I don't think that we got
them up in time, because before we knew it, it was nighttime.
And the planes did come in again, strafing and
dropping some bombs along the beach, because they had
their own Japanese forces back; but they knew from communications from the Japs around the island that the beach
was where they wanted to do their damage. Q: And can you describe that night. You stayed
right there in your positions? A: Yeah, we stayed right there at night, and
sure enough, the planes -- As I said, they had the runway
and the Jap gasoline -- barrels of gasoline were there,
and there was a little -- a building that was
dug out, and we managed to crawl in there. And the gasoline
from the strafing exploded and started burning,
and so did our little shack that we had found. It started,
so we had to leave that and get out. But I understand that one of our members of
our unit on a 50-caliber machine gun shot down
one of their planes. So there was some satisfaction there. Q: When you left the burning shack, where
did you go? A: We just stayed there, right there. We didn't
move. Q: So you spent the night there? A: Yes. We stayed the night there, right. Q: And then did you finish assembling your
gun the next morning? A: Yes, the next morning we did that. Then
we got it all set up, and then we had to move again to another
spot on the second night and -- where somebody
else had set up our gun, so we didn't have to set up another
gun. And then we waited. It was pretty calm, but
we waited for a night where the bombers came, again,
the high- flying bombers now, and there was 90-millimeter
gunners there too that would reach up there, and their
big spotlights that they turned on -- They put
their spotlights on their planes coming in, and
then the 90-millimeter guns would be fired at them. Q: And at that point were you manning the
antiaircraft gun? A: No. Our gun would not reach that high,
so we just stood by our gun waiting for low-flying planes.
But there weren't any that night. Q: Earlier you had told me about a foxhole
incident. Was it on Tarawa that you -- that this happened? A: Yes. When we first got there, we dug our
foxholes, which we were told to do. Q: That was the first night? A: That was the first night, yes. And I had
the first watch for them. We were going to take turns
staying awake. Half could sleep and half stayed awake.
And after my watch, I laid down in my foxhole,
and before I knew it, somebody had jumped into my foxhole.
And it scared -- Naturally, I was really upset, because
we were told before to watch out for the Japs,
because they would jump in the foxholes with you and
knife you. And, therefore, I thought this was a Jap that
was on me. And I'm trying to reach and get my knife,
which I have here, and was going to stab the person.
He was yelling at me, yelling at me, "I'm so-and-so
and so-and-so," but I still didn't believe him,
because the Japs would also talk in English. But eventually -- this all happened in a few seconds -- I found out that it was one of
my fellow Marines. And I asked him -- I said, "How in
the heck could you fall in a foxhole on me like this?" He said, "Well, I had a -- to go out and relieve myself, and so when I was rolling back to
my foxhole," he said -- because he didn't want to stand
up and walk around -- "I fell right into your foxhole,
rolled right into it." I said, "Well, you're lucky you're alive."
That was the end of it that night. Q: He's lucky you couldn't get your knife
out in time. A: That's correct. Q: Now the second day of fighting, what happened? A: The second day that I was there, yes, not
much. We just waited around most of the time. We had
to move up again a little ways, and it was still pretty
rough going. I can remember I was moving up also,
and there were some Marines going back towards the shore
to rest or do whatever they're going to do. And I -- My original amount of water was two canteens, and I was down to one quarter of
a canteen of water, and I was getting worried because I'm
going to be out of water pretty soon. And when these
people were walking back, I said to them -- I said,
"You fellows headed back?" "Yeah." I said, "Do you have any water you could give me, because I'm low. I'm pretty out of water." And they said, "Oh, get it out of the tank." And I said, "The tank? What are you talking about?" They said, "There's a tank down another ten
or 20 yards." I said, "Yeah, but that's a Jap water tank.
I don't want to drink Jap water." They said, "No, it's American. It's our water tank." Sure enough, we went another few yards, and there was that tank. And to this day, I don't
know how that water tank was there, but it was one
of the happiest moments I had on that island, because
I was worried about water. That was that incident. Q: And your rations must have been getting
low by then? A: Yes. The rations -- The food rations, they
were lasting out pretty good. This was three days,
and this is at the end of the second day. But you could
live a while without food, but not too long without
water, especially right on the equator. This island
is just about on the equator. Q: After the second night, now, your third
day on the island, what happened then? A: Not much of anything. Things had really
cooled down up ahead, had cooled down, and everything was
seemingly pretty good, and we didn't have too many worries.
We still had to post our guards and go out and
do everything that you're doing when you're winding
it down, but I can't remember anything too -- happening. Q: So how much longer did you stay there? A: We stayed there -- I think we moved out
the next day again to another gun position, and then not
much happened. But another incident that happened -- That night, I had another -- another Marine and
I were assigned to go up ahead a ways and guard another
gun that had been left vacant, and during the
action there I also picked up a carving which another Marine
had and was dead. So I picked that up, and I took
that along with my rifle. So I had the two of them. I
left my rifle back where the rest of the squad was,
and I took the carving and went up and stayed overnight
with this other Marine, and nothing really happened
there. But -- you know, so he slept a few hours,
and then I'd sleep a few hours. So when the morning came, we were coming back
-- walking back to the rest of our squad. I saw
a bird there, a seagull, that was making a racket
on the post there. I said -- I said, "Well, I'm going
to put him out of his misery," and I went and I aimed
my -- the carving, and all it went was click. It didn't
work. I didn't know that when I went down there, and
I'm very fortunate that we didn't have any action that
night while we were there. When I got back, I got
rid of that carving. Q: Got your own gun back? A: I had my own rifle back, right. Q: And what happened after that? When did
you actually get off of the island? A: Well, we stayed another day. I think on
the fourth day, we were working on our guns, and we got
word from somewhere -- I don't know where. Our corporal,
he was the one who would tell us what was going on,
because he had a phone connection, a hookup, with the
CP. And we were told that at 10:00 o'clock, that we were
to stop doing what we were doing and look in a certain direction -- I can't remember which direction
-- because they were going to raise the American
flag at that time. So, you know, when 10:00 o'clock came, we
did what we were told, and we stood there and
faced where we were supposed to. And they -- I could not
see this, because they raised the flag, I believe. But
we were told that the American flag didn't go up first.
The British flag -- They raised the British flag
first, because it was a British island and the Japs
took it from the British before that, and so the American
flag went up next. So we were all very upset over
that, but just I thought that was an incident that would
be interesting. Q: Were there any British serving on the island? A: No, no. Q: It was all Americans? A: All Americans, yep. Q: Had you routed the Japanese off the island
at that point, or were you still fighting? A: No. It was all over. In five days, there
was no more action at all. Q: Now I understand you picked up a Japanese
rifle along the way. A: Yes, I did. That's when there was more
action going on and I still had that Japanese rifle. Q: Was that on Tarawa too? A: That was on Tarawa, yes. Tarawa was the
only island that I saw action on. Q: Were you awarded any medals or citations?
I know you were. A: Yes. I was sent by -- from the Department
of the Navy all the medals that I was entitled to, including
a Presidential Unit Citation for our outfit,
which was the Special Weapons of the 2nd Defense Battalion attached to the 2nd Marine Division. Q: Is that the same unit that you served in
throughout the war? A: Yes, to -- my period of the war, yes. Q: The other medals and citations that John
received was the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific
Campaign Medal with one bronze star, World War II Victory
Medal, the American Campaign, Presidential Unit Citation ribbon, as he stated, the Marine Corps Sharpshooter Rifle badge, and Honorable Service lapel pin. John, were you a sharpshooter? A: Yes. Q: How did you get that badge? A: By shooting well at the target in the range. Q: Was that back in basic? A: That was in basic first, but then one other
time after that we had to go to the range again. And,
again, I got a sharpshooter medal. For that, being
a sharpshooter, we received an additional three
dollars a month additional to our $54 a month pay which
we were supposed to receive. Q: Oh. Why were you such a good shot? Had
you had experience at home, before joining the military,
with guns? A: Yes. I was familiar with rifles, but they
do good training. Anybody who never shot a rifle could
become a sharpshooter if they put their mind to it.
Yeah. Q: Did you receive any injuries while you
were in combat? A: Well, yes and no. The only injury that
I received was a rip in my leg from the barbed wire on Tarawa,
going through there, and my calf on my leg -- the
pants were ripped and my leg was ripped open. But that
was nothing serious. Of course, we had bandages
and we had stuff that we could take care of ourselves. Q: Now I'm going to ask you some questions
about daily life. How did you stay in touch with your
family while you were in the service? A: I sent them letters and they sent me letters. Q: So was there good mail service? A: Considering, I would say yes. I have no
complaints. But we went a long time without getting mail,
because, you know, we kept moving around, and I was
aboard ship for 57 days. Got none then, of course. But one interesting thing -- You're talking about mail. You could never say where you
were located during the war. You know, this is a big secret.
And what surprised me, after about five or six
days on the island in Tarawa, they told us that we could
write home and tell them where we were, that we were
in that battle, which was surprising to me. I never
heard it before. Everybody was surprised. Yep. Q: So in all your letters home, you never
told them where you were except Tarawa? A: While I was overseas, yes, that's correct.
They didn't have any idea where I was, no. But I did write
to my sister then and told her I was in Tarawa,
and I left it up to her if she wanted to tell my mother
and father, because that was a real bad battle, you know. From what I understand, she didn't say anything for a week or two weeks. One night they were
sitting around talking about me, and my mother said
to my sister, "I believe he's in Bougainville,"
because that was going on at the same time. And my sister said to my mother, "No, Ma'.
I don't think he is." And
that went -- Q: So your sister was at your parents' house,
and she said, "No, I don't think he's in Bougainville"? A: Yes. That's what she said, yeah. And she
went and got the letter and showed it to my mother. And
my mother was then all upset, but -- because while there
was no more fighting going on on the island, because
the bombers were still coming in every night.
I think we had bombings every night, or at least every
other night, and -- As long as I was on that island,
they were bombing. So that's -- you know, and mothers
do worry. Q: They certainly do. A: Yeah. Q: She must have been relieved to know that
you could write the letter after the battle. A: Yes. Q: Her son was still around. A: Yeah. Q: What was the food like in the service? A: Oh, it was -- It was all right. It was
-- Nothing was so great. Of course when we were on the island,
we had C rations and K rations for pretty near three
or four weeks, and then they finally got some kitchen
set up, and we had _________, which is fine. We were
there on Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day. This is in
November. Q: You were on Tarawa? A: I was on Tarawa, yeah, and it was tough
going. But it wasn't bad. And that was the first time that
we had a warm meal since we left the ship, because
we built a little fire and we heated our can -- can of
-- cans of food that we had. That was the first time.
That's when I left it in too long, and it exploded
in the fire, because it got too hot. But I had another
one by that time anyway. That was on Thanksgiving
Day. Q: On Thanksgiving Day you were still eating
canned rations? A: That's right. We were still on rations.
That was the first time we had it warm. Before that, everything
-- we'd eat everything cold. Q: What's the difference between C rations
and K rations? A: K rations is like crackers and dry stuff.
C rations are cans of -- cans of food, like hash or
whatever it might be. I forget exactly what. And one day when I was eating in -- the C rations, canned rations, they were like this,
like a tuna fish can. It's kind of flat and round.
I opened it up with my knife, or however I got it,
pulled it, and I went to eat it. And there was flies
-- a thousand flies that flew in there on my food.
And I couldn't -- I had to hold my can in one hand
and eat with the other hand. By the time I pushed
the flies out and get back there, those flies was back
there. There was, I'd say, probably an inch, inch
and a half of flies. So what I did -- I was so hungry, I just put that knife in there, and I ate the flies and
all. And that's exactly the truth, and that's the way
it was. I said, "The hell with it." And they didn't
taste too bad, if I remember correctly. I had to eat
(laughter.) There was approximately 5,000 dead people
on that island, so there's a lot of flies. Q: That would be memorable. A: Yeah. Q: When you weren't on the island, did you
have regular food or did you have C rations and K rations? A: See, from there I flew out of there to
a hospital in Hawaii. So I was back, you know. Q: When you were in New Zealand and on America
Samoa, did they have regular kitchens and regular food? A: In New Zealand we ate right on the ship,
and, yes, in Samoa we had a regular -- regular food, but
we were way out in the -- I called it jungle part. The
food was good, yep. Q: Did you have enough supplies and materials
that you needed? A: Yes. Q: Did you feel any pressure or stress? A: Oh, yeah. You bet. Q: Of course you handled it different in those
days. What did you do about stress? A: Well -- Q: How did you guys handle it then? A: Well, pretty good. They were pretty good,
because everybody was in the same boat, and, you know,
you can do a lot. You know, a person can really do
a lot, especially when you're getting ready to go
into battle. You know, we were going to go in in a day
or so, and I can remember standing by the -- our
grinding wheel, sharpening my bayonet and thinking,
you know, This is it. I'm sharpening this to stick it
into somebody. And, of course, you know, although
they're the enemy and everything else, but once you're
there, it's easy -- nothing was easy, but I was concerned
and stressed. And they said the first day before anybody
went in _________, that we're going to have mass
at 3:30 in the morning, you know, before the troops go
in. They can go to mass, come out, and have -- then
they had something called food, steak and eggs, that
morning. Q: Where was the mass held? A: On ship. We're all on board ship. We're
just, you know, like, ready to go into the battle -- to
the island. Q: You attended that mass? A: Beg your pardon? Q: You attended that mass? A: No. This is what happened. I was up -- I
couldn't sleep, and I was up the night before on guard
duty on the boat. They just give you a job. You're
supposed to stand there. I couldn't sleep. I went to
bed early enough, about 8:00 o'clock or so, and I couldn't
sleep, I couldn't sleep. Finally, I fell asleep,
and when I woke up, mass was over. And that bothered
me too, because I'm not a big religious person, but
I was an altar boy for five years, and I had faith.
So that was a big disappointment. So that was why -- talking about pressure
and what you do for it -- I was going to church.
And pressure. We were on that Higgins boat coming
in -- I can remember -- and there was a lot of mumbling
going on in that Higgins boat. Of course, what -- it
was everybody praying, so -- you know, me along
with the rest of them. Q: Do you remember what prayers you were saying? A: The Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the
Act of Contrition, because I'd like to have clean
health, clean -- uh-huh. Q: And I understand you told me earlier about
your rosary beads. A: Oh, yes. Yes. The rosary beads, yeah. These
are the rosary beads before I went in. Should have
taken my glasses off. That's where they were. They
were on there for six days that we were there, and
my dog tags were also on there (indicating). Q: So you wore your rosary beads around your
neck for the entire time you were on Tarawa? A: No, not entire, but while the action was
going on. We took them off. It's the very same one. You
can see the cross is all rusted. Yeah, yeah. And other Marines did too. I wasn't the only one. A
lot of them did. Q: Was there anything special you did for
good luck in addition to your rosary beads and your prayers?
I know some guys have rabbits foots or lucky charms
or something. A: No, just to be very, very careful. That's
the only -- You know, I had no lucky charms or anything
else. No. Q: How did people entertain themselves? Did
you have any kind of entertainment? A: No, none whatsoever and -- on the boat
or on Tarawa. Q: Did you get to see any USO shows anywhere? A: No, nowhere. No. Q: When you were on the boat, what did you
do for recreation? A: Nothing. Fifty-seven days of boring, except
in New Zealand. We did get off the boat a couple
-- three or four times, you know. Q: Did you ever get any R and R? A: Well, no, not until I went to the hospital. Q: Really? So you had no breaks or anything? A: No. I never got home even, for a couple
years. Q: Did you travel anywhere else while you
were in the service? We know you were in New Zealand,
and you didn't get to see much of it. A: Well, American Samoa, Pango Pango, there
was nothing there. There was only one vehicle on our island
-- I mean, one car. There were trucks, of course,
but there was nothing there. We had to walk -- I think
it was probably six miles. We were out in the jungle.
I call it six miles. We went to the dentist twice
when I was there. It was a six-mile walk, which was,
you know, an hour and a half, two hours. Q: A 12-mile return trip (sic)? A: Yeah, six miles back, too. Oh, yeah. You
can do it. A Marine walks four miles an hour, so an hour
and a half in and an hour and a half back. Q: Was there any particularly humorous or
unusual event that you can recall? Did you guys ever play
pranks on each other? A: No, not -- no. I don't remember that at
all, no. Q: What did you think of the officers and
your fellow soldiers? I guess you don't call them soldiers.
Your fellow Marines. A: They were all all right, nice, except this
Captain Rose who was shot. He -- He was not a very nice
individual. He wasn't nice. The rumor was he might have
been shot by a Marine, because they really didn't like
him. And I think in some of this stuff that my daughter
has, that somebody mentioned that. Oh, I know.
I saw it on the computer. Somebody mentioned that there
was a rumor and that I knew that rumor back there,
back on the island. But the rest of them were fine.
All the Marines were good, yeah. Q: Did you make any friendships with your
fellow Marines? A: Yes. I had a very close relationship with
a friend of mine who lives in Massachusetts, and we visited
after the war for a number of years. Q: Do you remember his name? A: Yes. Fleming. James Fleming. No, I'm sorry. Bill Fleming. Excuse me. Bill. Bill Fleming. Q: Do you still keep in touch with him? A: No. Unfortunately, he died. He died many
years ago, but we used to go back and forth when he was
alive. Q: Are there any other Marines that you kept
in touch with? A: Yes, I did, but they all -- you know, they
dropped out like everything else. There are none now that
I know that are alive. Q: Did you keep a personal diary or a journal
while you were in the service? A: No. That was against regulations. It was.
Yeah. Q: Wow. Where did you go once you left Tarawa? A: Went to the hospital in Hawaii, Aiea Heights
Naval Hospital. Q: What's the name of it? A: Aiea Heights. Q: Aiea Heights in Hawaii? A: Yes, um-hmm. The naval hospital. It was
a Navy hospital then. Q: And why did you go there, for your leg? A: No, because I had got the jungle disease.
Filariasis is the name of it. That's from a black and
white female mosquito. Yeah. Q: So how sick were you? A: Well, not -- I was bothered enough that
they took me out of Tarawa and put me on an ambulance plane
and sent me there. I stayed there at Aiea Heights for
probably about two weeks, then placed aboard a ship
and sent to the hospital in Seattle, Washington. No. Excuse
me. Oak Knoll Hospital in Oakland, California,
and then was shipped to Seattle. Q: What was it like staying the two weeks
in the naval hospital in Hawaii? What did they do for you
anyway? A: Nothing. There's nothing they can do, but
they got to get you out of the South Pacific there and
not to go back. There's really no treatment for this. It was nice when I was there. I ran into a nurse who was from Broad Brook. She was a
Navy nurse, which -- which I knew from back here, and
she find me and asked me, "Aren't you Jack Pease from
Broad Brook?" And I said, "Yes," and, you know, I wasn't feeling good. My head was still buzzed up,
I think, because I didn't know what to say, I didn't
know what to do. She said, "I'm on duty now, but tomorrow, 9:00 o'clock, I'll come and we'll visit." And I said, "Sure," so I went there. And she was very nice. We sat down in the room by
ourselves, and she asked if there's anything she could
do for me. I said, "No, no." "Do you want anything? How about a bottle
of whiskey?" _________+ officers could get them,
but of course most of us couldn't. And I said, "No, no." I just wasn't with it. Q: Do you remember her name? A: Yes, I do. Her name was Dorman. I can't
remember her first name. Eleanor. Eleanor Dorman. That's
exactly who it was. Q: Did you see her later when you both came
back to Broad Brook? A: No. Unfortunately, I think she died while
she was a Navy nurse. But she wasn't older. I was surprised. But I never did see her again after I left
there. But it was good, again, for my dear old mother,
because I wrote home and told them, "Here I am." They
knew I was in the Navy hospital, but they didn't know
where, they didn't know what was wrong with me. But I
told them. So then my mother went to see this girl's mother, who only lived a little ways away,
quarter of a mile. And I don't remember whether my mother
knew or -- or whether Eleanor Dorman's mother knew
that she was in Hawaii or not. I do not know. But anyway,
the nurse told her that I was all right and all
that, because they wrote to each other. Q: While you were in Hawaii, did you have
a chance to see Pearl Harbor and the bombings that had been
done there? A: No, I did not. Q: You were in the hospital the whole time;
you didn't get to see anything else on the island? A: Well, yes. One afternoon I couldn't get
any pass, so I got dressed, put on my uniform, and went and
climbed over the fence and went to town for a couple
hours. And then I come back and crawled over the
fence back and get into my pajamas. And that's what I
saw of Hawaii, but at least I saw part of it (laughter). Q: Oh. And from Seattle, Washington, where
did you go? A: Then I went to Sun Valley, Idaho naval
hospital. Q: How come they kept moving you from all
these hospitals? A: This was a convalescent hospital. Because
they didn't know what the heck to do, I guess, because
I was not able for duty. So from there -- I stayed there
the longest. I stayed there until June of 1944
and still never made it home. Q: So no leave home for the entire time you
were in -- A: No, no, not until June of 1944 when they
said, "Okay," you know, "You're ready to go back to duty.
We're going to give you 30 days' leave, and you
report to Bremerton, Washington at the end of your leave." So I did come home in June 1944, which was
a year and a half after I left home. Q: And you had 30 days' leave? A: Yes. Q: What was that like, getting a 30-day leave
after all that time? A: Pretty good. I got on a train, in five
days arrived in Hartford, Connecticut, got home, and of course everybody was excited. And my mother was working
in the mill in Broad Brook. They were making
Navy blankets and Navy ________ in the mill here
in Broad Brook. My sister worked there also. So I went to see my sister. She was a secretary to a superintendent, or somebody like that.
So she got off of work and went and got my mother out
of the mill, come walking up, and there I was. Q: They didn't know you were coming? A: No, they didn't know. No. Q: Oh, what a surprise! A: Yeah. Well, they knew I was coming, but
they didn't know when, yeah. Yeah. I didn't know myself. Q: What did you do on your 30-day leave? I
know you told me you also went to Hamilton Standard. A: Yes, I went to Hamilton Standard to be
with them and went to the (?gasoline racing board?) and
talked them into giving me some coupons for gas so I could
go around and visit my relatives. So they did.
They gave me some gas. I think it was 15, 16 gallons,
you know, which was pretty good. But I had to prove
that I was where I was, you know. So they did. That took
about four days. And my -- I am now 22 years old, so I was old enough
to go into a cocktail lounge now and then, and spent
a few hours there, and then got on a train and went
back to Bremerton, Washington -- then went to Bremerton, Washington. Q: In Bremerton, Washington, you were expecting
to get a new assignment? A: No. That was my assignment there, on the
guard. It was a naval ammunitions depot where they made ammunition and powder. And they had these
storage places out in the woods and all that. So that
was my job, to patrol that along with the other Marines,
four hours on and eight hours off, and four hours
on. Q: Well, that was quite different from the
lifestyle you had previously in the Marine Corps. What was
it like when you were Bremerton? A: Bremerton. I always pronounced it wrong.
It was the naval shipyard. It was good, but there was not much to do
out there. We used to go to Seattle across the
-- use the ferry and go across to Seattle, and there
used to be a dance hall there, _________ dance hall. Not
much. Just go to the local tavern and try to keep
out of trouble. Q: How long did you stay there? A: I stayed there until I was discharged in
February of 1946. Q: Do you remember your last day in service? A: I certainly do, yes. Q: If you can describe it. A: Yes. Well, I went down and got my discharge
from the commanding officer. They called me in and
give the discharge. And I went down to the local pub
there where I used to go when I was -- before I
got discharged, and they had a party for me that
afternoon. And I -- And the next morning, I -- oh, I
went back -- I shouldn't have done this, but I went back
and I stayed in the barracks. They let me stay in
the barracks that night after the party, because
of the drinking and all that, and the next morning
got on a train and headed home. Q: So then you took the train all the way
home to Connecticut? A: Yes. Q: What did you do in the days and the weeks
right after you got out of the service? A: For the first month, well, all the gang
would get together, all the returned soldiers. And of
course we had a favorite watering hole that we used
to get together, you know, probably about noontime
and stay there as long as you could last. That was
it. And then after about three weeks, I went back
to work in Hamilton Standard Propeller. Q: What was your job there? A: My job there -- I was an inspector of rough
materials coming in. They were shipped in, and you tested
to see if it was the right stuff, and measure it
and all that stuff, test it for hardness. And I did that
for quite a while. And then I was given -- Then I was given the
job of testing the measuring gauges that were
used to do this in all the _________. It was inspecting
and setting the gauges back to where they would
be and testing to see that they worked correct. Q: Did you go back for any additional schooling? A: Yes, I did. Q: What did you do? A: When I was working at Hamilton Standard
Propeller, I went and took a test to go to school. I wanted
to go to college, but I couldn't pass the test for
UConn, so I went and I signed up at the Hillyer College. Q: Hillyer? A: Hillyer, H-i-l-l-y-e-r. It was in Hartford,
and I went there at nights. I continued to work at Hamilton
from 7:30 to 4:00, go home, get something to eat,
and then go to school in Hartford, which was about
a 10, 12-mile ride, at 6:00 o'clock to 10:00 o'clock three
nights a week. I took a full college course in the
evening and worked the 48 hours. We worked six days a
week in Hamilton, and going to school there for the
next three years off and on. Q: What were you studying? A: Business administration. Q: Did you go to school on the GI bill? A: Yes, I did. I was considered a disabled
vet. I had a disability, and therefore I had a little bit
of edge. I was getting $11.50 a month disability. Q: After you graduated, then, from Hillyer,
what did you do? A: Number one, I didn't graduate. I went there
for three years. I went to work at -- at an insurance
company in May of 1948. Q: Which company? A: It was -- Then it was the Resolute Insurance
Company. Q: In Hartford? A: In Hartford, yes. They were on Chapel Street
in Hartford. Q: What did you do for them? A: Then because -- I got a job as accountant
trainee, and it was a GI scheduled program, two years _______
and two years of schooling, and then I'd be an
accountant. So I did that. When I finished my two years,
I can remember I was very happy. They gave me a
$300 bonus. That was my thing from the government for
completing the schooling. Uh-huh. Q: Then did you stay on as an accountant for
the Resolute Insurance Company? A: Yes, I did for some time. Yes. I was assistant comptroller for a while for the insurance
company, and then I was elected assistant secretary, then
I was secretary of the -- there was two companies
then. There was the life company and the casualty
company, Resolute Life Insurance Company and Resolute
Insurance Company. Then I left -- I was taken out of accounting
and put in charge of the life company operation
as, you might say, chief operating officer. I had
a president over me, and I was made vice president of
it. And from -- for the last ten years that I worked,
that was my job. Q: You stayed with the Resolute Insurance
Company for your entire career? A: Yeah. It was the same company, but they
changed names. It was sold, and they changed the name. It
ended up as Celtic Life Insurance Company. Q: So how many years did you end up actually
being with them when you retired? A: Thirty-eight years, from '48 to '83. That
would be 35 years. No. I was there 38 years, because
I worked there afterwards, you know, as a consultant.
But still, I was -- the last time I worked there
was in '95, I think -- Q: Wow! A: -- as a consultant. But I was an employee
from '48 to '83, so that would be 35 years. Q: Did you join any veterans organizations
after you left the service? A: Yeah. I belong to the American Legion. Q: Which post is that? A: East Windsor, post number 40. Q: Do you remember when you joined? Was it
right after you left the service or not until years later? A: It was -- It was probably about four years
later. Q: So you've been a member for a long time. A: Oh, yes. Q: Are you actively involved in that post
now? A: No. I'm a member, but I don't take an active
part. Yes. Q: What were some of the activities that you
did participate in? A: None. Q: Have you gone to any reunions? A: Of the -- no, no. We never had any. No. Q: Your unit never did? A: No, no. I'm a life member of the veterans
organization too. Q: The VFW? A: Yeah. Q: The East Windsor post? A: No, that's the ________ post, and I don't
-- Q: You don't do anything with them? A: No. I don't know their number either. Q: That's okay. Now I know you got married
and had kids, so when did you find time to get married in
there? A: (Laughter.) Well, we got married August
23rd in 1947. Q: And you even remember it? A: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Q: Did you know your now wife before you went
in the service? A: Yes. Q: Did you write to her while you were in
the service? A: No. Q: So you got acquainted after you got out? A: Well, yes. Q: And -- A: She was -- she was -- lived in Broad Brook,
and I lived in Broad Brook. And then she moved to South
Windsor, and I still stayed in Broad Brook. Not to
prolong it, but what happened is a friend of mine was
getting married. I was in the wedding party, and she
was in the wedding party, a friend of the girl, and
we got to know each other that day over champagne. And
then we started going out. And, eventually, in February
of '47 we were engaged, and in August we got married. Q: And did you have any children? A: Yes. We had three. One died early in birth,
right after he was born, and Susan and John. Q: Did your military experience influence
your thinking about war or about the military in general? A: I would say yes, yes. I'm a great believer
in the Marines. I think they're great. I think the
country is great. I love my country. I like the flag,
and -- yes, I do, because I can understand how they
feel. Sometimes I feel very sorry for some of them,
what they're going through. But, yes, it has. I
think it helped develop me as an individual too. Q: How did your military service affect your
life? A: Oh, very much so. One of the good things
was it gave me the opportunity to go to college, you know,
and that's what did it. I was not a good student
and -- in high school, so I couldn't get into college.
And even though, you know, I used to play basketball
in high school, and my high school coach was Hugh
Greer, which was the UConn coach of the UConn team out
there in Storrs, and even he couldn't get me in. If
it wasn't for the military, I couldn't go to school.
I didn't have the money, and I didn't have the smarts
to pass the test. But I did all right anyway in the
end. Q: I guess you sure did. Are there any memorable experiences from your military that you would
like to add? A: Yes. I'd like to tell you -- I don't know.
Well, I'll tell you. The -- When I was in American Samoa,
they had us lined up, and they wanted somebody
to volunteer to go out in a boat with some natives to look
to see if there might be any downed fliers out there,
you know, and I -- I didn't understand what the hell
it was all about. So we all lined up, and they said,
"All the volunteers step forward," you know, and I'm
a young, new Marine, and I thought everybody would
volunteer, so I stepped forward. Q: You hadn't heard the part about "Don't
volunteer"? A: Yeah. No, I had. That's right. And guess
what? When I looked around, nobody else had stepped forward. Q: You were the only one? A: Only one. Yes, ma'am, that is correct.
So the lieutenant came. He said, "You're volunteering?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Well, you know, it's not an easy
job. You don't have to go. We're looking for volunteers, but you don't have to go." I said, "No, I'll go." So he -- He says, "All right. All right."
So he says, "Tomorrow, you know, come here at
such and such time, and we'll go, and we'll make plans."
So next day I went and saw him, and he said,
"You know you can still back out." He didn't want me to
go, but I'm only 19, you know, just turned 19. I said, "No, I'll go. I'll go," because I
had too much pride not to go. I wasn't too happy
about going. He said, "There's going to be five men in
a boat" -- I forget, five or six -- and he said,
"You're going to sit in the bow of the boat, and you're
going to do the rowing." It was a boat that had
one of those things on the side -- I forget what they call
them, just a canoe -- native canoe with the outboard
out there. So he says, "I was going to give you"
-- you know, "Take my .45," he says. "It's probably
easier." "But then on the other hand," he said, "maybe
you're better off with your rifle." And he says -- He
says, "You can take" -- "You put your clip in there,"
and he said, "Leave the bullet in the chamber." Otherwise, when you're on guard duty, you have to take
one bullet out, so there will be no bullet in the chamber.
He said, "I don't know how much we can trust
these people, so be ready to defend yourself, if these natives
have any ideas." That made me feel a little bit
worried. Anyway, I got in the boat, and he says, "You're going to go to this island." Q: He didn't go with you? A: No, no, no. I'm alone with these natives.
He didn't go anywhere, no. No, he wouldn't go. "Go to this island." And he says, "Don't go ashore," he says, "but just look around and
see if there's anyone that needs help." So I said, "Oh, okay." And we went out there, and we went and they
were rowing, and those men -- I don't know how
they do it. They were rowing for hours and hours. And
I was sitting there. I had no idea where we were.
Sometimes I couldn't see land. So finally, we go around
and there's land, this island which I thought
he was talking about. This is after about six hours,
seven hours. They pull up there, and they tell them
-- motion me to get out to go on this island.
And I can't talk to them, because -- I wanted to tell
them they told me not to go on the island. They said,
"No, no, no." I guess they wanted to get rid of me
and go collect their money. I said, "All right." So I got out and said, "Well" -- I don't think I had my ammunition
belt ready, but I did have eight bullets. So I got out
-- I didn't know what the heck to expect -- and looked
around, and guess what? The lieutenant is there. We went
all the way around -- I thought I was at the island.
I was back to American Samoa. Q: Is that where you had started from? A: Where I started from, yeah, yeah. So was
I glad to see him. He said, "Did you see anybody out there?" I said, "No." He said, "Everything all right?" I said, "Yeah." Then later -- I don't know how much later, but -- you see, I don't know if you read about
John Kennedy, our ex-president, how his boat, PT
109, got sunk, and they were on this island, and the
natives come and saw them, but they couldn't talk
to them or anything. So I guess that's why they were
sending me out, so I could talk to the teams, the downed
fliers if there happened to be downed fliers, or whatever
there was. But I couldn't talk to the natives either.
But anyway, that was my experience. Q: Did that teach you about volunteering? A: No. Q: Did you learn your lesson? A: No. You want to hear another one? Q: Yes. A: Okay. So we were at American Samoa, and
they had this big eight-inch gun that they were going to
fire -- test fire to see -- targets going to go by. They were short of Marines. There were some
-- I don't know what happened, but anyway they
wanted someone to volunteer to go load this gun.
Now this gun is underground, down under, and this space
is probably as big as these three rooms down here at the
end. So we go down there, and they tell me what to
do, and the guy says to me -- the sergeant says, "Here.
Here's some cotton. Put it in your ears." I said, "I don't need any cotton." He said, "You'll be better off with it." I said, "No, I don't need it." So they give us this bag of powder. You have
to go and give it -- hand it to this guy. He
puts it in his gun. This guy grabs another one and put
in about three bags of powder, and they shot that gun
off. When they shot that gun off, I went completely
deaf. I could see the people's lips moving, but I
couldn't hear anything. It's the oddest feeling. It's the
first time in my life it was absolutely silent.
Boy, I was scared. There's nothing I could do. But now they're going to fire it again, and
I got to get these bags and stuff and hand it.
All of a sudden, this ear popped,
and I started to hear. So -- Oh, before they fired the next gun, I said
to the guy, "Give me some cotton," even though I couldn't
hear. I didn't want to have any more trouble. So then
the other ear came back, but it's still busted
up in there. That's why you see me having trouble walking, because -- I hang onto something because of
my balance. Q: So that ear has been messed up ever since
-- A: Ever since then. Q: Have you had problems with your balance
ever since -- A: I did off and on, yes. I can go pretty
well, but now if I get -- I'm going to be 82, and it's not
very good. I had trouble with my back, but now
-- That's where you can see me. You can see the wall.
I touch (laughter). Q: Did you lose hearing in that ear permanently? A: I lost some of it, yes. This is my good
ear. I could hear. When you talk, you'll see me doing this
way. If someone is sitting on this side, I have
to pick her up and then kiss her so she can talk into
this ear (indicating). Q: (Laughter.) Are there any other stories that you can remember
that you would like to share? A: No, just what I tell you about greeting
Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare when he got off the
airplane in Tarawa, off the runway. Q: You told me that off record. Why don't
you tell me about that now. A: Okay. In Tarawa, after about the fourth
or fifth day we were on Tarawa, there were some Navy planes
out doing their job somewhere, and they wanted
to find a place to land, so they were going to land
on the runway in Tarawa, which no other planes had been
on yet. The first Navy plane came in. The Navy pilot filled his plane up. And our gun was right
close to the end of the runway, and I went over and
I talked to this flier, who I didn't know who he was at
the time, and it happened to be O'Hare, Butch O'Hare.
"Welcome to Tarawa," I said just like that. He spoke
for a minute, and then he had to go somewhere for
his report. Unfortunately, the next four planes that tried to land there smashed up. And the rest of
them were circling, trying to land. They sent them off
somewhere else. They were full of bomb marks, craters.
I don't know how the hell O'Hare did it, but he did
it. So the rest of them tried it, first one and then
the other, you know, not serious crack-up, but they'd
land and then they'd put the rudder up and they'd flip
over, they'd go sideways. So they didn't have any
planes land until they could fix -- repair the runway. Q: Was O'Hare the only one that landed without
damaging his plane? A: Yes. He was the only one, the first one
and the only one. Yeah, the rest of them did damage the
planes. Q: Wow. A: So that's about the only things that I
can remember. One other time I pretty near shot a sailor
climbing over the fence. I was on duty at the naval
ammunition depot -- I was doing gate duty -- and it was
about 1:30 in the morning, and I heard this rattling
over there. There was bushes over there. I couldn't
see. It was dark. So I said, Well, there's something
going on over there, so I took off. I put a bullet
in the chamber, went over there, and sure enough
I saw this sailor come crawling out. And I stopped. "Halt." You know, he's still 20 feet away. And I don't
know -- You know, what am I going to do? And he -- I
says, "What are you doing? Are you a sailor?" And he says, "Yeah." You know, I -- they -- I just didn't trust
him, you know. So I had my gun on him, and then
he come up, and then I found out that he was -- he was,
you know, a regular sailor. But what am I going to do
with him? Q: What was he doing crawling around out there? A: He climbed over the fence. He wanted to
go on liberty. See, they had the sailors up there who worked
in the Navy yard, so he went on liberty. But why
he climbed over the fence right next to a -- I'd say
20, 30 feet from where I was stationed is beyond me and
-- because this was a big thing. It probably encircled
a couple square miles around. There's plenty of fence
to climb over. So then I got off duty at 2:00 o'clock or something, and then I go and I write up a
little report. And I'm sleeping, it's about 9:00
o'clock, and I could hear somebody talking. And the Marine
was there. He said, "Don't wake him up. He just
got off duty. He's got to sleep." And another -- I
think there was two sailors there. And he said, "No, I got to talk to him now."
So he come to me and he said, "Were you on sentry
duty last night and caught this sailor coming in?"
and he pointed to the guy. And I said, "Yeah, I was." And he said, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't report it," because the guy would go to jail. And I said, "Oh, jeez. I think I have to."
I didn't know -- I didn't always trust, because
they were always testing us. I said, "Well, no, I don't
want to report him either." So he said, "Well, would you forget it now?
Do me a favor." He was a Navy chief. He wasn't
a commissioned officer. So I said, "Well, okay. Yeah." So that ended that. But that was another experience. But, you know, earlier when I was on gate duty -- no, I wasn't on duty. I was there,
but I wasn't on duty. An FBI come through with a
badge. He had a badge there with a picture of a monkey
on it, and the guard didn't -- you know, the sentry just
let him pass by. And so then he was called on the
carpet. So letting this FBI go through with a picture
-- How close do you look at these pictures coming in, you
know? So this is why I was a little bit leery about this. They were always testing, you know.
So that was my other story that I had. I guess that's
the end of my stories. Q: Wow! You'll think of more when we finish.
Jack, I'd like to thank you for your service to our
country and for giving me this interview. A: You're certainly welcome. Q: I know you have some artifacts and souvenirs
that you brought back that we can look at. Do you want
to show me your knife first? A: Yeah. This is the knife that I had all
the while I was in Tarawa, and this was the knife I was trying
to get out to kill the individual who was in the
foxhole with me (indicating). Q: Fortunately for him, you couldn't get it
out in time. A: That is correct (laughter). Q: And you also brought back a couple other
items. A: Yeah. I brought back this that I picked
up when I was there. As you can see, it looks like it's
been in the war. That's a Japanese .31 caliber rifle.
It has a sight on it, and then it has -- Well, I haven't
looked at this for a while, but that is supposed
to come up. But I guess it won't. Oh, there it is. It has the sight, and you can see -- I don't like to aim it at anybody, so I'm going to
aim it over there. But you can see that they can line
up an airplane, put the wings in, peep through the
hole. Q: Yeah. A: And a cleaning rod is at the end. And that's
it. Q: Do you want to show us the bullets you
used for the American gun? A: Oh, yes. This is for the M1 rifle that
I used. Eight bullets in a clip. Q: And that was the M1 Carbine or no? A: No, no. This is the M1 rifle. This is not
the Carbine, no. This is an old M1 rifle, Garand rifle. These were with me all the time. I just saved them as a souvenir. And I still have my dog
tags left (indicating). Q: Do you want to explain how those dog tags
were set up. A: Yeah. You put them around your neck. One
is going to permanently be on here, but the other one
is -- kind of hung down, as you can see, for after you're
dead. They come and they just clip it right off and take
this with them, and then they leave this with the dead
Marine (indicating). Q: Very convenient, huh? A: Yes, it is. Q: Thank you. A: And this is a necklace, native necklace,
from the island. Q: Which island, Tarawa? A: Tarawa, yes. Huh-uh. Q: And you sent that home? A: To my mother. Yes. I sent that home to
my mother when I got a chance. Q: And I'm going to take a picture, to include
with this record, of Jack's medals and ribbons. I think that will do it. Thank you, Jack. A: You're welcome.
