COMBAT STORIES FROM World War II

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Showing : WWII Videos

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Harold Barber was only fifteen years old when he enlisted in the Marines with the help of his mother. At Parris Island, the dentist deduced that he was not old enough to be there but he didn't blow the whistle. Boot camp was tough but there was a good reason for that.

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  Clyde Burnette - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  713th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was their third mission over Berlin and they were heading home. Four German fighters pounced on the B-24 and it was engulfed in flame and going down. Clyde Burnette fought for consciousness as the other crew in the back of the plane bailed out. He woke in free fall with no idea how he had made it out, and soon he was in German custody. Everyone made it out of the plane except George "Danny" Daneau, the nose turret gunner, who went down with the aircraft.

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  B.E. Vaughan - Navy +9 Total Videos

  USS O'Brien (DD-725)

  After a nerve-wracking mission to bomb Tokyo and a typhoon, B.E. Vaughan and the destroyer O'Brien suffered a second kamikaze attack which killed all three of his hometown pals who served with him on board. Then, began the grim task of collecting the personal belongings of the dead and preparing them for burial at sea.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  After Guadalcanal, Harold Barber went to Australia for refitting and more training. The next fight was at Cape Gloucester, where he was not on the front line but still faced naval artillery fire and air raids

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  Ed Harrell - Marines +12 Total Videos

  USS Indianapolis

  Ed Harrell describes in detail the sinking of the USS Indianapolis from Japanese torpedoes, which left nearly 900 Sailors and Marines in shark-infested Pacific waters. Part 1 of 4.

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  Carl Beck - Army +12 Total Videos

  501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

  In the middle of the night, thousands of paratroopers loaded into C-47's for the crossing into Normandy. Carl Beck was just a teenager but he was ready. His plane was hit by flak when it neared the drop zone and the jump was rushed, resulting in scattered men and equipment. Part 1 of 2.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  After a short time on a smaller island, Harold Barber joined the rest of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. The initial invasion had been largely unopposed but the Japanese were pouring back in and their Navy relentlessly shelled American positions.

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  LtGen Lawrence Snowden - Marines +16 Total Videos

  23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division

  The first operation for the 4th Division was the landing on Roi-Namur. Lawrence Snowden remembers that, though it was an easy victory, valuable combat experience and important lessons were imparted on the Marines.

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  Don Scott - Army Air Corps +8 Total Videos

  560th Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Two engines were out, a third smoking, and they were were losing airspeed and altitude, but they were flying level and pointed home. Then time ran out for the B-17 and Don Scott had to slip down the hatch into the slipstream. Part 2 of 3.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Harold Barber was lucky during the landing at Cape Gloucester. There was no enemy fire but that didn't last. It was a tough fight and movement was difficult because of the terrain. His friend George White was wounded in the fierce battle for Hill 660. Part 1 of 2.

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  Nollie Carpenter - Army +11 Total Videos

  8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  Two days after he got to the Philippines, Nollie Carpenter was mustered on the beach when he saw a mob of people. Douglas MacArthur was wading ashore. He declined to reenlist but later had second thoughts about that. He did come back to the Army after a year of logging.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  At Peleliu, Harold Barber was lucky again during the landing because there was only light fire at that spot. In the interior, the Japanese were well dug in and the fighting was intense. Only 20 out of 220 Marines in his company would walk off the island when it was over.

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  Nollie Carpenter - Army +11 Total Videos

  8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  After a brief stint as a civilian, Nollie Carpenter returned to the Army and was assigned to Germany. While there, a call went out for volunteers to go to Korea as Forward Observers. A Sergeant could get a 2nd Lieutenant's bars.

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  Frank Pomroy - Marines +35 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Chesty Puller was a legendary Marine leader. Frank Pomroy describes his encounters with the man, from getting caught fermenting Jungle Juice to holding court at reunions. (Second interview)

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  He didn't even notice that he'd been hit. A piece of shrapnel from a Japanese artillery shell found Harold Barber's leg but he kept right on fighting because of the adrenaline. The Corpsman bandaged him and he was right back in the battle for Peleliu. The Navy was able to stay and take part in the fight unlike when he was on Guadalcanal.

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  Frank Pomroy - Marines +35 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  During the battle on Peleliu, Frank Pomroy encountered a group of Marines who asked him if he knew how to operate a flamethrower. Why yes, I do. (Second interview)

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  Nollie Carpenter - Army +11 Total Videos

  8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  Nollie Carpenter's platoon was assigned a Filipino guide for their patrols. One day, he took Nollie to his home for a meal and, guess what? He had sisters!

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  He was tired but everybody was tired. He was thirsty but everybody was thirsty. He was hungry but everybody was hungry. Harold Barber describes the conditions on Guadalcanal during his time there. He also has something to say about the way war movies present death on the battlefield.

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  Frank Pomroy - Marines +35 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The next landing will be quick and easy. That's what Frank Pomroy was told in the run up to Peleliu. It was anything but easy from the moment he stepped on the beach. At the airfield he found himself staring down a Japanese tank coming straight for him. Part 1 of 4. (Second interview)

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  Nollie Carpenter - Army +11 Total Videos

  8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  The Philippines is where Nollie Carpenter first saw combat. He landed on Leyte near Samar and started tromping through rice paddies. From a rise overlooking the ocean, he watched Japanese planes attacking ships until the shrapnel got close.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The worst thing on Guadalcanal was the stealth of the Japanese fighters. Harold Barber recalls how they could be on top of you before you knew it. They were devious, too, and liked to pretend they were going to surrender.

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  Nollie Carpenter - Army +11 Total Videos

  8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

  Malaria was almost impossible to avoid. Nollie Carpenter sure had it and it affected him even after he returned home. At least, if you were lucky, you were in a place where the tasty mangoes covered the ground.

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  Frank Pomroy - Marines +35 Total Videos

  2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The Japanese had given up on the Banzai charges by the time of the Peleliu landing. Instead they would send raiding parties toward the beach and it was during one of these attacks that Frank Pomroy took a bayonet wound to his knee. It only slowed him down a little, he was not out of the fight. Part 2 of 4. (Second interview)

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Once the airfield on Peleliu was secured, US aircraft could land and take on fuel and ammunition to take part in the battle for the high ground. Harold Barber recalls that some noncoms were issued shotguns to resist any Banzai charges but the Japanese didn't use that tactic there.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  When Harold Barber saw combat on Guadalcanal, he became very appreciative of his thorough Marine training in firing and movement. He was never really scared but he was hungry and thirsty. When the Army's Americal Division joined the battle, their new M-1 rifles held more bullets per clip and this confused the Japanese who had been up against the Springfield rifle used by the Marines.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Near the end of the battle on Cape Gloucester, Chesty Puller organized a patrol to see how far the Japanese had retreated. Harold Barber remembers that patrol and he got a very favorable impression of the fabled Marine commander. Part 2 of 2.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The Italian Marines were a breed of their own. Harold Barber describes how they would receive food from home with a surprise inside. He also recalls that age old soldier's tradition, coming up with some alcohol in a war zone.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The island of Pavuvu was in a rear area and Harold Barber spent some time there after the battle on Cape Gloucester. He learned how to use a new weapon there, the shoulder fired 60mm mortar. He also learned how to liberate things from the hold on a Navy ship.

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  The sergeant said you guys haven't had mess duty in a long time but you're going to have it aboard ship all the way back to the States. According to Harold Barber, it was a blessing in disguise. You mean I get the best food and don't have to stand in line? Great!

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  Harold Barber - Marines +14 Total Videos

  7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

  Harold Barber was baptized three times, twice on his way to battle and then again after he was married. His homecoming from the Pacific was memorable as he was greeted by crowds on the West Coast.