Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Jason Wilebski

Operation Iraqi Freedom | 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment

For a third time, Jason Wilebski deployed to Iraq, this time as a squad leader. He and his Marines were angry that they had been pulled back the last time they were there because they felt they could have finished the job. One thing that was different this time, there were a lot more IED's. (Caution: strong language) (4:36)
Every day, Jason Wilebski's squad had to escort some women who were the personnel that searched females for the Marines at their base in Fallujah. He told them to vary their route to work every day. They didn't listen. Later, at that same gate, a car was approaching and the driver wouldn't stop. Unfortunately for him, Ski had his shotgun with him. (Caution: strong language) (7:07)
The flash-bangs they got from the Navy were lousy but the new ones that replaced them were pretty good. Jason Wilebski used one to stop an Iraqi on a tractor who just wouldn't stop coming. A big concern was vehicle borne IED's. Sometimes, the bomb maker was the victim due to the improvised explosives. (Caution: strong language) (5:54)
Three times around in Iraq and Jason Wilebski was ready for a calmer experience. His next assignment wasn't that calm, though. It involved a lot of live fire training. He was one of the trainers, known as coyotes. (5:17)
After being a live fire trainer for a few years, Jason Wilebski got to see the operations side of the Marine Corps in Afghanistan. There were hundreds of thousands of dollars in high tech equipment in the HQ but he still maintained a map with push pins. This impressed the brass. (Caution: strong language) (7:59)
No matter what you think about a conflict, you should support the troops who fight it. That's the message Jason Wilebski wants people to remember. He pays respect to the leaders and grunts he served with and reveals what music they were listening to while breaking up stuff in Iraq. (5:23)
Jay DeGraw

WWII | Parris Island Recruit

"You'll be Sor-ry!" That was the taunt for new recruits arriving at Parris Island. Jay DeGraw said that the treatment was rough, but they made a man out of you. Very important to Marine recruits was qualifying with the rifle, which was the new M-1. It held a larger clip and surprised Japanese in the Pacific who were used to the old Springfield rifle. (2:41)
From Parris Island, Jay DeGraw went to Camp LeJeune for mechanics school. They didn't send him to the war after that, but to Quantico, where he installed snow plows on dump trucks. He got closer to the action when he went to Hawaii as part of a replacement draft but the war ended and he became a peacetime Marine. His 1st Sergeant gave the men an unusual mandate. (3:47)
Marine Jay Degraw was based in Hawaii when the war ended and he was sent to Japan as part of the occupation force. Part of an amphibious DUK unit, he saw first hand the devastation at Nagasaki. Back at home, a wife and child waited for him. (4:10)
Jay DeGraw was on inactive reserve status but that became active in 1950. He returned to Camp LeJeune, made Staff Sergeant and shipped out to Korea. As Motor Transport Chief of his unit, he was able to support a very important visitor who was short on jeeps. He was behind the front, but incoming fire was still a big part of his life. (5:13)