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Merrill Burroughs

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They were an Army unit in the midst of a lot of Marines trying to take Saipan. It was an anti-aircraft outfit and Merrill Burroughs was the de facto man in charge, though only a Sergeant. As many Americans learned after landing on Pacific islands, he found out the softening up bombardment had not really done the job. (5:15)

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Just like with Saipan, the men getting ready to storm ashore at Iwo Jima were told the island had been softened up by bombing and shelling. It turned out to be deadly for Marines. Merrill Burroughs headed up an Army Anti-Aircraft unit attached to the Marines and he remembers that Japanese soldiers were everywhere. He still can't believe he wasn't hit when the bullets were "like rain." (3:14)

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Tinian was a little easier time than Saipan and Iwo Jima, says Merrill Burroughs, who was with an Anti-Aircraft battery. He still had close calls when Japanese planes strafed the island. On the way in, he managed to hide a case of pork and beans, which was a precious thing. (3:27)

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Merrill Burroughs had a Captain who was a real good officer because he had a feel for people and how to relate to them and manage accordingly. The flip side of that was the other Captain on Saipan who informed him that he and his crew would be working on for another eight hour shift building a new command post. No way, came the reply. (5:30)

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Merrill Burroughs recalls his friend Paul Blair and how he told him to stay behind one time when the rest of the unit advanced. He did it because he could and he he was worried about him. He also remembers the exciting trip into Saipan with all of the might of the Navy shelling the island. (3:00)

Mervin Guthmiller

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Mervin Guthmiller heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio back home on the farm. He and his friends wanted to do something, but the first stop in their quest was a packing plant in St. Paul. (4:19)

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After an epic train ride from South Dakota to San Diego, it was a quick boot camp for Navy recruit Mervin Guthmiller. He remembers one morning's unusual marching maneuver that led him to the largest latrine ever, just in time. (7:28)

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Mervin Guthmiller had come from the farm to the Navy, from South Dakota to California to Norfolk to a seaplane tender named the USS Matagorda. The constant sub alerts on the shakedown cruise to the Caribbean caused some recruits to look for someone they weren't likely to find when they reached port. (3:35)

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Everyone knew it was just a matter of time. Mervin Guthmiller and his crew mates could see the massive build up in landing craft and other invasion equipment at their base in England. But they were sent to Casablanca on a difficult mission. (6:32)

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Before Mervin Guthmiller could return to the farm, his ship had to return to the states for retrofitting, he had to meet a friend from boot camp for an unusual handshake in Brooklyn, and he had to survive two parties. (4:13)