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Raymond Mitchell

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It was not safe to sleep at night in combat in the Pacific. The Japanese would sneak up on you and get you. Raymond Mitchell remembers those nights. There was a guy in his squad who was prone to take his helmet off until his first night in Okinawa convinced him otherwise. As they were waiting in landing craft to come in, they had a front row seat to a kamikaze attack. (5:02)

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Nobody got promoted during combat in the Pacific, so Marine Raymond Mitchell came out a corporal. It was a tough time. Clothes rotting off you. Malaria and contaminated water. After the war, his unit had duty in China, where it was freezing cold after the tropics nearly killed him. (5:05)

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In 1950, Raymond Mitchell got a notice to report for a physical. He thought he was going back in the Marine Corps because the Korean War had just broken out. In fact, he was being evaluated for a new compensation program for wounded veterans, but it got a little strange. (2:37)

Raymond Murray

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Raymond Murray recalls an incident between a Frenchman and an SS chaplain in Normandy (1:30)

Raymond Smith

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Raymond Smith tells of the fate of a German prisoner in Italy (1:00)

Red Onines

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His father thought you had to be a battleship man to really be in the Navy. Red Onines had always dreamed of serving on a large ship like his father did but the Navy had other ideas. With an eye on upcoming amphibious operations, they formed Naval Beach Battalions to facilitate moving large forces ashore during amphibious invasions. (7:13)

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After a miserable night aboard the landing craft, Red Onines' unit headed into the chaos of D-Day. One step off the ramp and he dropped into water over his head and, in seconds, all his gear except his rifle was gone. As he saw bullets streaking through the water around him, he tried to recall his physics classes, wondering how the water affected the trajectory. (9:04)

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After he crawled from the water on D-Day, the first thing Red Onines noticed was how the landing craft were piling up near shore. Clearing them was one task assigned to others in his unit. An enemy shell knocked out his hearing, but the signalman continued to do his job as well as help the wounded. Years later, he had a chance meeting with Frank Walden, whom he had carried to safety. (10:11)

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By noon on D-Day, Red Onines figured, "If they haven't hit me yet, they must not be trying." He became more relaxed, but was extremely tired. His job as a signalman was to stand at the water's edge and guide incoming craft with semaphore flags. (4:25)

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The widespread destruction was remarkable to Red Onines, as he looks back on D-Day. Death was immediate but destruction and rubble would linger. At the end of the first day, he and a friend went to sleep in a trench and when they awoke at dawn, they could not believe what they saw when they lifted their heads. (4:11)