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Walter Marshall

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Tarawa was an atoll that had a fishing and coconut oil operation before the war. After 76 hours of US Marines versus entrenched Japanese, there was not much standing. Walter Marshall was lucky enough to come in on an amphibious tractor. Most had to wade through hundreds of yards of coral reef. Once ashore the enemy had to be removed from fortified pillboxes and spider traps. (6:06)

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The Japanese defenders on Tarawa were very good soldiers, Imperial Marines experienced in Manchuria. They would rather commit suicide than surrender and hundreds did. Walter Marshall hated them during the war, but time has changed his perspective. Not long after it was declared that organized resistance had ceased, he was shot through the thigh and had to be evacuated. Before that happened, he got to see the heroic actions of future movie star, Eddie Albert, a Navy Ensign at the time. (5:37)

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After the hard fought battle of Tarawa, Walter Marshall trained in Hawaii for the next operation, the invasion of Saipan. Once again, it was chaotic, with units split up and men moving up into leadership when called upon. This was a big advantage over the Japanese with their rigid command structure. (5:27)

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The men headed to Saipan were already on edge, especially the Marines who had participated in the previous invasion of Tarawa. Then, as they waited on board ship in the dark, someone dropped a grenade. Having survived that, they next faced a very difficult task, going over the side and down a rope net to board bobbing and heaving Higgins boats. (4:45)

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As he readied for the next operation on Tinian, Walter Marshall received the word that he had enough points to go home. He was carrying a bullet in his leg and had a fractured vertebra and the latter condition was destined to plague him for a long time. Determined to make a better life for his children, he ignored the pain and worked on. (5:16)

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It was a hard lesson. Walter Marshall learned it in the Marines in the Pacific. Don't get too close to anyone. That meant that he, and anyone else in the unit who'd learned that lesson, was alone in a crowd. And in the middle of combat, any one of these solitary warriors could arise to the occasion. (2:38)

Walter Victor

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It was a rough life as a teenager in the coal mine. Walter Victor was stuck there where his father had died when he was a baby. He hitchhiked to New York City and got a job in his sister's dress factory but World War II had come and so had the draft. (4:11)

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After weeks at sea dodging German submarines, Walter Victor landed in North Africa where the climate was hot and the culture very different. He was protected by the rest of the men because he was a gunsmith, who kept all the weapons in fighting condition. He saw the awful, like a man selling what no man should, and the amazing, like the Spitfires destroying the Stukas. (5:04)

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The landing in Sicily was not too bad and the island was quickly secured. Walter Victor found the locals to be very nice people and they had the best spaghetti ever. (2:57)

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It was easy to die on D-Day. Walter Victor saw his friend drown before he ever touched the beach. After the beachhead was finally secured, he pushed into the interior and eventually had some strange adventures, like being tapped to manage a factory in Belgium because he spoke four languages. He was also captured for a brief time but the Polish prisoners had a plan. (6:47)