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1
00:03:22,436 --> 00:03:24,447
We were all Americans.
2
00:03:26,874 --> 00:03:30,520
We had different religions,
different faiths,
3
00:03:30,544 --> 00:03:34,457
different political parties,
but...
4
00:03:34,481 --> 00:03:37,583
The most important thing of all
was being an American.
5
00:03:40,119 --> 00:03:41,987
We were unified in that.
6
00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:46,269
That gave us a lot of strength.
7
00:03:50,965 --> 00:03:53,944
We were one in those days.
8
00:04:01,508 --> 00:04:05,789
And, you know, now at 93,
having been through the war
9
00:04:05,813 --> 00:04:08,758
and a couple other wars since,
10
00:04:08,782 --> 00:04:13,730
I look back and I still feel
the same way.
11
00:04:13,754 --> 00:04:16,588
We had a strong belief
in this country.
12
00:04:36,610 --> 00:04:38,855
I was studying
in Sunday school,
13
00:04:38,879 --> 00:04:41,391
and a mother came over
and informed us
14
00:04:41,415 --> 00:04:44,628
that the Japanese
had just bombed Pearl harbor
15
00:04:44,652 --> 00:04:48,265
at 9:30 on a
Sunday morning, 1941.
16
00:05:00,567 --> 00:05:02,712
I was in a movie theater,
17
00:05:02,736 --> 00:05:09,452
the strand theatre,
on 47th street and Broadway.
18
00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:13,356
So, I come out, and people
are screaming and yelling
19
00:05:13,380 --> 00:05:15,625
and saying, "what the hell?
20
00:05:15,649 --> 00:05:18,261
We were attacked by the japs."
21
00:05:18,285 --> 00:05:19,963
They were yelling,
22
00:05:19,987 --> 00:05:25,468
"we were attacked by the japs,
and we're at war."
23
00:05:25,492 --> 00:05:29,739
I was in San Diego,
and I was seeing a girlfriend.
24
00:05:29,763 --> 00:05:32,475
And then they said
that the president
25
00:05:32,499 --> 00:05:35,679
had an announcement to make,
and he made the announcement.
26
00:05:38,739 --> 00:05:41,618
As I was walking
down the sidewalk,
27
00:05:41,642 --> 00:05:45,655
the two men getting shoes shined
looked really shocked,
28
00:05:45,679 --> 00:05:50,360
and I heard it mentioned that
Pearl harbor had been bombed.
29
00:05:50,384 --> 00:05:51,961
It was very meaningful to me
30
00:05:51,985 --> 00:05:56,099
because it screwed my whole life
up from that moment on.
31
00:06:02,596 --> 00:06:05,175
How could we stand for that?
32
00:06:05,199 --> 00:06:09,479
Thinking, "well,
we'll be going to war",
33
00:06:09,503 --> 00:06:14,373
"and the draft could be
starting," and so forth.
34
00:06:16,709 --> 00:06:20,512
I said, "how soon is that gonna
be before they get to me?"
35
00:06:31,724 --> 00:06:34,504
At 15, you really
don't understand
36
00:06:34,528 --> 00:06:38,341
what's going on
or anything like that.
37
00:06:38,365 --> 00:06:42,145
Most of the people that we
associated with thought,
38
00:06:42,169 --> 00:06:44,903
"no problem,
be over in six months."
39
00:06:46,606 --> 00:06:49,753
Of course,
that proved to be wrong, too.
40
00:08:00,447 --> 00:08:04,461
I didn't think of them
as bad guys, I guess.
41
00:08:04,485 --> 00:08:10,066
I thought of them as someone
who was trying to kill me,
42
00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:15,138
and I'm just trying to prevent
that from happening
43
00:08:15,162 --> 00:08:18,041
and then, of course,
maybe kill them, you know?
44
00:08:20,701 --> 00:08:22,879
Oh, they're terrible people,
45
00:08:22,903 --> 00:08:25,048
horrible people.
46
00:08:25,072 --> 00:08:28,318
Of course, the marine corps
had to get you in the mood
47
00:08:28,342 --> 00:08:31,554
to kill or be killed, you know,
and think nothing about it.
48
00:08:36,015 --> 00:08:38,528
That was part of their
training, I suppose,
49
00:08:38,552 --> 00:08:40,697
that you you had to hate
these people
50
00:08:40,721 --> 00:08:45,535
to be able to go into battle
and kill them, I guess.
51
00:08:56,736 --> 00:09:00,350
We all hated the japs,
or so they called them, japs,
52
00:09:00,374 --> 00:09:03,653
and we'd heard about
the cruelty.
53
00:09:03,677 --> 00:09:10,193
Captures of our boys,
it's a scary thing.
54
00:09:10,217 --> 00:09:12,996
When you stop and think.
55
00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:18,156
You have all those people
ahead of you that hate you.
56
00:09:21,727 --> 00:09:24,707
Well, the japs, they were not like us.
57
00:09:24,731 --> 00:09:28,645
They were some other
kind of religion,
58
00:09:28,669 --> 00:09:31,714
and they were a warlike people.
59
00:09:34,408 --> 00:09:37,842
They were bad people,
so they deserved to get killed.
60
00:09:41,814 --> 00:09:46,217
To tell you the truth,
it's like a dream, yeah.
61
00:09:48,988 --> 00:09:52,268
But I know I was doing it,
and I was happy to do it
62
00:09:52,292 --> 00:09:54,671
because that's what
the bad people deserved...
63
00:09:54,695 --> 00:09:56,127
To get killed.
64
00:09:58,331 --> 00:10:00,944
Whether they were men,
women, or children,
65
00:10:00,968 --> 00:10:05,648
they were Japanese,
and they were not nice people.
66
00:10:05,672 --> 00:10:07,717
They started the war.
67
00:10:07,741 --> 00:10:09,174
We ended it.
68
00:12:08,028 --> 00:12:09,372
I remember them telling us
69
00:12:09,396 --> 00:12:13,009
that we were going to a place
called Iwo Jima,
70
00:12:13,033 --> 00:12:16,379
and they told us the size of it
was 2 1/2 miles wide
71
00:12:16,403 --> 00:12:17,780
and 5 miles long.
72
00:12:17,804 --> 00:12:21,284
And most of us,
as we talked afterwards,
73
00:12:21,308 --> 00:12:24,087
"why would you take
such a little place?"
74
00:12:36,089 --> 00:12:38,034
Well, when they put us
aboard ship,
75
00:12:38,058 --> 00:12:41,860
you just go down to the ocean
and go aboard.
76
00:12:44,096 --> 00:12:49,746
They told us we were going
to disembark before daylight.
77
00:12:49,770 --> 00:12:51,347
We had our chow,
78
00:12:51,371 --> 00:12:53,449
had steak and eggs.
79
00:12:53,473 --> 00:12:55,451
Haven't figured out
why they give you steak and eggs
80
00:12:55,475 --> 00:12:57,520
when you're going into
combat, huh?
81
00:12:57,544 --> 00:12:59,477
Anyway, they did.
82
00:13:01,580 --> 00:13:05,461
I got on an lcvp.
That's a small landing craft.
83
00:13:05,485 --> 00:13:08,931
And so, they've got a net
that goes over the side.
84
00:13:08,955 --> 00:13:10,733
And, of course, you got all
your equipment on,
85
00:13:10,757 --> 00:13:13,269
your pack and your rifle
and your helmet and all that.
86
00:13:13,293 --> 00:13:14,893
You got that with you.
87
00:13:17,496 --> 00:13:21,444
You're over the side,
and you step on this net.
88
00:13:21,468 --> 00:13:26,048
And you have to step in those to
get down to the landing craft,
89
00:13:26,072 --> 00:13:28,284
and that was scary because,
you know, the boats are
90
00:13:28,308 --> 00:13:34,857
so rough, you know.
91
00:13:42,222 --> 00:13:43,766
Of course, they didn't tell us much,
92
00:13:43,790 --> 00:13:45,768
the low rank that we had.
93
00:13:45,792 --> 00:13:47,703
We didn't even know
where we were going.
94
00:13:47,727 --> 00:13:50,139
But my squad leader
finally came out
95
00:13:50,163 --> 00:13:52,141
and told us we're
going to Iwo Jima.
96
00:13:52,165 --> 00:13:54,332
That was that.
97
00:14:10,383 --> 00:14:14,430
You sort of have an air
of bravado about yourselves.
98
00:14:14,454 --> 00:14:16,632
You acquire it
99
00:14:16,656 --> 00:14:20,336
because the other ones
haven't had any experience.
100
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,805
They're all scared to death.
101
00:14:22,829 --> 00:14:24,829
They act brave.
102
00:14:27,233 --> 00:14:29,078
A lot of tension in the air,
103
00:14:29,102 --> 00:14:31,981
a lot of cigarettes
being smoked... crazy.
104
00:14:32,005 --> 00:14:36,252
And a lot of kids praying,
mostly.
105
00:14:36,276 --> 00:14:37,653
It's kind of a...
106
00:14:37,677 --> 00:14:41,379
Well,
Impending death is what it is.
107
00:14:44,083 --> 00:14:46,495
General Kuribayashi
issued this order.
108
00:14:46,519 --> 00:14:48,598
He said, "we're here
to defend this island"
109
00:14:48,622 --> 00:14:50,800
to the limit of our strength.
110
00:14:50,824 --> 00:14:56,138
We must devote ourselves
to that task entirely.
111
00:14:56,162 --> 00:15:00,109
Each of your shots
must kill many Americans.
112
00:15:00,133 --> 00:15:04,547
We cannot allow ourselves
to be captured by the enemy.
113
00:15:04,571 --> 00:15:07,583
"Long live the emperor."
114
00:15:07,607 --> 00:15:10,241
And, of course,
they followed that to a "t".
115
00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:20,456
When the raft went down
on the Higgins boat
116
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,192
and we ran out of there,
hit the beach there,
117
00:16:23,216 --> 00:16:26,829
there's still artillery
and mortars coming around.
118
00:16:26,853 --> 00:16:29,899
I looked down this beach
to my left
119
00:16:29,923 --> 00:16:34,236
and here are stacks of bodies.
120
00:16:37,930 --> 00:16:40,309
Yeah, it was not a friendly place.
121
00:16:40,333 --> 00:16:43,112
A lot of thoughts going through
your mind, I know.
122
00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:55,858
It was so chaotic.
Absolutely...
123
00:16:55,882 --> 00:17:00,930
There were jeeps blowing up,
tanks stalled.
124
00:17:00,954 --> 00:17:06,736
The thing that I've never been
able to eradicate from my mind
125
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:08,192
are the dead.
126
00:17:17,804 --> 00:17:19,482
It'd been a slaughter,
127
00:17:19,506 --> 00:17:22,218
because what kuribayashi
had done is
128
00:17:22,242 --> 00:17:24,487
crammed us up against the beach
129
00:17:24,511 --> 00:17:27,923
and also kept us
from going up over the top
130
00:17:27,947 --> 00:17:30,292
because when we get up on top,
it's flat.
131
00:17:30,316 --> 00:17:32,261
But on the other side
of that top
132
00:17:32,285 --> 00:17:35,731
are all the machine guns
and the pillboxes over there.
133
00:17:35,755 --> 00:17:37,199
You poke your head up over that,
134
00:17:37,223 --> 00:17:39,190
you're a dead person
right there.
135
00:17:41,693 --> 00:17:43,005
It was horrible.
136
00:17:43,029 --> 00:17:46,842
All kinds of carnage,
guys with arms blown off
137
00:17:46,866 --> 00:17:49,879
and heads blown off
and everything.
138
00:17:49,903 --> 00:17:54,016
It was pretty bad,
but we just had to keep on going
139
00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,318
because we couldn't stop,
you know.
140
00:18:03,883 --> 00:18:06,796
We were thinking about
saving our asses.
141
00:18:08,988 --> 00:18:13,335
That is true because,
well, it scared us,
142
00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:15,471
it scared us tremendously.
143
00:18:15,495 --> 00:18:17,773
Yeah.
144
00:18:17,797 --> 00:18:20,309
It's a horrible feeling.
145
00:18:20,333 --> 00:18:21,777
It's a horrible feeling,
146
00:18:21,801 --> 00:18:24,135
like the end of the world
or something.
147
00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:28,617
Many marines will say,
148
00:18:28,641 --> 00:18:30,419
"the bullet has never
been made yet
149
00:18:30,443 --> 00:18:32,288
that has my name on it."
150
00:18:32,312 --> 00:18:35,658
I think most of us were not
concerned about getting killed.
151
00:18:35,682 --> 00:18:38,127
I think most of our concerns
were about getting hit
152
00:18:38,151 --> 00:18:41,564
and losing an arm or half of
our face or something like that.
153
00:18:41,588 --> 00:18:44,066
That probably was mostly
in the back of the mind,
154
00:18:44,090 --> 00:18:45,401
but getting killed... never.
155
00:18:45,425 --> 00:18:47,825
There's no way I would have
been killed there.
156
00:18:50,329 --> 00:18:53,075
It took forever and
a day to get it off the beach,
157
00:18:53,099 --> 00:18:57,513
and I kind of blocked
all that out of my memory.
158
00:18:57,537 --> 00:19:00,438
I don't like to remember
a lot of that stuff.
159
00:19:03,142 --> 00:19:05,588
A lot of the boys were praying,
160
00:19:05,612 --> 00:19:08,057
18, 19-year-old.
161
00:19:08,081 --> 00:19:10,126
They were calling for...
162
00:19:10,150 --> 00:19:12,361
Sorry.
163
00:19:12,385 --> 00:19:13,918
I think about it.
164
00:19:17,189 --> 00:19:19,223
You're calling for their mother.
165
00:19:22,494 --> 00:19:24,640
Pulling the bodies
out of the water,
166
00:19:24,664 --> 00:19:26,842
and the body parts,
167
00:19:26,866 --> 00:19:29,133
that was the first shock I had.
168
00:19:31,803 --> 00:19:35,117
All we wanted to do is
leave there alive. That's all.
169
00:19:35,141 --> 00:19:38,854
There was no big, esoteric
reason why we were there.
170
00:19:38,878 --> 00:19:42,191
We just wanted to be alive,
that's all, stay alive.
171
00:19:52,692 --> 00:19:54,470
One guy lost his foot,
172
00:19:54,494 --> 00:19:57,273
and he was the happiest guy
in the world at that time
173
00:19:57,297 --> 00:20:00,342
because he says, "I'm getting
off of this island."
174
00:20:00,366 --> 00:20:02,478
Losing a foot let him
get off of that island,
175
00:20:02,502 --> 00:20:05,503
and he was real happy
that it had happened to him.
176
00:20:08,273 --> 00:20:12,221
Well, the first one,
I remember very well.
177
00:20:12,245 --> 00:20:17,793
I saw some smoke coming out
of the top of this pillbox,
178
00:20:17,817 --> 00:20:21,263
so I just took my
flamethrower nozzle,
179
00:20:21,287 --> 00:20:23,766
began to pipe, and let it go.
180
00:20:30,597 --> 00:20:33,909
I'm told that death
is instantaneous
181
00:20:33,933 --> 00:20:36,278
because the flame just
envelops them,
182
00:20:36,302 --> 00:20:41,250
and there's no oxygen, so they
don't even have anything.
183
00:20:45,945 --> 00:20:48,924
The second thing
I remember vividly
184
00:20:48,948 --> 00:20:51,560
is I was approaching the pillbox
185
00:20:51,584 --> 00:20:55,965
and the enemy came out
charging toward me
186
00:20:55,989 --> 00:20:58,033
with rifles and bayonets.
187
00:20:58,057 --> 00:20:59,969
I'm lying on my belly,
188
00:20:59,993 --> 00:21:02,972
and here they come
charging around the pillbox.
189
00:21:02,996 --> 00:21:07,810
I just hit them
in the leg, you know?
190
00:21:07,834 --> 00:21:09,545
And that gets them.
191
00:21:14,674 --> 00:21:17,219
I'm laying there with
some kind of a hole,
192
00:21:17,243 --> 00:21:19,922
when marines around me
193
00:21:19,946 --> 00:21:22,491
began yelling something
about a flag.
194
00:21:26,786 --> 00:21:28,931
And I looked up,
and a couple of them
195
00:21:28,955 --> 00:21:32,757
were standing there shooting
their weapons into the air.
196
00:21:35,527 --> 00:21:39,108
So I fired my weapon in the air
a few times, too, you know.
197
00:21:39,132 --> 00:21:40,509
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
198
00:24:16,355 --> 00:24:22,371
Curtis lemay had no
reservations about killing crews
199
00:24:22,395 --> 00:24:24,873
and lemay's position was,
200
00:24:24,897 --> 00:24:27,609
and I heard him say this,
201
00:24:27,633 --> 00:24:32,314
"wars don't end until
enough people are killed."
202
00:24:32,338 --> 00:24:33,749
And he said,
203
00:24:33,773 --> 00:24:37,986
"this thing will end when we
kill enough Japanese."
204
00:24:53,693 --> 00:24:56,405
Well, when you're
ready to take off,
205
00:24:56,429 --> 00:24:58,540
you're pretty busy up on top,
206
00:24:58,564 --> 00:25:03,779
while looking out the bomb bay,
tell a captain or whatever was.
207
00:25:11,177 --> 00:25:14,056
You use every bit of the runway
208
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,960
And maybe a little bit of
the threshold at the other end.
209
00:25:17,984 --> 00:25:21,430
It's almost as dramatic
to get all these airplanes off
210
00:25:21,454 --> 00:25:23,632
as being over the target.
211
00:26:47,606 --> 00:26:50,352
I swear, but now,
I think I remember Tokyo Rose.
212
00:26:50,376 --> 00:26:53,221
I think I remember
listening to that.
213
00:26:53,245 --> 00:26:55,324
And somehow, I seem to remember
214
00:26:55,348 --> 00:26:57,259
that they know when
we were coming
215
00:26:57,283 --> 00:27:00,162
and who we were at the time.
216
00:27:00,186 --> 00:27:01,663
I don't know how.
217
00:27:11,564 --> 00:27:14,309
When you flew to a target,
218
00:27:14,333 --> 00:27:18,213
you all flew separately
to the I.P.
219
00:27:18,237 --> 00:27:21,383
And you go around,
and these airplanes join you.
220
00:27:21,407 --> 00:27:25,120
And pretty soon, you have
a formation of 12 airplanes
221
00:27:25,144 --> 00:27:27,956
or 24 or 36,
222
00:27:27,980 --> 00:27:31,293
and then you all fly
from there to the target,
223
00:27:31,317 --> 00:27:33,762
which is usually about 50 miles.
224
00:27:33,786 --> 00:27:35,397
Everybody had a job.
225
00:27:35,421 --> 00:27:39,868
The gunners were at their
position and ready to attack,
226
00:27:39,892 --> 00:27:42,671
and the bombardier was
getting ready to bomb.
227
00:27:42,695 --> 00:27:45,073
Everybody was tense.
228
00:27:52,371 --> 00:27:56,251
When you had a frontal attack,
you had 12 airplanes,
229
00:27:56,275 --> 00:27:58,620
but the total number
of guns come to,
230
00:27:58,644 --> 00:28:04,793
I think, 92 forward-firing,
.50-caliber guns.
231
00:28:04,817 --> 00:28:07,596
Every fifth bullet is a tracer.
232
00:28:17,296 --> 00:28:19,675
Four guns in the top,
two in the back.
233
00:28:19,699 --> 00:28:21,565
It's just, "fire, fire, fire!"
234
00:28:24,202 --> 00:28:25,647
They had balls,
235
00:28:25,671 --> 00:28:28,650
or they had plenty of sake,
either one.
236
00:28:28,674 --> 00:28:31,420
They'd come in at you
in the daytime.
237
00:28:31,444 --> 00:28:35,424
I used to wonder at them.
They had to be crazy.
238
00:28:43,122 --> 00:28:47,969
Every mission was scary
because if we weren't attacked
239
00:28:47,993 --> 00:28:50,939
by fighter planes
before we hit Japan,
240
00:28:50,963 --> 00:28:53,341
we were attacked
at different spots,
241
00:28:53,365 --> 00:28:56,278
depending on where
we're going to bomb.
242
00:28:56,302 --> 00:29:01,216
Of course, the toughest place
to bomb was Tokyo, the capital.
243
00:29:52,958 --> 00:29:56,204
Everything I did, I enjoyed doing.
244
00:29:56,228 --> 00:30:00,609
I really shouldn't say
that I was killing people.
245
00:30:00,633 --> 00:30:03,311
But I really didn't mind
doing that it the time
246
00:30:03,335 --> 00:30:06,081
because the people
we was bombing, Japan,
247
00:30:06,105 --> 00:30:10,786
and they were not nice people,
so I didn't mind.
248
00:30:40,739 --> 00:30:43,018
Personally, and, of course,
249
00:30:43,042 --> 00:30:48,256
I did not say anything
to my fellow crew.
250
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:53,161
I felt heartsick
to see the cities burning
251
00:30:53,185 --> 00:30:56,031
because we were
bombing with 1,000
252
00:30:56,055 --> 00:30:59,634
to 1,500 bombers at a time.
253
00:31:09,702 --> 00:31:11,746
Tokyo was burning.
254
00:31:11,770 --> 00:31:15,183
I saw the parliament building
right there.
255
00:31:15,207 --> 00:31:18,720
Would you believe it?
I was counting the floors.
256
00:31:18,744 --> 00:31:21,923
One, two, three..
257
00:31:21,947 --> 00:31:24,392
Sometimes, I sit there
and I say,
258
00:31:24,416 --> 00:31:27,162
"I wonder how many people
were killed
259
00:31:27,186 --> 00:31:29,965
each time we dropped a bomb?"
260
00:31:29,989 --> 00:31:32,834
100? 300?
261
00:31:32,858 --> 00:31:35,503
I didn't mind doing it
at the time,
262
00:31:35,527 --> 00:31:37,572
but today I worry.
263
00:31:41,734 --> 00:31:43,278
Did I feel sorry?
264
00:31:43,302 --> 00:31:44,512
Yes.
265
00:31:44,536 --> 00:31:46,514
I felt sad for the people,
266
00:31:46,538 --> 00:31:48,583
'cause you're not killing
all soldiers.
267
00:31:48,607 --> 00:31:50,040
You're killing people.
268
00:33:59,104 --> 00:34:04,052
I always wanted to fly,
and I guess because of that,
269
00:34:04,076 --> 00:34:06,688
I flew the airplane,
the airplane didn't fly me.
270
00:34:09,047 --> 00:34:11,393
You always flew
with the same guys,
271
00:34:11,417 --> 00:34:13,617
so you're looking out
for each other.
272
00:34:15,887 --> 00:34:17,932
You're pretty much involved
273
00:34:17,956 --> 00:34:20,935
in doing what you're
supposed to do.
274
00:34:23,295 --> 00:34:26,508
We felt we were superior
when we were out there.
275
00:34:26,532 --> 00:34:28,176
We didn't worry about them,
276
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,367
so much as being
a problem to us.
277
00:34:32,970 --> 00:34:36,851
We figured we're
indestructible.
278
00:35:10,442 --> 00:35:13,455
We'd go up and watch the
other guys land.
279
00:35:13,479 --> 00:35:15,623
Yeah, we'd go up
and watch everything.
280
00:35:33,232 --> 00:35:35,643
Probably, if you were in combat,
281
00:35:35,667 --> 00:35:37,345
you'd have a good book
and read it.
282
00:35:41,673 --> 00:35:44,786
Our bathrooms were just a trough
283
00:35:44,810 --> 00:35:47,188
running down on seawater.
284
00:35:47,212 --> 00:35:50,592
And there were always some joker
that would come in
285
00:35:50,616 --> 00:35:53,595
and light a piece of paper
on this end of it
286
00:35:53,619 --> 00:35:56,531
and let it float down
underneath the buoys.
287
00:35:58,390 --> 00:36:01,603
The guy had to get out of there
fast or he'd have got killed.
288
00:36:05,998 --> 00:36:09,344
I used to sit up
and look out over the sea,
289
00:36:09,368 --> 00:36:11,913
and I'd watch the flying fish
come aboard.
290
00:36:11,937 --> 00:36:15,016
The water could be like
a glass tabletop,
291
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:16,451
just wonderful.
292
00:36:20,812 --> 00:36:25,026
I was a fire controlman
on the USS intrepid,
293
00:36:25,050 --> 00:36:28,663
and my job was firing the guns.
294
00:36:28,687 --> 00:36:30,832
That's what the
fire controlman did.
295
00:36:30,856 --> 00:36:32,934
And they had charge
of maintenance
296
00:36:32,958 --> 00:36:35,737
of the radio equipment.
297
00:36:39,264 --> 00:36:42,210
The aircraft carrier
for the prime target
298
00:36:42,234 --> 00:36:45,213
because they were doing
the most damage.
299
00:36:47,839 --> 00:36:50,852
They were kamikazes were after the ships.
300
00:36:50,876 --> 00:36:52,487
They didn't care about us,
301
00:36:52,511 --> 00:36:55,823
they were there to sink
the ships, pure and simple.
302
00:36:55,847 --> 00:36:58,960
They weren't there to kill me.
That's not their reason.
303
00:36:58,984 --> 00:37:01,129
They're reason was
to kill the ships
304
00:37:01,153 --> 00:37:03,498
so that we would be
prolonged to a point
305
00:37:03,522 --> 00:37:05,700
that we'd say, "we're having
too much trouble,
306
00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:08,970
and so we'll go ahead
and declare a truce."
307
00:37:13,599 --> 00:37:17,078
I was combat air patrol
over the Franklin.
308
00:37:17,102 --> 00:37:21,549
And Franklin was loaded,
their planes all gassed.
309
00:37:23,575 --> 00:37:25,920
They hadn't launched yet.
310
00:37:25,944 --> 00:37:27,978
All the planes are gassed.
311
00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:33,361
I saw this plane
coming in, and I thought he was
312
00:37:33,385 --> 00:37:35,964
coming to us when he turned
towards the Franklin,
313
00:37:35,988 --> 00:37:39,801
and I saw him come down,
and ka-boom.
314
00:37:51,603 --> 00:37:53,648
Went through the flight deck.
315
00:37:53,672 --> 00:37:55,750
Between the conning tower
and the stern,
316
00:37:55,774 --> 00:37:57,407
some place in there.
317
00:38:03,849 --> 00:38:05,193
We watched it.
318
00:38:05,217 --> 00:38:08,896
It was just like a waterfall
of gasoline over the side.
319
00:38:24,202 --> 00:38:26,214
People say, "well, were you scared?"
320
00:38:26,238 --> 00:38:27,815
Well, no, you're busy.
321
00:38:27,839 --> 00:38:30,418
There's probably
two or three more coming in
322
00:38:30,442 --> 00:38:33,376
that you have to keep track of.
323
00:39:25,664 --> 00:39:29,243
They'd come around
dropping their bombs.
324
00:39:29,267 --> 00:39:30,845
After the bombs were dropped,
325
00:39:30,869 --> 00:39:33,981
a lot of them was coming to
dive into the ship.
326
00:39:52,057 --> 00:39:53,835
We had 4,500 sailors killed
327
00:39:53,859 --> 00:39:56,270
with those things,
and when we were at anchor,
328
00:39:56,294 --> 00:39:58,339
we had a kamikaze
come right over.
329
00:39:58,363 --> 00:40:00,408
We were watching a movie
on the fantail.
330
00:40:00,432 --> 00:40:01,676
That was scary.
331
00:40:01,700 --> 00:40:03,978
Here you are sitting on
the fantail of your ship
332
00:40:04,002 --> 00:40:05,246
watching a movie,
333
00:40:05,270 --> 00:40:07,815
and then this plane
comes right over your head.
334
00:40:14,613 --> 00:40:16,824
You hear the five-inchers go off.
335
00:40:16,848 --> 00:40:20,628
It goes boom, boom, boom.
336
00:40:20,652 --> 00:40:23,364
5-inch shells, right?
You don't worry.
337
00:40:23,388 --> 00:40:28,469
Then you hear the 40-millimeters
going boom, boom, boom, boom.
338
00:40:28,493 --> 00:40:29,871
Then 200-millimeters,
and you hear
339
00:40:29,895 --> 00:40:31,672
boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom.
340
00:40:31,696 --> 00:40:34,075
It's coming closer.
341
00:40:34,099 --> 00:40:36,043
Then there's .50-calibers.
342
00:40:36,067 --> 00:40:37,712
And you hear brrr!
343
00:40:46,710 --> 00:40:51,426
They had to be fanatics.
They were fanatics, in fact.
344
00:40:58,123 --> 00:41:01,002
Oh, they're all going to heaven.
345
00:41:01,026 --> 00:41:03,104
At least,
that's what they thought.
346
00:41:12,671 --> 00:41:14,348
When they started that stuff,
347
00:41:14,372 --> 00:41:17,552
boy, that's all they wanted
to do was crash into us,
348
00:41:17,576 --> 00:41:19,420
boom, so we were lucky
349
00:41:19,444 --> 00:41:23,257
'cause we could zigzag,
and that would screw the fire.
350
00:41:42,801 --> 00:41:45,012
He's coming up the fantail.
351
00:41:45,036 --> 00:41:47,381
And the carrier turns.
352
00:41:47,405 --> 00:41:49,650
And when he gets right...
They'll let him have it.
353
00:42:00,285 --> 00:42:01,629
When you're firing,
354
00:42:01,653 --> 00:42:05,700
you got tracer bullets
that you see out there.
355
00:42:05,724 --> 00:42:09,704
You got to try to get ahead
of them and so forth,
356
00:42:09,728 --> 00:42:11,606
just like shooting pheasants,
you know.
357
00:42:11,630 --> 00:42:14,709
You got to give lead time
and so forth.
358
00:42:14,733 --> 00:42:18,980
And you'd think it wouldn't be
any trouble shooting them down,
359
00:42:19,004 --> 00:42:24,007
but they'd keep flying
until they'd crash.
360
00:42:27,411 --> 00:42:30,691
They were different
than the Japanese zero fighters
361
00:42:30,715 --> 00:42:32,994
that were the
professional aviators.
362
00:42:33,018 --> 00:42:36,864
Kamikaze didn't seem
to take evasive action.
363
00:42:43,862 --> 00:42:46,407
Sometimes, they'd come in real high
364
00:42:46,431 --> 00:42:48,242
and come diving at you.
365
00:42:56,140 --> 00:42:59,820
And sometimes, you're
right on the water, you know.
366
00:42:59,844 --> 00:43:03,591
Then they'd come up and down,
and they'd get close to you.
367
00:43:39,050 --> 00:43:42,930
Whole time we were firing,
it was coming in on us
368
00:43:42,954 --> 00:43:47,168
and we had the thing
pretty well shot up,
369
00:43:47,192 --> 00:43:51,939
and it got just along
the port side of us and blew up.
370
00:43:59,004 --> 00:44:03,918
And then it spewed fire
all over the island
371
00:44:03,942 --> 00:44:06,821
and the hangar
and the flight deck,
372
00:44:06,845 --> 00:44:08,723
if you can imagine
all that stuff
373
00:44:08,747 --> 00:44:11,225
catching on fire and blowing up.
374
00:44:11,249 --> 00:44:15,162
It just raised havoc
to the whole hangar deck.
375
00:44:15,186 --> 00:44:18,566
I lost a couple good buddies
in that one.
376
00:44:18,590 --> 00:44:23,537
That's when I got hit,
and my clothes caught on fire,
377
00:44:23,561 --> 00:44:28,175
and my... oh, my back was
burnt and so forth.
378
00:44:31,569 --> 00:44:35,349
I lived in a 42-man bunk
right under the flight deck,
379
00:44:35,373 --> 00:44:38,486
and since they didn't have
a morgue, the dead bodies...
380
00:44:38,510 --> 00:44:41,922
I can remember walking in blood.
381
00:44:41,946 --> 00:44:43,958
It's a terrible sight to see
382
00:44:43,982 --> 00:44:46,649
these legs and stuff torn off.
383
00:44:48,619 --> 00:44:52,299
So then after everything
is settled down,
384
00:44:52,323 --> 00:44:57,226
you got all of these guys
that are dead.
385
00:44:59,496 --> 00:45:04,211
Then it comes time to Bury them,
and they put them in hammocks
386
00:45:04,235 --> 00:45:08,516
and put a 5-inch shell
in with them
387
00:45:08,540 --> 00:45:13,220
and take them out to the
elevator deck right at the edge.
388
00:45:13,244 --> 00:45:15,122
And line them up there
389
00:45:15,146 --> 00:45:18,726
and then play "taps" for them.
390
00:45:25,690 --> 00:45:29,236
It's so sad to have to
lose them that way.
391
00:47:57,107 --> 00:47:59,353
Well, if you talk to
any of the marines,
392
00:47:59,377 --> 00:48:02,656
they would eventually
do this way.
393
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:08,429
"Golden gate in 48,
red line in 49."
394
00:48:08,453 --> 00:48:13,067
We all knew we couldn't possibly
win the war before 1948.
395
00:48:20,064 --> 00:48:23,966
We had no idea how long
the war was gonna last.
396
00:48:27,204 --> 00:48:30,951
Most of us understood that
what we were doing is working
397
00:48:30,975 --> 00:48:35,589
our way toward the ability
to be able to bombard Japan
398
00:48:35,613 --> 00:48:39,793
for an eventual landing
on the Japanese homeland.
399
00:48:39,817 --> 00:48:41,562
That was in everybody's mind.
400
00:48:41,586 --> 00:48:44,732
"How long is it gonna take,
and how are we gonna do it?"
401
00:49:21,426 --> 00:49:24,171
We were fighting because
we were marines,
402
00:49:24,195 --> 00:49:26,774
and we were fighting because
we were Americans.
403
00:49:26,798 --> 00:49:29,343
Yeah, we cared a hell of a lot
about our buddies.
404
00:49:29,367 --> 00:49:32,513
They were watching our back.
We were watching theirs.
405
00:49:32,537 --> 00:49:34,715
And when you lost a buddy,
it hurt bad.
406
00:49:38,142 --> 00:49:41,488
The Japanese were
extremely fanatical,
407
00:49:41,512 --> 00:49:44,413
and there were lots of them
on okinawa.
408
00:49:46,917 --> 00:49:50,597
We couldn't stop them, you know.
There's nothing we could do.
409
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:58,138
The caves and tunnels
that they had...
410
00:49:58,162 --> 00:49:59,640
Most of them were open.
411
00:50:09,607 --> 00:50:13,120
But our procedure
was to get a flamethrower
412
00:50:13,144 --> 00:50:18,459
and fire that flame in there
for eight or 10 or 15 seconds.
413
00:50:27,658 --> 00:50:29,303
Hopefully, that will go
back in there
414
00:50:29,327 --> 00:50:32,673
and keep the Japanese
from coming out.
415
00:50:40,438 --> 00:50:43,550
And we were back to
shoot in at them running out,
416
00:50:43,574 --> 00:50:45,486
so they were better off
us shooting them dead
417
00:50:45,510 --> 00:50:47,421
rather than burn out that way,
418
00:50:47,445 --> 00:50:50,157
but that's something that always
struck in my mind, you know.
419
00:50:50,181 --> 00:50:52,192
You'd never dream
of something like that.
420
00:51:02,794 --> 00:51:06,573
When they'd fire
that flamethrower into the cave,
421
00:51:06,597 --> 00:51:08,142
two or three japs would come
running out of there,
422
00:51:08,166 --> 00:51:11,333
totally burning,
trying to escape it.
423
00:51:13,537 --> 00:51:16,450
They could run about 20 yards,
and that was it.
424
00:51:16,474 --> 00:51:18,085
It was all over.
425
00:51:18,109 --> 00:51:19,308
Yeah.
426
00:51:21,244 --> 00:51:23,157
The smell was terrible.
427
00:51:23,181 --> 00:51:24,958
Especially when
a flamethrower hits,
428
00:51:24,982 --> 00:51:27,327
and it's the smell
that you can remember.
429
00:51:41,566 --> 00:51:43,977
Well, it's something
I still, you know,
430
00:51:44,001 --> 00:51:45,779
I can't understand in my mind,
431
00:51:45,803 --> 00:51:48,649
but we had a job to do,
and we had to do
432
00:51:48,673 --> 00:51:50,984
what we had to do
to get them out of there.
433
00:52:52,270 --> 00:52:56,250
We killed every one
of those Japanese soldiers.
434
00:52:56,274 --> 00:52:58,952
And then a couple of guys
started to walk over to them
435
00:52:58,976 --> 00:53:00,487
and look down at them,
and I joined in.
436
00:53:00,511 --> 00:53:02,389
We were all
looking down at them.
437
00:53:02,413 --> 00:53:05,692
And one guy said, "well,
this guy couldn't run very much
438
00:53:05,716 --> 00:53:08,462
'cause he had 40 pounds of lead
in his back."
439
00:53:08,486 --> 00:53:10,085
And everybody laughed.
440
00:53:12,489 --> 00:53:14,256
And I laughed, also.
441
00:53:34,679 --> 00:53:37,191
I still can't forgive me,
442
00:53:37,215 --> 00:53:39,793
because there's no joy,
443
00:53:39,817 --> 00:53:43,697
there's no glamour
in killing someone.
444
00:53:43,721 --> 00:53:47,000
I don't give a damn who he is.
445
00:53:47,024 --> 00:53:48,435
And I'm 94 years old.
446
00:53:48,459 --> 00:53:51,371
That means I'm gonna be...
447
00:53:51,395 --> 00:53:53,062
I'm sorry.
448
00:53:55,865 --> 00:53:59,046
I'm gonna be standing
in front of god,
449
00:53:59,070 --> 00:54:01,136
and I have to answer for that.
450
00:55:46,977 --> 00:55:50,090
You always flew with the same guys,
451
00:55:50,114 --> 00:55:52,626
so you're looking out
for each other.
452
00:55:52,650 --> 00:55:55,095
That's what you're doing.
453
00:55:55,119 --> 00:55:58,487
We were all fighting
to get in combat.
454
00:56:00,590 --> 00:56:03,603
It's like a ball game,
like a football game.
455
00:56:08,399 --> 00:56:13,146
I went up six or seven
times to escort B-29s.
456
00:56:13,170 --> 00:56:14,815
They never showed up,
457
00:56:14,839 --> 00:56:18,785
so we had a secondary mission.
458
00:56:18,809 --> 00:56:20,554
We'd go down straight.
459
00:56:20,578 --> 00:56:23,023
Anything that moved,
we striked it.
460
00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:40,040
We were coming in...
That time, we drove down.
461
00:56:40,064 --> 00:56:43,210
We're really going,
and with a lot of throttle.
462
00:56:43,234 --> 00:56:48,014
We were going fast, and I think
they were shooting behind us.
463
00:56:48,038 --> 00:56:50,317
Sometimes, you'd go down
to almost ground level.
464
00:56:50,341 --> 00:56:54,788
Trains would hit them guys
and blow up a bunch of steam
465
00:56:54,812 --> 00:56:57,157
and everything,
and go right on over
466
00:56:57,181 --> 00:56:58,992
and pull back up
and come back around
467
00:56:59,016 --> 00:57:01,194
and make another pass on them.
468
00:57:15,366 --> 00:57:18,078
You have to be careful,
because if you shoot a target
469
00:57:18,102 --> 00:57:22,949
that blows up, you're gonna be
caught in the middle of it.
470
00:57:22,973 --> 00:57:25,118
Oh, accurate, very accurate.
471
00:57:25,142 --> 00:57:30,891
If you picked a target
and you fired with the rocket,
472
00:57:30,915 --> 00:57:33,048
it's going to hit
whatever you aim for.
473
00:57:35,218 --> 00:57:37,631
I liked rockets...
No problem at all.
474
00:57:41,692 --> 00:57:44,671
I strafed trains,
475
00:57:44,695 --> 00:57:46,907
I strafed water buffaloes,
476
00:57:46,931 --> 00:57:49,075
anything that was
on the ground and moving.
477
00:57:52,770 --> 00:57:56,049
It was the exciting
time, of course, to dive down
478
00:57:56,073 --> 00:57:58,051
from that altitude.
479
00:57:58,075 --> 00:57:59,886
Once we get down
to a couple hundred feet,
480
00:57:59,910 --> 00:58:02,589
then we would get down,
sometimes, a lot closer.
481
00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:10,931
You'd come down.
482
00:58:10,955 --> 00:58:13,600
You'd go well over 400,
I'm sure.
483
00:58:13,624 --> 00:58:16,369
But I never looked at
a speedometer.
484
00:58:55,266 --> 00:58:57,477
The fighters, every one of them,
485
00:58:57,501 --> 00:59:00,013
had a gun camera in the wing.
486
00:59:04,208 --> 00:59:07,087
It would be activated
by the same switch
487
00:59:07,111 --> 00:59:08,889
that you were firing
the guns with.
488
00:59:12,716 --> 00:59:15,295
The gun camera takes a
picture of whatever you're
489
00:59:15,319 --> 00:59:19,599
shooting at, and if you shoot
a jap and you fire him,
490
00:59:19,623 --> 00:59:22,435
if he's on fire,
then you get credit for it
491
00:59:22,459 --> 00:59:25,205
'cause you're not gonna
stay around and watch him burn.
492
00:59:36,941 --> 00:59:41,454
I had 20/10 vision,
and I could see the airplane
493
00:59:41,478 --> 00:59:43,823
before anybody ever thought.
494
00:59:43,847 --> 00:59:46,326
And I could put
myself in position.
495
00:59:55,326 --> 00:59:56,803
It didn't take you long.
496
00:59:56,827 --> 00:59:58,371
You know, you just give him
a squirt.
497
00:59:58,395 --> 01:00:00,607
That .50-caliber just
rips things all apart
498
01:00:00,631 --> 01:00:02,409
when it hits.
499
01:00:02,433 --> 01:00:05,434
It does a beautiful job,
I'll put it that way.
500
01:00:08,471 --> 01:00:10,150
We could out-dive them.
501
01:00:10,174 --> 01:00:13,186
Our protection, mainly,
would be to dive away from them.
502
01:00:13,210 --> 01:00:16,089
If we tried to turn with them,
they could turn inside of us.
503
01:00:16,113 --> 01:00:17,757
Means they've got to make
a real tight turn.
504
01:00:17,781 --> 01:00:19,826
They could do that with a zero.
505
01:00:34,098 --> 01:00:37,310
I just fired long enough
for that guy to, you know,
506
01:00:37,334 --> 01:00:40,180
catch on fire,
and then I release that
507
01:00:40,204 --> 01:00:41,681
and pulled up behind
that other one,
508
01:00:41,705 --> 01:00:43,483
and when I got it in my sights,
509
01:00:43,507 --> 01:00:46,553
upside down, I pulled
the trigger and blew him up.
510
01:00:53,017 --> 01:00:55,662
Four or five rounds and,
baby, she's coming apart,
511
01:00:55,686 --> 01:00:57,252
almost invariably.
512
01:01:00,156 --> 01:01:03,470
You never thought one iota
about the guy in it.
513
01:01:03,494 --> 01:01:04,771
At least, I never did.
514
01:01:04,795 --> 01:01:06,840
I don't think any of
the other guys did, either.
515
01:01:11,335 --> 01:01:13,346
It's very, very impersonal.
516
01:03:39,983 --> 01:03:44,130
My name is ittsei nakagawa.
517
01:03:44,154 --> 01:03:50,470
I was 15 years old when the bomb
was dropped on Hiroshima,
518
01:03:50,494 --> 01:03:54,040
August 6th,
519
01:03:54,064 --> 01:03:57,677
8:15 A.M., 1945.
520
01:04:01,271 --> 01:04:03,616
Our family, Nakagawa family,
521
01:04:03,640 --> 01:04:08,888
lived in a little village area
called moroki ochiai,
522
01:04:08,912 --> 01:04:13,159
which is approximately 7 miles
away from the city of Hiroshima.
523
01:04:20,891 --> 01:04:24,971
I could only remember
what was a usual day.
524
01:04:24,995 --> 01:04:29,064
You just wake up and start
cleaning up to get to work.
525
01:04:32,101 --> 01:04:33,913
All the kids that go
to high school
526
01:04:33,937 --> 01:04:35,882
and above go to the city
527
01:04:35,906 --> 01:04:38,384
because that's where the
high schools are located.
528
01:04:58,295 --> 01:05:02,242
And the kids, all the students,
were trained to become
529
01:05:02,266 --> 01:05:04,277
lathe operators, driller.
530
01:05:04,301 --> 01:05:07,035
I mean, they were all
manufacturing something.
531
01:05:10,373 --> 01:05:14,487
Well, anyway, we were outside
walking toward our destination,
532
01:05:14,511 --> 01:05:17,357
and we heard the air raid go on.
533
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:28,968
And they saw one B-29
flying over,
534
01:05:28,992 --> 01:05:32,594
so everybody took cover,
waited until something happened.
535
01:05:36,399 --> 01:05:39,879
But it seemed
like nothing happens.
536
01:05:39,903 --> 01:05:44,083
The air raid signal came back
and said it's clear.
537
01:05:48,978 --> 01:05:52,258
Everybody came out,
and this is when the B-29,
538
01:05:52,282 --> 01:05:54,627
I think, dropped something
like a parachute,
539
01:05:54,651 --> 01:05:57,030
and there were a lot of people
looking at it.
540
01:06:01,724 --> 01:06:07,607
And meanwhile, I was inside
the building then already.
541
01:06:07,631 --> 01:06:09,709
That's when the whole thing
just blew up.
542
01:06:09,733 --> 01:06:12,300
You know, just,
everything went black.
543
01:07:04,287 --> 01:07:05,920
Dust.
544
01:07:08,257 --> 01:07:10,003
You can't see anything.
I mean, it was...
545
01:07:10,027 --> 01:07:11,771
I didn't hear anything.
546
01:07:17,234 --> 01:07:19,234
I didn't know it was a bomb.
547
01:07:21,303 --> 01:07:23,182
Nobody knew what it was.
548
01:07:40,657 --> 01:07:42,368
Only thing you can
look at is a person,
549
01:07:42,392 --> 01:07:44,370
and he's no longer
a person anymore.
550
01:07:44,394 --> 01:07:46,339
He's a...
551
01:07:46,363 --> 01:07:49,964
A burned person
with face swollen up...
552
01:07:51,033 --> 01:07:52,467
Hands swollen up.
553
01:07:55,704 --> 01:07:59,441
Only thing I could see is a
button hanging from the clothes.
554
01:08:04,080 --> 01:08:07,193
I mean, you can't help them.
You can't even touch them.
555
01:08:11,688 --> 01:08:13,800
And you know,
one thing about burn...
556
01:08:13,824 --> 01:08:16,124
You ever tend to
a burned person?
557
01:08:18,060 --> 01:08:21,140
It's not one time, you know,
558
01:08:21,164 --> 01:08:24,677
especially when your skin
is gone and so forth.
559
01:08:24,701 --> 01:08:26,479
I mean, it peels off every time.
560
01:08:26,503 --> 01:08:29,949
It's just like
new skin comes off.
561
01:08:29,973 --> 01:08:32,085
You have to take it off
and wash it down with...
562
01:08:32,109 --> 01:08:34,153
"what do we do?"
563
01:08:34,177 --> 01:08:36,856
And the first thing
you hear is, "water."
564
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:40,326
That's the only thing
I could hear... "water, water."
565
01:08:40,350 --> 01:08:47,066
But I couldn't even find myself
a water to keep me cool,
566
01:08:47,090 --> 01:08:48,668
to stay alive.
567
01:08:53,063 --> 01:08:55,641
And you know,
when I look back and I say,
568
01:08:55,665 --> 01:08:59,745
"I... why did I survive
this thing here?"
569
01:08:59,769 --> 01:09:01,736
And it's very simple.
570
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:08,521
Just nature is the only way
that you could describe it.
571
01:09:08,545 --> 01:09:10,389
But there's more than nature.
572
01:09:10,413 --> 01:09:12,258
It's there's other people
that are dying
573
01:09:12,282 --> 01:09:13,948
that becomes part of you.
574
01:09:16,685 --> 01:09:20,032
Yeah, but I should have still
tried to save those guys.
575
01:11:12,568 --> 01:11:14,947
I can tell you something
about that bomb.
576
01:11:14,971 --> 01:11:17,183
Every morning in my house,
they would say the same thing
577
01:11:17,207 --> 01:11:20,152
that I'm saying,
if they were still around.
578
01:11:20,176 --> 01:11:22,288
The most humane thing
the United States
579
01:11:22,312 --> 01:11:26,492
ever did in warfare was drop
those two atomic bombs.
580
01:11:30,186 --> 01:11:32,565
I think the Japanese should thank us.
581
01:11:32,589 --> 01:11:34,734
They should thank us
for dropping the atomic bomb
582
01:11:34,758 --> 01:11:36,669
because we probably
would have killed
583
01:11:36,693 --> 01:11:39,772
30 or 40 million of them
in the end, you know.
584
01:11:47,837 --> 01:11:49,782
Oh, my goodness.
585
01:11:49,806 --> 01:11:52,952
That was like
you were carrying a load
586
01:11:52,976 --> 01:11:55,755
that you could hardly handle,
587
01:11:55,779 --> 01:11:57,623
and all of a sudden,
you dropped it off
588
01:11:57,647 --> 01:12:00,092
and you were completely free.
589
01:12:05,221 --> 01:12:09,168
Those bombs, I think,
really caused the Japanese
590
01:12:09,192 --> 01:12:10,436
to stop fighting.
591
01:12:10,460 --> 01:12:11,804
That ended the war.
592
01:12:11,828 --> 01:12:13,072
Had that not happened,
593
01:12:13,096 --> 01:12:15,207
I wouldn't be talking
to you now.
594
01:12:25,208 --> 01:12:28,554
I saw Nagasaki
and Hiroshima,
595
01:12:28,578 --> 01:12:31,624
and I was absolutely surprised
and astounded
596
01:12:31,648 --> 01:12:35,416
that we now had a weapon that
would do that kind of damage.
597
01:12:37,820 --> 01:12:41,100
Lemay was against
dropping the bomb.
598
01:12:41,124 --> 01:12:44,737
And I'm against it. It's the
worst thing that ever happened.
599
01:12:44,761 --> 01:12:48,507
It put us in the position
of we've dropped atomic bombs,
600
01:12:48,531 --> 01:12:52,144
or anybody else in the world
and drop atomic bombs.
601
01:12:52,168 --> 01:12:55,114
Had we not dropped atomic bomb,
602
01:12:55,138 --> 01:12:58,918
we wouldn't have this
hanging over our head,
603
01:12:58,942 --> 01:13:01,987
that we did it,
so anybody else could do it.
604
01:13:12,422 --> 01:13:14,567
Well, I met Frank Oppenheimer,
605
01:13:14,591 --> 01:13:16,969
who's the brother
of Bob Oppenheimer,
606
01:13:16,993 --> 01:13:20,806
who was the designer
for the Manhattan project
607
01:13:20,830 --> 01:13:23,131
for the development
of the atomic bomb.
608
01:13:25,667 --> 01:13:28,347
"Do you know the story of
a genie in a bottle?"
609
01:13:28,371 --> 01:13:32,118
I says, "yeah, I sort of
remember that story."
610
01:13:32,142 --> 01:13:36,344
"Well," he says, "the genie
is out of the bottle."
611
01:13:38,414 --> 01:13:41,327
You can't put it back
in the bottle again.
612
01:13:41,351 --> 01:13:46,632
There is no way that you can
get that guy in a bottle.
613
01:13:46,656 --> 01:13:48,189
This is it.
614
01:14:13,783 --> 01:14:15,261
It's a good thing they lost because
615
01:14:15,285 --> 01:14:16,951
I didn't like them at all.
616
01:14:19,221 --> 01:14:26,138
The United States won the war,
and the Japanese lost.
617
01:14:26,162 --> 01:14:28,774
But, you know,
later on, you find out
618
01:14:28,798 --> 01:14:35,648
as you get older that
the bad guys were not bad.
619
01:14:35,672 --> 01:14:38,050
They were just doing
what they had to do.
620
01:14:42,979 --> 01:14:46,192
Somebody told them
that they had to do it.
621
01:14:46,216 --> 01:14:49,528
The poor guys did like,
"who told me what to do?"
622
01:14:49,552 --> 01:14:52,420
The guys above me...
They tell me what I have to do."
623
01:14:54,890 --> 01:14:59,472
So I guess maybe all the
Japanese were nice people, too.
624
01:14:59,496 --> 01:15:04,142
They just had to do what the
idiots that started the war...
625
01:15:08,204 --> 01:15:11,050
Did you get all this stuff
from all other people
626
01:15:11,074 --> 01:15:12,707
that you talked to?
627
01:15:15,043 --> 01:15:18,357
I'm a Christian, and I
believe in the ten commandments,
628
01:15:18,381 --> 01:15:19,658
and I have a problem with this,
629
01:15:19,682 --> 01:15:23,217
and this morning,
I was starting to cry because...
630
01:15:25,387 --> 01:15:29,802
Because I did something
that's not me.
631
01:15:29,826 --> 01:15:32,571
Because of my belief in the
ten commandments
632
01:15:32,595 --> 01:15:35,207
that says,
"thou shalt not kill."
633
01:15:35,231 --> 01:15:38,010
And I don't know of
any exception to that.
634
01:15:38,034 --> 01:15:40,246
It just says,
"thou shalt not kill."
635
01:15:45,909 --> 01:15:48,420
It's been said many
times by many people
636
01:15:48,444 --> 01:15:49,955
that war is hell.
637
01:15:53,750 --> 01:15:56,996
It really is hell.
638
01:15:57,020 --> 01:16:00,388
But I never visualized
hell being that bad.
639
01:16:13,970 --> 01:16:15,648
One last question.
640
01:16:15,672 --> 01:16:17,983
Are you guys
the greatest generation?
641
01:16:18,007 --> 01:16:23,923
Yes, I believe that myself,
not because I'm part of it,
642
01:16:23,947 --> 01:16:26,113
but...
643
01:16:28,283 --> 01:16:30,829
Everything changed
after world war ii.
644
01:16:35,625 --> 01:16:38,037
I think we were
the greatest generation
645
01:16:38,061 --> 01:16:42,241
because some advertising man
decided it sounded pretty good
646
01:16:42,265 --> 01:16:44,910
to say, and it was
a lot of damn propaganda.
647
01:16:44,934 --> 01:16:47,713
But really, we were
a different generation,
648
01:16:47,737 --> 01:16:49,804
not greater, but different.
649
01:16:53,008 --> 01:16:54,653
If you went through the depression,
650
01:16:54,677 --> 01:17:00,125
as I did from 10 years old,
going into the service at 19,
651
01:17:00,149 --> 01:17:06,031
that was such a harsh period
in the life of American people.
652
01:17:10,526 --> 01:17:13,372
No, I would say that
we were taught to get along
653
01:17:13,396 --> 01:17:15,274
as best you could
with what you had,
654
01:17:15,298 --> 01:17:18,544
and, probably, that's what made
American soldiers great,
655
01:17:18,568 --> 01:17:21,246
because they improvised,
almost all of them.
656
01:17:40,056 --> 01:17:43,469
We had Democrats and Republicans,
657
01:17:43,493 --> 01:17:46,872
but they sure as hell worked
together well and cooperated
658
01:17:46,896 --> 01:17:49,208
for the good of the nation.
659
01:17:49,232 --> 01:17:52,645
Oh, how I wish we had
politicians like that now
660
01:17:52,669 --> 01:17:54,513
that cared about the country
661
01:17:54,537 --> 01:17:56,882
more than themselves
or their party.
662
01:18:02,745 --> 01:18:04,623
You can talk to any
veteran you want to.
663
01:18:04,647 --> 01:18:07,559
They don't understand
at all why.
664
01:18:07,583 --> 01:18:09,995
The most divided nonsense
going on
665
01:18:10,019 --> 01:18:12,464
in our country
between politicians.
666
01:18:12,488 --> 01:18:14,299
It's crazy.
667
01:18:20,930 --> 01:18:23,909
What do you think,
in terms of all that money
668
01:18:23,933 --> 01:18:27,312
that we could use for medicines?
669
01:18:27,336 --> 01:18:32,818
We have people
that have all the diseases
670
01:18:32,842 --> 01:18:36,221
that we could accomplish
and conquer,
671
01:18:36,245 --> 01:18:39,324
and they just aren't doing it.
672
01:18:39,348 --> 01:18:41,694
All that money going to waste,
673
01:18:41,718 --> 01:18:44,830
and all these guys
that caused the war,
674
01:18:44,854 --> 01:18:48,033
how can they justify all that?
675
01:18:48,057 --> 01:18:50,769
Just let them fight
amongst themselves,
676
01:18:50,793 --> 01:18:53,338
and see how long it would last.
677
01:19:08,144 --> 01:19:11,990
If I could do it again,
I would, for this country,
678
01:19:12,014 --> 01:19:13,559
I'd do anything
for this country.
679
01:19:13,583 --> 01:19:16,295
I love this country.
680
01:19:16,319 --> 01:19:19,198
I'm getting teared up.
Now, why are you making me...
681
01:20:03,699 --> 01:20:05,611
Okay, have him clap.
682
01:20:05,635 --> 01:20:07,279
Let's just get all of them
right in here.
683
01:20:08,704 --> 01:20:11,617
If you can just
tell me your name,
684
01:20:11,641 --> 01:20:17,256
your age, and your rank in 1945.
685
01:20:17,280 --> 01:20:19,858
My name is George N. Boutwell.
686
01:20:19,882 --> 01:20:23,362
I was born July 19, 1924.
687
01:20:23,386 --> 01:20:26,832
I'm a retired sergeant major,
United States marine corps.
688
01:20:26,856 --> 01:20:31,136
My name is George Vouros.
Born in 1925.
689
01:20:31,160 --> 01:20:35,808
My rating in the Navy
was seaman, first class.
690
01:20:35,832 --> 01:20:38,744
My name is James M. Blane.
691
01:20:38,768 --> 01:20:41,680
I was a corporal,
U.S. marine corps.
692
01:20:41,704 --> 01:20:44,516
Born November 18, 1924.
693
01:20:44,540 --> 01:20:47,553
My name is Monroe Ozment.
694
01:20:47,577 --> 01:20:49,254
I was a corporal.
695
01:20:49,278 --> 01:20:53,358
Born December 24, 1925.
696
01:20:53,382 --> 01:20:55,594
I was a corporal in
the United States marine corps.
697
01:20:55,618 --> 01:20:59,264
My name is
William M. Braddock Jr.
698
01:20:59,288 --> 01:21:02,401
My name is Abner M. Aust Jr.
699
01:21:02,425 --> 01:21:08,140
I was a captain in
the army air corps on Iwo Jima,
700
01:21:08,164 --> 01:21:10,042
and I'm 98 years old.
701
01:21:10,066 --> 01:21:12,578
Delbert Treichler.
702
01:21:12,602 --> 01:21:16,815
I was a P.F.C.
In the marine corps.
703
01:21:16,839 --> 01:21:23,455
My birth date is June 17, 1924.
704
01:21:23,479 --> 01:21:27,025
Richard Spooner. I'm 93.
705
01:21:27,049 --> 01:21:29,161
And during world war ii,
706
01:21:29,185 --> 01:21:32,231
we were on Okinawa in 1945.
707
01:21:32,255 --> 01:21:33,832
I was a private first class.
708
01:21:33,856 --> 01:21:35,534
George Puterbaugh.
709
01:21:35,558 --> 01:21:37,603
I was a watertender,
first class,
710
01:21:37,627 --> 01:21:39,438
acting chief, in the Navy.
711
01:21:39,462 --> 01:21:41,640
Charles Schlag.
712
01:21:41,664 --> 01:21:44,076
Hold on a second. We got people
walking on these stairs.
713
01:21:44,100 --> 01:21:45,377
Okay.
714
01:21:45,401 --> 01:21:49,014
My rank is lieutenant commander,
and I'm 97 years old.
715
01:21:49,038 --> 01:21:52,918
I was a sergeant
and B-29 top turret.
716
01:21:52,942 --> 01:21:58,757
I was a sergeant at Iwo Jima
and 19 years old.
717
01:21:58,781 --> 01:22:03,295
I was a buck private on Okinawa
in the 184th division.
718
01:22:03,319 --> 01:22:08,667
I was a gunner on a B-29.
I was the right gunner.
719
01:22:08,691 --> 01:22:10,624
Just keep looking at the camera.
720
01:22:13,528 --> 01:22:15,307
Al Nelson.
721
01:22:15,331 --> 01:22:19,177
P.F.C. In 12-17-25.
722
01:22:19,201 --> 01:22:22,848
Johnny Dean Pace Jr.
723
01:22:22,872 --> 01:22:25,617
My age is 93.
724
01:22:25,641 --> 01:22:27,808
I'll be 94 in July.
725
01:22:29,110 --> 01:22:32,658
My name is Ittsei Nakagawa.
726
01:22:32,682 --> 01:22:35,160
Age 95.
727
01:22:35,184 --> 01:22:36,962
I was a first lieutenant
728
01:22:36,986 --> 01:22:40,599
in 1945 in the army air corps
at the age of 20.
729
01:22:40,623 --> 01:22:45,704
I am 101 years old,
and I'm still kicking.
730
01:22:45,728 --> 01:22:48,640
I expect to kick
another three years.
731
01:22:48,664 --> 01:22:53,512
The government said
I'm gonna live to be 103.
732
01:22:53,536 --> 01:22:58,784
I was on the USS Intrepid
during World War II
733
01:22:58,808 --> 01:23:02,788
from 1943 to 1946.
734
01:23:02,812 --> 01:23:06,091
What else would you
like to know?
735
01:23:06,115 --> 01:23:08,927
Ralph C. Simoneau... private.
736
01:23:08,951 --> 01:23:12,364
My birthday is July 5, 1925.
737
01:23:12,388 --> 01:23:14,099
My name is Hershel Woody Williams,
738
01:23:14,123 --> 01:23:16,601
and I was a marine
in World War II.
739
01:23:16,625 --> 01:23:19,638
I participated, or took part,
in the campaign
740
01:23:19,662 --> 01:23:23,275
at Guam and Iwo Jima,
and on Iwo Jima,
741
01:23:23,299 --> 01:23:28,880
did an action that eventually
earned me the Medal of Honor.
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01:23:28,904 --> 01:23:31,350
My name is
Maurice Joseph Hubert.
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01:23:31,374 --> 01:23:35,420
I was a first mate...
Pharmacist's mate, first class.
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01:23:35,444 --> 01:23:39,191
I did five landings
during World War II.
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01:23:39,215 --> 01:23:40,814
Thank you for your service.
58213
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