After joining the Marine Corp we went to San Diego for Boot Camp and from there volunterred for the Marine Raiders. The Raiders were abandoned and the 5th Marine Division was formed at tent camp in San Onofare. After being shipped to the Big Island of Hawaii, we were shipped to the South Pacific. From there the company boarded ship and onto IWO Jima. We landed February 19 at 9:00 a.m. Our responsibility was going across the narrowest part of Mt. Suribachi and this was done the first day.

When the 2nd Batallion raised the flag we were on the back side of the mountain in case the enemy came down the back side. When the batallion went up to the north side, I was wounded on March 2 and sent to Hawaii. From Hawaii, I was sent back stateside to San Diego and from there to Norman, Oklahoma. I was awarded the Purple Heart while in the hospital at Pearl Harbor.