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Podcast: Veterans Chronicles
Episode: Don Graves, USMC, World War II, Iwo Jima
Description: Don Graves tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps the day after President Franklin Roosevelt declared the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor a day of infamy. Since he was only 16 years old, Graves had to wait another six months to enlist. When he did, he went through basic training in California and was soon assigned as a flamethrower operator in the 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division.In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Graves recounts the harrowing landing during the third wave at Iwo Jima, getting pinned down in the water, what they had to...