887d192c-5c26-4aa6-b1cc-f17a5a3105e7

George, Joseph_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

Al George was born in Farley, Iowa on March 1, 1924. He lived in Farley until he was 12 and moved to Dubuque, Iowa. During the summer of 1942, Al was attending liberal arts college and working at a gas station and made a $5.00 bet with another worker there that he would be accepted into the Marine Corps. Mr. George joined the Marine Corps in Cedar Rapids on July 17, 1942 and won the bet. Al was sent to San Diego for basic training. He described boot camp as an average experience and was assigned to Headquarters and Service Engineering and attended communications school in San Diego. He was subsequently sent to Camp Elliot assigned to Headquarters and Services Battalion, 19th Marines. He states that because his last name is George they eventually moved him to George Company, 3rd Marines which is how he got into the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. Mr. George’s 3rd Marine Division left from Camp Elliot and sailed straight to new Zealand in a small convoy and on arriving in Auckland commenced training. Following New Zealand, his company was sent to Guadalcanal, arriving after the Battle of Guadalcanal sometime in May. He briefly describes the conditions and training exercises he took part in there in preparation for the Bougainville campaign. The 3rd Marine Division arrived in Bougainville on November 1 and remained there until Thanksgiving where they were sent back to Guadalcanal to recoup and get ready for the invasion of Guam. Mr. George described several times that all his training was well thought out in terms of terrain and the conditions of where the battalion would be fighting. He felt that the officers and those who planned the training exercises knew what they were doing and that they were well prepared for whatever terrain they were going to engage in battle. Upon arriving on Guam the men were given small 8-1/2 by 11 maps depicting the areas where they would be fighting. One of Al’s friends back in Los Angeles sent him a colored map from an article in the Los Angeles Times. Al said the officers in his Division asked to borrow that map because it was very detailed so he gave the map to them, which they eventually returned to him. He still has this map and enjoys looking at it from time to time. Mr. George described the Wurlitzer weapon he was issued during the war due to his status as a communications specialist. Since he had to carry a lot of gear these men were issued Wurlitzer 45 caliber weapons that had fold over stocks and a short barrel. He states that they were so bad as a weapon that eventually they were taken away and replaced by carbine rifles. Al states that the Marines in his Division arrived in Guam in the middle of the night and very early in the morning they climbed over the side of the ship into Higgins boats, and then traveled over the coral reefs on Amtraks onto Red Beach 1. He stated that their objective was to get off the beach as quickly as possible because of Japanese snipers. They accomplished this goal and arrived in Agana. Mr. George described several experiences he encountered where he lost friends and at one point became a bit emotional. He described one incident in particular where his company had been out on a maneuver and was unable to return to their group. It was late afternoon and the major decided to stop in a camp that the Japanese had just abandoned. He stated that there was still rice being cooked on the fires. It was part of Al’s job to make sure they set up communication lines with headquarters and while he and his group were doing this the rest of the company set up camp. When they returned the men climbed into foxholes but during the night the Japanese dropped mortars and killed many of the men in the foxholes. At this point the major decided they should leave the camp in the middle of the night so they did, carrying the wounded out in ponchos. Mr. George stated that this was a good thing because there was a Japanese tank close by waiting for daylight. He stated that they all would have been killed if they’d stayed there. Al was on Guam during what was called the last banzai attack on the hospital. He went on to describe other small skirmishes with the Japanese before the Americans secured the island. He also mentioned how the men suffered from malaria and hepatitis, and that he himself contracted hepatitis and was in the field hospital when a typhoon hit the island. He stated that those men who were in halfway decent shape had to try and hold the sides of the hospital tent down. Mr. George did take part in the invasion of Iwo Jima but stated that he wasn’t there very long. His company returned to Guam and resumed training for what he believed was an invasion of Japan but at that time those soldiers who had been overseas for more than 24 months were sent back to the States, he among them. Upon return to the States, Al got a job working for the San Diego Gas & Electric Company where he worked until his retirement in 1992. At the time of this interview, Mr. George was residing in San Diego.

U.S. National Park Service, War in the Pacific National Historical Park

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War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Code: WAPA

Guam , Guam
War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam , Guam
Latitude: 13.3905000686646, Longitude: 144.654006958008

ICMS (Interior Collection Managment System) : WAPA-00246
NPS Museum Number Catalog : WAPA 4170

War in the Pacific Oral Histories

2025/03/07

T. Stell Newman Visitor Center, Collections room, Safe and Shelf SLF D-01

Public Can View

Rose Manibusan, Jennifer Craig

Organization: American Memorial Park
Role: Chief Interpretation
Address: Micro Beach Road, Garapan, Mp 96950
Email: wapa_interpretation@nps.gov

Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:00:43 AM

Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:00:43 AM

George, Joseph_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

mp4

3050.6 MB

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