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Jay DeGraw

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Veteran Marine Jay DeGraw, like so many old hands, wound up with a Vietnam tour late in a long career. He says he was a paper pusher, but he spent his time behind sandbags with everyone else when the incoming was hot. The salty Sergeant describes that tour as only he can. (5:19)

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It was his last war. Career Marine Jay DeGraw flew home from Vietnam and began the process of trying to get out. He gives a colorful account of that ordeal and then reflects back on a long and satisfying life in the Corps. (4:33)

Jay Gruenfeld

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Since the beginning of his life, Jay Gruenfeld has had military exposure. His father fought in the first world war before he went off to fight in the second. Even before the war, he had a lot of prior ROTC experience and was therefore ready for the full training ahead. He still remembers where he was when he heard the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (2:49)

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Soon after the US was pulled into WWII, Jay Gruenfeld packed up what he could and went to Camp Croft in South Carolina for training. He was then shipped overseas to New Caledonia, New Zealand, and finally to New Guinea. In addition to combat, he did a lot of patrolling which gave way to many of the stories he tells including a humorous event about the time he was the most scared. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (5:52)

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After finishing his job in New Guinea, duty called again for Gruenfeld and his unit when they were shipped off to patrol in Luzon in the Philippines. By then, the Japanese had retreated up into the hills and it was up to him to help weed them out. Gruenfeld talks about the times he threw grenades into caves to target hiding Japanese as well as when he was caught in a surprise firefight with 9 Japanese soldiers. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (5:51)

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During his time overseas, Jay Gruenfeld was given a battlefield promotion. At first, he was skeptical about leaving his group that he had bonded with, but it was ultimately demanded that he do it. He also talks about a total of 5 different injuries he got during his 5 months in combat. One of those injuries could have been very damaging, and he nearly got paralyzed from the waist down because of it. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (6:18)

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Around the time of the end of World War II, Gruenfeld was sent back home following his last injuries. He remembers being in a hospital and hearing that the atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many thoughts were going on in his head, but he and many of the veterans and nurses around him were silently happy that the war was finally over. (This interview made possible with the support of JOAN NATELLE.) (3:56)

Jeff Lippka

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It was slow going at college for Jeff Lippka. He was staring at the draft and, since he had an interest in the medical field, he enlisted in the Navy with the idea of becoming a Corpsman. (5:56)

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There was a lot more training after boot camp for Jeff Lippka. First stop was Hospital Corps School and then on to Fleet Marine Force, where he learned the field skills he would need to be a Corpsman in combat. (6:50)

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He was never supplied with the test he was suppose to take for promotion to E-4 so Jeff Lippka was a little steamed as he prepared to depart for his combat tour. He heard about the Tet Offensive on the news and it was still going on when he arrived in the sticky heat of Vietnam. (4:24)