Rex Rogers was born in Lansing, Michigan. He was drafted into the Marines and sent to San Diego, California in February of 1943. After basic training Rex continued with radio training and then was sent to Texas. Rex lived in the dormitories of…

Duane Ritsema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Marine Corps on March 3, 1964 because he had wanted to avoid being drafted into the Army. Duane went through basic training for 3 months and then spent 1 month in advanced infantry…

Joe Reiss was born in Cheshire Township, Michigan, in 1920. He enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after Pearl Harbor, and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division as a rifleman. He went with then to train in New Zealand, and was part of the initial…

Gerald Redwine was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1933. After graduating from high school in 1952, Redwine was attending Grand Rapids Junior College when a group of five of his friends suggested they join the military. After both the Air Force and…

Frederick Rawsthorne was born in St. Helena, England, but migrated to the United States at an early age with his family. He returned to England with his family, then ventured back to the United States, with his family yet again. His family struggled…

Mr. Potter is from Grandville, Michigan. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in August, 2001, served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine. His highest rank was sergeant. He received his training in San Diego, where he was a squad leader. In Iraq, Mr.…

James Perso was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he grew up. After graduating from high school he took classes at the University of Minnesota in mechanical engineering and also went through an ROTC…

Tony Pacino served in the U.S. Navy as a medical corpsman assigned to the Marine Corps from approximately 1992-1994. During his service, Tony served in Somalia in the early 1990s at the Port of Mogadishu. After his service, Tony was able to use his…

Al Orr was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 5, 1935. He enlisted in the Marines Corps in November 1952 when he was only 17 years old. Al was sent to the Pacific in March 1966 and first arrived in Okinawa where he was assigned to a unit. …

Chuck O'Conner enlisted in the U.S. Marines while living in Illinois and served 3.5 years in the service. During his service Chuck obtained the rank of Staff Sergeant and fought in the field during the Vietnam War. He was involved in the battle at…

Bob Mueller was born in Chicago in 1921, and at the time of Pearl Harbor was attending college in California and taking aviation classes. He enlisted as a Navy cadet and went through pre-flight and advanced flight training before becoming a flight…

Gary Mitchell, of Wolf River Wisconsin, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 at the age of 17. Despite his age, he was able to train as a pilot due to a shortage of combat pilots. Sent to Korea in 1952, he flew multiple combat missions over enemy…