L. Kirby World War II veteran U.S. Marine Corps Natick Veterans Oral History Project 

Ninety years old,he has one hell of a good memory,God Bless you Mr. Kirby!

What a great American and Marine. I feel blessed to be able to hear these stories and every American should. Semper Fi Sir!

One of the best WW2 veteran interviews. Thank you Mr. Kirby.

I'm so thankful for people putting these videos out and letting these voices be heard. God bless all of those men

This guy has valuable life lessons. Listen all the way to the end and then listen again.

what an absolutely amazing man, an incredible recollection, an honour to listen to his story, it puts all puts all our lives in perspective. thank you.

An articulate and moving account of a boy who like so many, grew up in the midst of war. One of the best oral histories I have heard. Veterans such as this should be honored and remembered for their sacrifice.

Just amazing interview. I could listen him for hours.

Such a great attitude he has. I guess after all he's been thru, the rest of life was a piece of cake. I mean what can compare to the horrors of those battles?

I could tell this was a highly intelligent man in the first five minutes. Great story

Great piece of US history, thank you for passing it down the line.

We never can repay you. Hero

My father, then 2nd Lt David R. Smith, was in command of 1st Platoon, E Co, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Division, in Cushman's Pocket, and was one of the 7 survivors who crawled out of the Pocket on their bellies under cover of darkness the second night. My father recommended his Platoon Sergeant, Thomas Barrow, for the Navy Cross, which he did receive. My dad was shot in the chest early in the action, but survived. His best friend, 1st Lt George Todd, was in command of 2nd Platoon, E/2/9, was killed within the first few minutes of daylight in the pocket. Dad went on to get his PhD and have a long career as a professor at Caltech after the war.

Stories for the ages. Thank you for your service Sir, and thanks for producing this wonderful narrative. We must hope that @ least some of this is not lost on present generations of self absorbed individuals.

I’m glad this man fought for the freedom that allows persons to give this video a thumbsdown. The Japanese Kempeitai does not allow a thumbsdown.

the poem that was quoted is the Australian ode to remembrance the ending is" in the morning and when the sun goes down we will remember them" god bless this man humble and honest.

This was an amazing interview! It is no wonder this man survived the war, he was well trained, and intelligent to begin with. Thanks for your service Mr Kirby!

What a nice interview. Greatest generation proven again.

Absolutely amazing. These are important interviews to document the life of the everyday marine, soldier, sailor and airman. They really give you a peak into a day in the life of these brave men who sacrificed years out of their lives, flesh and life itself. God bless them, not only veterans of WW II, but veterans of every war and even in peace. They have given time out of their lives to protect our freedom. Thank you

Oh wow, my dad was a Scout with the 2nd Marine Division. What an eye opener! Semper Fi, Sir!

Semper Fi Brother! From a two deployment Sgt. Scout Sniper.

Absolutely love this interview.

In my early 50’s, I’m not 1/100th the man he is.

Oh thank you for doing one of these with good quality sound.

Outstanding interview. What a story!

Truly amazing life. He’s come as close to his actual potential as possible :)

This hero is one of the reasons that made America such a great nation.

Thank you some much for this awesome interview! Now I can here what my father went thru but would never talk about. He was also in the 9th marines 3rd division, in Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. He might have even known this great man.

My great uncle landed on Iwo he didn't last long lost his leg but survived I remember as a kid him letting me play with leg I would run around the house with it and my mom saying give your uncle his leg back

@41:35 - I was in the army in '71 & '72. Stationed at Ft. Carson, luckily, as the Vietnam war was still waging. I went to buy boots at the boot warehouse on the fort. I told the guy my size, and he was delighted. I have wide feet just like Larry Kirby. It was a big warehouse with heavy wire rectangular bins that extended almost to the ceiling. Every size boot had it's own bin, and all but one of the bins wasn't more than 2 or 3 feet high in boots. That one bin was mine. That bin was loaded almost to the top, no wonder the guy was delighted. They were the old style boot, made in America and probably been in that bin since 1950s, literally. Whereas, all the rest of the sizes of boots were the made in Asia and looked cheap. So, the army was the first place I ever had a boot or shoe that fit.

What a wonderful interview. Semper Fi Mac. We owe you a debt we can never pay, though I did try. Cpl USMC `74-78

Not boring at all Sir. I’ve enjoyed every second of your interview and I thank you for your service!

This gentleman is great. Thank you sir. Great recall

Stuck a “Life” magazine into his shirt and put it under his chin… lol! That’s just like a Marine: make do with anything that works. This man is intelligent, succinct, personable, and blessed with an excellent memory. Very representative of the Greatest Generation. Thank you for your service, sir. America is a better country with your history.

Great interview. I wouldnt cut out a minute Larry. I have several variants of the M1903, including an A 4. I thoroughly enjoyed your interview. . Thank you Sir. God Bless you.

A wonderful man

What a gem of a man.

Tremendous ..what a guy. The amount of time and money invested in training was enlightening. Demonstrates the strength of the US economy...dont think he would have had the same experience in the red army

Very smart man and brave.

Thank You for your service sir

THE PERSON THAT INTERVIEWED THIS VETERAN WONDERFUL JOB THANK YOU ITS IMPORTANT FOR US ALL TO HEAR ALL THESE HEROES STORIES BEFORE THEY ARE LOST FOREVER AS A VIET NAM VETERAN I KNOW MOST OF MY FRIENDS ARE PASSED ON EITHER THROUGH WAR DRUGS DRINKING OR OTHER WAYS OF CHECKING OUT, THANK YOU.

Appreciate! A personal slice of history!

Intelligence, guts, tenacity, grace, humility. Cannot believe this man is ninety years of age. He makes every man alive under forty look like a complete shitbum.

He is so matter of fact. My uncle, even though I was a VN vet, could not talk as freely until just a couple years before he died and even then he was not forthcoming on most things. He was in 3rd Army armor from Normandy to VE day.

Total Respect Sir !

Fascinating historical account of Marine Corps training, patriotism, and leadership from a combat Marine's personal experiences during some of the most significant battles in the South Pacific during WWII. Semper Fi

That he could make it through those three battles? He must have someone looking out for him. Well done, sir!

Thank you Mr Kirby

A True Hero,

Thank you sir, SEMPER FI

Top notch fellow. God bless.

The most un-boring and engaging talk I have listened to in a long time.

the guy is a walking treasure...read where more Marines were killed on Iwo than the defenders...and he survived it....amazing.

So many of them say their Wife (future Wife) saved them and is the most important thing in their life,

What a great interview!

Note his love of poetry. The Greatest Generation was by and large, educated. They knew their culture and it's history . They were self sufficient. They were able to " improvise, adapt, modify, overcome". You accepted privation, or at least knew others were in " the same boat", some comfort. You were considered " off" if you whined and complained too much. They were hardened by the Great Depression " ( no o thanks to FDR and his deliberately prolonging it) and when War was over went about getting back into life, with a vengeance, and built the greatest freest and most equitable country in the history of the Planet.Their grandchildren, many anyway, don't know anything about their grandparents in sacrifice, in or care.

This is a great man

I lived in Boston/Cambridge from '89 to 2003 and I *never* heard of this museum....turns out Natick, MA has a reason to visit, after all.

Thank you Sir, God bless you..

My great uncle landed on iwo and didn't last long he survived but lost his leg

I’ll have to go see that museum!

👍🏻 Larry!!

"Why did you join the Marine Corps, Marine?' .....Because we are the toughest sons of bitches in the world, Sir and we stick together like shit on a blanket! Semper Fi!

Great interview. I'd be interested to hear why this video received 27 dislikes. ??? I had a lump in my throat for most of it. Maybe that's why.

To bad we couldn't see some pictures

true gentleman.

36:18 I had to google “Bougainville Jungle” to get an idea of what he described. I don’t see how you could fight through that. Japanese or Americans.

I did the same thing on beer day lol

1:27 tearjerker story

To think now they got time out in boot camp a DI could beat a marine back then and he said it prepared him

"9 M m

Boring? Listened twice.

The bigger the lie the bigger the detail in the story .Selling books. Quoting military history of these battles. No confirmation of unit engaged role or validation. Might have been at all engagements but after the fact. You can hear the lies with the over detailed descriptions. Not all heroes. Listen close people!