The War Stories Of An American Soldier At WWII Tarawa | Remember WWII with Rishi Sharma 

Do you know any WW2 veterans? Tell us about them in the comments!

This man is my Dad. He just passed away on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2021. I miss him so much! But coming here and reading all of these comments absolutely makes me so proud to say THIS IS MY DAD!! A real American hero and just the best Dad ever. Thank you everyone and thank you Rishi Sharma for doing this interview. Means the world to us, especially now. He would have been 99 on Dec. 27, 2021. I love you Dad. I miss you so very much!

This guy still has more bad ass in him than most men could ever wish to have.

Never get tired of listening to these guy's

This man should never have had to pay for a single drink ever in his life

This dude got hit in the face so bad with shrapnel that the corpsman sent him to the hospital ship straight away and he plays it off like the corpsman was overreacting. What a beast.

There are a lot of us who are very proud of these fine men. These are the guys who went out and got it done.

Great story. Great man. Everyone would be afraid he still cry’s over his friend. That’s a real man.

A Great man. “If you don’t like the way I did it, Then tough shit.”

There is a reason they call these folks THE GREATEST GENERATION. Semper Fi.

Im 26, and this man's mind is sharper than mine!!!

This amazing man is my father. He is forever my hero. He took his final breath on Veteran’s Day 11/11/21 fighting cancer. Thank you for your strength, your love, and your guidance. I miss you horribly but I know you are at peace. I love you Dad 💜

Americans like this,men like this,are why I despise people who turn their back on our flag.The flag will always fly at our house because we know how much it matters,and what sacrifices have been made for it.Thank you.

What a man. He's feisty now, what the hell was he like as a young man. Respect Sir.

I was very critically wounded in Iraq and I cannot tell you how many times I have thought about the guys who fought in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam and am awed by what they went through. What a great bunch of people!

What a legend, still tough as old nails. 19 years old, going through all that, I honestly don't know how these guys kept their sanity.

That last part is exactly what my dad used to say to me growing up. “Everything you do, do it as best as you can. If they don’t like it then tough shit”

"tough s***" dude is still a marine.

“I did what I had to do and I did it right. If you don’t like how I did it, tough shit” Legendary quote that needs to be echoed to this generation

"I did what I had to do and I did it right, and if you don't like the way I did it... well tough sh*t". What an absolute legend 😅👏 I'm adopting that as my new mantra!

These men and those that fought before are the real hero's and saviors of our great Nation. These men had more heart and bravery than anyone could ask for. The Greatest Generation. Thank you sir for your service and sacrifice. I owe my freedom to you.

My father also fought in the Pacific during WW2. He didn't want to talk about it until later in life. One of the stories he told was of Japanese snipers on Saipan. When he passed I found 2 footlockers full of stuff he sent home and brought back. Japanese pistols, flags, etc.. He wasn't released from duty after the Japanese surrendered, but served in Japan for a year.

Thank you Sir for your service. It's sad to see the pain in his eyes when he talked about his buddy getting killed.

Thank you for your story, my dad was on saipan, he said the first wave of marines landed in a cross fire, he said you get so scared you pizz in your pants but marine training pushes you on, he also said being strafted was terrifying. Before he passed he told me he fought with his bayonet and said it was horrible.

Thank you, Sir. I was born on the day the Battle of Tarawa began. November 20, 1943. I am humbled to know that so many Marines and Sailors died during that battle as I was being born. Welcome home and Semper Fi. and I care.

God bless these men and what they did for the world. I’m proud to say my grandfather fought on the western front. He was in the 76th Infantry Division, 501st combat engineer battalion.

His last 2 sentences sums him - and all the allied service personnel who fought in that war - PEEFECTLY: I did what I had to do, and I did it right. And if you don't like it - TOUGH SHIT!!" Respect.

Man, that looks like a REALLY comfortable chair, and he deserves it. These people and stories on this channel are amazing. Got to love veterans!

Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the presence of fear and doing your job anyway. True hero

Mr. Guisado, Thank you! While you may not see yourself as a hero, many of us do. I appreciate your sacrifice and admire your courage! Yourself and all combat veterans serve as an inspiration for me. It was you and your fellow combat veterans sacrifices that allow many of us to not have to make those sacrifices and enjoy the liberty and freedom of this nation. Stars and Stripes forevermore!

I think the corpsmen were the unsung heroes of the war. How they had the courage to do what they did amazes me

First off ,I'd like to thank you for your service and sacrifices Mr.Guisado, my Grandfather served as well but only he served in the Atlantic campaigns, I remember him telling me how he basically walked across Africa behind a tank in the beginning ,they fought very little there however things changed when he got to France and then Germany, there is certainly a good reason why they labeled you guys the Greatest Generation 😉, thank you again and God Bless America 🇺🇸 and our Troops!

They broke the mold after this generation. We absolutely owe are wonderful, free, safe lives to these warriors. If there generation had been full of chicken shits this would no doubt be a different world we live in. God bless you Sir!

Thank You for protecting our country sir.

I hope I’m as alert and mentally together if I live to be as old as this gent.

Incredible story! Semper Fi! I'd recommend "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge as well. These guys are national treasures.

He is and should be proud of protecting his country.. And we are so very proud of you Sir!🇺🇸 God Bless these men of the greatest generation

I’m an older Vietnam Veteran and I can relate to everything he said. Thank you Marine.

I’m shocked this only has 11k views. This man and his generation should be studied. Brave, hard men with a sense of duty when their nation was attacked.

Priceless interviews.

To Mr. Guisado: I am in the Air Force currently serving and you and your generation are an inspiration for us. I love to hear the stories of our WW2 veterans and to learn about their experiences and struggles. YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.

"I did it right and if you don't like the way I did it, Tough Shit!" Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to that greatest generation.

What a truly good man, and a hero!

My Grandma's son was with the 2nd Marine Division. He landed at Tulagi, Guadacanal, Tarawa, then was KIA 6/20/44 on Saipan his 4th landing (20 yrs old)

My dad was on the uss zeitlan with his 3 inch antiaircraft crew 2nd defense battalion reinforced and watched the entire battle from the safety of his ship ... but had to wade in on the third day through the bodies to get to shore and spent 3 horrible months on that island burying the bodies and smelling the burnt Japanese corpses .... he would turn white sometimes when he was barbequing because the smell reminded him of Tarawa he never talked about it to us kids but was very fond of Samoa where he was stationed before Tarawa

The young can learn a lot from this man. Tks. Mr Guisado

Thank you Mr Guisado for fighting and winning in WWII. Your dedication to our country has allowed me to raise my family in a free country. My Dad also fought in WWII, god rest his soul. 🇺🇸🙏🏼

SEMPER Fi, Brother!! Indeed the Greatest Generation!" "The Old Breed!!" Their gallantry Will never be matched. I was trained by some of The WW2 vets (30 year Marines) as I went into the Corps in 1967. The old Marines of WW2 are fewer Every day....they are a National Treasure!!!

Another great interview. So grateful for your work in preserving their stories.

“Once a Marine…Always a Marine!” As a former Marine all I can say is Semper Fi my brother.

Thank you Sir I have driven past the Marines camp in New Zealand many times I am always thankful and appreciate all that was sacrificed for the freedom of the world!

My DI at OCS was an Iwo Marine. He was at the end of his service and he has little use for us college guys. These guys are all tough bastards. Thank you for sharing your memories, Marine. We all admire you greatly.

Your humility, dedication and patriotic spirit is greatly appreciated by so many more people than you know. We care deeply and have a huge amount of respect and appreciation for you volunteering and fighting for our country. Believe me, there is an enormous amount of people that want to hear your history and experiences. Please keep talking and we will listen. Out deepest gratitude to all of you who served in WWII. My Father was on Okinawa and he knows how much we respect him and all of you

God bless you Sir. You are the walking, talking definition of American Hero.

I want this gentleman to know that there's a lot of people that do care and love listening to their stories. These are amazing human beings and indeed the greatest generation that ever lived! Thanks for your service and I'm sorry about your friend Marty. I felt real bad when he was talking about his buddy, even after all those years you could see the affect it had on him and the raw emotion that never went away, we owe a lot to these guys. Badass to the end, mad respect!

I love this man. Straight to that point, detailed, and passionate man. We’re lucky we had men like him help defend our freedom in humanity’s darkest hour.

I served eight years in the corps. Spent 6 months in Iraq, and 12 in Afghanistan. Even after all that time over there, I can’t help but be amazed and just listen in awe from the stories of these incredibly brave and heroic WW2 veterans. Semper Fi, brother.

The fact that people glorify war scares me. This should be required in every high-school curriculum.

I sometimes wonder if I was old enough back in the 1940’s, would I have the balls to go through and fight in WW2? A lot of veterans say it was an act of duty and they volunteered. Just signing up would take so much guts. Listening to these guys makes me feel like “damn….that’s crazy.” Anyways, thanks Mr Guisado for your service.

Thank you Sir! My grandfather always said the same thing, "The real heroes didn't come back" I never knew exactly what he meant until I went to Beruit with the Marines. Old Corpsman Hm3.

I knew a lot of Tarawa vets when they were still posting online. One even sent me some sand he brought back from a trip there. Salt of the earth these guys. My gramps was a 1st Sgt. M/3/8. Guadalcanal/Tarawa/Saipan/Tinian. So great to listen to this, thanks for making it!

I care too, I love listening to these Veterans. I don’t know if I could do what they did.

Thank you for your service. You might have met my grandpa over there!

You Sir are a great man and a true American !! Am proud of my father who fought in the Pacific. Rest in peace Dad 🙏

What an absolute legend. This man is still sharp as a tack, i pray i make it to his age and im half as sharp as him. " if you dont like the way i did it, tough shit." I love it, thank you for your service and story.

I wish that I recorded my wife's grandfather years ago as he had on heckuva story to tell. His airborne unit was accidentally dropped behind German lines shortly before the battle of the bulge due to the heavy cloud cover distorting the radio waves leading to the jump site. Only him and a friend of his lived through that day and a grenade landed to the right of the American soldier next to him, killing that soldier but knocking my wife's grandfather unconscious. The only other American in his unit that lived had a slight German accent due to his parents being German and he was afraid of what the Germans would do to him if they heard the accent. My wife's grandfather told him to pretend as if he had a really sore throat and talk in a horse whisper to hide his accent. He was interrogated, sent on a march through the snow on multiple occasions with other prisoners, stole potatoes from the German soldiers in one of the camps to share with the other prisoners, was beaten with by German guards when he cheered a U.S. aircraft strike on a factory and was knocked out by German soldiers with the butt of a rifle and tossed into an icy river and was then retrieved by American prisoners that pleaded to the Germans to be allowed to save him. He eventually duck out of line and rolled into some bushes on a bend in a road on a march and waited as the Germans left. He ran to a farmer's field and hid there and found out that he was in Poland. The Polish farmer's family fed him and helped hide him until he heard the familiar sound of U.S. tanks. As he emerged from the bushes he was almost shot by a jittery U.S. soldier. He went into the army at 210 pounds and 6'2'' and went out in a hospital with a permanent hip injury from the beating and at 92 pounds. During his interrogation just a few hours after he was taken prisoner the German interrogator asked him how his mother was doing and knew her address and that she worked at a mattress factory and knew the names of his brothers and sisters. Apparently the dog tag numbers used then gave the German informants in the U.S. the ability to look up information some how and even then they were able to get that data across the world that fast or they already had a complete listing of U.S. soldier data. Don't know for sure, but it was interesting that they were able to do that.

These stories are why I can never respect anyone kneeling for our National Anthem

Guys like this are living history books. It's such a shame there isn't many of them left. Their stories need to be preserved and passed on.

Thank you Mr Guisado for your courageous service to protect our nation, & for taking the time to share your experiences. Love the one on the P-38 my favorite plane! Sadly you are very right about so many just don't care about that crucial time in our history - hoping this changes one day. Just know you done good making us all proud, & please take care!

Thank you sir for your service I for one do appreciate all of you and your comrades. My grandfather may he rest in peace, served in the same war. He also got to come home like you. THANK YOU! 🙏

Thank you Mr. Guisado for serving our country and educating us about your experience!

It’s an honor to be able to spend the time watching and listening. These men are all hero’s

Thank you for your service sir.

My dad Robert Arley Walls was a WW2 vet that fought with the 26th Infantry division. Love these old salty guys!!!

This man is razor sharp, legend!

Thank you for what you did Mr. Guisado. I care. I've always cared since I first learned about WW2 as a boy. I read and watched everything I could find out about it. Former CTO1, U.S. Navy. 89-97. Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Many of us still respect and appreciate what was done and sacrificed and we teach our children about it. Thanks to you, and all those who made it possible for us to have the life we enjoy today.

Thank you for everything you done Sir. God Bless

Thank you for everything you did, sir. Every single American owes your generation a debt of gratitude. I salute you

My wife's great uncle died on the 2nd day at the battle of Tarawa. His remains got home 2018 the Marines gave him a buatiful service. You guys are real American Men. RIP PFC WILLIAM FRANK CAVIN. Hancock county Tennessee. Thank you All for your service

About 3-4 years ago my sister in laws family received notice, a great uncle on her mothers side, killed on Tarawa WWII....His remains were flown in, huge ceremony. He finally came home. God Bless all the men. Semper Fidelis!

We all owe these men our respect and gratitude God bless them all

An awesome interview. Thank you, Mr. Guisado, for your service and sacrifice, from the bottom of my heart. My Dad was a WW2 vet and served in the European theater. I heard many stories from him growing up, but there were always things he couldn’t bring himself to talk about, as he had nightmares for years about his experiences. He saw many horrible things, but put it behind him as best he could. He was always my hero growing up.

Thanks Mr. Guisado! There are still those of us that very much appreciate what you did, and had to go thorough.

He might be surprised to know how many of us do still care about him and his stories. I hear these guys talk about their experiences and I’m always left in awe. This is a great American.

Did what he had to do. Thank you for your service Mr. Guisado

3 knotzees disliked already. Still crying 80 years later😁 I love and miss u pop-o. R.i.p.

I'm an Aussie , I love this former marine , he loves his country. He said I did what I had to do and was taught to do it correctly, if you don't like it stiff shit. He's a really man , God bless you Sir

Thank you for your service and sharing your story. My grandfather drove a Sherman tank during WW2. He participated in Africa, Italy, and France theatres. Unfortunately I was never able get him to talk much about his experiences during the war before he passed, it was too traumatizing for him to talk about. Many times he would just say "war is terrible."

Thank you Mr. Guisado you just spoke for my dad, who was a marine in the pacific and is gone now. I really appreciate men like you and him who just did what they had to do. Blessings to you. Brian Painter

I have no words for how amazing these interviews are. You are preserving history straight from the source. You are preserving the integrity and legend of these veterans. Truly great stuff.

Mr. Guisado, thank you very much for having shared your story. I am so very thankful for the brave men such as yourself and your friend Marty. You and your generation are the role models in my life that I have deep admiration for. Semper fi

Mr. Guisado, I am 48 years old and I want to thank you from the deapest part of me for your service. I also want you to know that I am truly sadened for the loss of your buddies life but also want you to know that he and the others, that made that sacrafice, are truly appreciated. YOU sir and all the others, will not be forgotten by me and I will do my part in reminding others and teaching the young people of the sacrifices made so that we can live FREE!

Thank you for sharing your inspiring thoughts, story courage, sacrifice and service for freedom 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸God Bless Sir

That last comment he made folded me like a man made out of wet spaghetti lol. I'll make damn sure everyone I know hears your saga. What a guy . " REEESPECT " !

Why would anyone subbed thumbs down a WWll vet? These guys are a treasure for more than one reason!!!

I hear what these men went through and I have nothing to complain about.

Thank you sir for what you did . All those men were so unbelievably courageous. Imagine they life we would have had under Japanese or German control . Those men stood up to the challenge so we wouldn’t have to . God bless you sir , your story was very moving . It really breaks me up when these brave lads talk about losing their buddies.

Thank you for this interview. Semper fi Marine, your the real hero, God Bless and stay safe, semper fi 86-91

Much respect sir My dad served in the 1/9 USMC in Vietnam. I have the greatest respect for all who served