The man is Cpl. Edwin Glasberg. As he and the men of 1/2 landed on Tarawa on Nov 20, 1943, they encountered fierce Japanese resistance.
After killing an enemy sniper, Cpl. Glasberg was bayoneted in the leg: "The Marine behind me, he took his .45 out and blew his head off," Glasberg said. "I didn't realize I got bayoneted. You're so excited, you don't feel anything."
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Despite his wound, he continued to fight. The next year, in June 1944, Glasberg had another brush with death when the Marines invaded Saipan. "We were advancing on Hill 101. I was halfway up the hill when the enemy opened fire," he said. "I got shot by a Japanese machine gun on the left side of my face. It was kind of bloody, but it didn't hurt."
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He was then sent back to the US to guard a submarine base in Portsmouth, NH. On the morning of May 12, 1945, he was sent out with a handful of German speaking Marines to seize a U boat on the coast, which decided to surrender. They captured the entire crew and the U-Boat.
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"Not too many Marines in World War II were intermingled with both the Germans and the Japanese. I was never nervous during combat. I was cool as a cucumber. But when it was over, I fell apart. I just was lucky, that's all." #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #ww2 #usmc