"We had rifles and carbines but we had no ammunition, maybe best so, because I think if
maybe we had become frightened we would have shot each other."" (Audio Interview,
19:32)
19:32)
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John Raymond Getzel |
John Getzel in training at QM school, Camp Lee, VA [August 1944] | World War II, 1939-1946
Army
61st General Depot, Headquarters
Camp Lee, Virginia; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Technician Four
Crisfield, MD
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John Getzel shipped out relatively late during World War II's battle for control of the
Pacific Theater, landing on Saipan in June 1944. His job with the quartermaster corps
kept him removed from the action; he had access to weapons but not ammunition. His
account is a less dramatic and tense counterpoint to those involved with directly taking
the fight to the enemy; only on the first night, when he heard gunfire, does he recall
feeling any peril.
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