Perhaps it was in war when humans first encountered the failure of language to convey the enormity of experience. After 70 years, Marine Corps veteran Jack Watson still struggles with that gap between word and meaning. Jack Watson joined the Marines in 1942 because he liked the Marine Corps hymn, which
. . Jack Snyder graduated at age 17 from Monessen High School in 1942, joined the Marines, and soon after became a machine gunner with the 4thMarine Division. He wouldn’t hesitate if you asked whom he thinks of on Memorial Day: Marine Sgt. George L. Barlow of Verbank, NY. Barlow was a
. . Roland “Jack” Rominger has lived in Pittsburgh for many years. But he grew up during the Great Depression in rural Lawrenceville, Indiana; it was a different experience than in urban, industrial Pittsburgh—then and during the war years. His family was in the retail shoe business, and Jack spent his
. . When Andy Nigut first saw his face after the wounding, he was horrified. A Vietnamese rocket propelled grenade had removed nearly 80% of his jaw and most of his teeth. He breathed through his neck, and his tongue was stitched down. He couldn’t scream, even if he wanted to.
. . Jack Naughton served with the US Marine Corps from July 3, 1944 until 1946. He fought as an infantryman at Marshall Island, Guam, and Iwo Jima as well as China and other locations throughout the Pacific.
. . Donald J. Myers was a recent graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He decided to enlist in the Marines — “I wanted to join the best,” he says — and entered officer training at Quantico. As his outbound ship passed under the
