Adolph Wilson was born in Oakdale, Louisiana in 1922. Before the war, his father was in the coffee business. He received 100 pound sacks of green coffee from South America. He roasted the coffee and then ground and packaged it. The aroma of the roasting coffee could be smelled throughout the town. With five sawmills near their home, he would sell the coffee to the mills. It was a good business. When Wilson was eight years old, his mother died. He had a four year old brother who had to relocate to his grandparents. Wilson stayed with his father for a couple more years. About a year after his mother died, his father started dating a popular second grade teacher named Hazel Cooper. That lady would become sick and die. The experience was devastating to his father. He never was serious with another woman after that. He never remarried. He sold his business and went into a CCC camp [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps]. Wilson joined his brother at their grandparent's home in Boyce, Louisiana, a little town west of Alexandria. The school system was good and Wilson liked growing up there. The people were great. He did odd jobs including delivering newspapers and working in a drug store. He worked 12 hours to earn one dollar. He would mow lawns for people. He could take a date to a picture show and have a cold drink with the money he earned. Wilson played football and earned a scholarship to Louisiana State Normal College in Natchitoches. The college is now known as Northwestern State University. He was a country boy in the school. He reported a month ahead of time for football. He had plentiful food provided for him and he gained weight rapidly. The coach liked that because he wanted Wilson to pick up weight to play wingback for the single wing formation. Wilson played both offense and defense for the team. Coach Turpin was the head coach. The team had only three coaches compared to the dozen coaches at the school today. It was a great school. It was a teacher college where they taught education. His future wife finished in three years. She was teaching home economics when Wilson arrived at the college. After his first year of college, he went home for the Christmas holidays. He had reported back on 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941] in the afternoon when he heard the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. He along with others did not know where that facility was located. Up to that time, Wilson had never been out of Louisiana except for a trip to Dallas. After that year of school, Wilson decided to join the Marines. He hitchhiked to Boyce, Shreveport, and then Alexandria over the course of several days to find a Marine recruiter. He was signed up in Alexandria and told to report to a recruiting office in New Orleans. There, he was given a physical which he passed. Later the same afternoon, he was sworn into the Corps. By that evening, he was on a train to San Diego, California. They did not fool around.

Adolph Wilson arrived in San Diego for Marine training after three days of travel on a train from New Orleans. The men were fed, billeted in their barracks, told to take a shower, and then go to bed. They would be awakened in the morning. He did not realize it would be so early the next morning. When Wilson took note of some of the men undressing, he noticed that they had belts around their mid-sections. He found out that it was money belts. He had never had enough money to put some of it in a belt. He learned something new that day. [Annotator's Note: Wilson chuckles at the memory.] Boot camp was tough, but he was in good shape after all the football training. After boot camp, he was given the opportunity to sign up for various ratings such as cooks, bakers, communications, and so forth. Since he had learned to fly a small airplane in college, he decided to join the paratroopers. He did not feel good about the idea of jumping out of an airplane though. He thought he would start there until he made his next move. He was sent to Camp Gillespie near San Diego. It was a new camp in a valley. It had a runway for the planes and tall flyaway towers for practice jumping. It was very tough training for the paratroops. The recruits would be busted out for just about anything. The training was very strict. Wilson made six jumps before he came down with cat fever. Because he did not want to lose his last jump, he did not report to sick bay until after the seventh jump. He was awarded his wings and then reported to sick bay. He spent Christmas [Annotator's Note: Christmas 1942] in the Camp Gillespie hospital. After recovery, Wilson was sent to Camp Elliott near San Diego. Training there would include mass jumps on Sunday mornings. The pilots would sometimes smell of night before excesses. The paratroopers would rather jump than stay in the plane with the pilots. They trained for a couple months at Elliot and then took a troop transport which had been a luxury liner, the USS Mount Vernon (AP-22), to the South Pacific. The voyage to Noumea, New Caledonia took three days.

Adolph Wilson and his battalion of the Marine Paratroopers arrived in Noumea, New Caledonia. They had been preceded by the 1st Battalion of Paramarines and the Marine Raiders fighting alongside the 1st Marine Division on Tulagi and Guadalcanal. Noumea was the capital of New Caledonia. It was a nice little city. The Red Cross had a nice set up there. Wilson's battalion set up camp about 30 miles away from Noumea where they trained in the jungles. Once in the jungles, the men discovered a Satsuma orchard where they enjoyed the fruit. The mosquitoes were bad during this training, but Wilson never got malaria because of his Louisiana background. He must have had an immunity which he did not like because he wanted to have a hospital stay in nice clean sheets. The men were given the task of taking a small island called Vella Lavella. There were few enemy soldiers who were cleared out with a few hit and run raids. There was a beautiful mahogany forest there. A coast watcher on the island of Choiseul was living amongst the natives. [Annotator's Note: Coast watchers were a series of Allied observers hidden on enemy held islands who provided reports of Japanese activities surrounding them to allied war planners.] The natives had cut paths up to the Japanese camps. The 2nd Battalion sent a reinforced platoon into the area by PT boat and mopped up the enemy. The operation took about a week and was a success. The raid on Choiseul was intended as a feint to make the Japanese think that the target was not Bougainville. When the raiding Marines returned from Choiseul, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were sent to take part in the action on Bougainville along with the 3rd Marine Division.

Adolph Wilson fought through some of the worse jungles on Bougainville. It had everything imaginable. It rained every day. There were mountains, swamps, and earthquake tremors. The ground would shake, and the foxholes would fill up with water. Wilson spent Christmas [Annotator's Note: Christmas 1943] in his foxhole. He received a package from home and looked down in his hole and saw it floating in the water. Although the image is humorous now, it was not funny then. The original strategy for the advance on Bougainville was to take enough of the perimeter of the island to construct some fighter strips. There was a threatening hill out front of the American lines that had the potential of becoming an enemy artillery position. From there, the Japanese could fire on the Americans. The Marines took the hill, but the fighting was difficult. The Japanese attempted to take it back. There were snipers and one morning Wilson's colonel had his big toe shot off. He had to be carried off since he could not walk without his big toe. Eventually the American lines moved up to where Wilson and his fellow Marines were holding onto the mountain. The Army replaced the Marines but required that the foxholes be rebuilt to meet Army specifications. The foxholes were modified, and the Marines were replaced and sent back to Guadalcanal. On Guadalcanal, the CBs [Annotator's Note: memebrs of naval construction battalions] had saved the Marines their beer ration for a Christmas present. That was great because with his 10 cases of beer, Wilson did not drink water at all for 20 days. It was fun. While on Guadalcanal, the Paramarines were told that they would be sent stateside to form the nucleus of the 5th Marine Division along with the Marine Raiders. That was fantastic. The men were sent to San Diego.

After returning stateside, Adolph Wilson and a group of Marines drove from San Diego to Shreveport. They stopped at numerous bars along the way. Dallas was hard to get through. The men arrived in Shreveport and did not realize there was a curfew. They were told by the town marshal to get off the streets as soon as possible. Wilson was headed to Alexandria and then Boyce, Louisiana. He took a long taxi trip to nearby Glenmora to see his girlfriend who was teaching school there. He had 800 dollars and felt he was rich enough to cover the expensive taxi ride. When he reached where his girlfriend was lodged with several other girls in Glenmora, it took a bit for them to unlatch all the locks on the door. The multiple locks were due to the Army's Camp Claiborne being located nearby. When the door opened, there was quite a happy reunion. They decided to get married. Wilson's future father-in-law had a general store in Boyce. The store had a variety of all kinds of goods. He asked for her father's permission to take his daughter in marriage. Her father asked for them to wait until he returned from overseas service, but the young people decided to get married on 27 February 1944. On 19 February 1945, the 5th Marine Division hit Iwo Jima. Wilson spent his first wedding anniversary on the enemy held island. After the wedding, Wilson returned to duty in San Diego. He was told to report to a new camp called Camp Pendleton. Pendleton was a huge camp. Wilson was located in Tent Camp One which was 30 miles from the Main Camp within Pendleton. He had it better overseas than in Camp One. It was tough. Wilson was attached to the 28th Regiment which had paratroopers and Raiders. It was a good regiment. They were sent from Pendleton to Hilo, Hawaii. They were being trained in volcanic ash similar to that found on Iwo Jima. During training at Camp Tarawa, the troops made practice landings. Finally, they went to Iwo Jima. They were told on the way to Iwo where they were headed.

Adolph Wilson and the 5th Marine Division assaulted Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: on 19 February 1945]. The island was shaped like a pork chop with Mount Suribachi at the narrow tip. In the briefings onboard the ship before the landings, the men were told all about Iwo Jima. The island had been bombed and strafed for days ahead of the invasion. It was said that Iwo Jima could be taken in three days and Suribachi should fall in just one day. That sounded good and pepped up the Marines. They anticipated taking the island in three days then dropping back to get ready to take Okinawa. En route to Iwo Jima, the men stopped off in Saipan. Wilson was in demolition during his tenure in the Marines. He knew how to handle TNT, C2 compound, bazookas, and flame throwers. As a platoon sergeant, he had fire teams set up to take out different types of enemy emplacements. Wilson had to fill a dozen flame throwers while on Saipan. The Japanese did not like the flame throwers. The weapon weighed 75 pounds when fully loaded. The tanks contained either light fuel to bend around curves a bit, or napalm with the jellied fuel that shot straight out and clung to the target. Wilson was part of the second wave onto Iwo Jima. The 1st Battalion was to hit the beaches initially and keep moving toward Suribachi. They did a great job. The 3rd Battalion was next in followed by the 2nd Battalion in the center. It is hard to describe the landing. The Japanese had the beaches zeroed in from multiple directions with mortars, artillery and small arms fire. When Wilson reached the beach, he fell on a box attached to his belt. The sensation made him think he was wounded. The box was used to detonate explosives. With bullets flying, he calculated that he did not have the time to set up explosives in order to use the detonator. He discarded the box and moved forward. From mid-morning to later that night, he knocked out several emplacements before he settled down. The Marines had a rule that once the sun set, everyone was to stay in their foxhole. Anything that moved above should be fired upon. That was a good rule. The next morning, they advanced, but it was slow going. It took three days to reach the base of the Suribachi. The 2nd Battalion was chosen to send up a platoon. They battled their way to the top and raised a small flag. It made everyone feel good. It was thrilling because the Marines knew that the island belonged to them. It took a lot of guys to get that flag to the top of Suribachi. The flag should always be respected. There were six men involved in the flag raising and Wilson knew some of them. [Annotator's Note: The reference is to the iconic photograph of the raising of the United States flag on Mount Suribachi by five Marines and a Navy corpsman.] Some of the men were former Marine paratroopers. Ira [Annotator's Note: Ira Hayes], the Indian from Arizona, was one of them. Following the popularity of the photograph, the three surviving participants of the six men involved in the flag raising on Suribachi were sent back to the United States to sell war bonds. Ira had a problem with alcohol and was sent back to the battalion. After Suribachi, the other side of the island was attacked. Enemy troops were in caves. To eliminate the opposition, Wilson would take a flame thrower and toss it in a cave and follow that with a satchel charge that would blow up the entire cave. The advance would not stop. The Marines continued moving forward. It took 36 days to take the island. Wilson felt he was lucky to survive. At the same time, he felt a bit guilty for surviving when many others were dying. A fellow named Jerry Antrim [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] from Napa California was in charge of 60mm mortars and with Wilson in charge of demolition, they shared the same foxhole. The two would see men writing home that they were fine and a few minutes later, they would be killed. As a result, Antrim and Wilson agreed never to write home that they were safe until it was all over. Wilson did not write home until he was sure he was safe. When he wrote to his wife, the postmaster personally delivered it to her at work. The men that Wilson fought with were fine individuals. There was a good man named Joe Crow from Ennis, Texas. Later in life, through church, Wilson met a lady who knew Crow's sister. The sister and Wilson communicated for many years afterward. The young men losing their lives prove the cliché that old men start wars and young men finish them. Wilson's outfit was one of the last units taken off the line. The men were immediately loaded aboard ship and not even given a chance to visit the cemetery. He felt bad about that. Wilson was like a zombie after all the combat. He had been wounded twice during the action. He was hit once by spent artillery shrapnel and another time by a bullet. Nothing serious came of the wounds. He stayed on the line because others were being wounded more severely. He could not have lasted much longer when he was relieved. He had little sleep or food. He did not change his clothes during the combat. When he went aboard the ship to leave the island, the first thing he did was sleep for 24 hours. When he did go to the shower to clean up, there was residual mud in the bottom of the shower. [Annotator's Note: Wilson gestures that there were several inches of mud at the bottom of the shower from the Marines finally cleaning themselves after combat on Iwo Jima.]

Adolph Wilson and his outfit sailed back to Hawaii after Iwo Jima. They were being trained to assault Sasebo, Japan as part of the invasion of the home islands. When the two atomic bombs were dropped, it brought the war to an end. Wilson would serve several months in Sasebo as part of the occupation forces in Japan. His job at the former Japanese naval base was to blow up the breaches out of coastal guns. He had plenty of points so he returned home after being there about three months. Returning through San Francisco, there were Red Cross ladies giving coffee and donuts. It was late at night and Wilson and his buddy were anxious to get going so they passed the refreshments up. A Red Cross lady shouted to them to come back and get some coffee and donuts since they got up early in the morning to prepare the treats for them. The men laughed and returned to comply with her insistence. Afterwards, the men went to camp on Treasure Island. They sailed on a small carrier to San Diego for discharge. There were delays while the men were bivouacked on the Camp Edwards rifle range. The men said they were going home for Christmas, and they would return after the holidays for discharge, even if it meant they would go AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave]. That got the ball moving and they were discharged soon after. Wilson arrived home on 17 December [Annotator's Note: 17 December 1945] after being away for two years. Wilson would have a long career with the Veterans Administration. His wife would continue her teaching until she reentered school to obtain a degree in dietetics. He has a daughter and had a son who died in a hunting accident. He has grandchildren and great grandchildren. His daughter has been wonderful.

Adolph Wilson was in college when he heard about Pearl Harbor. At 18 years old, he was playing football and running track. It upset him that the Japanese would do a sneak attack on the American boys there. Wilson learned later that intelligence was available concerning the Japanese intent. He took the attack personal. When he entered the Paramarines, they felt that they were great. The Paramarines were good athletes and felt special. The 50 dollars extra jump pay per month boosted their ego and helped them get girls. Serving in the Marines was a good experience. He met a lot of good fellows who were nice and just trying to live. The Southern boys were seemingly better shots because of their hunting experience back home. He made good friends from different places. When Wilson was deployed, he disliked being onboard ships. He hated the smell of fuel oil and the food was not good. He spent most of his time topside. He has never liked ships except for smaller boats used to go fishing. By the time the troops reached New Caledonia and were being sent into combat, they were ready to fight. They felt prepared and confident. When a paratroop operation was anticipated in New Guinea, their parachutes were packed and ready. They were to fly to Australia first and board planes for the operation. An Army unit was there already and went instead. It upset the Paramarines that they never had a parachute combat operation. The battalions were ready for Vella Lavella and Bougainville. The action of the 2nd Battalion at Choiseul in conjunction with a coast watcher who had paved their way was a good operation. In preparation for Choiseul maps had to be read in bunkers because of Japanese bombings. The first combat operation into Vella Lavella was like going into the unknown. The Japanese were good soldiers but not always smart. They would charge right into machine guns to die for the Emperor. They were fanatics and brutal. They were great at camouflage. On Vella Lavella, the fight was desperate. American ships were being sunk. The Marines had only corn fritters and a cup of coffee twice a day for chow. Food was scarce. The decision was made to kill a buffalo from a neighboring island. It was butchered with an axe and cooked and fed to the men. It was terrible and the battalion nearly all got sick. The battalion eased into combat on Vella Lavella. There were New Zealanders who were great guys. The Americans traded their chocolate for the New Zealand jaw breakers. Fiji Islanders were good warriors. Most of the activity there consisted of patrols to catch up with the enemy. Few men were lost on Vella Lavella but more were lost on Bougainville. They learned to live with the losses. The men stayed wet from the rain. The tremors shook the ground and trees fell. Some men were killed by the falling trees. The jungle disease was called jungle rot. The medics treated it with a strong alcohol medication and the treatment was painful. The Japanese had the Nambu machine gun and knee mortars which were dangerous weapons. The Japanese were good soldiers for the most part. Wilson carried a Thompson submachine gun which he had garnered from the bulkhead of a C-47 cargo plane. It had a 50 round magazine and clips. The .45 caliber ammunition was heavy to carry in excess. He practiced with the Thompson in a swamp but after he fired a few rounds he was chastised for frightening the officers in camp. The weapon was taken from him, and he was put in the brig. The sergeant major in the outfit was a non-jumper which was bad in a Paramarine outfit. He thought Wilson had belittled him for not being a jumper. Instead of 30 days of bread and water that the sergeant major had wanted, the superior officer said it would only be five days. During that time, friends would give Wilson and his fellow inmates additional food. A few days later, Wilson got his second stripe. The joke afterward became that they had to get thrown in the brig to get a promotion.

Adolph Wilson was a platoon sergeant on Iwo Jima but acted as a lieutenant after the officers were wounded or killed. The non-coms [Annotator's Note: noncommissioned officers] knew what to do so they ran the outfits. The Japanese let the beaches fill up with Marines before they opened up on them. The 1st Battalion got inland a bit before the firing started. The Japanese tried a banzai charge on the Marines, but it failed. The Navy corpsmen with the Marines were fantastic. They never ran. They stayed under fire and never showed cowardice. Bradley [Annotator's Note: US Navy Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class John H. "Doc" Bradley] who helped raise the flag got the Navy Cross. The men who were picked to be corpsmen were unusual young men. Ira Hayes was an Arizona Indian. He, with four other Indians, was used for communications. They were tough and their basketball team was rough. Ira was short and heavy set and likeable. He was wined and dined too much when he returned to the states. It got to him. Wilson was at the foot of Suribachi when the flag went up. The captain wanted a larger flag so a ship sent in one for a second raising. Rosenthal [Annotator's Note: Associated Press photographer Joseph J. Rosenthal] did not stage the photograph. If he had, he would have put the faces toward the camera. It was a controversial topic. That flag raising cost a lot of young men to achieve. Wilson will never forget the boys left on the beaches. In combat, as long as you are doing your job, you are not scared. It is only at night when you slow down that it bothers you. The worst thing about being on Iwo Jima was just trying to stay alive by knocking out as many of the enemy as he could. Once he was trying to knock out three caves at one time. An officer came up to him to show off a Japanese pistol he had found. It fired and knocked off the officer's thumb. Wilson never saw him again. When Wilson left the island, he felt like a zombie, but he finally felt safe for the first time in 36 days. Arriving at home and seeing the Golden Gate was fantastic. On Treasure Island, they served chow to 3,000 men at one time. While in the chow line, Wilson got one scoop of ice cream then got another and then another. It was so good because he had not had ice cream for a long time. It was a fantastic experience.

Adolph Wilson thinks The National WWII Museum is great. It shows appreciation for the veterans who served in the war. When he talks to students of his experiences in the war, he tries not to be gruesome. He does try to impress on them the importance of the flag and what it meant to him to see it raised on Suribachi [Annotator's Note: Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima]. Wilson had no time to suffer any postwar negative experiences because he had a wife. He needed to pick up with civilian life. He got busy with a new job and started raising a family. He had wonderful children. There were nightmares, but he kept on moving and did not let it bother him. He suggests young men consider the Marine Corps because they will be trained right for service. In today's conflicts, the enemy is not as easy to identify as during the Second World War. That makes it difficult on today's warriors.