Daniel J. Lawler was born in 1925 in Glens Falls [Annotator's Note: Glens Falls, New York]. His father worked in the paper industry. When Lawler was born in the hospital, powder was dropped into his eye and caused him to be cross-eyed. He was rejected from the service and classified 4-F [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification for individuals who are not fit for service in the Armed Forces] because of it, so he got surgery to correct it and was able to join the Marine Corps. His brother enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor, and died while Lawler was on Okinawa. After enlisting, he did basic training at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina]. He then trained on a .30 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M1919 .30 caliber air cooled light machine gun] in North Carolina. Each gun required a gunner, an assistant gunner, and three ammunition carriers. After Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], Lawler had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go home, but he needed to find a replacement. He was sent to Peking, China [Annotator's Note: modern day Beijing, China] for four or five months.

Daniel J. Lawler deployed to the Pacific in November 1943. He felt sufficiently trained. Training was hell, but he used everything he learned so as glad he went through it. He was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The men became close friends, and many remain friends. After Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], they got a new commander. He did not know that they did not take prisoners. When Lawler did not cease firing when ordered to, the commander said he was going to give him a court martial. After 98 days of battle, they were made to march in formation and salute. It turned out there was a four-star general present. Lawler landed on Peleliu [Annotator's Note: The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II; 15 September to 27 November 1944; Peleliu, Palau] on 15 September. At Okinawa, he landed on Easter Sunday. The planned invasion of Japan was set for Christmas Day [Annotator's Note: 1945]. Peleliu was hot and they ran out of water quickly. They were bombarded by the Japanese and Lawler was hit by artillery shrapnel. The Marines invaded Peleliu from Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands]. They used LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] which were supposed to go onto the beach, but proved unable to, so they took amphib tracks [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked or LVT; also referred to as amtrack or alligator] from the LST to the beaches. The Japanese had tanks on Peleliu, but they were not very good. The men were tough, though. They carried harakiri [Annotator's Note: ritual suicide] knives with them, and would die for their emperor [Annotator's Note: Hirohito, 124th Emperor of Japan]. Peleliu was one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history. The flamethrowers [Annotator's Note: ranged incendiary device that projects a controllable jet of fire] were effective against the dug-in Japanese. The Marines even attached flamethrowers to their tanks. Lawler was injured on the second day of battle at the airfield, hit by shrapnel. He was taken to a hospital ship. The worst job he ever had was getting rid of dead Marines' bodies from the ship. They would make sure they were dead and then throw them overboard. Lawler was only around 18 or 19 years old at the time. There were civilians on Okinawa. Once, two small children came out and Lawler offered them a candy bar. He picked up the little girl who put her arm around him. [Annotator's Note: Lawler gestures that he got emotional.] Lawler says it is important to talk about wartime experiences, or else they remained bottled up.

Daniel J. Lawler was wounded [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II; 15 September to 27 November 1944; Peleliu, Palau] and was treated on Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands] and Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] before rejoining his unit [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. They never got any R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation]. After recovering from his wounds, Lawler landed on Okinawa on Easter Sunday. They faced no resistance. The Army had trucks, but the Marines had to walk. There were Japanese civilians on the island, which they had not experienced before. They had to close up caves even though there were sometimes also civilians inside. The Japanese forced the civilians to fight against the Americans. It was part of war. Lawler was on Okinawa when the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], and he felt the earth moving beneath him. In the field, two men shared a foxhole. They slept when they could. On Peleliu, Lawler was sleeping when his foxhole buddy woke him and said his rifle was missing. The next day they found a Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] had tried to get in the hole and landed on the rifle's bayonet. The Japanese occasionally attacked at night. They were tough fighters who would die for their emperor [Annotator's Note: Hirohito, 124th Emperor of Japan]. The Marines had dogs who would wake them up if they sensed the enemy coming in. Morale was good. The men helped each other. The casualty rate was high. Lawler hated the Japanese, but still thinks it was wrong that the Americans interned them in camps [Annotator's Note: During World War 2, the United States forcibly interned tens of thousands of people of Japanese descent.] while doing nothing with the Germans who were the ones who started the war. That never sat well with Lawler.

Daniel J. Lawler [Annotator's Note: serving with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Pacific] felt the loss of Captain Haldane [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Captain Andrew Allison Haldane, killed in action on Peleliu 12 October 1944] the most. He spent time with the enlisted men which was exceptional. Lawler's lieutenant, "Hillbilly" Jones [Annotator’s Note: US Marine Corps First Lieutenant Edward A. "Hillbilly" Jones, killed in action on Peleliu], was also killed. They were good leaders because of discipline. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer points out that Eugene Sledge, Marine and author of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, was a member of Lawler's company.] Lawler shows a photo of he and Sledge together. Lawler watched "The Pacific" [Annotator's Note: a miniseries partially based on Sledge's memoir], which was very accurate. The worst part about Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan] was his friends getting killed. The Marines did not wear rank insignia so the Japanese could not target officers, whereas the Army did wear the insignia. [Annotator's Note: There is a break in the video.]

Daniel J. Lawler [Annotator's Note: serving with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Pacific] never got used to being in constant combat, but learned to live with it. One of his fellow Marines killed himself when he got a letter from his girlfriend saying that she had married someone else. They took a picture of his body and sent it to the girlfriend. Men sometimes cracked. Lawler cried when helping the little girl [Annotator's Note: Lawler discusses finding and helping two small children out of a cave on Okinawa, Japan in another clip]. In certain situations, one had to crack up, but it did not last. Lawler saw the damage the Japanese swords could do. They would happily die for the emperor [Annotator's Note: Hirohito, 124th Emperor of Japan]. Lawler and his unit spent 98 days in combat on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. After a while, Lawler stopped getting close to his fellow soldiers because so many men were being killed, he did not want to be close to them. He was proud to be a Marine because all the branches respected them. Lawler was on Okinawa when the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], the entire island shook. They did not know what it was at the time, they found out afterwards.

Daniel J. Lawler went into Peking, China [Annotator's Note: modern day Beijing, China] after Okinawa [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. They still got no R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation]. They first night they arrived, a few Marines were killed by the Chinese. Lawler returned home in February 1946. He did not have a hard time readjusting to civilian life. Veterans who do not talk about the war die young. Lawler makes a pint to talk about his experiences. He speaks to school groups, and makes sure they know that they live in a beautiful country.