David Lansou served in World War 2 in the signal company, headquarters battalion, 5th Marine Division. He was born in July 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing up during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], his family fell on hard times, but it did not bother Lansou. His mother ran the household while his father went to work and earned just a little bit of money. He grew up with a brother who he played with as a child. On Saturday, all the kids in the neighborhood went to the show. Lansou had everything he needed. He was playing pool at a pub with his friends when he heard the news of Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Lansou wanted to enlist in the service, but he was too young at the time. His brother enlisted in the Marines. After he graduated from high school, he decided to enlist in the service. The Navy did not accept him because of his eyesight. Lansou found a job working in at Delta [Annotator's Note: Delta Marine Company] shipyard in 1943, but he was fired by his boss because he refused to do a duty. Lansou then went over to the Higgins company [Annotator's Note: Higgins Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana] to building landing craft [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat]. Lansou again was fired because he would not do certain duties at the factory. He returned to Delta and worked in a different department. Lansou did not like Andrew Higgins [Annotator's Note: Andrew Jackson Higgins; founder Higgins Industries and manufacturer of Higgins Boats - LCVP; landing craft, vehicle, personnel]. Higgins talked too much and was a drunk. Lansou used his draft card to work where he wanted on the job. He felt no patriotism working for the production facilities. He just knew how the politics worked and found it easy to get his way.

David Lansou was drafted into the Marine Corps [Annotator's Note: in 1943]. His parents were proud that their sons were fighting for their country. Lansou's father, a French immigrant, fought in World War 1 and was an interpreter because he spoke French. Lansou was sent to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] for basic training. He tried to keep his mouth shut and did what his instructor told him to do. He raised his hand and asked his instructor, PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class] Kelly [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], a question about where he could pack his weapon. The instructor grabbed his bag and stomped the contents further into the bag and gave it back to Lansou who could now fit his weapon in the bag. Lansou did not ask any more questions after that. He respected his instructors because they were veterans that fought on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. Basic training was about instilling discipline and doing close order drills. [Annotator's Note: Lansou pauses interview at 0:32:27.000.] He given training in weapons and target training at a rifle range. The trainees did various menial tasks like washing clothes, shining shoes, sweeping warehouses, loading, and unloading boxes. After he completed boot camp, he felt well trained. He then went to demolition school at Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California]. They practiced with real dynamite and on his first training run, he cut it too early, lost some powder, and almost ignited it. On the weekends, they were allowed to practice on any weapon as long as they cleaned it afterwards. In late 1943, after he competed his specialty training, Lansou boarded the SS Del Brasil [Annotator's Note: SS Brazil (1928)]. The ship was horrible because they had to take saltwater showers and had to eat separately from the Navy men. They stayed in the lower decks, and the food was not very good. The ship stopped in Camp Tawara in Hawaii where they trained for the invasion of Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan].

David Lansou [Assigned to the 5th Joint Assault Signal Battalion, 5th Marine Division] made an invasion on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945 at Iwo Jima, Japan]. After they left Hawaii, Lansou was told the Marines were invading Iwo Jima. They were also told that it would only take three days to occupy. The Japanese were ready for the invasion. When he was on the transport ship to take him to Iwo Jima, he could see Mount Suribachi, but everything else was very cloudy. He also saw the aerial bombardment from the American Navy. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:47:55.000.] Lansou landed on Iwo Jima on 20 February 1945. The beach was scattered with the dead and blown-up equipment. He was told to ditch his gas mask and move up the beach. [Annotator's Note: Lansou pauses interview at 0:49:18.000]. He and his unit moved to the west side of the island. One of the Marines went to pee at night and almost got shot by his friends when he returned to camp. [Annotator's Note: interview is interrupted by someone coming in the room off camera at 0:51:09.000. Can hear the person doing things in the background.] His job was to break codes using the Navajo language [Annotator's Note: Navajos are Native American peoples who were also called Diné code talkers, one group of many Native American groups of code talkers which are people employed by the military to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication]. The nights on Iwo Jima were black, and the noise was continuous. His unit stayed in one position for most of his time on the island. His friend, Ray Walker [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], was hit by shrapnel in the back. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:56:46.000.] Because he was in a service company, there were times that he sat and did nothing. His unit stole some sandbags from another unit. He tried to bathe in the ocean but was burned by the sulfur on the beach. When he left Iwo Jima, Lansou boarded the USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) from an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. He did not see any Japanese while on the island. He had great respect for the medics and the line companies.

[Annotator's Note: You can hear someone off camera throughout this segment.] After his time on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan with the 5th Joint Assault Signal Battalion, 5th Marine Division], David Lansou was glad to leave in one piece. He was on the island for 36 days. The Japanese were fanatical in trying to kill the Marines. It was good to take Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945 at Iwo Jima, Japan] to help the B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. He returned to Hawaii for rest. Not long after, the war ended. He was relieved when the United States dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He thought he was going to get to go home, but the Marines sent him to Japan for occupation duty for six months. [Annotator's Note: Lansou pauses interview at 1:10:57.000.] He returned home and was discharged in 1946. He married his wife in 1947. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to get his personal flying license. He loved FDR [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] and Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] for all they did to bring service men home.

[Annotator's Note: You can hear someone off camera throughout this segment.] David Lansou believes that the way Americans fought the war was different than in Europe. Europeans had rest times, while Americans had to push on with no rest. Everyone should fight for their country, but do not let a politician tell you what to do. Americans need support from other countries or America should backout of war and go home. He does not believe the war changed him because he was not in the combat zone. There should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He is happy he was able to leave his World War 2 experience alive and he is proud of what he did for his country.