Elroy Gambino was born in March 1925 in the Irish Channel [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana]. He grew up in a house with no electricity and his father only made one dollar and seventy-five cents a week. For fun, he and his friends played in the streets and spent his summers swimming in the Mississippi River. The kids would also cut bags that held beans or rice and collect the food before the police came after them. They would hand out all the food to their neighbors so they would have something to eat. His father worked for a bread company and often brought stale bread to the neighbors who did not have any other way to feed themselves. Sometimes his father went out to the country to get stale cakes and other foods, like rabbit or tripe. When Gambino was 10 years old, he earned one dollar a week that he gave to his mother. His mother would make a hot bath for his father and then dump the water out. Then she made another hot bath for him and his brothers. He slept in the same bed as his brothers too. They never locked their doors to their house because they never felt they were in danger. He would often go to the movie house and get in for free because he knew the man that collected the tickets. Gambino attended two years at Live Oak High School [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] before leaving and joining the service in February of 1942. All his teachers were single. He really enjoyed math but hated civics. His mother was against him joining the service, but his father supported his decision because he fought in World War 1. He signed up and was sent to San Diego, California. Upon his arrival, a captain realized he was only 16 years old and sent him back to New Orleans. While he waited to enlist again, he found a job in war production. When Gambino was 17 years old, he enlisted in the Marines Corps. He chose the Marines because he felt compelled to be on the front lines. Gambino's father was a cook and had served in Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] during World War 1. Boot camp was difficult. The instructors would hit the trainees with a stick when they talked. Gambino joined a boxing team and won his first fight. While boxing he met "Duke," also known as John Wayne [Annotator's Note: born Marion Michael Morrison, American actor]. After he completed basic training, he was sent to Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Camp Pendleton, California] and trained some more and performed maneuvers. In the summer [Annotator's Note: of 1943], he was shipped to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. He was then sent to New Caledonia as a replacement. He was then sent to New Zealand to join his unit [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] who were resting from their return from Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. He was a rookie and only 17. Seeing the veteran Marines made him feel naïve.

Elroy Gambino and the Marines [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] were convinced that they were going to secure the atoll [Annotator's Note: Battle of Tarawa, 20 to 23 November 1943, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands] with ease but were horribly mistaken. They discovered that the Japanese were protecting themselves in bunkers they dug out from the coral terrain. Their regiment was decimated. Gambino was scared during the invasion. One of his lieutenants began forming small squads and regrouping all the Marines to move out. After 72 hours, the Marines was able to secure the island. His regiment was shipped back to Hawaii where they began training for their next campaign. While there, he met a man, named Conway [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], that was also from his hometown, New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] and they became good friends. His first campaign was a nightmare. He did not think he was a hero but did what he was told to do. He felt like a veteran now, and new replacements were looking up to him. During his time in the service, Gambino achieved the rank of Corporal. He received a stripe for sergeant, but it was stripped away when he went to a bar with his fellow Marines. His next campaign was in Saipan [Annotator's Note: Battle of Saipan, 15 June to 9 July 1944, Saipan, Mariana Islands]. The initial resistance what not as bad at Tarawa. The Japanese began shelling at them after they made the landing on the beach. The Marines took cover in a gully. At one point during the invasion, a Marine next to him took a large chunk of shrapnel to the forehead, collapsed and died. His unit continued inland on the front lines, then was given R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation] 250 feet behind the lines. At night, 20 men were selected to go in 500 yards past the front lines to lay in a circle and look out for kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft]. One night, Gambino there was a kamikaze attack, and all 20 men were killed. Gambino shot a Japanese officer as he was trying to attack one of his lieutenants. He took the saber [Annotator's Note: Japanese sword] from the Japanese and mailed it home. The weather was cold, and it rained a lot at night. It was hot during the day. Gambino developed dysentery [Annotator's Note: infection of the intestines]. Since he could not leave his foxhole, he would use his helmet as a toilet. When he was done, he threw out the waste, washed his helmet, and poured Japanese perfume in the helmet to make it smell better. One day, a bunch of Marines decided to use his helmet to cook food because it looked like the cleanest helmet, not knowing what Gambino was previously using it for. The Japanese were good fighters and never gave up. He never had any hate for the Japanese because they were doing what the Marines were doing. There was an Army regiment that got bogged down so the Marines had to assist them in securing the area. As the campaigned winded down, there was not much resistance. He witnessed some mass suicides of children and women. They learned later that the Japanese convinced the locals that the Americans would rape and kill them. There were some Koreans on the island and the Americans gave them food and water.

lroy Gambino and his unit [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] built camps, rested [Annotator's Note: after the Battle of Saipan, 15 June to 9 July 1944, Saipan, Mariana Islands], and remained on the island for some time. The general did not want his Marines to have hot food because they would be going on another campaign. He made them eat C-rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food]. Gambino and another found out there was a Navy camp on the island, so they trekked over there and ate a hot meal. His brother served on a Navy troop ship and witnessed many of the tattered troops that came aboard. Gambino's brother told their mother that he was not coming back. Gambino did not understand why his brother told their mother that. He was wounded by shrapnel in the leg, but it was superficial. After their campaign on Saipan, his regiment was sent to Tinian [Annotator's Note: Battle of Tinian, 24 July to 1 August 1944, Tinian, Mariana Islands]. They secured the island very quickly. Gambino did not see many Japanese on the island. The worst event that happened on the island was when a Marine shot an island woman and her children. Gambino and another Marine asked him why he shot them, and he threatened to shoot them too. Gambino resolved that he was a nut. After their campaign on Tinian, Gambino and his unit were ordered to invade Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan]. His unit was not part of the first waves. When they invaded the island on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank], they were protected well by the Navy. Kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] were aiming for them, but the Navy was able to shoot them down. They were taken to Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands]. They were taken out of the battle because his regiment was selected to be part of the first wave when they invaded mainland Japan. Their training began immediately. All the Marines kept saying that they were going to die in this invasion, until they heard that Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] dropped the first atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945]. They were so relieved when the Japanese surrendered after the second atomic bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945]. Gambino and the rest of the Marines thought they would be going home because they all 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], but they were sent to Nagasaki, Japan for occupation. The first night they were at the port, some of the Marines, including Gambino, found the red-light district [Annotator's Note: an area of a town or city containing many brothels, strip clubs, and other sex businesses]. After the second time or third time they went, they were arrested by the MPs [Annotator's Note: military police] because it was against military orders to be fraternizing with the Japanese. They were sent to a hospital ship and were cleaned and examined for disease. Then they were required to stand for several hours. His unit received orders to march through the city of Nagasaki. The sights and smells were horrible. Everything and everyone was burnt. They boarded a ship and went to Sasebo, Japan. They remained there for several months. They attempted to find the red-light district, but never did locate it. He watched the Geisha girls [Annotator's Note: a Japanese hostess trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, and song] dance. He was fed well and their living quarters were nice during his stay in Japan. The weather was snowy and cold.

fter occupation in Japan, Elroy Gambino and his unit [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] were given orders to return home. During the voyage, they were hit by a typhoon. He got very seasick. In December 1945, the ship docked in L.A. [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California] and they were met by a crowd of civilians and were given donuts and coffee by the Red Cross. He was sent back to Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California] for a week and then was discharged with the rank of Corporal. He was asked to stay in the service but declined it because he wanted to go home. He stayed with a friend in Eureka, California for some time. He decided to enroll in college after he passed the entrance exam. He took classes in business administration for about a month and then his mother asked him to come home. On the train ride across the country, he met a WAC [Annotator's Note: Women's Army Corps; women's branch of the United States Army, 1942 to 1978] that kept him company during the ride. He deboarded in Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] and stayed with a friend for a few days and then boarded the train again to New Orleans. He received a happy welcome home by his neighbors and family. His mother fainted when she first saw him again. Gambino felt sad for all his neighbors whose sons did not come home. After he returned home, he attended night school. He began dating a girl he knew from before the war. It was difficult to begin dating her because she kept turning him down and her father was very strict. He took her to an Endymion Krewe [Annotator's Note: Krewe of Endymion, New Orleans Mardi Gras social organization] Ball and wore a tuxedo. Everyone thought he looked handsome. They eventually got engaged and married. Sadly, his father passed away a couple of months before the wedding. Gambino never suffered from nightmares but sometimes had a hard time falling asleep.

Elroy Gambino's most memorable experience of World War 2 was when he won over 5,000 dollars playing blackjack [Annotator's Note: a playing card game] in the hospital. The night he won the money, he stayed up all night with a pistol in his lap so no one would steal it. The next morning, he mailed it home. He served because everyone else was going. His war experience opened his eyes to how big the world was. He also learned that the Japanese civilians were very pleasant people. His service helped to make the country what it is today. World War 2 means nothing to America today. The schools have done a disservice to their students. He teaches his grandchildren about World War 2. He believes 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, so they know what happened and appreciate the men who fought in the war. Football players should stand for the American flag during the anthem [Annotator's Note: the national anthem of the United States].