[Annotator's Note: The interviewer and Kenneth Dwight Wells are in conversation during the first part of the tape.] Wells was born in Continental, Ohio in 1925. During the Great Depression, his family worked a fair-sized farm. Times were tough for his parents and Wells could see that they were worried. Wells had an older sister named, Doris and an older brother named, Harold. When he was a child, his father died of pneumonia and his mother moved the family to Vaughnsville, Ohio. Harold stepped up to support the family after Wells' father died. After his mother hired a man to help with the farm, Harold joined the Air Force and eventually became a career military man, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Wells was 16 when he heard the news that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He recalled that it was a big announcement but did not really know at the time how it would affect his life. He was more concerned about the war in Europe. Wells finished high school in 1944 and got his draft notice. He arrived at the induction center, with a friend, in Toledo, Ohio with the certainty of joining the Navy. A Marine recruiter came up to his friend and asked him to join the Marines. The friend agreed and then persuaded Wells to join the Marines too. Wells and his friend were sent to Cleveland, Ohio where they joined other new recruits. The group was sent to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina] for basic training.

In June 1944, Kenneth Dwight Wells went by train to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina] for boot camp. He then went to Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina] for advanced training as an infantry rifleman. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a personal story from 0:14:49.000 to 0:16:25.000.] Wells recalled Camp Lejeune as a tent city, and there were very few buildings. There was a small PX [Annotator's Note: post exchange] and a very large parade ground. Because the Marines were separated in alphabetical order and by physical size, Wells was divided from his friend, Earhart. Wells believes that being an athlete in high school mentally and physically prepared him for training. The point of basic training was to take a young, innocent boy and turn him into a man into a short period of time. He also had experience with weapons because he came from the farm and did a lot of hunting as a child. At camp, he learned how to protect his fellow Marines and developed camaraderie. He met a lot of men from all over the country. After the completion of advanced training, a corporal told Wells to fall in with several other Marines to prepare to be shipped out to a combat unit as a replacement. They were told to wait near a large tree and listen for their names to be called. By sundown they were still standing by there. They reported to their commanding officer and explained what happened. Their commander sent them back to their tent area to await reassignment. After four or five days, he was put into an outfit to be shipped overseas. Wells learned later that the original men he trained with were sent to fight on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. He was sent to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He also learned that his friend, Earhart, was killed immediately when he stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945]. Wells was in California a short period of time before being shipped to the Pacific. While there he got a haircut. He was glad he did because he did not get another until he returned from overseas at the end of the war.

Kenneth Dwight Wells was shipped to the Pacific in November 1944 aboard the USS O.H. Ernst (AP-133) [Annotator's Note: USS General O. H. Ernst (AP-133)]. When he boarded the ship, he wanted to find where the bathrooms were located. As he entered the bathroom, he saw a bunch of men seasick. He was surprised because the ship was still docked. The accommodations were very minimal, and the ship hauled hundreds of troops. The bunks were stacked high, and the sleeping quarters were very narrow. This was his first time ever on a ship and his first time ever leaving the country. He felt like he was on a new adventure. Just being with his fellow Marines gave him a feeling of protection. He never had a real fear that he would not return home. He always thought that he was better than the enemy and he would out survive him. Wells was trained to hate his enemy and was told of all the horrible things the Japanese had done so far in the war. He was told stories of how the Japanese soldiers were tricksters and sly about killing their enemy by pretending to surrender. However, the Japanese would never surrender under any circumstances. Aboard ship, Wells volunteered to work in the ship's machine shop. He also boxed briefly to pass the time during the trip overseas.

Kenneth Dwight Wells arrived in the Russell Islands [Annotator's Note: Russell Islands, Solomon Islands] and spent some time training there. From the Russell Islands the Marines were shipped to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] where they grouped up and conducted more training in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Wells shipped out for Okinawa as a replacement. During the voyage Wells did not see any other vessels until the ship refueled. When Wells was preparing to go over the side into the landing craft, he noticed for the first time the vast armada taking part in the landings. Wells landed on Okinawa late in the afternoon of 1 April 1945. The one thing that stuck in his head was that he did not want to be the first man off the landing craft, even though the landings were unopposed. The Japanese thought the Americans were going to land on a different part of the island. Wells remained in the beachhead for about 30 days unloading ships and moving supplies. During the first week of May, Wells was finally assigned to a permanent unit. He joined Company F, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division on the front lines. Captain Shear [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], the commander of his company asked Wells if he was strong. Wells said yes, so Shear assigned him as the platoon flamethrower [Annotator's Note: ranged incendiary device that projects a controllable jet of fire] operator. He used the flamethrower to clear caves on the front lines. He also used it to set a locomotive on fire that had been used to move a Japanese artillery piece. [Annotator's Note: The sound of a plane flying over in background interrupts interview at 0:47:52.000.] When he got tired of carrying the flame thrower, he went back to being a rifleman. Wells can recall the nights on Okinawa. It was like the biggest Fourth of July he had ever seen. The ships would fire artillery all night and the planes flew high over the island. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 0:56:48.000.]

Kenneth Dwight Wells joined Company F, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division on the front lines during the fighting on the Shuri Line [Annotator's Note: a set of defensive positions in southern Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. He joined the company in the late afternoon right after they experienced some skirmish fighting. It rained soon after, making it difficult to advance. As soon as his company could secure areas, the engineers would come in and create bridges or other structures. Wells hardly recognized the areas when he passed through them again. Wells heard the news of the death of FDR [Annotator’s Note: [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States], but it did not bother him very much. He figured the war would continue as usual. Although it was a sad day when he heard that Ernie Pyle [Annotator’s Note: Ernest Taylor Pyle; American journalist and war correspondent] was killed. It was more of an impact when General Buckner [Annotator’s Note: US Army Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.] died in action. During his time in combat, Wells learned that he had a better chance of survival if he stayed low to the ground. This helped him avoid being hit from shrapnel and mortar fire. The first time Wells ever saw a dead American body was not long after he landed on Okinawa, near the end of April. Wells and two or three other unassigned replacement Marines were sent to the front lines to collect the bodies of dead Marines, put them on a truck, and transport them to a rear area. This was the first time Wells had truly experienced the sights and smells of the battlefield.

When he was on the front line, Kenneth Dwight Wells saw people, Japanese soldiers and Okinawan civilians alike, as a threat [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Okinawa, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. At one point in the fighting, the Marines had diminished to a very few, and when replacements would arrive, Wells did not know them very well. The camaraderie sort of evaporated. One night he was on watch in a foxhole with two other Marines when he saw a shadow emerge from a shell crater. He notified the other Marine on watch and they started shooting and throwing grenades at the shadow. To stay awake when they were on watch Wells and his fellow Marines would hold a grenade with the pin pulled out of it. The following morning, they found the body of a Japanese soldier. The dead enemy soldier was in uniform but was not carrying a weapon of any sort. Wells never saw Japanese soldiers in mass. They were always hidden in caves. They would come out of small holes from the underground. Towards the end of the war, he saw more in groups surrendering. One night he was ordered to get some grenades with another Marine. As they were walking down a path, carrying grenades, they came upon a Japanese officer dressed in his ceremonial garbs. They were so taken aback that they let the Japanese officer pass. They soon realized he was the enemy and jumped behind a stone fence to protect themselves. He learned later that the officer was killed by some new Marines. Wells does not remember clearing out caves with Okinawa civilians, but he did run across them from time to time. Wells mentioned that many of the civilians had fleas, and the Marines eventually were exposed to them as well. The only way to get rid of them was to take off their clothes and shake them out. There was nothing else to do. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a personal story from 1:21:34.00 to 1:22:13.000.] Wells did not collect souvenirs, but one time he found Japanese propaganda photographs. He turned them in to his commanding officers. The rain was constant, and it was always wet. They had to shed their leggings because it would allow the rain to get into their boots. Wells did not change his clothes for nearly three months. Wells says the Japanese soldiers were good fighters, and very tough.

While on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Okinawa, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], Kenneth Dwight Wells became malnourished because of the little food he chose to eat. Supplies were always there, and there was always water. He did not enjoy most of the rations, but he was always given food supplies. Wells did not receive much world news while he was on the front line. During the fighting around Sugarloaf Hill [Annotator's Note: 12 May to 18 May 1945], Wells, and the other Marines in his platoon [Annotator's Note: Company F, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division] were digging in near the bottom of the hill when they came under fire. Wells found himself in a trench with his close friend Daniel Torrey [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] from Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. At one point Torrey yelled to Wells that he had been hit. Wells cut Torrey's shirt off and noticed that he had been hit in the chest by either a piece of shrapnel or a bullet. Wells put a compression bandage on Torrey's chest and did his best to stop the bleeding. Shortly after being hit, however, Torrey slipped into unconsciousness and died. Wells had a hard time registering what had happened. He was even more confused when a large corporal came through his section of the trench to pass on a message but was hit as soon as he got close to Wells. The corporal had been hit in the leg. Wells cut the corporal's pants leg off and tried to patch the wound, but the shrapnel had severed the femoral artery and the man passed out and died on the spot. Wells continued to shoot at the invisible enemy. A tank came in and raised hell on the Japanese, which gave Wells a break. Everything quieted down, and he was pulled out of his position that night. They assembled again the next morning. With so many of his old buddies from unit dead or wounded, Wells felt lost and did not trust the new replacements.

On 11 June 1945, Kenneth Dwight Wells and his company [Annotator's Note: Company F, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division], were advancing in the area around Naha [Annotator's Note: Naha, Okinawa, Japan]. One moment he was walking and the next he was sitting down trying to clear the cobwebs from his head. He did not realize it at the moment, but a mortar round had gone off right behind him. In addition to the concussion, he also suffered shrapnel wounds to the back of his legs, hand, and shoulder. There was another Marine near him also wounded who needed to use the bathroom. He asked Wells to help him. In the process, the Marine was hit in the buttocks again. Wells continued to help him. Wells was evacuated to a frontline aid station at the entrance to a cave. Wells saw a sergeant standing in front of the cave entrance holding a Thompson submachine gun. No sooner did he ask himself why that sergeant was standing there than shots rang out from inside the cave and the sergeant went down mortally wounded. Wells fired several rounds into the cave then moved away from it. Wells was able to locate his platoon and his commander ordered him to go to a field hospital. As he made his way over, he helped other wounded Marines board jeeps so they could be transported to the hospital too. Wells ears were permanently damaged. He has worn hearing aids ever since.

After being wounded in Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] Kenneth Dwight Wells was taken to an airfield and flown to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. After a short stay in Guam he was flown to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. While there, he was able to meet up with a former hired handyman on his family's farm, who was stationed there for an electrical company. Wells stayed at Pearl Harbor for about ten days until the Marines shipped him back to the United States in July 1945. In Santa Cruz, California he was put up in a commandeered hotel where he spent time rehabbing [Annotator's Note: rehabilitating] from his wounds. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is an award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] by a Navy physician. When his stay in Santa Cruz was up, Wells was put on a train to the hospital at the Philadelphia Navy Yard [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. He was discharged from the Marine Corps at the Philadelphia Navy Yard hospital in October 1945 as a Private First Class. While he was in the hospital, there was a chance that he would be deployed again for the invasion of Japan. He was very happy when the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Japan [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945]. He was walking down the street when he heard that the Japanese had surrendered [Annotator's Note: on 15 August 1945]. Everyone was whooping and hollering. Wells never saw the men he went into combat with again. When he left, he was with all new people. After the war, Wells took advantage of a government program known as Public Law 16, or PL-16, [Annotator's Note: Public Law 16 emphasized vocational rehabilitation and quick reentry into the labor market] which was like the GI Bill but for men who had been wounded and awarded the Purple Heart. Wells did not have any trouble transitioning back to civilian life after leaving the service. He suffered from post traumatic stress [Annotator's Note: post-traumatic stress disorder] as he got older. He returned to the farm and spent some time trying to decide what he wanted to do. He returned to college and got his degree, eventually becoming a chiropractic physician with his own practice in Battle Creek, Michigan.

For Kenneth Dwight Wells, the most difficult part of fighting against the Japanese on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] was never being able to see them. He calls them the invisible enemy. He believes the Marines today are tougher than the Marines in World War 2, but modern-day Marines have better equipment. His most memorable experience of World War 2 was when his friend, Torrey, was killed, and when his corporal was shot in the leg. Wells attempted to help him. Wells fought in the war because he wanted to save the country and save the world. He wanted revenge for being attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He believes that World War 2 was the best thing that happened to him because it allowed him to go to school for free and become something that he would not have been able to be. Today, he thinks that World War 2 is a lost cause and has not taught us anything except that we can be powerful and produce. He believes that the Army on Okinawa deserves a lot more credit than what they are given because they fought hard battles. Wells believes it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and continue to teach to future generations. Wells wants to tell the viewers of this video to never give up.