Louis R. Lepore joined the Marine Corps in September 1942 and retired in May 1971 after 29 years of service. Lepore decided not to go to Vietnam [Annotator's Note: formerly French Indochina, Vietnam War, 1964 to 1975] since he had served in two previous wars. Lepore knew French, so the Marines wanted him to go to Vietnam to speak with locals. He was born in May 1923 in San Diego, California. When he was born, the street he lived on was not paved and there were significantly less people in the city. Lepore grew up with an older brother who served in the Army in Europe. He served with Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.]. Both brothers survived the war. His brother was drafted after graduating from college. Lepore was at a picnic when the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] happened. He did not know what would happen to him. On the coast, the people felt the effects of the war. There were blackout curtains, people could not drive with their headlights on, the National Guard took over a local gym, and antiaircraft positions were created. A Japanese submarine lobbed shells in the Santa Barbra [Annotator's Note: Santa Barbra, California] area. Lepore believes if the Battle of Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Atoll, 4 to 7 June 1942] had failed, the United States would have been in a different position. He was in college when the war started. A Marine Corps captain visited his school looking for volunteers. Lepore joined the Marine Corps V-12 program [Annotator's Note: V-12 Navy College Training Program, 1943 to 1946]. People who were graduating and sent to the naval school in Illinois. In 1943, Lepore was sent to USC [Annotator's Note: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California]. Officers were required to have a degree. After two semesters, the Marine Corps sent Lepore to boot camp at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: near Beaufort, South Carolina]. At the university, he wore a uniform and lived in the barracks. He lived a military life while in university. He was sent to a normal boot camp. He already knew how to drill and salute. After finishing boot camp, he was sent to Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, North Carolina] for advanced training. While there, the Marine Corps decided to run a special OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school] so they would have enough junior officers for Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan; 19 February to 26 March 1945] and Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, Japan, 1 April to 2 June 1945]. For ten weeks, Lepore remained in the field and rifle range. They took classes at night. In September 1944, the class finished and people who lived west of the Mississippi River were sent to Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: near San Diego, California] for more training. Afterwards, Lepore received leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Many of his classmates were sent to their divisions. Lepore enlisted into the Marine Corps because he lived in a Marine town, he had been in ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps], and he wanted to be with the best. Lepore wanted to be a leader and did not want to be drafted. He thought a commission was worth it. Lepore was going to be sent to the 4th Marine Division once he arrived in Hawaii, but was placed in a replacement depot instead. It irritated him because he was eventually sent to the 5th Marine Division, but was not allowed to train with the unit, despite being close to it. Many of the replacements were lost when they went ashore because they did not train with the unit.

In 1944, Louis R. Lepore loaded his division [Annotator's Note: 5th Marine Division] into a ship and set sail. He remained on the ship for a month before landing on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. They expected the island to be taken in a few days. The whole time Lepore was on the island, he never saw a live Japanese soldier. When he went ashore, he had a ship platoon. He went ashore on the fourth day of the battle. He cheered when he saw the flag raising on Mount Suribachi. The following day, Lepore was assigned to his unit, A Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment. He was made the platoon leader of the machine gun platoon until its officer returned to the line. Lepore then took over a rifle platoon. He slogged along every day. After a couple weeks, his unit received a day off of the line. He watched a cemetery being built. One of his friends was an assistant burial officer. The day Lepore went back to the front, he saw a friend dead. It was interesting because the men did not know him and he did not know them. Lepore had good sergeants under him. They all did their jobs. A week before the operation ended, the troops were sent to the beach and took their equipment. They were then sent back into the island for mopping up duties. While the Marines were away, a banzai attack occurred. The defenders had no ammunition, but put up a good fight. One of Lepore's friends was awarded the Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can recieve who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] for his actions. While clearing a cave, a corporal almost killed the group with explosives. Lepore could not hear for some time after the explosion. They went to the island to secure an air field for B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. Before the Marines left, B-29s and P-51 Mustangs [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] were on the islands. Many people did not understand why they fought for the island. The Americans took more casualties than the Japanese. Many of them were hiding in caves, so the Marines sealed the caves. Lepore's unit took heavy casualties. When he returned to his home base, Lepore had to go through the dead Marine's sea bags looking for letters and military equipment. He had to sign many documents. His unit was supposed to be the reserve for the Okinawa campaign [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, Japan, 1 April to 2 June 1945]. However, it was sent back to Hawaii because of the casualties.

Louis R. Lepore received OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school] training at Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He had to lead his classmates. He remained in the field all day doing maneuvers. At night, he was in class. It was intense. The heat and humidity in the North Carolina summer was hard. He was only given a canteen of water and a K-ration [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] while in the field. Two of his classmates, one of them Jay Hebert [Annotator's Note: professional golfer], were Cajuns [Annotator's Note: French speaking ethnic group from south central Louisiana] and showed Lepore how to scoop water from trenches. He had to take salt tablets. The Marines were taught water discipline. While on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan, 19 February to 26 March 1945]. The water came from naval ships, so there was not much around. Lepore's battalion commander was killed after he arrived, so he never met him. Lepore is a member of the Iwo Jima Association. When he was at Camp Tarawa [Annotator's Note: near Waimea, Hawaii], Lepore received leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. He would take a jeep down to the village for dinner and drinks. On Hawaii, he was given the mail run to another town that had an officer's club in it. Lepore was not married or dating anyone at the time. He was not able to keep up with his brother's experience in Europe. The mail was censored. Lepore censored his men's mail. He used the V-mail [Annotator's Note: Victory Mail; postal system put into place during the war to drastically reduce the space needed to transport mail].

Louis R. Lepore did not take part in the practice invasions at Maui [Annotator's Note: Maui, Hawaii] before going to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. He remained on the ship for a month. When the ship stopped at Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands], Lepore was not allowed to go ashore. Lepore went over with the 28th Marine Regiment. The officer that recruited Lepore was on his ship. He was wounded on the first day of the battle. Intelligence told the men it would be a three day operation. They underestimated the defensive capabilities on the island. Lepore never saw a live Japanese soldier on the island. One day, Lepore heard a thud and saw his corpsman was shot in the head. He never saw the people shooting at him. It was frustrating. He knew he had a job to do, so he tried to do it every day. The day he went on leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] on the island, the man who replaced him was killed. While waiting to go ashore, Lepore could see the shelling of the island. He heard the reports coming in. He heard about John Basilone [Annotator's Note: John Basilone, Medal of Honor recipient] was killed on the first day of the battle. When the flag was raised, Lepore was told the first flag came from his ship. A friend of his could have been a flag raiser, but did not go up the island. Lepore did not know how bad the island was before he went ashore. He went ashore as a replacement. The night he arrived, an ammo dump near him was blown up. Lepore joined his company [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] as a machine gun officer. He did not know his men, but he had good sergeants. One of his sergeants went over a hill alone and killed several Japanese. He returned for a new rifle and then killed more. One night, he was killed in an explosion. Lepore wrote him up for a Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy]. He was upgraded to the Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor].

Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] was cold. At night on the northern end of the island, Louis R. Lepore would sleep with his poncho under him so he would not be burned. The island was volcanic. Men would bury their K-Rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] under them at night so they would be warm in the morning. At night, the person who had guard duty sat with a pistol waiting for Japanese attacks. Lepore never experienced such an attack. He does not think about his first night much because so many of them were the same. He never felt fear. He just wanted to do his job and leave. Lepore had about 240 people in his company [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division]. Lepore never counted all of the men he was responsible, but it was roughly 40 men. He relied on his sergeants and squad leaders. The company commander was not wounded. He had been on several operations. Lepore understood that many of his men were raiders and paratroopers. Many of them had been on several operations and were good men. The loss of officers did not matter much to Lepore because he did not notice the absence or know the officers killed. Between Iwo Jima and Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, Japan, 1 April to 2 June 1945], 48 of Lepore's classmates were killed. He thought it was because of inexperience with the men. Lepore did not know the terrain of Iwo Jima that much. He went through several places, but some days there was not much progress. Going into battle the way he did, he was not informed about what was happening on the island. The beaches were soft. There were gullies on the island, and occasionally Lepore came across unexploded naval shells. During one incident, there was a sniper in one of the gullies, so Lepore's men threw in a phosphorous grenade. Lepore found not knowing his men to be a handicap. He expected them to do what they were supposed to do, and they did. Being a replacement put him at a disadvantage. He does not think the military thought it would need the extra officers because it was supposed to be a short campaign. Lepore's unit was supposed to be in reserve for the Okinawa campaign. Lepore's unit was used to secure the north end of the island. It was a day to day operation. He went all the way to the north end, blowing up caves the Japesne hid in. Lepore did not see many firefights. The Marines did not go into the caves. The men with flamethrowers would set the caves on fire. Demolitions were also used on the caves. Lepore thought the Japanese were doing their jobs like he was. He did not think about it much, but saw them as the enemy. Lepore remembered laughing seeing a body being blown up. He did not know how many men he lost. His unit was backed up by tanks, flamethrowers, and mortars. By the end of the campaign, there was not much naval support. At night, the sky was lit by flares. The flamethrowers and flamethrower tanks did alot of damage. The underground was nothing but caves. He thinks the flamethrower was the most effective weapon on Iwo Jima.

At the end of the battle [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], Louis R. Lepore was brought back to the beach and given a new utility outfit. He did not have a shave or bath for the month he was on the island. He took a shower when he got aboard his ship. Lepore had a bunk and was given three meals a day. One day during the return journey, the captain ordered an abandon ship drill, but the Marines barely moved, angering the captain. Lepore did not blame the men for that reaction. He felt lucky to be on the ship. Lepore had taken a can of sardines ashore, so one of the cooks made pizzas for the men. Lepore's father was Italian. When he returned to Hawaii, he was ordered to look through the gear of the dead men. That is when he realized the magnitude of what he went through. He has had opportunities to return to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], but never wants to go back. Some Marines brought him back sand after they returned. Lepore took home a Japanese flag and a bayonet, but does not know if he got them during occupation duty. He took two swords home from Japan. Lepore was not in charge of writing to the families of his men when he returned to Camp Tarawa [Annotator's Note: near Waimea, Hawaii]. He signed all the inventories for the personal items of the dead men. He also received the replacements. Lepore did not have issues with his replacements. One man was 42 years old. He was training when the atomic bombs were dropped. Lepore was training for the invasion of Japan. He knew it would be rough. He does not think he would have survived that operation. He made it to Japan in September 1945. His unit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] remained on the waterfront and experienced a typhoon. Lepore visited Nagasaki [Annotator's Note: Nagasaki, Japan]. His unit was then sent to Kyushu [Annotator's Note: Kyushu Island, Japan], where his unit would have invaded. He saw caves and kamikaze bases. The military estimated a million casualties for the invasion. The Japanese civilians did not give the Amercians trouble. The men did not know where they would have landed at the time. The unit visited Tsushima [Annotator's Note: Tsushima Island, Japan], where two 16 inch naval guns were sitting on the peak of a mountain. Another pair was found on the other side of the island. The guns were destroyed. When the atomic bombs were dropped, Lepore and his men cheered. He figured once the bombs were dropped, the war would end soon. The surrender was a happy moment. When he went ashore in Japan, he was fully loaded, but never had a problem. On Okinawa, the typhoon destroyed equipment. Lepore had never seen anything like the typhoon. When the Japanese surrendered, Lepore knew he would go on occupation duty. In December [Annotator's Note: December 1945], the 5th Division was dismantled. Lepore did not have enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving oevrseas could return home], so he remained in Japan until the spring of 1946. His translator was an English teacher in Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: Hiroshima, Japan], but was out of town when the bomb was dropped. He did not realize the impact of the bomb until he visited Nagasaki. He thinks the bombs saved American and Japanese lives. The invasion of Japan was supposed to be the biggest invasion in history.

While on occupation duty, Louis R. Lepore first stayed on the water front in Sasebo [Annotator's Note: Sasebo, Japan]. When his division [Annotator's Note: 5th Marine Division] was dismantled, liquor was passed out to Lepore. The platoon had a big party. Afterwards, he was sent to Kyushu [Annotator's Note: Kyushu Island, Japan], where he did demolition work. Bombs were put into caves at the kamikaze bases then detonated. Airplanes were burned. They tried to warn the local farmers about explosions, but they did not seem to care. The military underestimated the amount of equipment the Japanese had. The planned invasion would have been murderous. The civilians were prepared to fight. As long as the Emperor [Annotator's Note: Japanese Emperor Hirohito] demanded them to, the civilians would have fought. Lepore did not have much interactions with the civilians. He tried to learn Japanese on the trip to Japan. At the time, Lepore did not have negative feelings towards the Japanese, but was leery of them. He did not see much of the civilians. He returned to the United States in the spring of 1946. It took 11 days to arrive in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. The food was not good on the ship. Men got seasick on the journey home. At the time, he wanted to leave the service. Memorial Day of 1946 was his last day of active duty. He remained in the Reserves as a second lieutenant. He was discharged as a platoon sergeant and was awarded the Good Conduct Medal [Annotator's Note: Good Conduct Medal is given to enlisted military personnel for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity in active Federal Military service].

In 1949, Louis R. Lepore joined a local tank unit that was later sent to Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 1950 to 1953]. When he was activated, Lepore was sent to Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, San Diego County, California] and served with Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: then US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, later Lieutenant General, Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller]. His unit made the Inchon landing [Annotator's Note: Korean War amphibious assault known as the Battle of Inchon, 15 September 1950]. Lepore was sent to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina]. He was given two week leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] before returning to his base. By that time, he had finished college and was working on a graduate degree. He was released from duty in September 1951. After Korea, Lepore helped reorganize the tank battalion. He remained with that unit and became the executive officer. After some issues between two officers, Lepore lost his job, but ended up in another officer association and became a recruiter, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1971. The only time he experienced post traumatic stress was when he first came home. He went to a fireworks show and it shook him. Lepore never went to a fireworks show again. He does not want to return to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. His company [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] used to have reunions, but they are all dead. He and his wife had been married for 63 years. He tries to keep himself busy and interested in world events. Lepore used the G.I. Bill after the war. He also used VA [Annotator's Note: Veterans Administration] loans to buy his house. He thinks that many men and women are utilizing those programs. When he went to school, he was told to take one class to attain his degree. He then did graduate work. While in the cafeteria, he met his future wife.

Louis R. Lepore took a cruise to Washington D.C. [Annotator's Note: Washington, District of Columbia]. He saw the World War 2 Memorial [Annotator's Note: National World War II Memorial], went to Quantico [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia], and Arlington [Annotator's Note: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia]. People wanted to thank him and take pictures with him. He feels like a survivor and veteran of Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan, 19 February to 26 March 1945]. One of Lepore's squad leaders went to school, then joined the Air Force. He wore his "Veteran" hat and people would buy him drinks. It hits home to Lepore that there are not many veterans of the battle left. He feels lucky. Despite the loss of so many men, he thinks the battle was worth it for all the airmen saved. Some of the island campaigns are questioned for their necessity. Lepore can never forget seeing the flag raising on Mount Suribachi [Annotator's Note: volcano on Iwo Jima]. Everyone cheered when they saw it. It meant alot to the men. At Fort McHenry [Annotator's Note: Baltimore, Maryland], they show a video about the man [Annotator's Note: Francis Scott Key] who wrote the national anthem [Annotator's Note: The Star Spangled Banner]. Lepore and other veterans stood up when the anthem played and he saw the flag. He flies the flag at his house. Lepore knew there was a job to be done. He did not want to be drafted and wanted to be with the Marines. He thought they were the best. He still visits the Marine base. He always feels like a Marine. The war helped Lepore become a leader. He became a secondary school administrator. He became confident in the role as a leader. His thinks the United States is the greatest country in the world. He is sad about some of the things happening in the country. Lepore finds that many people do not know what happened in World War 2. He sees excerpts from high school history books and it upsets him. His veterans association goes to the schools to try and educate kids about the war. Lepore thinks educating people is very important. He thinks it is important to teach people about the war. He wants people to understand what the country has gone through and its people. Lepore thinks The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] has done a great job. He donates to the museum. There is a good Marine Corps Museum near his house. He thinks it is important to have museums. His father served in World War 1. Lepore did not receive a wound during the war.