Marvin Perrett was born in September 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was on his way home from church with his parents when they heard on the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor.Sensing an imminent conflict, about a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt took the Coast Guard out from under control of the treasury department and placed it under the control of the navy.There was a lot going on in New Orleans at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, 7 December 1941. By May 1942 German submarines were prowling the Gulf of Mexico. In time, 116 ships were attacked of which 58 to 60 were sunk by enemy subs.Perrett had a feeling that at some point enemy soldiers would be walking the streets of New Orleans so he decided to enlist. His father was a veteran of the First World War and had been wounded in France by the Germans and refused to sign so that Perrett could enlist at age 17. Therefore Perrett enlisted at age 18 and on 16 September 1943 he went to the navy recruiter. He wanted to serve aboard a battleship or cruiser.Perrett was told by the navy recruiter that they had filled their quota and that he should check with the Coast Guard. He was sworn in that same day and was given orders to be at the L&N railroad for transport to Saint Augustine, Florida for six weeks of boot camp training.Perrett's boot camp training was extensive. During his time there he was warned by some of the chiefs not to mess up or he would be sent to landing barge school. Most of the recruits he was with didn't know what the chiefs were talking about but, being from New Orleans and having seen the landing craft being built by Higgins Industries and going on maneuvers on Lake Pontchartrain, Perrett knew exactly what they meant.After six weeks of boot camp Perrett and 149 others were put aboard a train bound for the Marine amphibious training base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for training with landing craft. He then spent the next six weeks training with the Marines.

Perrett was sent on a truck to Little Creek, Virginia. When Mr. Higgins [Annotator’s Note: Andrew Higgins] finished building the landing craft in New Orleans, he would put them on rail cars and send them to Little Creek, Virgina. Perrett and his group took possession of 28 to 30 of the landing craft, most of which were LCVPs [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel]. They then motored the boats out into the harbor in Norfolk, Virginia and met up with a Coast Guard-manned amphibious assault troop transport called the USS Bayfield (APA-33). When they went aboard they became part of the ship's crew.The Bayfield was designed to transport 28 to 30 of the landing craft. The Bayfield steamed to New York and by February [Annotator's Note: February 1944] they found themselves loading troops bound for Glasgow, Scotland.The Coast Guard and navy had identical pay scales and uniforms. The only difference between them was a white shield on the sleeve of the Coast Guard uniforms. When some of Perrett's group went ashore on liberty in Glasgow they came back hanging their heads because the ladies wouldn't have anything to do with them. Their navy brothers had informed the ladies ahead of time that the white shield on the sleeve signified that the man had some sort of disease. They soon cleared that up.Plymouth, England was to be their home port abroad. They knew that they were bound for France but didn't know where.US Navy admiral Don Pardee Moon went aboard the Bayfield with his staff of about 100 men, making the Bayfield a flagship.Closer to D-Day [Annotator's Note: 6 June 1944] General Barton, the commanding the 4th Infantry Division which was to go ashore on Utah Beach, went aboard followed by Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.A storm caused the invasion to be postponed from the 5th to the 6th. When they pulled out of port they followed the English coastline. Each time they passed a coastal town more ships would join the armada, eventually totaling 5000 ships.It was thought that the landings would be made at Calais. To fortify the belief in Berlin that Calais was the target, General Patton was sent to Dover. That was not to be, the invasion was in Normandy.Perrett's ship pulled out of port at 9:00 o'clock on the morning of 5 June and arrived off the invasion beaches at 2:00 o'clock on the morning of 6 June. Twelve miles offshore the armada split in two with 2500 ships heading for Utah Beach and 2500 heading for Omaha.At 2:30 on the morning of 6 June the order "away all boats" was given.

After going over the side, the boats would then form up waves of ten or twelve boats which rode around in circles until being called to the ship to take on troops. 36 troops were loaded onto each boat. Then they headed for the beach [Annotator’s Note: during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944].The boats couldn't head straight to the beach. A couple thousand yards offshore they would encounter a Coast Guard sub-chaser acting as a control boat. The control boats would give the landing craft the signal to head for the beach.When the control boat got the word from the beach master they would send in the boats. On Perrett's first trip in to the beach carrying 36 troops of the 4th Infantry Division, one soldier was staring him down. The soldier told Perrett that he had landed at Sicily and Salerno and told him not to land them too far from the beach. Due to arriving at low tide and with all of the trash on the beach, Perrett was forced to drop his load off about two city blocks from the beach. On his first trip in, an army 1st Lieutenant Chaplain got seasick and vomited over the side which all blew up into Perrett’s face; he was blinded by the mess. When his Motor-Mac [Annotator's Note: US Coast Guard and Navy slang for a Motor Machinist] saw what had happened, he got a bucket full of sea water and threw it into Perrett's face. The soldiers in the boat all laughed and it broke the tension of the moment.Perrett took his time getting his troops to the beach. He knew that the faster he got the men to shore and returned to his ship the sooner he would have to go back in with another load.When Perrett got back to the ship, a weasel was put aboard his boat with an army sergeant. He then pulled around to pick up a single soldier, Major General R.O. Barton. Perrett took General Barton ashore in his boat [Annotator’s Note: his LCVP], PA 33-21.Prior to the invasion, on 28 April 1944, Perrett's group pulled out of Plymouth, England for a training exercise in an area known a Limey Bay. Unknown to them, 9 German E-Boats [Annotator's Note: German navy torpedo boats] were patrolling the same area they were to train in. The E-Boats slipped undetected into the convoy and sank two of the troop-laden LSTs [Annotator’s Note: Landing Ship, Tanks] and damaged another, killing 750 soldiers and sailors. The incident was kept from the public for the next twenty to thirty years [Annotator’s Note: Perrett is referring to Exercise Tiger].

After the invasion they left Southern France [Annotator's Note: Perrett means Northern France, in June 1944] and returned to Norfolk, Virginia, the men were given a fifteen day leave. When Perrett returned from leave he was ordered to report back aboard the Bayfield [Annotator's Note: USS Bayfield (APA-33)].The Bayfield went through the Panama Canal bound for Pearl Harbor to prepare for the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.At Iwo Jima, Perrett lost his boat on the first wave.For the invasion of Iwo Jima, the Bayfield was transporting elements of the 4th Marine Division and had aboard Major General Clifton B. Cates, commanding general of the 4th Marine Division.After Perrett hit the beach and offloaded all but two of the marines, he noticed a marine at the bow of the boat wrestling with the tripod for a .30 caliber machine gun. Realizing that the boat surging forward from the waves could crush the marine, Perrett reversed off of the beach. He hadn't fully closed the front ramp of his boat though and when he put the boat in neutral, water poured in through the open bow ramp and sank the boat.Perrett and his crew armed with Springfield rifles and the two Marines left in the boat, made their way to another landing craft which dropped them on shore. They were now on the front lines.It was around midnight before Perrett was able to get back to the Bayfield.Prior to the landing on Okinawa, Perrett's ship was used as a diversion. On 1 April [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1945] Perrett was promoted to Bosun's Mate 2nd Class [Annotator’s Note: also Boatswain’s Mate]. It was also the day of the invasion of Okinawa.Perrett saw a kamikaze strike a transport. The transport began to list and had to be towed out of the area.In September [Annotator's Note: September 1945] Perrett was back home in Little Woods. When he entered his house he saw that his uncle, a Merchant Marine captain, and his mentor, a navy ship captain named Flood Beyer, were at the house. When Beyer saw Perrett's campaign ribbon he asked where Perrett had served in the Pacific and Perrett replied that he had been at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Beyer then stated that his had been the first ship hit by a kamikaze at Okinawa. Perrett told him that he had seen it from the USS Bayfield.

They hung around in the area [Annotator's Note: the crew of the USS Bayfield, near Okinawa] for about twelve days waiting to see if the troops they were carrying would be needed ashore. When it was clear that they would not, they headed for Saipan and dropped the troops off there. From there they went to Guam and offloaded their provisions then returned to the States where Perrett left the Bayfield.After being discharged, Perrett went to a military orientated high school to finish his high school studies. He graduated from Warren Easton High School in 1946. He was later inducted into the Warren Easton Hall of Fame.Perrett returned to Normandy for the 50th anniversary and for the 60th when he was awarded the French Légion d'honneur [Annotator’s Note: National Order of the Legion of Honour].In 2005 they went to Iwo Jima for the 60th anniversary of the invasion where they joined up with Japanese dignitaries.Perrett trained at the Ponce de Leon Hotel. They would be taken to the rifl range and then would be taken into a dark room in which silhouettes would be illuminated on the wall. There they learned to tell the shapes of various ships.For use in the landing craft they were issued army .30 caliber Springfield rifles [Annotator's Note: M1903 rifles]. They were also issued .45 caliber pistols [Annotator's Note: M1911 pistols].When on the beach on Iwo Jima, Perrett was fired on a number of times but could never see where it was coming from because he was concentrating on getting himself and his crew off the beach.After the other boats coming in dropped their troops off, Perrett and his crew would then help load wounded onto them. Perrett didn't have the heart to take the place of a wounded guy. Eventually a boat came in that took him off shore. There was so much firing going on that it was like several 4th of July's in New York wrapped up in one.

There was some rivalry between the Coast Guard and the Navy but they got along fine. There was also a time when a number of African-American troops were on aboard and they never had any racial problems.At Normandy, Perrett loved the sight of the 8th Air Force overhead.When the Marines raised the second flag on Iwo Jima they were given the pole and flag by a Coast Guard quartermaster from an LST [Annotator's Note: LST-758] named Bob Resnick.Perrett and Resnick were interviewed for a television program but Resnick died the Sunday before the show aired.At Normandy, particularly after the first landings, Perrett backed off of the beach went back empty. After bringing General Barton [Annotator's Note: US Army General Raymond E. Barton, at the time Commanding General of the 4th Infantry Division] ashore wounded were being loaded aboard for him to bring to an LST [Annotator’s Note: Landing Ship, Tank] that functioned as a hospital ship.Since they were a flagship, they were off the beaches until D+19 [Annotator's Note: 19 days after the initial landings; 25 June 1944 in Normandy] delivering fresh troops and cargo in, bringing wounded out, and transferring them to the hospital ships. It was also not uncommon after three or four days into the operation for Perrett to bring fresh troops or cargo in and bring ten or fifteen German prisoners of war (POWs) out to one of the LSTs being used as a POW vessel. The LST would then deliver the POWs to a POW camp back in England. For the German POWs the war was over, for Perrett the war was just beginning. He still had to finish Normandy then took part in the invasions of Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Perrett hauled POWs in both theaters.When transporting POWs, soldiers would deliver them to the boat. The prisoners were unarmed and Perrett never had a problem with any of them.During the first few days of invasions, Perrett and his crew lived in their boats with no chance to take a bath or eat in many cases. When they would pull up next to their ship to refuel, a bucket would be lowered with frankfurters, sardines, and crackers in it for Perrett and his crew to eat. The canned sardines could be stored in the boat and eaten later. 

Perrett's contact with the German prisoner of war (POWs) he transported was very brief. The POWs were usually quite and respectful and there were no problems with them.At Iwo Jima, four or five Japanese POWs were brought aboard so they could be interviewed by the staff of the general and admiral for intelligence purposes.Very few prisoners were taken at Iwo Jima because they preferred to die. Many jumped off of cliffs to commit hari kari [Annotator’s Note: Japanese ritual suicide]. Perrett saw the Japanese POWs but never spoke to them. They were treated well and fed three times a day like everyone else.The landing boats had three .30 caliber machine guns mounted on the stern for protection. The boats were made of marine mahogany and could accommodate 36 fully armed combat troops. The ramp on the boat would be dropped and the troops could exit the boat quickly. The ramp was then pulled back up. The boats could travel with the bow ramp down but Perrett wouldn't recommend it.Orders were passed by signal flags using semaphore code and blinker lights using Morse code.The boat crews were well trained at Camp Lejeune to operate the boats, but Perrett claims that they were a little slow learning semaphore.Perrett never had a logistical problem. They always had sufficient fuel and supplies.During air raids they would stand off of the ships to act as lifeboats if necessary so it was important to keep the boats fully fueled.Perrett thinks he saw a USO show on Saipan but doesn't recall who the performers were.When Perrett made the invasions of Normandy and Southern France he was still a Seaman 1st Class. Although he was a coxswain, he wasn't promoted until after the invasion of Southern France. When he left the service he was a Bosun's Mate 2nd Class.To pass the time Perrett made a lanyard for his bosun's pipe which was used to signal different orders. Still to this day when admirals and generals board ships they are piped aboard by a bosun's mate.Perrett has sold a number of bosun's pipe lanyards.The modern bosun's pipes don't sound as good as the sterling ones issued when Perrett was in the service.

Perrett was awarded the European Campaign Ribbon [Annotator's Note: Europe/Africa/Middle East Theater Ribbon] with two battle stars for Normandy and Southern France, and the Pacific Campaign Ribbon [Annotator's Note: Asiatic/Pacific Theater Ribbon] with two battle stars for Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He also received the World War II Victory Medal as well as the Meritorious Coast Guard Service Medal and the French Knight of the Legion of Honor, which he is the most proud of.Perrett reported aboard the USS Bayfield in Norfolk, Virginia and remained aboard until the end of the war. After the war the Bayfield was mothballed until the Korean War when she was returned to service with a navy crew and earned four more battle stars. After the Korean War she was again mothballed but was called back to active service for the Vietnam War to be used for evacuations.While standing in front of the replica landing craft at the D-Day Museum [Annotator's Note: Perrett is referring to The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] Perrett was approached by a man who stated that he had been aboard the Bayfield. Perrett learned from the man that he had been in the US Marine Corps and had been sent to Kingston, Jamaica to stage for the invasion of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bayfield was cut up for scrap. Perrett feels that she should still be around today.Perrett was asked to speak at the Coast Guard Base in Alameda. When he went to Fisherman's Wharf he saw the SS Jeremiah O'Brien which is a World War II liberty ship that has been restored as a museum. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien had been at Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion during which time Perrett helped to unload it. When Perrett informed the ticket takers of this, he was ushered aboard the ship to meet with some of the volunteers who worked on the ship. Perrett was invited to take a trip aboard the ship. He showed up at the boat at the scheduled departure time wearing his World War II uniform. Perrett was even allowed to take the helm at one point while they were underway.In 1989 or 1990 Dr. Ambrose [Annotator's Note: Stephen E. Ambrose] called upon Perrett to help find a landing craft for the D-Day Museum that was to be built on the lakefront. The museum was built in the Central Business District [Annotator’s Note: of New Orleans, Louisiana]. If it had been out at Pontchartrain Beach it may have had trouble from the last hurricane [Annotator's Note: referring to Hurricane Katrina]. Perrett is proud of being associated with the D-Day Museum and wishes that Ambrose was still alive to see what his dream had become.