O’Neil Ducharme was born in February 1925 near Elizabeth Falls, Maine. His parents immigrated to Maine from Canada in 1921. Ducharme grew up in south-central Maine, near the town of Auburn in a family of six boys and two girls. He attended a Catholic school during the depths of the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. His sister and mother opened a restaurant in 1934 to help support the large family during this lean period. Ducharme got much experience in the kitchen as a boy and was always interested in pursuing a career in cooking and baking. At age ten, Ducharme recalls a Marine in his dress blues visiting a neighbor. So impressed by his appearance, Ducharme decided to become a Marine one day. On the afternoon of 7 December 1941, Ducharme was at the grand opening of a new theater in town. When he emerged from the theater in the late afternoon, people were crying in the streets upon learning of the Japanese attacks [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. No one in the small, French-speaking town had ever heard of Pearl Harbor. The attacks gave Ducharme his opening into the Marines that he had been longing for since he was a boy. In the Spring of 1942, Ducharme volunteered for service in the Marine Corps and reported for induction in April after finishing school. After being sworn in Augusta, Maine, Ducharme boarded a train bound for Parris Island, South Carolina. He would not return home for three and a half years. His training in South Carolina was not heaven, but it was not too bad. Upon completion of basic training, Ducharme, the only recruit from Maine to complete the training, was promoted to the rank of PFC [Annotator’s Note: private first class] and transferred to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for reassignment. He was assigned to the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C. This was a great assignment and he was proud to serve in a role that showcased the Marines. He was assigned to guard duty at the Library of Congress for six months before being transferred to Shangri-La, known today as Camp David [Annotator’s Note: Camp David is a presidential retreat in Frederick County, Maryland]. While on duty there, Ducharme had the opportunity to speak with Eleanor Roosevelt [Annotator’s Note: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, an American political figure, diplomat, pacifist, activist, and first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's terms in office] on several occasions and even saw British Prime Minister Winston Churchill [Annotator's Note: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill; Prime Minister, United Kingdom, 1940 to 1945]. Ducharme recognized him by the long cigar between his lips. After two years between D.C. and Shangri-La, Ducharme recalls a new commandant taking command of the Marines, A.A. Vandegrift [Annotator’s Note: US Marine Corps General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, commander of the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Guadalcanal]. According to Ducharme, Vandegrift remarked that there are two types of Marines: the ones overseas, and the ones on their way. Upset to be leaving his comfortable post in Washington, but excited to see the world, Ducharme was transferred to Camp Pendleton, California where he was stationed for two months before boarding the Merchant Marine vessel Trieste on 1 November 1944 bound for the Coral Sea in the Southwest Pacific. The voyage took 29 days without an escort.

After 29 days aboard ship, O’Neil Ducharme landed at Guadalcanal [Annotator’s Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. Upon arrival, Ducharme took part in ship to shore landing exercises across various islands in the area in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. Though he had been promoted to the rank of staff sergeant as a chief cook, Ducharme trained as a rifleman assigned to Company L, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division. In late March 1945, training was suspended and Ducharme received orders to board an APA for transport to Okinawa. Prior to landing at Okinawa, Ducharme looked out across the fleet and saw a large communication ship, the USS Mount Olympus, which was the ship his brother Gus was aboard at the time. On 1 April 1945 at seven in the morning, Ducharme and the rest of his battalion landed on Blue Beach on the island of Okinawa and reached their objective without coming under a single shot of enemy fire. After securing a beachhead and setting up camp, Ducharme began to think that the Navy had been wrong and had selected the wrong island for the invasion. Shortly after, however, Ducharme discovered that over 100,000 Japanese soldiers were waiting underground in caves. Ducharme spent 22 days in heavy combat while fighting to the top of Sugar Loaf Hill. He recalls coming under repeated kamikaze attack while in combat. He volunteered for duty as a stretcher bearer for three weeks. This was a bad experience and a lot of guys were lost. [Annotator’s Note: Telephone rings in background at 0:24:26.000.] While in combat, Ducharme never thought about much of anything except of the mission at hand. The day he and the others received news of Roosevelt’s [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] death was very sorrowful. After combat, Ducharme reported to New Zealand for ten days of rest and relaxation before reporting to Guam [Annotator’s Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] to begin training for the Invasion of mainland Japan. After the atomic bombings [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], Ducharme recalls listening to Emperor Hirohito’s [Annotator’s Note: Emperor Showa, known in English-speaking countries by his personal name Hirohito, was the 124th emperor of Japan] radio broadcast informing the Japanese of the surrender on August 15.

On 30 August 1945, O’Neil Ducharme [Annotator’s Note: with the 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division] went ashore at the Japanese Naval base in Yokosuka, Japan as one of the first occupiers in Japan in many years. Ducharme recalls the Japanese flag being taken down and the American flag being flown in its place. His company was assigned to duty at a submarine pen in Funabashi, on the northern shore of Tokyo Bay [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo Bay, Japan]. His time as an occupier was wonderful and his interactions with the Japanese people were very nice. As the assistant mess sergeant, Ducharme was tasked with scrounging up food for occupation forces. He was able to travel while on duty as well. He went once to Yokohama [Annotator’s Note: Yokohama, Japan] to visit his brother and several times to Tokyo [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] to see the destruction. Ducharme returned to the United States in February 1946 and immediately joined the active reserves. In June 1950, Ducharme was put on 18 months of active duty in North Carolina where he was assigned to a combat support group and oversaw the operating of an ice cream factory. Ducharme returned home to his reserve unit, the 10th Engineer Battalion. In 1956, Ducharme was promoted to the rank of master sergeant. During the Vietnam War [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975], Ducharme was not elevated to active duty. He received his discharge in February 1985 after over 30 years with the Marine Corps. He did not take advantage of any benefits afforded to him through 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].

O’Neil Ducharme’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was being assigned to guard duty at Shangri-La, known today as Camp David [Annotator’s Note: Camp David is the presidential retreat in Frederick County, Maryland]. He fought in World War 2 because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but he had also wanted to be a Marine since he was 10 years old. Many of his family members participated in World War 2 and his father participated in World War 1. Serving in the Marines made Ducharme grow up and become familiar with the world. He accepted his fate and does not regret anything. He is proud to be part of the Greatest Generation [Annotator's Note: the term The Greatest Generation refers to the generation in the United States that came of age during the Great Depression and later fought in World War 2 and is derived from the book The Greatest Generation by American network television journalist and author Tom Brokaw]. World War 2 to Americans means freedom. Ducharme believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.