Richard Yavenue was born in July 1925 in Harvey, Illinois. He had three sisters. His dad was a laborer and died when Yavenue was in 7th grade. Life was hard during the Great Depression because they did not have a lot of money. Yavenue remembered his mom dyed his white shoes for the fall because they could not afford new shoes for him. A friend of his from school, Bill Pugsley, had dropped out of school and joined the Marines. While on liberty after the battle of Guadalcanal, Pugsley visited Yavenue. When he saw Pugsley in his dress blues, Yavenue decided that he wanted to be a Marine too. During the summer months, Yavenue worked on the railroad. The hard labor prepared him for being a Marine. He received a draft letter but enlisted in the Marines instead. He recalls that during boot camp, he had a sergeant who was a little hard on him by making him do a lot of push ups for speaking out of turn, dry shaved his beard and had troops walk over his clean laundry. After boot camp, Yavenue went to Camp Elliot, San Diego, California for combat training. He became friends with a boxer during combat training and before Yavenue was shipped out, his boxer friend gave him a six shooter [Annotator's Note: a revolver] and a box of shells.

Richard Yavenue was told to pack his sea bag and wait to be shipped out as a replacement. He was later assigned to the 2nd Marine Division [Annotator's Note: 2nd Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division]. He was sent to Maui, Hawaii where they practiced getting off a ship and running onto the beach. He was able to go to town before leaving for combat. He remembered locals would cross the street when they saw them in his Marine uniform, and he did not know why. Yavenue Joined the Marines in 1943 and in May 1944 he boarded a ship and headed for the Island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. The troops had a money pool going amongst each other of where they thought they were being shipped to because they were not told in advance. A few days before the landing, the Marines were all given their money back because no one guessed Saipan. In June 1944, Yavenue recalled everyone running onto the deck of ship to see the massive number of destroyers, escorts, battleships and submarines bombing the beaches of Saipan to prepare for the Marines to invade the island. Yavenue was in the 4th wave of the invasion. There was heavy fire as they came up on the beach. He saw dead Marines everywhere. His corporal was hit in the face and died instantly. His unit was able to advance 100 yards up the beach from where they landed before they decided to make camp. Yavenue remembered a lot of heavy fire and bombardments for the first several nights. He witnessed fellow Marines getting bombed out of their foxholes and could hear the Japanese hollering throughout the night.

Richard Yavenue and and his unit [Annotator's Note: 2nd Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] started moving forward [Annotator's Note: after landing on Saipan] and advanced about 500 yards from the beach when they heard that the Army's 27th Infantry Division and 4th Marine Division would be on their sides for support. Everything was going fine until Yavenue recalled the 27th Division was not advancing and giving support. They finally began to move up like they were supposed to when the Army General was releaved of his duties. Yavenue recalled he would do a lot of shooting at night towards the enemy. He and a fellow Marine were on a four hour night shift one night when they heard something in the trees. They hollered out to see if anyone would respond but no one did. The noises continued so they emptied their rifles in the direction of the noise. They found out they killed a couple of Japanese soldiers. During their advance, Yavenue recalls being ordered to throw hand grenades into caves. He could hear the people in there before the grenade would blow up. He did not like doing this job because he was afraid that he was hurting innocent people so he asked to be taken off the that assignment, which he was. He saw a horrific sight at Marpi Point where a woman jumped off the cliff with her son. The Marines were trying to convince her not to jump, but she did anyway. He also witnessed from afar a Japanese General fall on his sword, but he did not die right away so the General's assistant shot him in the head. These instances give Yavenue nightmares to this day.

Richard Yavenue and the 2nd Marine Division continued to advance across the island [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands]. During the last days of fighting, they were coming across rifle firing and a few grenades. On 2 July 1944, Yavenue's 19th birthday, his corporal told him to stay put while the rest went to check some caves. His unit [Annotator's Note: 2nd Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] did not want him fighting on his birthday. The next day, there was some rifle firing from a distance and Yavenue was shot in the arm. They transported him to the beach and onto a hospital ship. He remembered that while on the hospital ship, someone stole his souvenirs. He received the Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: Purple Heart Medal] for his injury. Yavenue was sent to a hospital on New Caledonia where the shrapnel was pulled out of his arm. He remained there for two or three months and then was sent to San Diego, California, via Oakland sometime in September or October 1944. The doctor in San Diego told him to take it easy and he would be discharged soon. Yavenue was given a job delivering items and running errands for patients around the hospital. He did this for a little while until he got tired of it. He was then was assigned to the hospital chapel. He oversaw turning over the space for the different religious services.

While Richard Yavenue was recuperating on the hospital ship [Annotator's Note: USS Solace (AH-5)] anchored off the island of Saipan [Annotator's Note: in the Northern Mariana Islands], he saw two men throwing something into the water. He found out it was arms and legs the doctors had amputated off patients. Yavenue worked at the hospital in San Diego, California for about three months before he was discharged from the Marines around April or May 1945. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill and went to freight traffic school. Yavanue recalled being assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He recalled doing maneuvers on Maui, Hawaii before being shipped out to Saipan. He remembered hearing the Navy bombarded the island before his division went ashore. The first wave of troops consisted of 8,000 Marines and by the time he stepped on the beach he saw bodes all around. His unit did not land where they were supposed to but he remembered being told to put his head down and head up the beach. The first four days, they did not advance more than 100 yards off the beach. He did not see any armor support until after several days on the island.

Richard Yavenue was with the 2nd Marine Division on Saipan [Annotator's Note: in the Northern Mariana Islands]. After the island was almost taken over by the Americans, Yavenue can recall encountering civilians. A guy came out with no shirt on. He could speak a little American and the troops were talking with him for a while. He remembered they found a three year old boy who was shell shocked. They offered food to him but didn't take it. Yavanue also recalled when a woman jumped off the cliff with her baby. These memories bothered Yavenue and gave him nightmares. He was also bothered about being ordered to put grenades in caves, unaware that he could possibly be killing innocent people. He did not recall using flame throwers too much because they did not get any until well into the invasion, and he did not recall seeing any Japanese tanks. On the night the Japanese tried one last effort on Saipan, Yavenue was on a hospital ship being treated for a wound. He recalled men coming on the ship telling him about what happened. Yavenue had been shot in the arm several days earlier. He remembered that the hospital workers did not pay too much attention to him because he could walk around. He also remembered that his souvenirs from combat was stolen while on the hospital ship, including some Japanese teeth a fellow Marine had given him. During his stay on New Caledonia, he was able to attend a USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] show and saw Bob Hope perform. When he returned to the United States, Yavenue struggled to transition back to civilian life. He would have nightmares of being on Saipan. No one talked to him about his nightmares. He got a job at Marshall Fields which he thinks helped him ease back into civilian life. He was able to do physical work.

Richard Yavenue's most vivid memory [Annotator's Note: of his time on Saipan] is seeing civilian children shell shocked, and the woman jumping off a cliff with her baby. Yavenue fought in World War 2 because he wanted to serve his country. The effects of the war made him grow up too fast. He never talked to anyone about his war experiences or the nightmares he had although looking back he wishes he had. He is a proud Marine and he hopes that the Marine Corp will always be here. He believes if you must fight for your country, go and be a Marine. Yavenue believes that its important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum because how would other people know about the war.