Robert Powers was born in June 1924 in St. Paul, Minnesota, but grew up in Hopkins, Minnesota. Growing up, he lived with his parents and his three brothers. His father trained horses and his mother was a house wife. His family talked about the growing wars around the world. His older brother joined the Marine Corps and served on a mortar team. Powers joined the Marine Corps in 1942 after he graduated from high school. He was on his way home from Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was surprised because he did not think there would be a war with Japan. Powers remembers there being a probability of war because of rationing and conscription. He occasionally discussed the war with students in school before he joined the service. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] Powers enlisted in the Marine Corps so he could be with his older brother. During his train trip to boot camp in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] many more recruits were picked up. Boot camp was trying, but interesting. He remembers his drill instructors' names. He enjoyed the Marine Corps. Powers does not know why he was able to keep up in boot camp, but he thinks it is because he wanted to do the best he could. He also thinks being an athlete in high school helped. When he was in basic training, he was firing an .03 bolt action rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle], but his younger brothers were taught to shoot using the Garand rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand].

After boot camp, Robert Powers joined a rifle company at Camp Elliot, then volunteered for a Marine Raider unit. He was interviewed and had to be able to run and swim to join the specialty unit. It was a challenge to see if you would be accepted. During his interview, he told them he wanted to be with the best. After being accepted, he was sent to another training site where they did speed marches. His instructors had gone to England to train with the British recon companies. Powers learned to work at night in rubber boats, marksmanship training, dig holes and having tanks roll over them, scout work, and swimming. It instilled confidence in the men. One of his instructors served on Makin Island. The rubber raft training was difficult, [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion] one of his friends was killed when he flipped out of a boat and hit his head. Powers talks about how he formed close friendships with many men, but some of them did not last long. Powers did two months of raider training. When he finished training, he was put on a troop ship and sent to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. His older brother, also a Marine Raider, landed on Tulagi [Annotator's Note Tulagi, Solomon Islands]. When he finished with training, there was no graduation ceremony and a special knife. Powers was taught how to use a knife, but marksmanship was stressed. Powers used a Thompson submachine gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun] on the island.

On his first day at sea, Robert Powers got seasick. One of his friends, Ned Meloney, played for the 49ers [Annotator's Note: the American football team San Francisco 49ers], then coached the Purdue [Annotator's Note: Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana] football team. Ned kept bringing Powers oranges to eat for the seasickness. He never got seasick after that. It took about three weeks to get to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. When he arrived, the island was secured, but there was still a lot of patrolling and people getting killed. Powers then started preparing to go to Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville Island, Ppua New Guinea]. Two nights before the invasion, Powers went onto the island of Puruata, located in the Empress Augusta Bay. The Japanese found out about the landing and planned on firing on the main invasion force from the island. Powers and his unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Marine Raider Battalion] went to Puruata to destroy the guns planned for the defense against the invasion. That was Powers' first experience in a tough fire fight. On Bougainville, Powers was a squad leader. He sent two of his men to make contact with another unit, but they were brutally killed. Powers went ashore on a rubber boat from a destroyer, but landed in the middle of a battalion of Japanese. Some guys were killed or captured trying to get off the beach. A friend of his was stabbed by a Japanese and had to strangle him to death. His friend had to swim back to the destroyers. They made it back to the ships with very few casualties.

Robert Powers never saw his comrade who was captured again. He knew that if he were captured he would be killed. If captured, Powers was to give his name, rank, and serial number. He went to a school in the Marine Corps that taught him how to survive in combat and how an interrogation goes. Interrogators usually go for the captives they think will break the fastest. Pilots went through the course as well, especially if they were flying over enemy territory. The Army took over Bougainville and the Marines started pulling out. On Bougainville, Powers did mostly patrol work. There were a lot of Japanese snipers in the trees. When he would dig a foxhole, water would immediately fill the hole because of the high water table. He ate C-Rations in his foxhole, but he was not able to use fire to warm it up because he could alert the enemy. After he left Bougainville, he did some training on Guadalcanal, then went to the island of Emirau. The island was secured in three or four days and became an airbase for B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] squadrons. After picking up replacements and more training on Guadalcanal, Powers sailed to Guam on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. On Guadalcanal, the Marine Raider camp was at Tassafaronga, the site of a major naval battle. Powers discusses the Coast Watchers on Guadalcanal.

When Robert Powers invaded Guam, he did not go in on one of the new amphibious tractors [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked or LVT; also referred to as amtrack or alligator] with the drop door, he had to bail out over the side fully loaded including a Browning Automatic Rifle [Annotator's Note: also known simply as the BAR]. His first night on the island, his unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment] was overrun. Powers was on top of a hill when a naval flair went up and Powers could see 1,000 Japanese. Powers only had two platoons full of men. The Americans started throwing explosives down the hill. One of his friends was hit during this encounter and two more were killed immediately. Powers was hit in the back of his neck by something. When he reached back, it turned out to be a part of a Japanese skull that had been blown up by the explosion. The Marines had a hard time holding the hill. Powers did not think Guam was too bad. He landed just south of the capital at Hagatna, and had to fight north to the other Marine division [Annotator's Note: the 3rd Marine Division]. After reaching the division and taking the peninsula, Powers saw his first live Japanese soldier. While moving up the peninsula, he saw a Japanese soldier pop out of his spider hole [Annotator's Note: a type of foxhole with a cover on top that could be used for observation and ambushes]. After a brief stare down, the soldier went back into his hole. Powers trained his automatic rifle on the spot and shot the soldier. He immediately thought about how he and the Japanese soldier were alike. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] The unit then moved out and Powers ended up on a lot of patrols. Powers discusses his foxhole buddy who was later killed on Okinawa. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] Powers talks about how the Japanese would put snipers in trees. He then got on a transport ship back to Guadalcanal for more training.

Before going to Guam, Robert Powers and the four Marine Raider battalions were put into one regular unit, the 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division. At first it bothered him, but he got over it. Powers discusses sea bags back on Guadalcanal. He then got on a LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] headed for Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Powers discusses how dangerous it is getting into a LCVP [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel] from the side of a LST. The trip was uneventful but the ship had to stop at a fleet anchorage because of how long to trip is. He was given one day to go ashore. He watched the USS Franklin (CV-13) come in after it was hit by a kamikaze. On the ship, Powers would do exercises and would clean his weapons. The Marines knew they were heading to Okinawa and they knew it was going to be rough. Powers knew he was going to make it back. It was generally accepted by the servicemen that they were going into danger. He thought the young age of the Marines also helped their morale. The ride up to Okinawa was not great. The sailors wanted the Marines to stay below decks in their holes, but the Marines would leave whenever they could. Powers was briefed about the upcoming battle before the invasion occurred. Powers sees war as a collaborative effort for the country and the world. He was told about how many Japanese troops were on the island and was told the Japanese unit names. They were also told about kamikazes and suicide torpedo boat attacks. Powers was told the information about what he was going to face but he did not know what units he was next to.

Robert Powers went ashore unopposed at Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He was in a foxhole with his buddy at full alert when he saw something moving towards him. His platoon sergeant told him to shut up or he would hit him with his butt stock. It was not a Japanese soldier. The following morning Powers was ordered straight ahead. After several miles, he was ordered to turn north. Powers could see the island Ernie Pyle [Annotator's Note: Ernest T. "Ernie" Pyle; American journalist and war correspondent] was killed on [Annotator's Note: Ie Shima, Japan]. The northern part of Okinawa was heavily forested and Powers saw a lot of native Okinawans. The Marines were having trouble against Japanese hit and run tactics perpetrated by Colonel Udo [Annotator's Note: Japanese Army Colonel Takehiko Udo]. When Powers' unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division] got word that the Colonel Udo was near, they planned an ambush. When Powers and his friend got to the top of the hill, they could see a Japanese squad coming up. When they got close, the Marines opened fire. Another group of Japanese then attacked the remaining Marine company. After some time doing patrols, Powers was ordered south to the Shuri Line [Annotator's Note: Japanese military defensive line centered on Shuri Castle]. Powers was hit by airbursts, which he thought were terrible. Tanks coming up the road would roll over dead Marines. The next day, they moved up towards Sugar Loaf [Annotator's Note: a terrain feature in the Shuri Line that would be the site of brutal fighting]. It was stormy and dark and the Japanese were firing artillery at the Marines. Powers remembers a Marine named Jimmy Goldan from Michigan, [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion] who was hit and killed while they were moving into position. The Marines jumped into a foxhole that was full of dead Marines. They pushed the bodies away. Powers was a squad leader at the time. They recognized a lieutenant in the mass of bodies by his university ring. One of the men in his squad took it off the body. The following morning, he took three men on a recon patrol. His foxhole buddy and another Marine were killed that morning when a Japanese machine gun shot them. They were trying to see how many enemy forces there were and where the enemy was. He got the other wounded Marine back to friendly lines. He survived his wounds and married a nurse. When Powers returned, he reported what he saw to his officer.

That same day, Robert Powers [Annotator's Note: Powers asks for the helmet he wore the day he was shot] was on top of the hill when a Japanese officer shot him in the head. The bullet entered then exited the helmet, leaving only a scratch above his eye. That night, the Japanese performed a banzai charge. Powers remembers it being chaos. Tracer rounds were everywhere and he thought one was going to hit him. The Japanese were yelling, it was dark, and there were flares being shot into the sky to give the Marines light. The first thing Powers worried about was when a machine gun was knocked out by grenades. He dragged away one of the machine gunners, then was attacked by a Japanese soldier who tried to bayonet him. Powers killed him with his knife. The Marines held their position, but took quite a few casualties. Powers was aware of what was happening around him. Powers was recommended for a Navy Cross. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] He did not know until he was in college. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] He did not understand why he was being given the award when so many people were doing the same thing. Powers does not remember much from that night. When it quieted down, they started walking around to find the dead and wounded. Navy corpsmen were called in to help. The attack only occurred in his sector of the line, the rest of his company on the ridge were not attacked. There were dead and wounded all around. The terrain was messed up from explosions and there were discarded weapons where people died. It was a bigger banzai attack than he experienced on Guam. Powers does not know what happened to the dead Japanese. No one took souvenirs from this attack. Powers had previously taken souvenirs, but did not do it often. He had some men blown up while taking souvenirs from dead bodies. After the attack, Powers continued moving south towards the battalion CP [Annotator's Note: command post]. They were under heavy Japanese mortar fire.

After the attack, Robert Powers continued moving south towards the battalion CP [Annotator's Note: command post]. They were under heavy Japanese mortar fire. They received replacements for their casualties, then started moving for Naha, the capital [Annotator's Note: Naha is the capital city of Okinawa, Japan]. Eventually, Powers was moving towards an airfield where he experienced bombings from some sort of flying missile. Moving through some open terrain, mortars started falling. It was also raining and it rained all the time. During the mortar attack, the flap of Powers' jacket came out and a dud mortar landed in it. In one built up area he went through, a sergeant was hit by a fragment. Powers drug him out of a building and into a pig pen, where he was left with a less wounded man. Powers made it to the south of the island. One of his men, Campbell, was killed on Okinawa. Powers' family had been writing to Campbell, whom they called "Soupy." He had been wounded on Guam, but returned to the unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division]. They captured six or seven big Japanese troops. He knew the war was going to be over soon because the resistance was becoming lighter. Powers does not remember much from the amphibious landing in the south. He felt lucky to serve with good guys in a good branch.

Robert Powers returned to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], which had been built up since he had last been there. Powers thought he would be rotated back to the states [Annotator's Note: United States] since he had been gone so long and had enough points. He was on Guam when the war ended, but everyone was preparing to go to Japan. Powers was sitting in his tent when someone told him about the war ending. The following morning, his battalion commander told him he was going to Japan to liberate prisoners. He got on a ship and anchored off the coast of Japan. They were not allowed to land until General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] landed. Powers went into a camp called Ofuna, which had a bad reputation. The Japanese were there to greet them without weapons. The prisoners were elated to see the Marines, but were emaciated, and emotionally upset. Powers saw British prisoners in with the Americans. It was a happy day to get the prisoners back. Powers was a guard at Yokosuka Navy base. He was there during the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. When the Japanese Navy came to surrender their ships, Powers would greet them at the dock. Powers stayed there until December 1945. He returned to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], landing on Treasure Island in the bay [Annotator's Note: San Francisco Bay]. There were a lot of German prisoners cooking and serving food. Powers went to Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois], where he visited a friend who was wounded on Guam. He then got on a train back home to Owatonna, Minnesota, where his family moved during the war. When he got home, his mother told him she had gotten him enrolled in college. He used the G.I. Bill, which he thinks is the greatest piece of legislation ever passed. He got a degree in political science with a Spanish minor. Three months later he was told he was receiving the Navy Cross. He then went to work at an insurance company in Saint Paul. He was then given a meritorious NCO [Annotator's Note: Non Commissioned Officer] commission.

Robert Powers was called back to the service for Korea [Annotator's Note: the Korean War]. He had been honorably discharged, but he did not mind going back into the military. He received his orders in July 1950. He did not know that when he recieved his commission it meant he was in the reserves. Powers went to Camp Pendleton, California, and was told he would not be going overseas because he fought in World War 2 and was wounded twice. He wanted to go overseas though. First he was sent to a naval air station in Washington, then to Vallejo, California and served as the CO [Annotator's Note: commanding officer] of a Naval prison. It was a prison for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel who received a general court martial [Annotator's Note: the highest level of military court]. On staff were two warrant officers who had been captured on Wake Island. They spent the whole war in a prison camp in Japan. One of the officers would drill the prisoners with wooden rifles. Powers was now a lieutenant. After about five months, the warrant officers offered to have a drink with Powers, which meant they accepted him. They would tell him stories about their time in prison camps. There was a man in the camp who could make radios that could pick up news from the states [Annotator's Note: United States]. Eventually, the guards found the radio, destroyed it, and beat the prisoners. Powers said being a prison CO was a tough job. There were two escape attempts. Eventually, he wrote to the Headquarters Marine Corps and asked to go to Korea. They told him he would be attached to the 1st Marine Division. Powers went to cold weather school in the Sierras [Annotator's Note: Sierra Nevada Mountains], then went overseas. He became the platoon commander for the 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. When he took over, the Marines were on the east side of Korea, but moved to the west, near Inchon. He was south of the DMZ [Annotator's Note: Demilitarized Zone]. While in Korea, he was wounded again and was returned to the United States. Powers was released from the military and joined a Marine rifle battalion at the local naval air station. He was appointed an officer of the 26th Rifle Company. He was promoted to captain, then retired. He served in Korea for a year. His Korean War experience was different because of the cold weather and terrain. The weapons were also different. He thinks the Marines were good, but not as good as the raiders. After he returned from Korea, he went to Law School, then got an MBA in Business. He then got married in January 1955 and had four children. His wife was into horses when she was a kid. Eventually they moved to a 90 acre piece of land. It had been an old dairy farm. The kids learned how to ride horses. All of his children have careers around the Minneapolis [Annotator's Note: Minneapolis, Minnesota] area.

Robert Powers enjoyed World War 2 more than the Korean War. He had a reason to go in the first war and he enjoyed the raider training [Annotator's Note: Powers served with the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion on Bougainville then with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division on Guam and Okinawa]. During World War 2, he was always the first to volunteer for patrols. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] In Korea, being older, he would be assigned to patrols. He did not volunteer. The cold weather was also terrible. Powers did not feel the same kind of feelings fighting the Koreans as he did with the Japanese. He has forgiven the Japanese. He says he never had hard feelings towards the Japanese, but you do not forget the sights. He realized they were following orders just like he was. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] Powers does not think the same raider mentality was present in Korea. He did not have a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. When he first got home, he had a hard time relaxing and would walk to a bridge every night. But beyond that, he did not have a hard time. When he was an enlisted men in World War 2, he met a lot more people than when he was an officer in Korea. Powers does not think the fighting was as brutal in Korea. Korea also smelled different from the islands because of the food they cook. Dead bodies smelled more in World War 2 because of the different weather. Powers thinks his most memorable experience was the camaraderie with his fellow Marines. He enlisted because the nation was at war and he wanted to join his brother in the Marines. The war gave him an education and it helped him grow and mature. Powers looks back on his war service in World War 2 fondly, even though it was not always good. [Annotator's Note: Powers shows emotion.] He loved serving this great country. He thinks the country came together for a common cause, which is diminished in the present day. People put aside their personal thoughts to serve the country in every capacity. He thinks The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is important and thinks the war should be taught to future generations. The war shows what people can do for the nation. He feels privileged to be able to serve this great country. He has been competing in triathlons for 30 years and has completed 205 races. He attributes his ability to do the races to the Marine Corps. He neither drinks nor smokes and works out. He started doing the triathlons when he returned from the Korean War. He used to get mad when people would pass him, but now he just goes at his own pace.