Thomas Joseph Lemme was born in January 1926 in Albany [Annotator's Note: Albany, New York]. He had two older brothers and one older sister. His father owned a produce farm and food market. Thomas helped with food deliveries after school. His mother had a small neighborhood store that she managed. She barely spoke English but knew how to run the store. The Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] did not affect the Lemme family. They always had something to eat. The family home was near a wealthy neighborhood. Lemme attended schools near his home until high school when he had a longer walk to class. He spent long days riding his bicycle with his older brother, Ralph, and a cousin who lived across the street from their home. The boys enjoyed fishing the most. The area was mainly country. The terrain was good to ride his bike through. The boys built a boat but when they attempted to launch it, the police advised them that they could not put it in the lake. They never used it anywhere again. He had friends and never felt he missed anything. Later, he became interested in girls and dances. It paid dividends later when he was in Salem, Oregon. He was the only male who knew how to dance. All the guys were about 18 or 19 years old and relatively inexperienced.

Thomas Joseph Lemme teamed up with a fellow named John Prentice Brown [Annotator's Note: Lemme was drafted into the United States Marine Corps in March 1944.] They met while going to Camp Adair near Corvallis, Oregon. Both of them were raised in Albany, New York just a few blocks from each other. Brown's family were customers at Lemme's family produce market. Brown had been injured during the war when a heavy kettle was dropped on his foot. They would ride a bicycle built for two with Lemme using his good legs to pump and Brown using his good arms for steering the bike. Brown came from a good family. Lemme was given a 30 day leave but had difficulty returning to the hospital. [Annotator's Note: Lemme is interrupted by a telephone call and recounts a debate with a friend named Sal about two G Companies.]. Lemme heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] when he was 15 years of age. He thought the war would be over before he could participate. He was too young to join at that time plus he had to help with his father's market. His brother was drafted into the Navy. Lemme was drafted and wanted to join the Navy but was selected to go into the Marine Corps. He went to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Parris Island, South Carolina] to be trained as a rifleman. He learned demolition and how to use explosives. It was a rushed training. While returning from his 30-day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], Lemme made it part of the way back to Camp Adair by air. He was delayed due to bad weather. He met a young man named Leo Percoco [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] who was destined for the same hospital. The two plus a sailor hitchhiked back to the hospital two days late from their leave. Lemme was given 24 hours of EPD—extra police duty to watch over the barracks. Leo was a typical good looking Marine. Lemme has stayed in touch with his daughter through the years. He feels good about keeping contact with her. When Lemme was deployed to Hawaii, he joined G Company of the 25th Infantry Regiment, 4th Marine Division [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry Regiment, 4th Marine Division]. The Division had just returned from Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands]. He was a replacement but made quite a few friends with the new guys, particularly Walter McFarlan [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] who was from Massachusetts. He worked in a movie house back then. Lemme spent liberty time and attended USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization] activities in Hawaii with him. McFarlan was a jokester and the life of the party. That went over well with the girls. After the war, they lost contact with each other, but Lemme visited McFarlan once.

Thomas Joseph Lemme went directly from Hawaii to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry Regiment, 4th Marine Division] . After being wounded on Iwo Jima, he saw a friend from Albany [Annotator's Note: Albany, New York] who was headed to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Lemme was glad he had not stayed with his friend to that point. Lemme's combat on Iwo Jima only lasted 13 days before he was wounded. His time in combat is somewhat of a blur with little in the way of detailed memories. He fell asleep one night while on watch. He was admonished that there were Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] all around and he could not afford to sleep while on watch. The landing beach planned for his company was Blue Beach 2, but they may have been diverted elsewhere. He only spent eight or nine hours on the beach's volcanic ash before ordered inland to rocky soil and high ground. The land was slightly wooded, rocky and hilly. Tanks were difficult to deploy. He experienced close enemy machine gun fire right above his head. He sought shelter in a foxhole with a buddy. After being held up for about two days, a 75mm howitzer [Annotator's Note: 75-millimeter Pack Howitzer M1] was brought up in pieces to blast the machine gun. He was held back from the front line in a foxhole to be prepared to blow up a cave. He was fortunate in that regard. He was called upon to destroy a cave after a sergeant was shot in the stomach. Lemme saw the sergeant and went to the cave. It was too dangerous to get very close to the cave entry, so he dropped a satchel charge [Annotator's Note: demolition device usually carried in a bag or satchel] near the opening. The first charge did not explode, but a second one did. He had no backup to provide cover for him if he was fired upon. Lemme assured the sergeant's niece years later, that her uncle had good care by a corpsman even though he did not survive his wounds. She was happy to hear that. Lemme was wounded after blowing up the cave and digging in for the night. The men would sleep for two hours and stand watch for one hour. Flares went off to provide light on the battlefield. Peter Mangenie [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] was on watch and Lemme was asleep. Lemme saw the flash of the grenade, but his right arm covered his eyes. The arm absorbed the shrapnel. A BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] man in the next foxhole sprayed the area with his weapon when someone called out that there was a Jap who was hitting his helmet with a grenade. Enemy grenades were triggered in that manner. The BAR fire killed the Marine on watch over Lemme's foxhole. It was a classic case of friendly fire. Lemme was wounded and in shock. A corpsman took care of Peter. Lemme does not know if the grenade or BAR fire killed Peter. Lester [Annotator's Note: no surname provided] was on Lemme's brother's ship and notified him of his brother's wound. The BAR man cracked up with battle fatigue [Annotator's Note: now referred to as posttraumatic stress disorder] and was evacuated. The grenade did not land in the foxhole, or it would have killed Lemme.

Thomas Joseph Lemme remained in recovery in the hospital until the end of the war [Annotator's Note: he had been wounded by a Japanese grenade on Iwo Jima, Japan]. Okinawa was going on [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan] and after the dropping of the A bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] that was the end of the war. He decided to return to the family business with his father rather than stay in the Marine Corps. He retired from that work at the age of 60. Lemme always had an interest in archery. He opened an archery shop in Albany [Annotator's Note: Albany, New York] years after his service discharge. He never enjoyed school and thus did not take advantage of 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].

Thomas Joseph Lemme always felt he could keep up with the other Marines while he was in service. Training was not bad, but he did not like hiking. He worked hard with the family market before and after the war. He would handle heavy crates and bags. Lemme was only in the Marines for 19 months. Most was training at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Parris Island, South Carolina]. He thought he wanted to be a radio operator like his brother. That idea did not work out. He enjoyed bowling, fishing and shooting his bow. He never had the option of not working. He always had to work in the family store and market at least eight or nine hours a day seven days a week. He did his share of work. He was fortunate during his Marine service from March 1944 to April 1945. It spanned a little over a year compared to other veterans he meets who served four years or 20 years. Lemme's war wounds bother him some and shrapnel still remains in his arms [Annotator's Note: he was wounded on Iwo Jima, Japan]. He cannot have an MRI [Annotator's Note: a magnetic resonance imaging scan] today because of it. Lemme's wartime experiences made him more aware of how many conveniences we have now. He was always on call to help his parents. He had to have their consent to do anything. He would enjoy bike riding in the summer months with his brother and cousin. His cousin is still alive, but his brother is deceased. The war is almost a forgotten part of history. People do not care for history. Tearing down monuments and statues reflect the whole culture changing. Will people appreciate history in the future? Will they remember World War 1 and 2 and Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]? People did not go to Canada to escape serving during World War 2. A war may never be fought like it was during World War 2. History is history. History is a subject that Lemme likes. Today's politics does not lend us to pull together unless there is a war. If someone uses nuclear weapons, it will be all over. Lemme has always had a priority of working hard and saving his money. That has made him comfortable. He likes good times as well as anyone. Lemme advises his son to save his money. Financial security is important later in life. He remembers wasting a lot of his money earlier in his life.