Vaughan Whitworth was born in April 1925 in Virginia. He grew up in Beaufort, North Carolina where his parents owned a farm. He got used to country living and it was good for his health throughout his life. He relishes the free flowing [Annotator’s Note: he does not finish the thought and asks to start over. He talks to someone offscreen and laughs.] He went through school close by. The things he learned on the farm he can still use. He still owns some of the land that they have kept more than 100 years. Some of his nieces and nephews look after it for him now. He is very proud that he was taught to care for other people. That has followed him throughout his life. After graduating from high school at 17, he received a notice from President Franklin Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] telling him he was wanted in the service. Pearl Harbor had just been bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Whitworth had registered [Annotator's Note: for the draft] and received his induction notice. When he reported for induction, he was asked which branch of service he wanted. He found out they had just started training the Tuskegee Airmen [Annotator's Note: African American airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Forces; name applies to all associated personnel] and said he wanted the Army Air Corps. There were quotas then and it was filled for that month. They put him into the Army, but he said he did not want it. They gave him another choice and he asked for the Air Corps again. They then tried to put him in Navy but he asked for the Air Corps again. This kept going on until they made him go in the Marine Corps [Annotator’s Note: on 11 November 1943].

Vaughan Whitworth got a couple of weeks to prepare prior to reporting to Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He did not know it was a segregated facility even though the South was segregated. He thought he would train with the other Marines. They were across the river from Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina]. They built their own camp. The only time they were permitted to go into Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina] or Camp Lejeune, was when they were on work details or for reasons unrelated to the Marine Corps. He spent six weeks in boot camp. It was the first time he had been away from his parents for any length of time. He was given an overnight liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and told by the First Sergeant to not go over a 50 mile radius and be back for reveille at six o'clock the next morning. Whitworth went into Jacksonville, North Carolina. He decided to go see his parents. He bought a one way bus ticket to Kings Fountain, North Carolina. He knew he was supposed to back the next morning and knew it would take that long just to get home. After the bus pulled out, there were three or four Black [Annotator's Note: African-American] Marines at the back of the bus. A Caucasian Marine told them to come up to the front of the bus. The Black men declined but he insisted they sit with him. The bus driver looked up and told them to go to the back of the bus. The White Marine said that Marines stick together, and they were not going to move. The driver then refused to move the bus. The Marine picked the driver up by the seat of his pants, threw him off, and drove the bus away. In the next town, the bus driver, the police, and MPs [Annotator's Note: Military Police] were waiting. The Marine admitted throwing the driver off the bus and said why. The MPs said it was a military matter and took them all out and talked to them. They told the men they were still in South and the laws were relevant. At the time, Whitworth did not know what to feel. He had assumed that the White man was a Northerner who was unaware of or was testing the laws of the South. Whitworth got back on the bus and went in to see his parents. By the time he arrived he was over the hill [Annotator's Note: slang for AWOL or absent without leave]. He sent his commanding officer a telegram requesting a three day extension. His commanding officer was White and from Vicksburg, Mississippi so Whitworth thought he would be put in the brig [Annotator's Note: military prison aboard a Naval vessel or base; slang for jail] on his return. The officer granted him the extension. He reported back after the three days and the MPs said he was overdue. They called his commanding officer who said to send him to the office. The commander questioned Whitworth about his decision and actions and then told him to report back to his unit. What Whitworth considered later on, was that his commanding officer knew they would be going overseas within ten days and had compassion on him.

Vaughn Whitworth boarded a troop train to Norfolk, Virginia where he loaded onto the USS James O'Hara (APA-90) and sailed through the Panama Canal to Oahu, Hawaii. On the way into port, they passed the USS Arizona (BB-39) that was still smoking from the Japanese attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They trained at Schofield Barracks [Annotator's Note: United States Army installation, Honolulu, Hawaii] for two weeks during the pineapple harvesting season. The Dole Pineapple Company [Annotator's Note: then the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, now Dole Food Company, Inc.] approached the Marine Corps for assistance. Most of the men in Hawaii were either already in the service or were working in defense plants. The manual labor on the plantation was being done by women. They needed men to load the trucks with the pineapples. It was put to the Marines as a voluntary duty. If they assisted the women, they would not have to train that day. Whitworth volunteered and worked about three days. He had not seen many women since going into the Marine Corps and he wanted to see Hawaiian women. The company sent two truckloads of pineapples to the Marines. After two weeks in Hawaii, they boarded another ship to head into the Pacific. They sailed for four or five days on the USS Alcyone (AKA-7). One morning, the captain announced that this was it. The night before they had a big dinner. To Whitworth it was like feeding a pig going to slaughter. That next morning, they were told their destination was Saipan in the Mariana Islands. The Air Force had bombarded the island and Marine forces had landed. Whitworth's outfit hit the island on D plus three [Annotator's Note: 18 June 1944]. They boarded landing craft and then went ashore in waist deep water. They had learned their rifle was their best friend. They made sure the rifle was kept dry. Once on the island, they dug two man foxholes. They had three days' worth of rations. At sunset, he and a buddy dug their foxholes. They did not sleep during that night. He felt a foot and asked if it was his buddy. It was not. The next morning, they discovered they had dug their foxhole over a dead enemy soldier. [Annotator's Note: Whitworth laughs.]

Vaughn Whitworth, like most segregated Marines, was in a Depot Company [Annotator's Note: 19th Depot Company, 7th Field Depot], literally a working outfit. The 51st [Annotator's Note: 51st Defense Battalion] and 52nd Battalions [Annotator's Note: 52nd Defense Battalion] were formed to relieve some of the Division forces later on. On Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands], his basic duties were not actual fighting, they were to take supplies to the front lines and bring the wounded and dead back. After Saipan was secured and they were going to Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Mariana Islands] in the Mariana Islands, someone said things were not quite right. None of the Black [Annotator's Note: African-American] soldiers were fighting and this was a war. Orders came down to change things. They hit Tinian as combat soldiers. After Tinian was secured, they built a pontoon bridge due to the rain. General Douglas MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] was coming. When he arrived, it struck Whitworth as unusual that a yellow Cadillac [Annotator's Note: American automobile] convertible drove off the ship with MacArthur in it. The vehicle had been confiscated on another island. Their next island was Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. They hit it on D-Day [Annotator's Note: 1 April 1945]. When it was secured, they stayed until forces were being formed for the invasion of Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. They were slated to go. The bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on 6 and 9 August 1945] was dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Whitworth did not go to Iwo Jima because his group had accumulated enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go back for relaxation. After Iwo Jima was secured and Japan surrendered, he stayed on Okinawa until his return to the United States. Going into Okinawa was very scary but he did what he was told, no questions asked. He was just looking to save himself anyway he could. No moments really stick out in his mind. He heard the firepower all around him and just hoped he did not get hit. One of his buddies had been hit, and Whitworth went to sick bay to see him. The buddy was aware of everything. His stomach had been opened up to remove shrapnel. Whitworth told him he was sorry, and the buddy looked at him and said it was not too bad, he had not been killed. It changed Whitworth's outlook on life. When he went into combat on Tinian, he did not know he was going to. It was not really a surprise, because they [Annotator's Note: the African-American Marines] thought they were going to fight. They did not know they were going to just work [Annotator's Note: as supply men]. The ammo blow up in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: Port Chicago Disaster, 17 July 1944, Port Chicago, California] and Oklahoma [Annotator's Note: 5 December 1944, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, McAlester, Oklahoma] were just working troops. They were taken in to just do the work, but it got to where they had to fight. They were still segregated to a degree in combat. The White [Annotator's Note: Caucasian] Marines went first, and they went in behind them. They did not intermingle in foxholes, etc. Firing at the opposing forces did not make any difference.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Vaughn Whitworth if he experienced racism from other Marines while serving in combat in the Pacific.] Whitworth remembers one instance. There was a PX [Annotator's Note: Post Exchange] where they could mingle. On one island, the Colored [Annotator's Note: an ethnic descriptor historically used for Black people in the United States] Marines were in one section and the White [Annotator's Note: Caucasian] Marines in another. Two Marines, one White and one Colored, had come together for some reason. They got in a scuffle and the Colored Marine was getting the best of the White Marine. The White Marine had used the N-word [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Black people]. While he was on the ground bloodied, he said he could beat him up all he wanted, but he was still [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Black people]. Most of the time they got along well. There were no real differences. Whitworth grew up in the South and had a very good life. His associations with Caucasians were very good. His mother was light complected, had blue eyes, and brown eyes and was often mistaken regarding her race. They lived outside of town and when she went into town for any reason, she would take a bus. When she took Whitworth with her, the bus driver would help her on the bus and sit her behind him but send Whitworth to the back. His mother would insist that he sit with her. He grew up in an integrated neighborhood. He played with White children. They swam together. When they finished playing, they would eat together. They could not understand why they had to go to separate schools. This was in the 1930s and 1940s. His mother and father were well respected. He experienced very little prejudice growing up in the South. The first time he was referred to with the N-word was after he left the Marine Corps in San Diego, California. He was riding down the street and some Caucasians yelled it at him. This was the late 1940s. He is proud of his life in North Carolina.

Vaughn Whitworth remembers celebrating V-J Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. He felt that maybe the time had come when man realized war did not do any good. He was happy it was all over. He would stand on the beaches of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and be homesick. He wondered why he was there as the Japanese had done nothing to him. One day he could not see and went to sick bay. The Corpsman determined that he had sun blindness [Annotator's Note: called Photokeratitis]. For about a week he could not see. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Whitworth how he felt about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941.] Whitworth was on his way to the grocery store. When he got there the radio was on with the news. He did not know where Pearl Harbor was. Shortly after was when President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] required registering. All of his buddies were volunteering or being inducted. When his time came, it was something he had to do. He did not have any ill feelings about the Japanese and had not given it that much thought. He thought it was a terrible thing to bomb Pearl Harbor but had no particular bad feelings towards them. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Whitworth if he changed his position after combat in the Pacific.] You are brought into this and you do whatever you have to do. Some of the natives on Okinawa, Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands], and Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands], some of the White [Annotator's Note: Caucasian] guys thought Whitworth was Okinawan. He did not follow the war in Europe other than the news. He corresponded with his family. When his mother passed, she had saved all of his letters and he has them still. He did not correspond much with his brother in the Navy. His younger brother was in the Air Force, but not a Tuskegee Airman [Annotator's Note: African American airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Forces; name applies to all associated personnel]. They both made it home. The older brother did not go overseas. His younger brother was in England during the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 1950 to 1953].

Returning to the United States, Vaughn Whitworth was offered a promotion to reenlist. He had had enough and went home. He went back to Montford Point [Annotator's Note: Camp Montford Point, Jacksonville, North Carolina] and was discharged [Annotator's Note: 1 March 1946]. He went to Kings Mountain, North Carolina where his parents were. The government had subsidized the farmers by paying them not to farm different things. His father was given a plan to plant trees on his property. Whitworth had come from Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] and Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California] before going to North Carolina for discharge. He had decided then that he did not want to be on the farm. He returned to California on a trip and decided to move there. He began working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation [Annotator's Note: now Lockheed Martin] in Burbank [Annotator's Note: Burbank, California]. He got married. He has a daughter who is an attorney. He and his wife have been married 65 years [Annotator's Note: at the time of this interview]. Whitworth did not have any nightmares but has had dreams of memories [Annotator's Note: of his combat]. He cannot understand someone who wants to fight all the time. He cannot say he has any ill effects. He only talks about his service when he asked. Some things are too graphic to mention. His most memorable experience was going into Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands] and getting off the ship. What he saw there was scary, it was just a fear that he was not going to make it. To see men fall around you while you are moving forward makes you think you are not going to make it. [Annotator's Note: Whitworth gets emotional.] As General Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] said, "War is hell."

Vaughn Whitworth did not decide to fight in World War 2, he was inducted. He felt it was his duty to go along. He did not want to be classified as 4F [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification indicating that the individual is not fit or acceptable for military service; due to medical or dental reasons mostly]. The war changed his life for the better. The Marine Corps taught him to obey or suffer the consequences. That went even into his married life. [Annotator's Note: Whitworth laughs.] The first 69 years after the war, his service did not mean a lot. The government decided to recognize his service [Annotator's Note: the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed by United States Congress, was awarded to the Montford Point Marines on 27 June 2012]. Since that time, the American people and the government have bent over backwards to address a wrong. They are asked to appear at functions to inform the youth of what they went through. Many schools in Southern California are constantly asking them to appear. They have been honored in parades and other veteran events. A lot of people knew a little about the Tuskegee Airmen [Annotator's Note: African-American airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Forces; name applies to all associated personnel], but nothing about the others. Commandant Amos [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General James F. "Jim" Amos, 35th Commandant of United States Marine Corps] said that this is a part of history that America needs to know about. Whitworth thinks the war does not mean too much to America today. Those who know what really went on are mostly gone. For Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975] and Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 1950 to 1953], it is more up to date with the people today. Not many of the older people around now. He feels that it is very important for there to be The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and others that teach the war. The Smithsonian Institute [Annotator's Note: in Washington, D.C.] is trying to do the same thing. There is a monument [Annotator's Note: Montford Point Marine Memorial; completed 2018] being built in Jacksonville, North Carolina to acknowledge the things that some of them did to make this a better world.