Unsubscribe Podcast - 171 - WW2 Veterans On The Battle Of Iwo Jima ft. Don Graves & Al Chatwin | Unsubscribe Podcast Ep 171

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

It is a huge honor for us to be able to bring you all this episode. Listening to these stories from these heroes is truly a privilege. Huge thanks to Don & Al for coming on! Watch this episode ad-free and uncensored on Pepperbox! https://www.pepperbox.tv/ WATCH THE AFTERSHOW & BTS ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/UnsubscribePodcast ------------------------------ THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! MANSCAPED Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code UNSUB at https://manscaped.com ADAM AND EVE Go to https://www.adamandeve.com and use code UNSUB for 50% off + Free shipping + Rush Processing! FUM For a limited time, use code UNSUB to get a free gift with your Journey Pack! Head to https://tryfum.com and use code UNSUB. ------------------------------ FREE TO USE MEDIA: (please tag/credit us when you post!) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uppmQHMGf8uI2OuOatp932e3S2VGy0PE BUY US A DRINK! https://paypal.me/UnsubscribePodcast UNSUB MERCH: https://www.bunkerbranding.com/pages/unsubscribe-podcast ------------------------------ FOLLOW THE HOSTS: Eli_Doubletap https://www.instagram.com/eli_doubletap/ https://www.twitch.tv/Eli_Doubletap https://x.com/Eli_Doubletap https://www.youtube.com/c/EliDoubletap Brandon Herrera https://www.youtube.com/@BrandonHerrera https://x.com/TheAKGuy https://www.instagram.com/realbrandonherrera Donut Operator https://www.youtube.com/@DonutOperator https://x.com/DonutOperator https://www.instagram.com/donutoperator The Fat Electrician https://www.youtube.com/@the_fat_electrician https://thefatelectrician.com/ https://www.instagram.com/the_fat_electrician https://www.tiktok.com/@the_fat_electrician ------------------------------ unsubscribe pod podcast episode ep unsub funny comedy military army comedian texas podcasts #podcast #comedy #funnypodcast #military history Chapters: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Excuse me, Marines. All right, Don, don't start talking about my Navy boy. You ever done a history segment when the person is sitting A foot to your right How deep you want to go When you get through with it Will you send it over to us Some things never change Okay

Are we ready to crack these tops Gentlemen are you ready To crack the tops Are we going to do that Oh yeah You hold up After the count of three We're going to...

Wait. Fingernails. There we go. Three, two, one. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Unsubscribe Podcast. I am joined today by Mr. Eli Doubletap, the fat electrician, Don Graves, Al Chitwin, and Britt Chatwin.

Oh, my gosh. Oh my gosh. This is embarrassing. She started it. We're still starting it. I'm leaving now. Goodbye. It's been a pleasure. Brandon Herrera and myself, Donut Operator, thank you so much for tuning in today.

Holy shit. This came together really quickly. First off, it is an honor. Like, I truly mean that from the bottom of all our hearts, the audience for you guys to take the time out of your day, your team bringing out here and just to represent what like true American heroes are and what you guys have done and actually the sacrifices you made. I mean that from the bottom of my fucking heart. From all of us. You guys are truly just amazing humans for what you went through and what you did and accomplished. Thank you.

That's the most heartfelt thing I think we've ever gave a guest before. And on top of that, from all the boys, we did this together. Mr. Connor! Yes, sir? We got you a gift. We got you both a gift from all of us over here.

So we just wanted to say thank you for every, again, just thank you for like everything. Greatest generation and what you guys went through is. Don and Mr. Al. Thank you, gentlemen, for your service. Thank you. Open it up. Open it up. Open it up. Pop that top.

The name scares me. It's Hamilton. It's a $100 Best Buy gift card. Oh, wow. Oh, my goodness. Look at this. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

You're welcome. You guys can keep that yourselves. Pass it on to your kiddos. Kiddos, kiddos. But that's our way of saying thank you so much. You're welcome. You guys can keep that yourselves, pass it on to your kiddos, kiddos, kiddos. But that's our way of saying thank you for everything you guys do. This is a climax. Just keep selling tickets. Show the camera. Show the camera that stuff.

Show the cameras that stuff. We went with military. We're like, OD Green. These dudes are just OD military bros. Thank you. Of course. We just appreciate you guys taking the time to come on. It's a privilege to speak with military. We're like, OD Green. These dudes are just OD military bros. Thank you. Of course. We just appreciate you guys taking the time to come on. It's a privilege to speak with you.

Truly a privilege. Truly a privilege. So where do we even begin on this one? We got like Mr. Historian. Oh, boy. You guys, watching your interviews, watching you guys talk is amazing. You have so much energy. How old are both of you right now?

Are you both 100 yet? No. No, not yet. Whoa, offensive. 99. Okay. I'm pushing him. I'm the young one.

98. That is amazing. Now, for history, Nick, do you want to go in and give a little more history on what these fine gentlemen are known for? You ever done a history segment when the person is sitting a foot to your right? How deep you want to go? I guess, when did both of you guys start

or join the military? What age? 18. 18? You don't have to lie. Yeah, I got drafted. You got drafted? Yes, sir. And you were Navy? Yeah. 17. Permission slip? and you were Navy and Don 17

permission slip permission slip from the parents your parents have to sign my dad and mother had to sign the day of the second you turned if it's going to be later on I can tell you no

why I signed was in school a lot of kids walked out of school and wound up in the war. And a lot of those kids at Pearl Harbor that are down in that ship, Arizona, skip school. And when I speak to high school, they'll all come up and have words and some of the fellows will say, how could you do that? How could you leave everything and go off to war? I said, so you can stand there

and tell me what you just said. My dad did it. That's the way it is. Young men fight wars, not older men. They won't do it. It takes young men. And we were crazy. And speaking for

the Corps, they made me worse crazy. True devil dog. And then I was being drafted. Everybody went to war. Our sisters, our mothers, everybody went to war in the factories

that's how we produced so doggone fast and furnished three allied companies plus ourselves and if it weren't for them we'd have never won the war no, I truly agree on that they put a lot of airplanes out

they did a lot I mean that was part of recovering the economy at that point. The amount of jobs and everything that came from the manufacturing. We need beans, bullets, airplanes, and ship it overseas as fast as possible. There's something else that really hit me hard. I've been watching

the conventions. Republican conventions. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. I'm neither. I'll go for the party that does something for our country. But when I heard those people speak about about everything that went on that was allowed because illegals came into the country, I felt like an American again. I was depressed over it. Those people were pure-blooded Americans. And listen, the last time I think some of you fellows were there, when we were at the American Airlines, all those people up in the balcony, you remember, way up, all the way around.

They were applauding. Gary Guinness was there. It was just tears coming down my face. I finally caught something that reminded me of my country when I was a kid. And I think we're rallying our own. I think we're going to become real active American people. All we need is a leader.

And we had leaders during the war, incidentally. And we've got one that was born and raised not too far from here. The Admiral. Yes. He was my boss. He was your boss, too. He was my boss.

Even though you were in the Navy. Hey! he was your boss too even though you were in the navy I bet you guys revved each other a lot we had to carry him around where they had to go of course you did and you could do it safely because we manned the guns this is what I was looking forward to.

What is that? Down to take a look at his toes. All right, Don, don't start talking about my Navy boy over here. We're going to have a problem. What is that old saying? War changes, but war fighters don't. See what you fellow started? As it should be how old were you guys when fdr was elected go where fdr during the war you said we had a lot of great leaders i'm assuming he's one of them that you're talking about

yeah well i was still 15 then 15 when fdr was elected, now you hit on something. Yeah. That was our hero. He took us through the war. He took us through the Great Depression. Took us out of the Depression. Now the war starts. He took us through the war.

My first regimental commander was Jimmy Roosevelt, his son. Good Marine. He was 6'3". I was an inch shorter then than am now i carried a 72 pound frame through on my back up a hill and he'd go off like this and i lost it and i began to say things i shouldn't and i looked next to me there was a shiny pair of boots and it was him says, that's all right, man. You'll make it. Yes, sir. Now, I want to know what basic training was like for the boot camp and then

boot camp in the Navy? Was it called boot camp for the Navy? Yes, boot camp. Yeah. We had boot camp. That's for sure. Yeah. Because we have, I mean, in 2000s, we went through basic training completely different than when you guys did basic training. Well, neither one of us will ever forget it, right?

Right. Go ahead, sailor. I had a good one. Huh? I had a good one. They opened up a, see, I was drafted in New York, New York State and the boot camp. The big old

Canada Day Relay is the long and skinny one. Yeah, man, even had us out there rowing. Rowing boats. Cold ass water. Yep. So when you guys were getting, like for the Navy boot camp did you get smoked a lot in trouble when it's like doing push-ups what how did they punish you like now they can't do anything they just you get a timeout card now if you guys yeah stress cards now they're literally a thing now what like for the Navy how was? When you guys like just smoked the shit out of you guys?

Sorry for my French. No, I thought it was really easy. We got the hikes and marching and that type of thing. And when I got there, I came down with what they called cat fever and I spent almost three weeks in the hospital tent. It was evidently a normal situation because I'd never heard of cat fever before. Caterpillar or something. They cured me of it, and they went back,

and I went back to work. That's great. I just like it was a hospital's a tent. At that time, it was just like a tent out in the heat or summertime, wintertime. Was it summer or winter, spring? Spring. Spring. Okay.

So it wasn't too bad. Well, that depends where you are in New York State. Originally from Buffalo, and we get snowstorms. The lake affects snow. I remember my son, after he got married, had rented an apartment, and they had an open deck outside outside but he was on the second level well that winter we had snow and you walk from his his porch out on right on top of the snow which is at right at second level

Don't even need stairs God dang. Do you have any bad habits that you need an alternative to know? Why do you ask? Well, have you ever heard of the flavored air category? No tons. Why it's quickly becoming the leading alternative to bad habits Is that the one that's a whole new movement towards better habits? Led by the sponsor of today's video, Fume. Fume is an award-winning flavored air device with flavors like crisp mint and orange vanilla. Fume draws flavor to your mouth hole. And there's no vapor, so you can use it anywhere. There's no nicotine. It's not addictive. Non-toxic flavors. And no batteries, so you never have to worry about charging it or what happens when it dies and you freak out. It's a guilt-free alternative. It looks awesome!

Brandon, feel the weighted, cool design. Oh my god, it's almost like it's made to fidget with. Like it calms anxiety through the use of magnets and things. Which of the core flavors is your favorite, Brandon and Cody? Crisp mint. I like orange vanilla. It's like a creamstickle. Fuma served over 300,000 customers. And you could be the next

success story for a limited time use the code unsub to get a free gift with your journey pack head to tryfume.com that's t-r-y-f-u-m.com with code unsub or scan the qr code on screen right now to get a free gift with your order today so cat fever real quick. I was listening to Al talk about cat fever. It's when you have a temperature over 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be caused by bacterial, viral, or fungal infections or parasites, like basically bad living conditions. Yeah. So in boot camp, you probably didn't have the best living conditions.

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If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. No, we didn't. Some things never change. Not at all. I bet the Marines is beautiful, though, right? Five-star hotel, boot camp just. I wish San Diego. Hollywood. Godspeed. Hollywood Marine. though right five-star hotel boot camp just i went to san diego hollywood hollywood marine dream on well the first thing that happened the first morning jackson standing he knows he went through

it they marched us the the staff sergeant marched us down to the boonies, the water. And there were warehouses there. We had tents because there were so many troops, the kids that came in. The playground was just all thick with troops. So he marched us down there and he said, I want you young fellows to take a look at those transports. Do you see them? We said, yes, sir.

He said, when I get through with you, you're going to be sent to some outfit. And when you get in that outfit and you train, you might be on one of those transports. And if you keep your nose clean and do as we tell you, you might just make it, but I doubt it very much. How's that for 17-year-old kids? Then we fell out for inspection one time.

I don't know why he took it out on me. I don't know. Maybe I had some sort of a look. But he stood right up in front of me, and his nose was right there. He said, you miss your mama? I didn't say one word. You don't answer because you're going to get it. I didn't say one word.

You miss your mama? Oh, do I see a tear falling there? Uh-huh. I thought so well before we're done in this eight weeks here in this man's core we will make young men out of you don't you ever forget it so get in shape right now and that's when the tear came now when you guys what what were punishments in boot camp for like, let's say you, Don. If you got in trouble, what would be a punishment in boot camp?

You know, we weren't used to by the clock. So I was scrubbing my teeth. Didn't shave then. I was scrubbing my teeth. Scrubbing my teeth. We fell out five o'clock and we left for chow. I come

running. Where's the fellas at? Nobody here. Oh my gosh, they have left. So I got out in the street, company street, and there they're going. I ran all the way. I could have snuck in the rear. Toon Hawk, onek one two graves fall out i fell out in front uh-oh what time do we fall off for chow i made a mistake i think

bam bam bam and i went down right down on the ground. And all the kids said, oh. What they meant was, you can burn him now. But I didn't. Get this. Later on, I had a phone call I could make. So I wanted to call my mama. My dad was a Marine in the First war big bad deal so i got on the phone and he grabbed the phone and said hello i said dad this is don yeah how you doing i said well you know i got a

little problem on and i said i got so doggone ticked off and mad at him he decked me you know he said it seems to me that I remember you hounded us to death to go in the Marine Corps. You got in, now shut your mouth and do what you're told. Hung up the phone. And I said, I didn't expect that.

Thanks, Dad. Love you! You asked the question, what made us, where did we go in? We were in a car, the three of us. Buddies, we grew up together, went off to war and came home.

The three of us were sitting there, we were all 15 years, 16 years old. Had a blanket, a throne, right in Detroit. The day after Pearl Harbor, and we're sitting there listening to the big bands. Oh, we love the big bands. Then all of a sudden the announcer came on.

Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this broadcast. The president of the United States will address the nation. And we were sat like this and on came our hero. When I heard this speech, I went downtown Detroit to the recording office, and I had 35 cents to buy a recording with his speech on it two weeks later. No doubt. It was hot. Everybody bought it.

I don't know where it's at now. But this is what he said and we're listening. Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy. United States

of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked upon by the naval forces of Japan. I interpret the will of Congress and of the people. We will gain triumphant victory, so help us God.

I said, tomorrow morning, I'm skipping school and going to join the Marine Corps. They said, you can't, you got to be 17. I'm going down to get the paper. They said, your mom's not going to sign it oh yes she will no no she's not going to sign that paper your dad will he was a marine the first war

well six months went by it i was 17. we had a birthday party i ran out that door ran all the way downtown detroit one mile i ran all the way up the stairs in the federal building on the fourth floor. I walked towards the wall. Here was the gunny sergeant standing there. He said, what can I do for you, young man? I said, I want to sign up. He said, how old are you? I said, 16.

He says, I can't take you. You've got to be 17. Well, I said, I only got six months to go he said when you get to be 17 come back and see me we can do business well now i'm there and he says well how did you do i says i got it i got it he said did your mother sign yes he said how'd you get her to sign my dad said Vera come over here I just signed this sign that that was my mother's name she's I'm not signing that I went through this first world war I'm not going through this again he said Vera let me talk to you the boy walks out of school

he's doing menial jobs he'll probably turn out to be a bum. Sign the paper. When I heard that, I did this to my mother. You did the sad face? She said, give me the pen. Ran back down. That's when the gunny sergeant met me. And two weeks later, I was in the Corps. You're going to be a bum.

Hi, everyone. Donut here. We're doing shots before going to be a bum. Hi, everyone. Donut here. We're doing shots before going to the Pacific War Museum to hang out with our friends, Al and Don. The only thing more fun than history is buzzed history. On some field trip. This is the only museum in the country dedicated strictly to the war in the Pacific. They have a name.

We hit the beach. It took us three days from the beach to go 575 feet to the face of mount suribashi what was it like okay al what was it like getting drafted that would be since we don't know what that's like, period. There's, being voluntold to do something is a crazy thing, and to serve during that time period, any time period, with, like, volunteers versus, like, you're forced to join, so how was that on your, like, oh, well, I'm doing war. Yeah.

That doesn't sound too good, does it? No. But it was, well, completely meaningless to me at that time until I got into the raising my right hand and say, I do. And, well, I was a little runt. I weighed 127 pounds. So I had qualms about what I could do. They told me what I could do. And I did it. So the boot camp was an eye-opener, too.

It really was. And being in the Navy, they even had boats for rowing. And I was a little shrimp, so they had me as a coxswain so i did the stroke stroke stroke i didn't have to pull the oar so al did they just did they come to you one day and say hey you're in the navy now no no they they the the we gotta uh right after we got the notice we gotta know us where to meet get on the bus and take you downtown to Buffalo, and they signed us in there. There was no leading up to anything.

It says, this is it, and that's what you got. That's what you do. So you didn't get to choose your branch. They just told you, hey, well, you're doing this now. No, I chose a branch. Okay. Smart man. He's like, maybe, maybe.

What was the turnaround time from letter received to, hey, you have to report to duty station? Well, what they did is they sent me a notice that there's going to be a bus waiting for you and all the draftees. And we went from there into Buffalo and got signed in. Holy moly. So it was like a week? Yeah.

How much time did you have before the notice and meeting? Like how much time did you have to tell your family, bye, get your stuff in order? Oh, two weeks. Two damn what what were you doing at the time like what job were you doing at the time i was still in school okay so they just said you're in the navy now report in two weeks yes and i got to the to the bus and here was the mayor of my village was there, too, and he had five kids. Holy. And were five kids there with you? No, no. Oh, it was like, dang.

The mayor was like, damn it. Here we go. Yeah, right. So he ended up with LSTs in Europe and I ended up well I had put in for uh aviation I wanted to fly and uh well I went in in 44 and the uh the Air Force said sorry we're not hiring pilots anymore. So I said, well, then I think I'll check the Navy because I don't have to sleep in a foxhole in the rain. Smart man. Don's like, shut up.

He's like, it was a comfortable foxhole. You know, listening to him him i thought of something after eight weeks now normally in the marine corps boot camp is 12 weeks but because of the amount of young men we had they made it short we did everything that they normally they do in 12 we get in eight weeks to work the life out of us but there's something that i learned and i think he would agree to this when they got done with eight weeks in boot camp how many weeks did you have about eight weeks eight weeks okay when when they got through in boot camp, we had a ceremony. We were all lined up and the band came out, Marine Corps band.

And when they played, if you had a camera, you'd never see a dry eye. We looked at that flagpole and saw all glory go up. For the first time in my life, I felt like a young man that had a responsibility in the front of me. Yeah, I've got to go along with that. To get my country squared away. We all felt, we went back to our tents after, and we discussed that. But we were still teenagers. I'll conclude with this.

I don't know why, but when you have a family come and visit and they leave, you're homesick. You should never have it. It just messes your life up. My mother came with my aunt. We went all over. We had a good time. They left. I came home, flop. We went all over. We had a good time. They left. I came home,

flopped out on the bunk, and the morning they fell off for show, I wasn't going to go. And my buddy who was in charge said, Graves, get out here. I said, I can't see it. Bad thing to say. Yeah. Bad.

Yeah. He took off with boys. Ten minutes later, I'm on a cot and the flap was right there next to me the flap went up the cot went upside down and i hit the deck and the first sergeant said graves report to my tent as soon as you're dressed i got up and i dressed i went into his tent nice to serge he said graves he cussed i don't know you snot kids are driving me crazy he says the old man's gonna come and talk to you i'm my captain i love that guy he liked me he put a flamethrower on my back. And I was the shortest guy in the company. Well, he said, okay, Graves, we got to walk up the hill to the old man, our colonel. He's the one that gave the flag to the lieutenant put up on Mount Suribachi. So he said, we walked up, we knocked on the door, come here. We walked in

and I'm standing next to my skipper and he said, Graves? I said, yes, sir. Not again. He said, how many times is this? Third one, sir. What did I give you the last time? Two days bread and water? You're a troublemaker. Well, why play around with it? Why bother? Why don't we give you five this time? Maybe you might wake up and learn something. I says, yes, sir, I'll take it.

Go. On the way back, the scipper said to me, Graves, he said, listen, I didn't know when I came in the car that I'd be handling snot-faced kids that are babies. My gosh, wake up and become a young man. The best advice he ever

gave me. That was it. This is the time, it's crazy. You have drill sergeants that you got punched how many times by your drill sergeant? Huh? When your drill sergeant punched you multiple times? No, no, no.

No, no, no, no. They can't touch you, but they can rail right on you and burn you up. My sergeant, he went home every night. I think he had a problem with his wife. That's what I think. He wasn't very happy he was mad and i was just the guy he was going to take it out on i can believe that because you know i was a nice kid he didn't have to hit me. Holy shit. You guys are amazing.

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You were infantry and you had a M2 flamethrower, correct? Marine Corps is all infantry, yeah. Oh, perfect. And then flamethrower, you had the M2. That was your job in the military. M1. We started out with the First World War, 03 Springfield. That was a good one.

Here we are. We never carried a rifle like that in our life. Bold action. Six rounds. We went to the rifle range. They gave me the rifle, prone position, elbow on something, and I went like

this. See what I'm doing with my left hand? Yeah, you put your thumb on this. And I'm firing the left hand yeah you put your thumb on this and I'm firing away and he says what are you doing I said I'm firing my rifle sergeant you can't do that in the Marine Corps you can't do that I said I have to he says I'm left-handed I can't help it I'm left-handed give I can't help it. I'm left-handed. Give me six rounds fast. So I put a clip in.

Bang, bang, bang, six. Well, I guess we're going to break another rule in this man's Marine Corps. Go ahead. All right. Then the M1 came out. That took care of it. Yes, it did. That weapon won the war. Oh, that, it did. That weapon won the war.

Oh, that was a magnificent weapon. It won the war. The first semi-automatic standard-issued weapon in the world. And they had the carbine. Yep. Just as good. No distance, though. Short.

You guys all like the M1, though? Oh, we loved it. Yeah. Did you ever have any issues in the pacific in the jungle did it ever like warp the wood with the temperature i'm not following you um the m1 is uh it's wood it's a wood stock right it's all wood stock so in vietnam a lot of vietnam vets said that the jungle climate would warp the wood we never had that never had that. Not on Guam. It's hardwood.

Same for you. You trained with the M1? Yeah. Okay. What was your job? Explain your job during the Navy time. To be honest about it,

I was a plunky. Seaman, second class. Whatever job came along, I got it. Mess cooking, guard duty, unloading bags of cement. So, Al, you were a boat's wins mate? I was a yeoman. A yeoman. So you were just doing everything that they wanted you to do.

Oh, yes. Well, that's before i got my reading it was a seaman second that i made first and uh i i went in in 44 but i didn't hit guam until Christmas Eve of 1944. No doubt. And after I served my time at least six months over there in Guam, I said, what about rank? a rink. And he says, well, the only thing we got over here right now is a yeoman. And I said,

a yeoman? That's a ball bearing wave, isn't it? Gesundheit. Al said he was a petty officer third class, so him and I are E4 for life. E4 mafia. Yeah, E4 mafia. You're just going to high five me.

E4 mafia for life there you go what ship were you on during Guam I wasn't land based were you at the battle when they retook Guam were you there no no I came in

after the Marines executed and I worked at the Naval receiving station there. So we, all the ships that got sunk

and the crews came back through our base either heading back to the States or waiting to pick up another ship.

And we just in and out, in and out. Work, work, work. And this is the time. How much did they pay you for the Navy? How much was your pay as an E-4 a month? Well, give them 50 bucks. Inflation's a hell of a drug.

That's crazy. Like, you're going to war. 50 bucks well right and you're like oh i guess so i had another another problem and that was a home problem because i'd take money and got back home I said where's my money oh oh well your brother's kids needed it so I gave it to them I was gonna buy cars who's my heart my heart i'm just trying to think of what the 1940s equivalent of a camaro at 36 dang and then don you you were issued the m m the flamethrower one m1 flamethrower m2 m2 yeah i was like i think it was m2 and that and that is a terrifying thing so if anyone's never fired one put one on when you crank those nozzles to even get the fuel system running

it's a high pressure system and you hear like the creaking of the metal i fired one i've got yeah it is and the recoil it. Yeah. It's surprising. But what's the fuel inside of that? It's nitrogen. There's a middle tank that's nitrogen, and the two other tanks are. Two tin tanks. One settling tank. They're reinforced.

Five gallons. A gun with a cap rotating. Remember the cap guns? Rotating cap. A needle, you pull a trigger, needle hits and sparks it, shoot the juice. Out it goes. What's the fuel? Is it gasoline, diesel?

Fuel oil. All fuel, oil and gas. Napalm, we didn't use it because the tanks had napalm. They could shoot that thing way out. You know. We strictly had burning fuel, you know. And then you talked about, I know previously you talked about, even when you were beaching. Hitting the beach? Yeah, hitting the beach in Iwo Jima. You had that on your back. I had it on my back, yeah.

And then how deep was the water at that? Like, I can't fathom that. Almost up to my waist. We couldn't get any closer. Everybody's jammed on the beach. We couldn't get up. We couldn't get over the side. How am I going to get 72 pumps over the side?

I have a man on my left and one on the right they have to stay with me if i don't have them i'm done because if i fall i can't get up were you guys using amphibious tractors or amphibious tractors that's exactly what we had not out the front you go over and you come in that way. So he said, I can't get any closer. Overboard. So we all got out. My two buddies helped me up and shoved me. I went down in the water. And I'm crawling up towards the sand.

And finally I get up to where I get out of this. They came and grabbed me, dragged me up on the sand. It was jammed. We were just like this, jammed we were just just like this jammed and they were right there on mount suribachi 575 feet away firing down on us when when you first hit the beach with the flamethrower did you have to have the caps for ignition for the flamethrower in a bag or anything to keep the water no ruining them? No, no. Everything's just right on your back.

Yeah. Okay. There's no problem. Yeah. So, Eli, real quick. Filled up. It was 68 pounds. Yep.

Served by one crew member, Don. And it had one nitrogen tank for the propellant and two U.S. gallon tanks of napalm slash gasoline at a total, yes, of 68 pounds. 68 pounds. And you were the smallest one? What's that? You were the smallest one? I was the short one. And they're like, here you go. I was what they called a feather merchant.

He did have a feather merchant, too. We're on the rear end. So you're saying you were side by side. There was a bunch of you. How many Marines were during the assault? How many carried the flamethrower or during the assault? During the assault, side flames or or give me in the during the assault side by three divisions well excuse me two divisions we held the third division in the rear sixty thousand for about a week but when we got hit so hard we needed replacement so they sent

the we had all three my my regiment we hit green beach one right by Suribachi, and we would go over the top, turn left, and secure that because that's where they had full power over eight square miles. They could shoot anywhere. It was eight square miles. So that was our job. The third went up to the right on the airstrips. That airstrip was tore all apart. The primary purpose of being there, we had to get the airstrips. That airstrip was tore all apart. And the primary purpose of

being there, we had to get the airstrips straightened out because the B-29s were getting knocked down. Our planes could not go there and take them back to Saipan. They run out of fuel. So the purpose of taking that was getting it rebuilt. The Seabees did that. Incidentally, the Seabees, for the first time, hit the beach with us, and they said they'll never do it again. They had a heavy casualty. Oh, yeah. They weren't trained for that.

Navy Seabees. There we go. Navy again. There we go. Yeah. And they were to secure those airstrips so the B-29s could come in. I saw the first one come in and land on fire. Holy shit.

The Air Force took over that down there. They were right around the airstrips. And when they saw that baby come in and saw it get on fire, they got the crew out of there within minutes and backed off, and she just went puff like this. That was it. Dang. As you it's experiencing war is one thing uh we've talked about on the podcast like the but like my war even the wars before that compared to what you guys went through is just i can't rationalize that in my head like when we're getting in a fight it's it a fight, it's because one guy or two guys max

or an IED is going off. So it's just, they're setting off an explosion and running. They're not doing, it's not a battle versus you guys went through like a war war. Like how many- We haven't had near pure warfare in 80 years.

Yeah. Our generation has no clue. Well, you know what scared me? Word came around what what's what what do we need to find out how quick they got killed what is the lifespan the span lifespan of the flames were on iwo jima was four minutes holy shit i can't i was the only one of my battalion that walked off out of every Out of the battalion. And a battalion is 400? 850. Oh.

How many survived in Iwo Jima? Well, there's not too many. Very few. Very few. Yeah. That's... Very few. Your company was... Your company? I'm the only one in my battalion, you know. And that's out

of all the flamethrowers. And then your battalion of soldiers, in my battalion. And that's out of all the flames. And then your battalion of soldiers, because your battalion was 800 people? Excuse me, Marines. Marines. Oh, my God. I knew that was coming. I knew it was coming as soon as you said it. A soldier. I know.

An army built in my head. He's like, Marine. He slaps me. I'm like, I'm sorry. I can't help it. That's what they said in a boot camp were there other islands that you made amphibious landings on i spent a lot of time around the pacific we were all set for for combat i was in a second anti-tank battalion. I drove a Dodge pickup with a 37

millimeter anti-tank gun, and it was right next to my head. And once in a while we'd fire on the run, training. Well, now I got hearing aids. Yeah, they did not have ear pro. I was about to say, did I mishear that? I came very close

to being on on um trevalla two square miles two thousand killed in two days we had eight square miles seven thousand killed in six weeks. Sure. 20,000 wounded. Tarawa. The Battle of Tarawa, the Japanese general in charge of Tarawa said that a million men couldn't take Tarawa in a hundred years. And Tarawa was unique because

they had coral reefs all around the island. So they didn't think that the Marinesines they they'd only ever seen higgins boats and higgins boats wouldn't be able to make it over the coral reefs well this is when the marines showed up with amphibious tractors and drove right over the top of them and kept going and it scared the dog shit out of the japanese um one of the one of the generals had recorded that one of the privates underneath him,

when he saw the tractors hit the coral atoll or the coral reefs and drive right over the top, said they looked like spiders crawling over the water and that the gods of death had come, referring to the Marines. Well, I like to refer to you know that island as two mile two miles of our eight miles same battle yeah bloody and they come up the marine corps come up with that was the worst battle in the history of the marine corps no other battles compared to it, but I found one. What do you think it is?

Philadelphia. Right over the border. Civil War. Oh, yeah. That was a battle. Gettysburg is compared to Iwo Jima. Wow. That was a bloody battle.

That was extremely, yeah. It's one of the most bloody battles in all of U.S. history. And then Iwo Jima. And then you, it's, for the viewers at home that don't know this, you were there during the raising of the flag in Iwo Jima. We were fighting up. And when we got to the crest, they were raising the pole. Do you know what that pole's made of? No.

Let's hear it. Drain pipe. They found drain pipe up there. We didn't have a flag. We knew nothing about a flag. My battalion commander took one from the ship his skipper told him he said colonel i got this flag if you can put it up when you get on that mountain up there put it up for me i appreciate he said i'll do it so that's how that flag got in the picture a drain pipe and they

found wire to tie the flag on with so when you saw it did you think anything of it at the time did you think that it was anything special or was it just another thing going on every eye was was watery when that flag went up and we were shocked to begin with when it went up 500 ships out in the bay let go with horns, rockets, everything, tracers, everything. Our boys on the North End let go with tracers. America. You know what it was like the 4th of July

at New York Harbor there? No doubt. Oh, it was. And we just stood there and boy, tears coming down our face. And the Japanese are like, well, shit, that's face. And the Japanese are like, well, shit. That's amazing.

All right, Brandon. But it only made the Japanese fight twice as hard. I got to get next to my E4 buddy over here. They're switching spots. Petty officers. Sometimes you have to be demoted, you know. Don, don't worry about the E4 mafia for life. E4 mafia, we got it.

We got it. The Navy love to sit together. Don't worry about how much I sleep. We're going to start fighting. Sometimes I sleep on my stomach, Elon. Al, what was one of your most crazy times in the military during that time? Crazy time? Oh, yeah.

Her name was, no. No, I was originally supposed to be a radio operator aboard an Avenger torpedo bomber. Oh, damn. And thank the lord that i failed it like no the same for me. Oh, man. Did you almost serve on a submarine? No. Okay. Heavens.

Not a fun time. Not a fun time. Where's the submariner over here? Is there a submariner over here? We got a bubble head over here, dude? Yeah, we got a bubble head. Oh. No, he's outside.

He's outside. No, he's outside. He's outside. No, he's outside. He's outside right now. Submarines aren't exactly great now back then. Very not great. Oh, man. Are you ready? Babe, let's bring out Big Daddy.

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Code UNSUB. So you've told multiple stories, Don, but what is a story you haven't told that much or out to the world where you're like, oh yeah, it's a cool or at least a crazy story or even just when you got in trouble the most in the military. I'm actually going to switch it to that.

I want to know what stuff you got into, what trouble you got into in the military. In the military? Worst trouble. Oh, I wish I hadn't asked that. That's the guy? Do I have to?

I mean. It's up to you. I met a girl. One? I met a girl. And, you know, young fellas think they're always in love, you know. Oh, yeah. Cody?

I stayed an extra day. I had a 72 leave, three days, and I took an extra day. That's where the colonel threw me in the brig. That was the first time. All right. The first time? Wait, what? Yeah, why did he throw you in the brig? Huh?

Why did he throw you in the brig? Discipline me. What'd you do? Took an extra day off. What did I do? I was over the hill with no leave. I took a little extra time. Hey, there was a fence there and there was a tent inside the fence

and I'm standing there and my lieutenant, my platoon leader comes by. Boy, I like that guy. He came by and he says, Graves, he said, let me ask you, was it worth it? I said, yes sir. He said, I thought so. And I understand taking your time, but an but an extra day man you are a hero so you said your first time in the brig that's the first time yeah go on Insubordination. Hey, insubordination.

Oh, you are my people, both of you. You're troublemakers. Well, you know, listen, when you start to think about it, there's no excuse. We were kids. Oh, yeah. Teenagers get into trouble. That's great. Except you. You didn't get in trouble. Did you?

No. No? You're a liar. You're just hiding it. That was such a legitimate offense. I know. Sir. How do you know?

How do you know? Where were you guys when you had heard that the japanese were going to surrender and that you knew that the war was over i'll tell you i i did a lot of singing in my company of italian and i put shows on you know i grew up my skipper said graves is time for a program of entertainment and i said well he well, he said, just volunteer them. Tell them I said they're going to have to perform. So I went around, heard some guy did a tap, you know. We had a pretty good show.

They hesitated, but I says, the old man says you got to do it. So they had to do it. We put on a show. They hadn't surrendered yet germany had already surrendered and we put this show on and it was around nine o'clock at night outside in the tent and we had a wooden stage and they all did their stuff and i was going to close it by singing a song and i'm singing then all of a sudden in the audience come three photographers with their cameras. And we said, and I look like that, Bob Crosby,

Bing Crosby's brother. He was our recreation officer. And he was next to me and I said, fellas, what are you doing? And the boys jumped up and said, get out of here. You broke our show up. Get out of here. No, no, no, wait. The war is over. And they froze.

Get out of here. We would never believe that thing would ever end. No, it's over. Harry Truman was notified. They woke him up this morning. Everything's set. They have surrendered unconditionally

and all of a sudden hats went up we went crazy and Bob Crosby said give me your attention fellas how could you tell the difference how could you tell the difference well

Bob Crosby said, fellas, go to your tents. We all walked, and we're going down the company streets, several. Not one word. Not one word was spoken. We got in our tents, got in our bunks, and all you could hear was sniffing. Too proud to share.

It was great. It was wonderful. And that was wonderful to experience a pastry. The war was over. Absolutely. Beautiful. What about you, Al? When did you hear the news?

You weren't over the hill, were you? No. Okay. God, I love you guys together. I was chasing the Guamanians. Let's see. Well, the CO put it on the speaker system. So it was the whole camp surrogate.

And I can't remember the date or anything. But incidentally, the CO of the receiving station, he was a woolly booger guy. He kept throwing beer parties out on the beach sounds like our people when sorry when when did you guys hear how the war ended did you guys hear that there was nuclear weapons involved did you no no. We heard nothing about that. Only that they finally had enough. They had to surrender. They were just about wiped out. They had no Navy. I went into Ryuka, Sassable Harbor.

And it's a submarine base. And you should see the submarines turned upside down and what ships were there were sticking up with a bow out. I mean, our Air Force just pounded that place to attack. We went in and slept in warehouses. Rats all over. We had our blankets over us and all of a sudden, what the heck was that? Rats. Oh, they were all over. We had our blankets over us, and all of a sudden, what the heck was that?

Rats. Oh, they were all over the warehouse. Well, we were supposed to hold that area. Later, we went off into towns because we had to clean up. We didn't do it. We supervised the people to do it. We never saw a human being in Japan for two weeks. Holy shit. Never saw them.

Then all of a sudden, kids would come down. We'd give them a candy, ration bar candy. They'd go back. Their mama would come down. Then she'd get some canned goods, you know. They didn't have anything. And the old man came down he was a little bit superstitious about it but all of a sudden they went and told everybody that

people are coming down now that was it this is during a time frame when so the japanese were told the american soldiers will kill you they're going to do terrorists we're going to yeah kill terrible terrible things just and that's what they their military told and their country told their uh the civilians that's why a lot committed uh some puka or uh in order to instead of getting captured surrendered so that's why when you like the kids kids coming down, give candy, then it's just like, holy shit, they're not eating us. They're not terrible humans. I got into homes. I had a great time.

There was one man there. He was going to start a union at the docks. They never had unions, you know. And he was telling me, he said, I have to tell you that your president, Mr. Roosevelt, he was supporting the unions and people got a decent wage. We are trying to do that here. That's crazy. I have a question about the rats.

The what? The rats. The rats, yes. You're a Marine. Did the Marines ever tell you? I hate them. yes. You're a Marine. Did the Marines ever take... I hate them. Okay, you were a Marine. You are a Marine. Did you ever take the two biggest rats

and fight them against each other? That's something that Marines would do. You're all good. You hear me out. He hasn't said no. We never thought about it. I knew a couple guys would do it. He called you rattlesnakes.

I knew a Marine would take the rats and fight them against each other. I got an idea, guys. There's a big rat here. There's a big rat here. What if they fall? We're all bored. I'm just saying.

In Los Angeles, you were in California, weren't you? Were you in California? Yeah. The L.A. hotel? Well, we took that hotel over during the war. I was tuning in. I was tuning in. And there was a court.

You know, there's rooms all, and there's that hollow court. We had a few guys that brought the simulator bombs, you know, they just had a loud boom, you know, and when that echo, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and Luwenzahl,

he caught rattlesnakes, killed them, then he'd skin them, and he'd make belts the guy was really good his mother managed the LA hotel no doubt I went back there after the war

and I wanted to visit her he had moved and she said, Graves you guys just about put me out of business all we had was reports about noises and doors. Doors with a fist and played through it. It was terrible.

It was awful. It's called booze and Marines. Al, you said they told you about nuclear bombs when the Japanese surrendered. What did they say? Or what was your guys' understanding of what a nuclear bomb was? Did you even know what it was? Well, yeah, I did.

Because I was an electronics fan. That's what I took after I got out of the service. Went to school for electronics. Yeah. Yeah. out of the service, went to school for electronics. So, yeah.

I didn't know entirely about it, but I knew. You had an idea. Yeah, I had an idea what it was. And that's what scared the hell out of me. I bet. Yeah. What I did to Japan, man, killed thousands and thousands of people. Instant.

In a flash. This is scaring the hell out of me right now. Our government figured out how to harness the sun. Yeah, right. There you go. But to end the war, though, because even the Battle of Iwo Jima was a very bloody battle. And that's what the one piece of history is. It would have been more deaths actually getting on mainland than just the two nuclear bombs that were set off during that time. And that's, that's the piece of history that we brought up on a previous podcast is that

every purple heart that the U S military has ever given out to current day, including yours that you got was actually made in preparation for my job. It was made in preparation for an invasion of Japan because they were expecting that many casualties. Yeah. Which is wild. Getting ready for it crazy now this is if you want a crazy story so Don you during the they will used to hammer they

would bomb the beaches and that's what's more that's where you guys would hang out or hide in at first when you were getting on the beaches when you beached Iwo Jima, correct? Yes, what about the bombing? You would hide in the bombs, or in the holes, the craters. Yes, I always say the air car. Air car.

Air car at that time. Made the best tailor-made foxholes a Marine ever called into. It would handle three Marines. We're digging a cave-in. That bomb just busted that right out of there. Beautiful. Dig it in three seconds.

Go, go, go! Just imagine an explosion. Run, get in that one. That's crazy to me. Lightning doesn't strike twice. We're going in that one. You know, here's something that I'll say it right. Uh-oh.

Well, no, there's a lot of hygiene here. Now, imagine for six weeks. You can't get out of your foxhole. We learned that because a lot of kids got shot doing something. You don't do it. You don't. When we got aboard ship, we had nets when we got down. We had nets to get back up.

And the sailors would help us crawl over the top. We never washed our top. We never washed our teeth. We never washed our face. We never shaved. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We were a mess. And this one kid,

he knew me. He said, what's wrong with your eyes? And I said, why? Well, they're on fire. They're red. They're just red. We didn't get any sleep. You wouldn't catnap either.

No. No. Uh-uh. We didn't get any sleep. We were a mess. You should have. So you can use your imagination as to why we were. Explosions, everything else.

So how often for your rotations, when was the first bath after you've hit the beach? Right aboard ship. How long was that? How long? How many weeks? Oh, what, it was six weeks on there. Jesus. It's something that a lot of my family had talked about

because I had family who served in the Pacific as well. A lot of them had issues with their teeth would rot out and things because nobody brushed your teeth, at least the way that I was told he put it, was why brush your teeth to keep your teeth for 20 years when we don't know if we'll live to tomorrow. That's just kind of the way they looked at it. You can always get false choppers if they get hit.

That's a positive-ass mindset. I ain't brushing them. You get fake ones. You know, I've learned this one thing. It's one thing to face the enemy, get shot at, and shoot at them. It's another thing, the living condition. It's one thing to face the enemy, get shot at and shoot at them. It's another thing, the living condition. It's horrible. It's just bad.

I don't know how many, at least in my company, we had three or four guys. They just couldn't wait. They went outside the hole and did everything. Bam. Sitting ducks. You know, a lot of people don't realize that about the history of warfare is that most of the time until pretty recently most deaths in war had nothing to do with the enemy i mean like even during the civil war most deaths had nothing to do with an enemy bullet

anything like that it was dysentery disease uh you know just poor living conditions for four years that'll do more than the enemy ever will. You fellas ever seen letters from EWU? Letters of EWU? That's the Cadillac. That's the Cadillac that was made. You got straight scooped because the remainder of the boys that went home, on EWU, we arrested 250 of them the rest were killed they went home and told

everybody and so they knew what they were talking about writing that book so the flags of our fathers was a fluke those others I was with Spielielberg there that at normandy that wrote him and tom hanks yeah you're with tom hanks too yeah no no no tom hanks was there he he wasn't

over where i was but he was walking around but you were with spielberg but spielberg did you did you get to talk to Tom Hanks? No. Oh. Just Spielberg? Yeah, but Spielberg, a wonderful guy. Oh, yeah. You know, normally they'll talk and then they get away.

He said, just a minute, Don. He said, I got to leave, but I'll be right back. And I thought, well, that's the end of that. He came back and said, where were we? I thought that was great. I asked him about the movie. I said, let me ask you something. What was the big one that Tom Hanks was in with him on?

Saving Private Ryan. Yeah. Good, man. Classic. You say it's a classic? It's a fluke. It's a fluke. Okay. Let me tell fluke. Okay.

Let me tell you why. I hate Saving Private Ryan. Who likes that movie? John Bass alone was killed on my right, 10 feet away. He was on a bond tour before that, and he went to his skipper who was Chessie Puller. He was a captain then. I recognize that name but so uh he went to his chesty ball and said captain he said i want to go on with my buddies

he said we're making money bond tours he's i want to go back i want to go on the line i want to go my buddies well he's got in our outfit. He got in the 27th Regiment of my division. He was right on my right. He never got up. He got shot there. They've got him. Come on, you so-and-so. Let's get him. He's got a machine gun.

He's blazing away. That never happened. Are you talking about Flags of Our Fathers? Yeah. I'm talking about Flags of Our Fathers. Because I was going to ask you, yeah. I thought you were talking about Saving Private Ryan for a moment. I did, too. I was like, well, I thought everyone liked that.

Because I was going to ask you what your problem with that movie was. And there was one other thing. There were several, but one other thing. At the end, do you remember the two Japanese that escaped from their own people? And they had white rags. And they surrendered. And they sat him down there, and a sergeant was standing with his M1, and a lieutenant came up to him, and he said,

we're going on a patrol. Keep an eye on these two. We'll be back. He said, yes, sir. He had chew in his mouth. He looked at the two Japanese, and the one Japanese says, I don't like him. The other one says, oh, he'll be all right. He'll be all right.

The sergeant, Buck Sergeant. Bam! Bam! Killed the boy. That never happened. He'd have been court-martialed. When you surrender, you take care of him. And you guys took that very seriously. That never happened.

They should never have put that in. And then also, the 1st Marine Division went to New Zealand. After Guadalcanal, I went to New Zealand right after that. And that other half went to Australia. Now, in New Zealand, they have what they call trams, which are streetcars. These boys had liberty, and they ran in town with their white skivvy shirts. Never happened.

You don't go anywhere with your undershirt. That's an undershirt. And they're running all over the streetcar harassed. It was terrible. That never happened. That was crazy. And the same thing in australia i could go on and on and on and there was one marina that was meaner and heck do you remember him he didn't like the japs he hated him and there were prisoners sitting there and he went by with his right and he kicked the one if you remember he did something to him and i said here we go that never happened

that never happened that doesn't happen none of the marine corps but saving private ryan i didn't care for that saving private let's go to that one oh now they found him they finally got this fire they found they found private ryan i'm not going. Oh, really? Really? You got a commander there telling you that we've got you? They want you back? You're going to Lauderdale? I'm not leaving my buddies.

You will go. And then just behind, there's a sergeant telling a kid what to do, and they have a fist fight. Never happened. You don't hit someone with stripes now what if that is just the version of events that the the uh the man at the end the the guy the private ryan at the end told his family to sound really cool he made it up well i mean it brings out some of the conditions that you go through. That's true. But, I mean, why did they do that?

So I told Spielberg that. He said, Don, he said. I like it. He's just like, yo, Spielberg, what the F, bro? Listen here, that T-Rex, that's not how they saw him. He said, Don, you have to sell movies. Spielberg, come here. I appreciate his candid.

Don said, why don't you sell this? So I was asked to ask about Hill 362. I'll never forget it. We lost our battalion there. Damn. We lost our battalion. And another guy, he was our music. He's on the line with us.

He came to me and he knew demolition. He said, Graves, we got a job to do. We woke up in the morning, you know. I don't have anybody at all. I'm all by myself. So I joined him. And there's a ridge that goes up to the right. There's a mouth on Hill 362A.

And they fired. They threw everything up. They killed our battalion, broke our battalion up. We had no officers left. So in the morning, we crawled up a ledge on the right. And it's just like this here. And all of a sudden, we got demolition. We have a cone-shaped mine you set on top, and it'll blow in. We had everything we needed, and we're crawling up,

and all of a sudden, right over here, bam, it's a.50 caliber burning the ground. There's a tank opening up on us. Holy shit. They thought we were chaps. I don't know what happened, but thank God they stopped. Someone must have told them those are friendly. Holy shit. And we got to the top.

We had to crawl over. I counted them. 25, 30 dead Japanese. We had to crawl over. I counted them. 25, 30 dead Japanese. We had to crawl over to get to the mouth. We got to the mouth, and we set a five-gallon can of gasoline with primer cord fused. We had a rope on it. We're singing it like that. And our boys are down there watching.

And we're swinging it like that. And the other guy, we're swinging it like that and the one the other guy oh i'm swinging he he pulls the he pulls the cord and all of a sudden we let go and back up kaboom fire goes in there and rolls out didn't do any good they ran to the north underground they went all the way You could go on eight miles in Iwo Jima in tunnels. Then we put the shape charge on it, and we

blew some of it in, but it didn't all go in. So how did you guys address the tunnels? Nothing. We wouldn't walk in them. I wouldn't go inside. If they want to come out, okay. Guys, wouldn't i wouldn't go inside no if they want to come out okay yeah guys i i just before we close this out i know it's getting late and i just want to say again from unsub all of us all of us you guys thank you so much for your time you both are amazing humans we are truly honored to have you

sit at this table and we are going this is like our most proud episode. We can say that easily. We've done 160 something. This one right here is the one we, like we're, just thank you so fucking much for this. Can I say just a few short words? Absolutely. God bless America. Amen.

Hell yeah. God bless America. I can live with that one. I've got a comment. Five years after I was discharged, I was out taking flying lessons. And this pretty gal just landed and pulled up where I was and I saw a blue sweater get out of the airplane so I had to go see.

Come to find out she was a widow with five kids. He was killed on Iwo Jima. No doubt. Yeah. Then we finally got married. No doubt. So you met her. And then that's-

We had two of our own. So we had- Seven kiddos. Congratulations, brother. I thought you were talking about Don for a second. No, no. Beautiful young girl. Don's like, I'm going to fight you.

I'm going to get you in trouble. He's the old man. Yeah, I was confused. Don didn't stay. Well, let me tell you about a girl. I met a second girl after I got out of the Corps. And we were married for 72 years.

Oh, dang. Congratulations. She passed away after that, yeah. My condolences. But yeah, 72 years speaks for the testament of an amazing relationship. How long were you married for? 48 years. That is, both of y'all are just amazing humans.

We are truly blessed. That was our generation. My condolences. That is, both of y'all are just amazing humans. We are truly blessed. That was our generation. That was our generation. If I can ask before we have the, before we lose the opportunity to, I was asked to ask about your girlfriend on Iwo Jima. My girlfriend?

I was told it was a funny story. Wait, what is this? I need to know. Wait, go open this can of worms. Explain that to me a little bit. I was just told to ask. I'm not sure what the story is here.

I had a girlfriend on Iwo Jima. You never heard that, did you? She sent you a picture? She sent you a picture? She sent me a picture? That's what she said. Who sent that? It was Al.

Oh, wait a minute. How do you know that? She's going to tell you. Kind of remember. Kitty. Kitty, all right. Her name was Kathleen. Okay.

And we called. They were Irish. Of course, I'm Irish too. The mail. You get mail. We got mail. I don't care if you're in combat. You get your mail.

So I've been a foxhole, and I got this flat package. Everybody's concerned. What's in the package? I said, have an opener. You open up. Now I went, well. I opened it up and here was a beautiful picture of Kitty. She's graduation from high school.

Beautiful. I set her up on the other side of the cave, of the hole, like that. And some of the guys say, hey, Grace, what do you have in the package? I said, my girl from back in Detroit. Oh, yeah. He said, well, listen, when you get through with it, will you send it over to us? Hey, I'm sorry, but that's the way it was. I'm trying to help him.

He's never changed. The worst part is, we're in a war. The worst part is, they had four weeks left in that foxhole. Cody, you want to do the honors? Close us out. Hey, I hope that's not recorded.

Not at all. Not at all. All right, I'm that's not recorded. Not at all. Not at all. All right. I'm going to mess this up one more time. Okay. All right. Thank you guys for joining the Unsubscribe podcast. I'm joined by Eli Doubletap, Nick, Fat Electrician, Don Graves, Al Chatwin.

Chatwin. Chatwin. Al Chatwin, E4 Brothers for Life, E4 Mafia. Myself, Donut Operator, and Brandon Herrera, thank you so much for tuning in to this amazing podcast where we had two of the best of us. Genuine privilege. Genuine privilege.

Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, guys. Seriously, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Every request. Let's hear it. I don't know about you, but I want a copy of this thing. Done and done. You can do that.

You want beta VHS? DVD. Yeah, DVD. No, no, no. Only the best Blu-ray for our friends. Yeah, Blu-ray. Hey, I'm going to play that. My daughter will say, oh, dad.

I'll tell her. We were Marines. We did things. Oh, shit. E4 Mafia. Just like this. You know my name Please be my name You know my name Please be my name We just feel okay You don't know my