Oral History Interview with Darol Lee

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Darol Lee. Lee enlisted in the Marine Corps in June, 1942 and trained at San Diego. He was attached to the Third Marine Division and shipped overseas and landed on Guadalcanal in February, 1943 in time to complete mop-up operations. He also landed at Bougainville, and then later on Guam, where he was wounded by mortar fire and evacuated. He was ambulatory, so he rejoined his unit the next day without having received much treatment. Lee recalls a banzai charge in which his foxhole mate got killed. From there, Lee went to Iwo Jima and landed on the third day. Around the first of March, Lee was wounded and evacuated to Saipan via a hospital ship. He was transported back to the US and was discharged from a hospital in Illinois