Oral History Interview with George Gray, September 10, 2007

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George Gray. Gray enlisted in the Marine Corps and went to boot camp in San Diego. After boot camp, he went to a little boat basin just out of Camp Pendleton by Oceanside, California where they formed the first amphib battalion, the Fourth Amphibian Tractor Battalion. His company was involved in the filming of 'Guadalcanal Diary' while they were in Oceanside. They broke the Fourth Battalion up and formed several more battalions; Gray ended up in the Tenth Amphibian Tractor Battalion. They left the States right after Christmas 1943 and went straight to Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. During this operation, Gray's platoon took a platoon of Marines on down about 35-40 miles, checking all the islands there for Japanese. He noted that the natives were real friendly. After Roi-Namur, they went to Maui, Hawaii where they were trained, reorganized and received new supplies. From there, they went to Saipan and he made four landings on June 15th. After Saipan, he was involved in the landings on Tinian. After Tinian, they went back to Maui where they received new tractors, supplies, reinforcements and additional training as well as being reorganized. His next landing was on Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945. He was on the beach and saw the first flag-raising on Mount Suribachi. Gray mentions that he has a plaque that states the Fourth Marine Division made the most assault landings of any unit in World War II, in the shortest length of time. After Iwo Jima, their unit came back to Maui. At the end of the war, Gray came back to the States on the USS Colorado