Fred Bernhardt Pt 1

Fred Bernhardt enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17 in early 1944. He served in the Pacific Theater of WWII with the 1st Marine Division as an artillery observer for naval bombardments. He landed on Guam in the Marianas, and tells of finding some of the natives of one of the islands hiding in a cave, not knowing that the Japanese were gone. Later on, he participated in the invasion of Okinawa, but served mostly in the northern part of the island, away from the worst of the fighting, but did see a war correspondent killed in action. He also served as a guard of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, and was part of the post-war occupation force as an MP in the Nagasaki area. Part 1 focuses mostly on his wartime experience, with more of his experiences in Japan in Part 2.