WEBVTT

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(soulful piano music)

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- Wasn't no sense of...Wasn't no racial issue.

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You had two Marine Corps's (laughs) at that time.

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You had the Marine Corps that was for

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the African American Marines,

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and you had the regular Marine 
Corps for the regular Marines.

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We were outsiders

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and we was trying to
break the color barrier,

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get into the fight

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with what we felt was 
the best fighting force

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that the United States had.

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And we wanted to prove ourself
that we was good enough

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to be one of them.

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And that which we did.

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(soulful piano music)

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- [Jubel Patterson] We came on 
the island, we had to go about

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half a mile down the beach to
the field evacuation hospital.

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And you wouldn't believe, like...It was so many

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dead bodies everywhere,
you wouldn't believe it.

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And we were all young

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and we had our mouth and eyes open.

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We was scared, unbelievable fear,
you wouldn't believe it.

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So all that stuff about heroes...

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Most those guys were scared 
to death the first time out.

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(soulful piano music)

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- [John Canley] Always faithful...To me, you know,

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as a Marine,

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like,

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you would do for your blood brother.

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That's, I mean, that's the 
only way I could explain it.

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Because

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I just love training Marines

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and leading Marines in combat.

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I love training Marines I think because

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I love being trained myself

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to be a Marine.

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And I knew that if I trained them,

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they would be the best Marine.

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(soulful piano music)

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- There was no black, no white.

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We're a United States Marine.

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You weren't by yourself,

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you had the whole United States

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behind you as a Marine.

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(soulful piano music)