Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with George Dorko was digitized.
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This is the oral history of World War II veteran, George John Dorko. Mr. Dorko served in the U.S. Marine Corps with the Fourth Division, 25th Regiment, K Company. He served in the Pacific Theater and his highest rank was staff sergeant. I'm Tom Swope, and this interview was recorded at Mr. Dorko's home in Chesterland, Ohio on September 8th, 2004. George was 83 at the time of this recording. Where were you living in 1941?
1941, I lived on Benham Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.
How old were you? When you were you born?
I was born 1921, February 25.
So you were probably out of school in 1941; right?
Yes, I was.
You had a job then?
Yes, I worked for Cleveland Heater, a welding outfit for water tanks.
Do you have specific memories of December 7th, 1941?
Yes.
Go ahead and tell us, please.
I went out to pick up my girlfriend in the hospital. She was a nurse. When over the radio on speaker -- that we were at war with -- the Japs attacked us.
What did you think when you heard that news?
I says, "Uh-Oh, here we go again." Yes, it was kind of scary at the time. But, as the boys were leaving, we had to do our duty. So that's what happened. I went to the Navy. And my two buddies that I went with to join had -- one had bad eyes, and the other one had a murmur in his heart, and the Navy wouldn't take them. They wanted to take me. And I said, "No, I'm not going into no Navy. If they don't go, I don't go." And the next thing we know, we went to the Marine Corps. And they were turned down in the Marine Corps, and the Marines got me.
Why did you decide to join the Marines then?
Well, I called my brother who was in the Army, and I asked him what he thought I ought to join. Should I go back get drafted, or go to a service? He says, "Hey, you're 21. Do what you want to do." He says, "I'm not telling you what to do. Something should happen, the folks would hold it against me that I told you." So I said, "Well, okay." But we went down there and I saw this Marine with that bandit -- white bandit with the red circle on there, and I said, "That's where I'm going, to the Marines." Sure enough, I joined the Marines.
So when was that about? When did you join the Marines?
August 13th, 1942. Yeah, and that's where I met Charlie Malinowski who served in for 20 years as a gunnery sergeant.
Do you remember your first day at boot camp?
Oh, yes I do. Charlie got me into trouble. I got into a fight. Yeah, that was a fun thing. Just -- well, shall I say instructor -- came out one Sunday morning while we were washing our dungarees and clothes that we had, and had a pair of boxing gloves. And he said, "All right. Who's the tough guy around here? I got to show him who's boss." So Charlie says, "He is. He is." So here I am putting the gloves on. So it doesn't take but a few minutes, I put the guy away. And well, everybody was screaming. But we became good friends. And as we went along, we went through boot camp, Chuck and I. And we went to Portland Navy Yard to guard duty. And then they send me in for Judo classes, Jujitsu. I come back from California back to Portland, and I was an instructor. Before you can go aboard a ship, you had to have so much hours of Jujitsu. So we were the instructors. It was a pretty good life, good food at the base, anyhow, at that time. And -- but after about six months of that, we decided -- well, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna join the Fourth that's forming. "Oh," he says, "no, stay here. Good chow," he says. So I says, "No, no. I'm going." So I left and I joined the Fourth Marine Division. It was forming then. And a week later, Chuck was behind me. I don't know whether he told you that when you interviewed him.
I don't remember him telling me that part of it.
Yeah, well -- oh, well, he was behind me. And we were in the Fourth. He went to First Battalion and they sent me to Regiment Weapons Company 25.
What was your job with the outfit?
Well, I was a squad leader. Yeah, but from there I jumped into -- they gave me a job as a coach for a boxing team. And we used to put on smokers to colonel -- on smokers for the guys for past time, I guess. So that's why I went into that. And after that, we hit Roi Namur and the islands.
When did you go overseas then?
Oh, jeez, I couldn't tell you.
Not an exact date, but approximately. Sometime in '43 did you go over?
It was '42 or '43. Yeah, it's about '43. Yeah, we went through Panama and we hit Roi Namur. Then we came back to Maui and regrouped, got replacements and new equipment and stuff. And we went back to Saipan and Tinian.
Roi Namur was in the Marshall Islands; is that right?
Marshall Atoll. Then we went to Kwajalein Atoll. After we secured Roi Namur, we went to Kwajalein Atoll. And there was a hundred and some-odd islands. And Colonel Chambers, who was my commander, he says, "All right. Let's regroup and let's go." I said, "Where are we going?" He said, "Going on the islands, that's where you're going." So we dropped -- we were supposed to meet the Army halfway, but we never met them. We went through the whole 120 islands. And the reason why the Colonel's name was "Jumping Joe," was because those islands that we were jumping. Unbelievable.
Do you remember your first days in combat?
Oh, yeah --
Well, tell me what you can remember about those days.
Well, I can remember that we hit the beach. And hey, when they start shooting at you, you run, you know. So it didn't take too much. We couldn't come up with the 37 millimeters. See we were anti-tank personnel. But we managed. We got up close enough and secured the island. What can I say?
How long did it take to secure those islands then?
Not too long. I think around a month. Saipan and Tinian was pretty -- a little rougher. Saipan, it took us a little longer, and a lot of Japs were on them too. And then we went across, went into Tinian. And we secured Tinian, and came back to Maui and regrouped again. And this time we were heading for old Iwo, but we didn't know until we got out at sea, and then they told us. They had all kinds of miniature islands there, you know, where we're going to hit. I got all kinds of books if I didn't have time to prepare myself -- I ought to give you a good resume.
I don't need the regiment. I want your history anyway.
Anyway, we got aboard ship and we hit Iwo Jima. When we hit Iwo, two days we didn't move. It was like a little bank and dead Marines all around you. And every crater was 15, 20 Marines dead in there. So I kept my crew on top. But there's -- it was hectic. Maybe when you see young kids -- you know, I was pretty old, 21 years old. There was a lot of 18, 19 -- and in fact, my Jeep driver was what, 16 years old? He had his folks sign him so he could go. But anyway, that was kind of hectic over at Iwo.
How early did you go in on Iwo? First wave, or --
I went on the seventh wave --
Seventh wave?
-- on Willow Beach. And we went up the quarry. And it was all right once we got up on top. It was easy to shoot down. But it was rough getting up there, and a lot of dead Marines. Can't believe it. But well, they used everything. They were all zeroed in, and they knew. As soon as anybody went into the crater, they lobbed a mortar or artillery in there -- 10, 15 guys like that. Unbelievable.
Did you lose any of your squad?
Oh, yeah. I lost a lot of good friends, Edmond Star and Phil Phillips. Oh, good buddies of mine, yeah. Phillips, I couldn't tell it was him. He got it. He was coming in with a gun and a Jeep, and artillery got him. And when they tell me that he's hit on the beach, I decided, well, I better hurry up and get over there and see what's wrong with him. So I got back to the shore there, the beach, and the only way I could tell it was him was the Reader's Digest in his pocket. He always read a Reader's Digest. He loved those jokes. And I couldn't tell him. Man, he was messed up. But that's the way it goes when you're in a battle. And we survived. We got through. I got hit twice and it never went through my clothes. Would you believe that?
Really?
Scrap metal -- I got hit in the shoulder and then the rear. Boy I'll tell you, it spun me around like a top -- and burned. I never had anything burn like that in my life. I thought I was wounded, you know. But when my assistant told me, he said, "No, you just got whacked." So I felt much better.
So you didn't really have to get treatment for that?
No, I didn't even get treatment for it. I could have went for a Purple Heart. I don't want it. No, I just wanted to get back home. So before you know it, Iwo was taken care of. We came back to Maui. And that's where we heard that the Japs came up and had like ten packed on a carrier.
Before we leave Iwo, did you see the raising of the flag?
Oh, yeah, that first one was the one I saw.
You saw the first one, the smaller one?
Yeah, the smaller one. Well, we were right up there. Yeah, we saw the little one. Then Rosenthal put the big one up. Yeah.
What did you guys think when they saw that go up?
Well, we had it. If there were flags to go up, we got them. You know, that was a very good sight to see.
Yeah.
Yeah. And you know that those Japs were in there for a year later? That's how -- they had sand steps going down into that island, down -- I don't know how far, because I wouldn't go down. And a year later, I read where there were a Jap come out. And he thought the war was still on. Imagine that? They were all fortified. They were. And they -- we used to get the word that they couldn't shoot. But every Marine that I saw had a bullet in his forehead. So you could see that things were not easy to get by. Yeah, what can I say?
Well, anything else you want to tell me about Iwo Jima? Anything else you want to tell me about that?
Well, it was -- hey, we couldn't dig fox holes because of coral ash. We put a poncho down and you'd stay warm all night. You could put a pipe into coral ash and fry an egg, if you had one. That's how hot it was. Yeah, the island was a funny island. But we had to get it for plane. And I saw a plane come in. I don't know, it was a P-51, I think it was. And he hit that little aircraft -- airport that they had. And we were there watching him coming in. And you imagined when he came out of that plane, I looked at him, and I could not believe it. He was a major, and he looked like 16 years old to me -- the guy. And boy, he was going shaking his hands that there was an island that he could come on. Yeah, I tell you, it was something.
Was he damaged?
Huh?
Did he have damage?
No, he just hit the bank, you know, when he finally stopped. But he got out, and I couldn't believe that the kid was that young -- and a major. I says, "Wholly smokes, boy. Them kids are something." Yeah, and we saw a lot of Japs come down and scrape us, you know. But I can't understand it. All the bullets we shot at that sucker with tracers, and he still got by us and dropped loads on us, yeah.
Did your outfit take any prisoners?
No, nope.
At Iwo Jima?
No prisoners. It's one of those things. The word was no prisoners.
That was the word given to you; right?
Well, it may have been. But I don't want to get nothing involved. You're on your own. You know what I'm talking about.
I've heard that before, yeah.
Yeah, and no prisoners. No mercy.
Yeah. Well, what else can you tell me about that? Were you there the entire -- what was that? Three -- two months that Iwo Jima took to secure?
From day one.
You were there the entire campaign?
Yeah, day one that we left.
Did you ever get any breaks while you were on Iwo Jima?
What kind of breaks? No, no breaks. Well, when they don't call you up to move, you see, bring up the guns, why, you just sit around waiting. Anything that looks good to shoot at, you shoot. That's all. It was rough.
Well, what was the procedure with Iwo Jima? Were you going cave to cave, basically?
No, we weren't. We were trying to protect guns, you know. Caves where they would pull out artillery or mortar, and we would come in and try to shoot into the caves. And any tanks that they had buried into the hill, we try to knock out. And a lot of -- I don't know -- what can I say -- a lot of artillery. And at night, we set up blinds with canister shells for the 37th. They had 104 shells, bee bees, quarter inch, for in case they were coming through, you know, trying to attack us. But no, it wasn't.
So the 37th would shoot those shells as a banzai charge, or whatever, some kind of charge of personnel?
Oh, yeah, they were like a shotgun.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, it was about that long, about a foot and a half, broad shell with 104 pelts. And the one we reconned had 104 and they were around quarter inch in diameter. And we use those for when they try to attack us at night.
Did you experience any of those night attacks?
Oh, yes, in Saipan, every night.
Yeah?
Yeah. And that's old Colonel Chambers used to come up in the morning. He said, "Jesus, how the hell are you guys letting these guys this close?" Didn't know it. We lobbed out hand grenades. Everybody had different minutes to throws out a hand grenade. And they were out there in the morning. And we never knew it, never knew that they were that close. So he asked me, he says, "How the hell come you let all these guys here -- let these Japs get this close?" I says, "Look, I didn't know. But we kept our hand grenades going." He says, "Well, it's a good thing." He hated us to lose a man. We lost quite a few when they made a banzai attack. What made it nice is that their artillery and their equipment you can here. Like on the rifle, when they pull that bull back, that top cover made the noise and you know he was there. So blip, that's all. And artillery there had a steel wheels, you know. You could hear them coming up. So we were already waiting. But the only thing I didn't like on Saipan was, they would send out the gooks -- we called them gooks, Koreans, or whatever they were -- upfront with the kids, and they try to come up as backups. But they didn't know that we set up in the square to protect our back sides. And the battle went on.
Did the Koreans have to be forced to fight, or were they --
Well, I imagine so. The women, the kids, and guys, oh, yeah -- not fight, just push them out there.
Just push them out there?
Yeah, in front, you know, make us believe that they're coming.
Shields -- human shields?
Yeah, covers. Shields, that's what it was.
Wow.
Yeah.
And hoping that you'd extend your aggravation on them?
Yeah, but hey, we got wise to them quick.
Uh-huh.
You know, when you start losing your buddy that you've been with over a year or so, and there he is laying. And you keep looking at him and you can't figure out what the hell it's all for when you come down to it. Yeah, but we managed. We beat them. They turned around and beat us in the economy. They bought all our good ranches, and beef, and what have you now. And we're all buddies now.
Did you get a chance to see Malinovsky at all either in Saipan, Tinian, or Iwo Jima?
No, I did -- I saw him once in a while fly by, you know. Yeah, but when we were called, I was attached to Third Battalion K Company, Colonel Chambers detachment, see. So -- and he was in First Battalion, but I saw him. He saw me practically every night when we put a smoker on. And we went to the PX, bought beer and pork and beans. Couldn't eat the food, some of the food they -- couldn't eat it. Magellan they called it, sheep. Buying that stuff stinks. Well, but --
Is that pretty much the way you felt about Marine food in general? How were the rations?
They spoiled me when I went for guard duty.
The Navy food was good?
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah. But all in all, if I had to do it again, I'd do it again -- same damn thing, I'd do it. Only this time I'll know something.
And do you have memories of mail call? Did you get any mail?
Yeah, yeah, I got a few letters. But like I say, my folks were foreign and I wrote to them when I could. And my brothers and sisters were in the service. I had one in the Navy, one in the Army, and my two sisters were too young to do anything. So there you are. That's life.
Well, any other vivid memories come to mind when you think about World War II?
No, not specifically right off hand now. But, well, it was a hardship. But if I had to do it again, I'd do it. That's all there is to it. It's a funny thing, you know. You know you got a chance to get killed, but you still have it in you -- well, it's my country. I got to do it. He attacked us, you know. But we didn't show him mercy after a while. In the beginning, it was like a game, you know. But when the guys start falling in front of you, you decide it's time to wake up. So that's about --
Now, between those campaigns, you would go back to Maui; is that right?
Maui and regroup, yes.
And you trained?
Trained and got new equipment, new personnel, and got ready again for call.
Did you get to go over to Honolulu at all?
Oh, yeah they send me for five days for a vacation-like.
What was that like?
Oh, that was great. That was great. Had the swimming area facilities. There would be a bunch of guys from different outfits they would send, you know. Guys that more or less went through something, you know. And their CO's felt that they needed a rest. So I spent five days swimming in a pool and gambling. That's usual. Yeah, that was very nice. That was the only time. And when I came back from Saipan, I think, and Tinian, they send us back again to Pearl. And I had a bunch of yen. And I tried to see if I can get something for yen, you know. But we had a lot of Japanese people in Hawaii. You'd be surprised. Not only that, I heard they got all the good land in Hawaii. They bought it all up.
Back then, did they get along with the Japanese people in Hawaii?
Oh, yeah. Well, why not? The war was over, practically, then. And they lived there. They worked there, restaurants and whatnot. Yeah.
So when did you finally come home?
I come home in '45 or '46, somewhere around there. I got discharged in Bay Bridge, Maryland and I put my sea bag in the locker at the U.S.O. And I went to one hotel and I wound up five days later looking for my sea bag. Finally, found it and came home broke.
Broke?
Broke. A lot of selling souvenirs on the train.
Was there a lot of souvenir collecting over there?
No, not too much. I took money. In fact, I got the bonds and the money, and the proof were here. And I tried to find out whether they were worth anything. And I talked to a Japanese policeman here in Cleveland. And he said they might be worth, so I gave them to him. And he went to the Japanese headquarters somewhere and they found out if I was the guy that bought those bonds, I would be a rich man.
Really?
I have a big stack of -- my kids were gambling with Japanese money, yeah.
So they got those bonds back to the owner?
No, he was gone. I knew that.
You knew that because you knew where you found them?
That's right. And I got Japanese flags. I'll take you downstairs and show you.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, I got a lot of stuff that I come back -- sea bags, I just threw it in there. And before you know it, there were souvenirs, flags, and what have you. Japanese rifles I sent to my father because he was a hunter, and he wanted a Jap rifle. So I send him two of them. Yeah.
Where were you when the bombs were dropped? Were you in Hawaii?
Yes.
When the atomic bomb?
Yes, and that was it.
And what was the reaction when the guys heard that news?
Oh, man, everybody screamed. Yeah, everybody screamed that -- wow, they're going to give up now. Sure enough, not shortly, a few more days, they gave up. Yeah, well.
What was your reunion with your family like when you finally got back to the States?
Terrific. My dad, he just squeezed me to death, you know. And in all my -- if anybody comes back, oh George will come back. Yeah, I came back. And then about three years later, my brother come out of the Army. And I met him in the little slap shoot we had in Cleveland there on the east side. That was a reunion. I ain't seen him for about five, six years. And still the same. So -- but he passed away here about a year and a half ago. We're all getting too old. I'm 84 years old. Can't believe it.
You're doing great.
Yeah, wonderful. Yes, indeed.
Did you have any trouble adjusting to civilian life after the war?
Well, what bothered me was these guys that stayed back and were complaining how hard they had it to get a pound of butter. Oh, that used to hurt me. I was ready to go on, but I got over it. Didn't bother me. I figured, well, that's the source. What are you gonna do? You can't -- if he felt that way, it -- And then when I went to get my old job back as a welder at Cleveland Heaters. He didn't want me to come back. He had a welder, you know, four years. He didn't want to let the guy go. So I got back and told him what to do with it. And I went and got a job at White Molders. I put 31 years in the Whites. Good company.
Wasn't he required to take you back?
Yes, they were. But I told him they could keep their job. I don't need it. Well, the law stated that they -- when my seniority for four years in the Marines, would have been attached to the time that I had. But well, that's the way it was at that time. Then, you couldn't get a job. And finally things broke, you know. People, cars, you had to put money under the table to get a car for God sakes. We got by. And then finally, jobs were opening up. And a buddy of mine says, "Come on. I'll get you a job at Whites." So I went. One of them, sure enough, he got me the job. I worked 31 and a half years there. Retired there just before they went bankrupt. I was very lucky. Yep. Well --
Very good. Anything else?
No, nothing much. I could talk to you for weeks if I studied up a little bit. Right now, nothing is coming to my head.
Well, I live close. I'll be glad to come back.
Okay.
And mainly, the purpose of this is to get your story. The rest of the Marine history, we can get that. Like you say, there's lots of books on that. So we can get that.
Okay. Well, I hope it helps you a little bit.
Very good.
I'm not a terrific speaker. I'm an action man.
Very good. You're a Marine.
That's right. That's right. [Interview interrupted. Recording Resumed.]
We went to Parris Island the same day. We stayed in Parris Island through boot camp together. We went through Portsmouth Navy Yard, guard duty together. We went to Fourth Marine Division together. He went First Battalion. I went Third Battalion -- I don't know if it was regiment or what, but the Third. But they would attach us to different companies. And I left, and he stayed in. He was gonna make a career. And he went to North Korea.
Yeah, we talked about that too.
And he had 20 years, and he felt that he wanted to stay a few more years to get a better pension. But he was afraid they were going to call him for --
Vietnam, yeah, exactly.
Because it was stirring up again, and he was -- I believe -- in Parris Island as a drill instructor then. And he got the word that they were getting ready. So 20 years he had in. He felt they were going to pull him in. And you know, twice is enough.
That's what he said?
Yeah, and the third time might be for good. So that was a smart thing.
Yeah, I think so. It worked out for him because he got his 20 years.
So for a while, I didn't hear from him. He was a mailman here. And all of a sudden, we decided that, well, let's organize and have a detachment. And we'll name it Colonel Chambers. And I don't know, because a lot of guys died since we've been formed, a lot of guys -- Jesus, unbelievable. We just lost two here in the last month.
Oh, really?
Yeah, Pascow died. And what the heck -- Rich died here last week.
Yeah.
All in their 80's.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, time evolved. It's a cycle.
Yeah, yeah, it is. Although, from what I can tell, I've talked to about 270 World War II veterans. I think maybe ten have died, or a dozen have died. So that's a pretty good survival rate.
Yeah.
And at least two of those guys were Pearl Harbor veterans. So they were older when they went in. So they were already in the Navy a few years.
Oh, when we went to Roi Namur, we stopped at Pearl Harbor. I saw them damn ships.
Still a mess?
Fiery and smoldering. And man, I tell you, that was something.
They were still smoldering even then?
Yes.
And that would be --
I don't know.
Wow, almost a year and a half later?
A year and a half.
Wow.
Yeah, I don't know. We were looking right at them. And I don't know, it just seemed like they were burning out or something, you know. Hard to believe big ships turned over and torn up, God almighty. But look what we're doing in Iraq, a thousand guys already. That's a God damn shame. Boy, I tell you, if I had any way of having the power, I would blow every damn thing that was there. If I saw a Marine get killed, boy, I would blow that town to smuck(ph). I don't care. Kids or anything, out they go. If they don't want to get into a place where a city, or somebody -- but I can't understand these kids coming out, raising their hands, and dropping hand grenades and killing Marines. I don't know. We heard. I got a buddy of mine, Tom, his son's over there, a pilot. He says you wouldn't believe what these people are. They're fanatics. I don't know what the hell we're doing here.
So they're doing that? I mean, that sounds almost like the nastiness they had in Vietnam; right?
Yeah.
With kids?
With kids. They use the kids. They're not people. They're animals. They use people like that. I would show no mercy. I swear. When I see the guy goes over there to check on the guy, and he puts up his hands, and hand grenades fall, you're dead. You know, that's what I heard from the grapevine.
Uh-huh. Well, you heard it from guys that came back?
Believe me, you don't want to.
But you heard that from guys that came back from Iraq?
Yes, indeed. And boy, I tell you, because guys got their arm off and a leg. Now, it's one of those things, you know.
Yep, exactly.
But like I say, Tom, we go by. A few months later, you forget about it.
Yeah.
Then it comes back to you. You get all choked up. And you ain't so tough when it comes to getting shot up, or whatever, torn up.
Uh-huh.
So what do he do? He's lost. Where does he go? He's going to have a pension. What kind of life does he have? He'll walk around, and they'll give him an artificial leg and an arm. If he can manage -- look at me. I don't have toes and I can't walk right.
That -- that's not --
No, no. That's diabetes. I had two toes come off. And over a year, it wouldn't heal. And the only way it would heal, the doc told me to take the other three good ones off and bring your skin over. So that's what they've done. But what the hell good is it if you can't walk? And I'm telling you, you will be surprised. When you lose your toes, you don't have the balance.
Yeah, exactly.
And I have shoes, special shoes, and everything, and won't do it.
Still doesn't work, huh?
No.
Jeez.
Well, nice meeting you.
Yeah, exactly.
And take care.
Yeah, and I will see you around.
Okay.
Spread the word. Find anybody, give me a call.
I sure will.