title: Oral History Interview with Keifer Marshall, January 13, 2009
creator: Marshall, Keifer
contributor: Crabtree, James
publisher: National Museum of the Pacific War
date: 2009-01-13
language: English
description: The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview
 with Keifer Marshall. Marshall was born in Temple, Texas in 1926. After
 attending the University of Texas for one year, he joined the Marine Corps in
 1944. After completing basic training in San Diego, he spent six weeks at Camp
 Pendleton receiving advanced training. He then embarked on the USS Rochambeau
 (AP-63) with 6,000 other troops in late October 1944. He describes some of his
 experiences during the transit. He remembers arriving in Guam in December in
 relief of the 3rd Marine Division. He landed at Iwo Jima a few days after the
 initial landing in February 1945, as a member of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th
 Marine Regiment. Marshall describes the intense fighting over the following
 three weeks as his company proceeded north up the island. They took heavy
 casualties and got cut off for 36 hours before being rescued by tanks called
 in by the one remaining officer in the company. He recalls seeing the iconic
 flag flying at the top of Mount Suribachi and recalls how it boosted the
 unit’s morale during the battle. His unit remained on the island for three
 more weeks cleaning up after the battle before returning to Guam to prepare
 for the invasion of Japan. He returned to the States in December 1945.
subject: World War, 1939-1945
subject: People - Individuals
subject: Military and War - Wars - World War II
subject: Interviews
subject: Oral histories
subject: Personal narratives
subject: Autobiographies
subject: Biographies
subject: WWII
subject: United States. Marine Corps
subject: USS Rochambeau (AP-63)
subject: United States. Marine Corps. Marine Division, 3rd. Marines, 9th.
 Battalion, 1st
subject: Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 1945
subject: Combat
rights: Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives
rights: Commercial use is prohibited without permission from the National Museum
 of the Pacific War.
type: Text
format: 18 p.
format: Text
identifier: local-cont-no: OH04290
identifier: https://texashistory.unt.edu./ark:/67531/metapth1606772/
identifier: ark: ark:/67531/metapth1606772