I had the honor of speaking with a 1st Marine Division Guadalcanal Veteran!

[Constantine34]

Hey guys some months back I had the honor of hearing the experiences of WWII veteran Theodore Marolda. He was a Gunnery Sergeant (then called a Tech Sergeant) with the 1st Marine Division as an Amphibian Tracker. He was with the first troops landing on the first day on Guadalcanal and also served in New Guinea and Cape Gloucester, earning four battle stars. I recorded through audio and images to give emphasis on the story rather than staring at a video. Before we move from the East Coast I plan to talk with some more World War II veterans here in Connecticut. There are some at a retirement home my friend works at that want to share their experiences. I firmly believe their stories should be heard.




Here is a link to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI6_88-jKYw

[BlackCat1982]

Indeed they are fading fast and every one of them has a story to tell. We should do well to grasp every morsel of testimony from them while we still can.

[Kohima]

Indeed... Don’t waste a second.
Whenever we get the chance, we must grab it. It is our duty.
They may be gone the very next day...
I speak from sad experience.

[Chopperman]

If you get the chance to talk with these gentlemen, you should definitely do so.

I've had the honor of knowing several ww2 vets. Most of whom I met when I was in my 20's
and they would have been 50-ish. At that time, it never occurred to me that the day would come that they
would be gone.

I never knew a Guadalcanal veteran however I did know an old Navy vet who was a landing craft pilot and
took part in the landings at Iwo Jima.

[MedicalAmmunitionCrate]

I remember my grade school principal's father was a WWII Veteran. After a remembrance day play, he actually told me and a few other history buffs in my class a story about a German prisoner he captured. Normandy, 1944. All he said was the boy came out of a bunker, uniform was a tad too big for him and his hair was a bright blond. He said something in German while putting his hands above his head and being lead away. Said the lad couldn't be no older than 16 or 17. I don't remember his name, but he was certainly an old fellow and very polite..

It is part of our duty to preserve history, both in physical items from the past as well as the stories of those who were there..

[Composite]

This is a great watch....and, I'd imagine, not overly hard to produce (making a "Documentary" may seem like a big job but your approach of using stills with a soundtrack works perfectly). Not my field at all but I liked it and I'm grateful to you and Mr Marolda...his memories are now safe.

[Constantine34]

Composite, I know usually people film the veterans telling their story. I always find they focus too much on the individual's face and mannerisms as opposed to the account they are trying to tell. Plus the veteran could get a little uneasy getting put on the spot with a camera in front of their face. It was definitely easier too to edit with just an audio recording.