"I was glad I was there for the history of it, same for Pearl Harbor." (Video Interview, 45:38)

John L. Cockburn

John Cockburn, detail from video War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Marine Corps Unit: 13th Marines, 5th Marine Division, USS Maryland Service Location: Kansas City, Missouri; San Diego, California; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Tarawa Atoll (Gilbert Islands); Iwo Jima; Japan Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: MO

John Cockburn had been a Marine for nearly eight months on December 7, 1941, when he was stationed on the USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor. His most memorable experience in the war came as part of an artillery company that landed on Iwo Jima on its D-Day, February 19, 1945, when the Marines suffered over 6,000 casualties. Cockburn took some shrapnel in his arm but only missed a few days of action; he saw the raising of the flag on Mt. Surabachi from the deck of a ship while recuperating.