Oral History Interview with Keifer Marshall, January 13, 2009 Page: 8
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Wow. So you played offense and defense?
Keifer Marshall: Offense, defense. And then we came back after that, I was there in '46 and
'47, and we had some good teams back then, too. But I think that background helped me in the
Marine Corps. But the Marine Corps training as you know is really great. And what they do for
you mentally is really a part I think, too. I'd recommend it to anybody. I just don't, I don't want
anybody to have to get shot at.
How did it come about that you went in the Marine Corps? Did you choose it, or were you
drafted?
Keifer Marshall: I was going to be drafted. I chose the Marine Corps when I got down there.
One of the recruiters came up to me and said would you like to be in the Marine Corps? And I
was thinking I'd be in the Navy. I said well, I might like that. He said well come on over here
with me. So I did and that's the way I chose it, and I'm glad I did. It was just a great outfit,
great background.
Did you have any friends from Temple that you knew as a high school student?
Keifer Marshall: That were in the Marine Corps?
Yeah.
Keifer Marshall: Yeah, in fact with the war was, in fact after we got back from Iwo Jima, like I
said there weren't many of us left in our outfit, but the 6O Marine Division moved into our camp,
so we had to build a new camp, and I think that saved my life. I got busy that first day we got
there building and digging and doing things we were doing.
Mrs. Marshall: You were on Guam then.
Keifer Marshall: Guam, back to Guam. But we had two or three people from Temple that were
on Guam. We were all going to Japan for the invasion, and there were two or three, I've got a
picture in there of four or five of us that played football here in that picture all getting ready to go
to Japan. And boy I'll tell you, that was gonna be a blood bath. The people that say Truman
made a mistake when he dropped the bomb are crazy, completely crazy.
Do you remember where you were when you found out that the bomb had been dropped?Keifer Marshall: On Guam, yeah, we were training every day. We had enough, we had an old
top sergeant that had been on Guadalcanal, yellow from malaria, and he got up every morning
and he'd flip the coin and said we hit that beach, boys, tails you win, heads you lose. Half of you
won't get off the beach. Of course we knew that. But it was a great, great experience. I got a
book from Jerry about Iwo Jima, about whether or not it was worth, The Ghost ofIwo Jima.
Have you read that book?
No I haven't.
Keifer Marshall: It's a great book. This guy is pretty intelligent and he was making studies in
history and everything, seeing if it was really worth the people that were saved in the B29's, and
I think there were about 6,000 people that were saved. There were 6,000 __, they had 7,0008
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Marshall, Keifer. Oral History Interview with Keifer Marshall, January 13, 2009, text, January 13, 2009; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606772/m1/8/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.