Joining the Marines at 17
Chipman talks about when he first heard about Pearl Harbor and joining the Marines at age 17. He speaks at length about different motivations for young people joining the war before being drafted. He also addresses the importance of sharing his war experiences, even when others who haven't been in battle will never fully comprehend the traumas of war.
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Hardening into Marines
Chipman describes the profound effects of boot camp in shaping self-discipline, teamwork and pride. Chipman's childhood in a physically active and very disciplined household ease the transition to the rigors of boot camp.
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Bonding and growing
After boot camp, Chipman's division was assigned to Camp Pendleton for four weeks of infantry training school. They were then transported to Hawaii and assigned as replacements for the 4th Marine Division.

The following excerpt recounts the last period of training when the young Marines met and bonded with the veteran Marines, fresh from battle in the Marianas. The respect and affection between Marines was immediate. After months of training with battle-hardened veterans, the young Marines became veterans, "emotionally and mentally."
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A deafening, deadly battle
In this excerpt, Clayton Chipman discusses his psychological preparation before battle on Iwo Jima and reflects on the difference between being scared and being afraid. He describes the 4th Marine Division's brutal landing on Iwo Jima — a day filled with relentless, deafening artillery.
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Slow, bloody going on Iwo
As the days and nights pass on Iwo Jima, Clayton Chipman and his fellow Marines measured their progress by yards as they crawled across the island's airfields under fire.
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The million-dollar wound
In this excerpt, Clayton Chipman continues to describe the hours leading up to the ninth day on Iwo Jima, the day of his "million-dollar wound." Marines were decimated as they fought to take the "Meat Grinder, " "Turkey Knob, " the "Amphitheater" and "Hill 382."
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Nightmares, gratefulness and guilt
Clayton Chipman was evacuated from Iwo Jima to an Army hospital in Pearl Harbor. In this excerpt, Chipman notes that he and other fellow Marines suffered recurring battle nightmares. He also recalls his painful emotions of gratefulness and guilt. He asks, "How can you be thankful and feel guilty at the same time?"
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Bonds for a lifetime
After his recovery, Clayton Chipman joined a baseball team in Oahu, a team that was actually a ploy to build an MP Company to be sent back to Saipan. Chipman was stationed at Saipan to flush out any enemy remaining on six islands.

In this excerpt, Chipman describes his psychological stages in the battle of Iwo Jima. Chipman describes the elation of returning home and recounts some of the challenges of returning to civilian life. This excerpt concludes with thoughts on his religious faith and the enduring bonds amongst Marines who have fought together.
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Bonding and growing
After boot camp, Chipman's division was assigned to Camp Pendleton for four weeks of infantry training school. They were then transported to Hawaii and assigned as replacements for the 4th Marine Division.

The following excerpt recounts the last period of training when the young Marines met and bonded with the veteran Marines, fresh from battle in the Marianas. The respect and affection between Marines was immediate. After months of training with battle-hardened veterans, the young Marines became veterans, "emotionally and mentally."
audio clip (7:36)

Chipman: … So late in July of '44 we had started out as the 68th Replacement Draft, and they changed the name to the 4th Replacement Draft, and that's how we got assigned to the 4th Marine Division. During this time before the veterans came back, we built up some pretty good friendships and deep ones. In fact, they're lasting until today. …

We, you know, having several weeks before the fellows came back from battle, we did a lot of talking and sharing of ideas and so forth, but we were all proud that we were put into a battle group and not joining some outfit that never had any experience. It also gave us a sense of security that we would be with a group of veterans that knew what was going on. I think the basic reason behind that was that we knew, the more we knew and the more experienced the guys were, the better chance we had of getting back home. I'm sure that was the underlying reason for that.

Our respect for those fellows that came back was instant and deep. We really had an affection for those people. It was extremely interesting to observe the reactions of the returning wounded. They came back and they wanted to talk about how they were hit and what would happen, and they would share it with friends. And, of course, they accepted us. As we did later on Iwo, whenever a replacement came in, we were happy to have another guy around, or two guys around. They talked about the guys that got killed and they cried in some cases. And they expressed their appreciation: "Oh, geez, I only got hit here and there'd be a big hunk of meat out of him, or holes," and so forth. You could tell that they were overjoyed that they made it through.
But one thing that stood out, again, was the loyalty and devotion to their buddies and to the people that they lost. They talked about these people that they lost continually. I suppose it was some inner need that I don't understand. But even on the way to Iwo on the ships, they were still talking about the guys they lost in the Marshals and the Marianas. To this day I remember the names of men I never saw but they talked about that were killed. I can't explain the retention. I've got to read something four times to remember it, but things like that, they just stick. I don't know why. That might be a study in itself.

The battle veterans that came back, they really took us under their wings, and they shared, unabatedly, they shared everything they knew and they would tell us and correct us and so forth. Needless to say, we appreciated it. We respected them. And they had learned many lessons which we still had to learn. I think their reason behind it was that they knew better than we knew that in order to survive your team has to work together. I think that probably was one of the reasons, but they probably had some humane reasons also.

They probably felt sorry for us, you know, we were much younger — yeah, we were a year or two younger than they were. But that age thing was interesting, too, because anybody that was 21 was old, and if you were 22 or 23, we called you "Pop." That was the relationship of our perspective of age at that time. But they really made us feel at home and they shared everything with us. In fact, our sergeant, Ray Smith, just a fantastic gentleman, older man — he was at least 22 — but he offered me a bayonet to sent to my dad, and I had somehow made a covenant with myself that I wasn't going to take any souvenirs and so I refused it.

Van Ells: Why was that?

Chipman: … I don't know. Maybe it was superstitious. I don't know. And later on, I'll get to some other souvenir stories, which probably saved my life. It just was something that I had decided myself; I didn't want any souvenirs. But that was one of the things they did. We gambled a little together. There was a lot of blackjack or some craps going on. I don't think at that time I realized why these people were doing that. I certainly was not aware of the appreciation that we should have had for the way that they treated us. ,And then on the flip side of that coin, these fellows that were combat veterans; they would, if they knew somebody wasn't coming back, they'd cut open his sea bag and take anything they wanted. And when they went loose, they just totally let loose, like on liberty and so forth. I mean, they really just let go. …So, evidently, the experience of battle changed, alters your morals and values to some extent, and you become two different people.

I'm sure the sharing and talking and showing and explaining to us about their traumatic experiences in the Marianas had a definite purpose, and I'm sure it was effective. And I think it helped a lot. You know, in education, your mind really, a vicarious experience to a real experience, once it's over, your mind cannot really differentiate, you know, the experience yourself. You know, but your mind can't tell the difference. And I'm sure that after training with these fellows and living with them for a few months there that, not in fact, but emotionally and mentally we were veterans because, well, that's how you learn in school, I guess. …

One reason I think the Marines were successful and the Japanese weren't, first of all, our equipment was superior. But every Marine knew how to use a flame-thrower, a bazooka, a machine-gun, we worked with tanks, we just, they gave us a whole gamut of retraining. Of course, the veterans were bored; they all had gone through it. When the attrition in a battle, especially on Iwo Jima, was so great that you were working with strangers after a while and you were doing things that wasn't your job, but you did them because they had to be done. I'm sure that was the reason for training us in that way.