Marvin joined the U.S.Navy and was inducted on March 25,
1944. He was trained as a radioman after basic training.
Marvin was shipped to the Southwest Pacific and was assigned
to LST (landing ship tank) 718. LST’s were the workhorses for both the Atlantic
and Pacific theaters during WWII. With massive clamshell doors located on the
bow of the ship, they could transport large amounts of war material (including
tanks) and troops and bring them right up to the beach if needed.
LST-718 was heavily involved in the liberation of the Philippines
in late 1944. Marvin remembers sailing from New Guinea to Leyte in the
Philippines Islands when the convoy came under attack from a Japanese
submarine. LST-577 was sailing to the port side of Marvin’s ship and was hit by
a torpedo and was subsequently sunk.
Later in the war, LST-718 arrived at Yokohama Japan one day
before the official surrender ceremony that was to take place on the U.S.S.
Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On board Marvin’s ship was the personal equipment of
General Douglas MacArthur who was tapped to be the military governor of Japan
for several years after the war ended in September 1945.
Marvin left the Navy on January 24, 1946 with the rank of
Radioman Second Class. He received the Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal,
Philippine Liberation medal, WWII Victory medal, and the American Defense and
Good Conduct medal. He also received the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
badge with 1 battle star.
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