Once a year, a group of Marines from around the country gets together in Scottsdale. They eat, drink and remember when they first started serving our country.
This group is a little unique: they were on the front line of fighting in World War II. A lot of the remaining soldiers are now in their 90s.
ABC15's Justin Pazera sat down with a few of them and the stories just started coming.
"The worst day for me in war?" asks Harry McKnight. "Guys getting killed right beside me. It was terrible to see the kids and the Marines killed and lying in a field."
Neal McCallum also served in the Sixth Marine Division.
"If you asked me at the time if I was fighting for country and flag I would have said - that would have been on the back burner. We're fighting to survive," said McCallum.
It was a reality for the Sixth Marine Division. It played a vital role in fighting World War II.
McKnight still remembers the names of all his friends killed in battle. Some of these soldiers were just teenagers.
"Most of the heavy lifting was done by teenagers," said McCallum. "The good times were also there — the laughs, even the jokes about what they had to eat. The suppers were corned pork loaf. I just could not get that stuff down."
The war might be over but those memories are far being gone.
