Enlisted 1942 

William Max  Dodd ( Max to friends and family) tried to enlist in the marine corps December 8, 1941 about the age of 17, but the recruiting sergeant told him to come back when he gained 35 pounds. When he turned 18 he was drafted with 200 other men from his home town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Marine Corps only accepted volunteers, so Max and his friend Archie rushed over to sign up. Archie being a well built football player was taken quickly, while Max being kind of on the scrawny side was sent back to the bench. Max says he remembered thinking the heck with them all he wasn't going anywhere. Near the end of the day it became apparent to the Marine Sergeant that no one else was going to sign up, so it was either take Max or leave with just one guy. So he called Max over and said he had changed his mind and would take Max. 

From there he went to boot camp in San Diego, a technical training camp at Jejune, and rifle training camp at Camp Matthews. The Marine Corps where very physical in the 40's, but physical punishment was no longer permitted. Max says that life in the Marine Corps was a lot of fun. Comradeship is very strong and you could depend on everybody to cover your back. Combat does get a little dicey, but again there's a strong bond with your comrades. On at least two occasions, Max says, someone had risked their life for his. Max also says  that he can remember many events but chooses to tell of only "the humorous ones". Which I'm sure is true with most veterans.

My favorite story of his happened when he was on a troop transport (a Navy ship) taking his troop to an invasion. The Marines get knives called K-bars which are much admired by the Navy sailors. The day before D-day they sold their  K-bars to some members of the Navy crew. That night they reported that their gear had been rifled through and their knives had been stolen. The ship's officers had an immediate shake down and found the sailors who had bought the knives. The knives where taken away and given back, the sailors protested that the knives had been sold to them. The officers however refused to believe the sailors, telling them that it would be illogical for them to have sold their weapons right before a battle. Max recalls laughing as he and his crew left the ship of angry sailors.

Places Max went in the U.S were:  California, North Carolina and Idaho. Places he went in the pacific were:  Hawaii, Enewetac, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. His highest rank was a Marine Corps Sergeant.   Max had this to say about life in the service, "Life in the service wasn't bad. Back then Marine Corp Sergeants were not to be fooled with, and pretty much did what they wanted. So long as someone wasn't shooting at you, we had it pretty good.