Veteran Transcript
Noble L. Beck
[b. 10/19/1921]
[interview starts at 000 counter]
[Wei Shen is helping to interview]
“Today is October 19, 2007. I am Jeffrey Shen and I am interviewing Mr. Noble Beck at the Indiana War Memorial Office at 431 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Beck is 86 years old and was born on October 19th, 1921 (Mr. Beck: That’s today). Mr. Beck served in World War II, Vietnam and Korea Wars. He was in the Third Marine Division in World War II, the First Marine Division in Korea, and the Third and First Divisions in Vietnam. He entered as a private and is now a colonel.”
[009]
JS: First, how old were you when you joined?
NB: Twenty.
JS: Do you remember what you were doing before the war?
NB: Yes, I was working at Eli Lilly in charge of the mail department.
JS: You enlisted, right?
NB: Yes, I enlisted. I did not wait to be drafted.
JS: Why exactly did you enlist?
NB: Well, our country had been attacked by [the Japanese] bombing Pearl Harbor. And then of course they hit Wake Island and they came into the Philippines with great strength. They fired on Midway. In the meantime—Europe—we had all kinds of opportunities to fight with the Germans and the Italians. It was the thing to do, to defend our country and everything that the United States stands for: freedoms, free speech, and so forth. My generation chose to fight and to defeat those who had attacked us. So that’s really why I did it. I knew that as a twenty year old bachelor, the draft would get me sooner or later and I didn’t want to be drafted. I wanted to volunteer, so I did.
JS: Why did you choose the specific service branch that you did?
NB: When I was working at Lilly, I told my boss, a fellow named John Clarke, that I had best go fight for our country. He said, ‘What branch of the military are you interested in?’ And I [said], ‘I don’t really know.’ He was a good boss and a good counselor and he brought in a book titled What Every Citizen Should Know about the Marine Corps but it was a series. There was another book: What Every Citizen Should Know about the United States Navy. I guess we just had the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps in those days, but there was one, What Every Citizen Should Know about the United States Army. I read those books and I like how they described the Marine Corps. It’s a very proud service and they had very colorful uniforms, still do. So I chose the Marine Corps and I went down to the recruiting office.
Wei Shen: Is it here in Indianapolis?
NB: In Indianapolis yes. I’m a native here. I was born one county south in Johnson County.
JS: Do you remember your first days in the service?
NB: Well, yes. We got on a troop train and went all the way to San Diego, California, from Indianapolis. Dirty train. But, I recalled the basic training that I received was pretty tough: firing the service rifle for qualification, and so forth. I went from basic training to parachute school. I remember it vividly.
JS: How did you get through the training experience? It was very tough right?
NB: Yes. Lot of close ordered drill, marching, saluting, and then of course the marksmanship program.
JS: So you were in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam?
[071]
NB: Right.
JS: First, let’s talk about World War II. Where exactly did you go?
NB: To Guam and Iwo Jima.
WS: Guam is in Pacific Ocean or in part of Europe?
NB: Guam is in the Marianas Island. Guam is one of the islands. Saipan is another.
WS: Is it close to Japan?
NB: Not so close. Iwo Jima is close, but Guam is pretty far south from the home islands of Japan.
WS: So your unit was stationed there?
NB: The Third Marine Division was headquartered on Guam, and Guam was possession of the United States, but it had been seized by the Japanese. Right after Pearl Harbor, they hit Guam and captured it. It was lightly held. Not very many Americans there.
JS: Do you remember arriving in Guam and in [Iwo Jima]?
NB: We used a landing craft. We were on transports. We’d climb down the debarkation nets, get in small boats, and go ashore.
WS: Were there any fights? Was the island already taken back from the Japanese?
NB: We had to fight for the islands. The Japanese didn’t just show the white flag. They defended those islands. We had to fight and win.
WS: Was that your first major battle?
[096]
NB: Guam was my first. I had good training. By this time I had gone to officer training and I had spent about nine months in that program. It was very intense. I knew I was well trained, I knew how to employ infantry and I had forty five marines in my unit.
WS: Were you the leader of those forty five?
NB: Yes
JS: So you planned the battles?
NB: Pardon?
WS: Who planned the battles? Who planned the overall strategy of taking Guam back and how many troops were there in that battle?
[108]
NB: Admiral Nimitz was the senior commander in the central Pacific. General MacArthur was the overall commander of the southwest Pacific. That included Australia. That included Guadalcanal. There was a battle that the Marines fought. Those strategies really came out of Washington, D.C. Then the orders to attack here, there, wherever, they did it in order to regain control of the Pacific. Washington would send out that they wanted the forces to seize such and such an area. We were just gradually closing in on the home islands that were Japanese. Retaking Guam was part of it.
We were bombing the living hell out of the home islands. We had a huge Air Force capability on Guam. They flew northward to the home islands and really pounded away. Those planes were fired at by the Japanese. They would be damaged and wouldn’t make it all the way back to Guam. So we selected Iwo Jima as a recovery island. So if they couldn’t make it back to Guam, they could make it back to maybe Iwo. It was called leapfrogging, moving from one group of islands to the next.
WS: So what year was that, the retaking of Guam?
NB: That was in ’42.
WS: That was a major victory for the US to get the island back?
NB: Yes, it was ours and we took it back.
JS: What was combat like?
NB: It’s pretty deadly. People get killed, people get wounded. I never did get a wound. I’m fairly small. I did make a fairly make a large target. Infantry work is not so glamorous, but it is very effective and you really can’t win if you don’t win on the ground. You have to seize the territory.
WS: How many troops were involved in that major battle of taking back Guam?
NB: There was a Marine Division and an Army Division so that would have been close to 30,000 men.
JS: Were you nervous? How were you feeling right before the battle?
[165]
NB: Like we were going to win. We were aggressive and there were moments of sheer terror but for the most part, we prevailed and I felt that my men were well trained. They were brave. It was up to me to employ them properly and to do what I could. Nothing suicidal. I wanted them to do their job and survive. Consequently, the things that I have learned about infantry tactics, I used those and held casualties to a bare minimum.
WS: How long did it take for the US troops to take control of Guam back?
NB: About three weeks. The island is close to thirty miles long so we swept through Guam and killed every Japanese we could to retake it and to destroy their combat capability.
WS: So you landed on the island on the first day and you took 3 weeks to take full control of the island?
NB: Yes.
WS: Where do you live in those three weeks? Do you get enough sleep? Obviously there’s no shower. Nothing but just battle.
NB: You’re dirty, you’re hungry, and you don’t sleep very well. And you don’t all sleep at the same time.
JS: How would you stay in touch with your family?
[193]
NB: Just by letters.
JS: What would you write to them about?
NB: We had a censorship so we really couldn’t write about what we were doing or where we were doing it. I always kept my letters home positive. I didn’t complain in my letters. Going back that far it’s hard to recall what I said in my letters but I generally was upbeat because I didn’t want them to be worrying about me. I am from a family of only one son. I am the oldest child of my parent’s union. I have two sisters, twins, but they were nine years younger so they were just entering their teens when I went into the Marines.
JS: What was the food like?
[213]
NB: There were no gourmet restaurants. We ate rations out of cans. K-rations and C- rations. That was about it. We didn’t have combat rations like we do today that are reportedly better than what we had. Some of that is done down in Evansville, Indiana. They are defense contractors for rations.
WS: So even during those three weeks of the battle in Guam those are the things that you eat? What do you eat during those three weeks?
NB: Rations out of the cans. Don’t hang on to that three weeks as being how long it took to retake the island. As I recall, it was roughly three weeks.
JS: Did you have a lot of supplies?
NB: No, because everything we had, we had to carry on our backs. We moved light and moved quickly so we could take advantage of swift movement which is a good tactic.
WS: So what do you usually carry? Obviously you carry your guns and some of your food, water. What else? Heavy weapons? Who carried those?
NB: Everyone had an individual weapon. The weapons we used were rifles, automatic rifles, and hand grenades. They were just the tools of warfare. We didn’t all sleep at the same time. We slept in ships. We slept on the ground. We were pretty worn out when the campaign was over.
WS: What was the weather like? Was that in the summer time? Was it pretty hot?
NB: It was pretty hot. Guam was tropical.
JS: Did you feel a lot of pressure or stress?
[252]
NB: No, we were very confident. We were not looking to take prisoners because it was too difficult to take prisoners. It’s much easier to just shoot them and forget them. Prisoners can be helpful from the intelligence point of view. When they’re properly interrogated they can give you some valuable information. Troop disposition, what lies ahead, and so forth. But taking them was pretty tricky because the Japanese were very suicidal. They would die for the emperor. They were very brave and they would fight right to the bitter end. It was kill or be killed and it’s not pretty.
JS: Did you do anything for good luck?
[270]
NB: We prayed from time to time. We looked out for one another. It was camaraderie. We had been sort of brainwashed to believe that we were undefeatable. With that kind of confidence, that helps a great deal. Brood and think, “Oh my God, will I live through another day?” You can’t think like that. You got to think positive.
WS: I can still feel this right now because you are positive with the battles you have won. I assume that your whole unit also has a same positive attitude. Everyone watches for the other person in the unit and advances forward.
JS: What did people do for fun?
[289]
NB: There was none. Not when you’re actually fighting. There was no fun but between operations like with Guam we were getting ready to go to Iwo, we were training, training, training. We played some volleyball and some soccer and even baseball. Training came first and then we could have some athletics for recreation and physical conditioning.
WS: But training probably most of the time already wears you guys out.
NB: Yes
JS: What did you think of your fellow officers and soldiers?
NB: I was proud to be associated with the guys I was associated with. We had very few disciplinary problems. We knew that the best way to survive was to kill the enemy and capture them and get back to some semblance of order instead of living like animals.
[Tape paused to talk about location in the interview]
[JS: Is there anything you would like to add about World War II?]
[Tape starts recording again]
[316]
NB: If I didn’t say something about the value of education, your teacher would be angry. I went into the Marine Corps in 1942. I had graduated from high school in 1939: Tech High School. Then in the Marine Corps, I went to night school and I graduated with a bachelor [degree]. I was a major by this time. I got a bachelor’s degree in military science which was an appropriate discipline for me and my career. I was graduated from University of Maryland in 1959. Then I was selected to go to the National War College a few years later. I was graduated from the George Washington University in the Washington area with a Master’s degree in international relations. So in 1939—graduated from high school. ’59—Graduated from University of Maryland. ‘69– Graduated from George Washington University. Highly recommend education and you should go for it.
WS: So how did you keep yourself motivated, continuing to pursue advanced degrees?
NB: I did this off duty. I got both of my college degrees. I went to night school and I got some credits for my military service. I think that that is extremely important.
WS: So you had a couple years away from the Marines while you were doing your [schooling]?
NB: No, I was working full time but I was going to night school.
WS: So your unit at that time was close to Washington D.C. That would allow you to take class in the evening.
NB: Both of those degrees, I was in the Washington area.
JS: Now I’m going to ask about the Korean War. Where did you go during the Korea War?
[362]
NB: I was a company commander. I was a captain but I was selected for major while I was in Korea. I had a specialized company that was responsible for controlling the demilitarized zone. There was a demilitarized zone separating the South Korea and us, the US, and other countries that were organized under the United Nations flags, so to speak. I went to Washington two or three years later and there were plenty of courses available. Maryland was one of the universities that pushed this very hard. The professors came to us rather than our going to them. Most of my classes were in the Pentagon. So I would finish my military duties for a full work day. Then I would go to two or three hours in evening classes. Then I’d go home to my family and I would probably have a late supper at 9:30 to 10:00 or something like that.
WS: So everyday, you have a long day to do full time job, to study, and also maybe even to prepare for tests and exams.
NB: [Yes.] Then on my master’s degree, I was a student in the National War College and I had to write a thesis. In that thesis I could get double duty out of that. I got that because it was a requirement of the National War College to have this paper. My faculty advisor at George Washington University approved my subject. I actually wrote a paper on the importance of turkey as the right flank of NATO. That’s how I got my degrees and I never did take leave to go to class because once again, the professors came to us. It was organized for our convenience and of course, it was a good source of income to the University of Maryland and to George Washington.
JS: I forgot to ask. Were you awarded any medals or citations?
[420]
NB: The medal is Legion of Merit. I have four awards of that.
JS: How do you get it?
NB: By performing over and above and beyond the call of duty, professional performance. I was a very good colonel. This was noted and I was decorated.
WS: Did you receive these during the war or after the war?
NB: I got two of them for combat tours in Vietnam. Two tours and each one I was commended with a Legion of Merit Award. Then I received one in Hawaii when I was responsible for operations in Vietnam but I was actually in Hawaii. I got one for two years of seven days a week there. It was a very demanding assignment. Then I received one at the end of my 32 years of active duty as recognition of my whole career.
WS: Are these all individual awards?
NB: Yes.
WS: Do you receive any group awards as well like team awards? Like your whole unit did so well, you get awarded?
NB: Yes, navy unit commendation. Recognition along that line.
JS: What was Vietnam like?
[462]
NB: It was very tough because you didn’t know who was friendly and who was hostile. Identifying who the enemy really was was very tough because we didn’t want to kill innocent civilians. But if those innocent civilians were not so innocent and were planting mines and whatnot—They look like peasant farmers during the day but at night you don’t know. Are they tucked in bed like good little peasants or were they out harassing and doing their best to get us killed? It was tough: enemy identification.
WS: So this is different from the World War II experience when you were fighting the Japanese on the island of Guam. Everyone’s an enemy. There’s no civilians over there. It’s probably all soldiers.
NB: Well, there were Guaminians but they stayed pretty much out of our way. They knew that we were there to do business.
JS: Do you have any other memorable experiences that you want to tell us about?
NB: I should tell you about my family. I have a son and a daughter. He was born when I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba which I know you’ve heard of. He was born there and his sister was born in North Carolina in Wilson Naval Hospitals. Then I have three grandchildren. I swore each of them into the Marine Corps.
WS: Are they in service right now?
NB: No. Well one is. The girl is. She is the baby, and she has served on an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. One of the boys was in the local reserve unit here in Indianapolis. He went all the way to Baghdad when we first went into Iraq.
WS: The Desert Storm?
NB: Yes. Very good. I’d forgotten the name of it. He was in Desert Storm. Then the other one is Incirlik, Turkey which is back in the news now. I won’t get started on that because I think it’s stupid. He was in Incirlik before Desert Storm. From Incirlik in Turkey, they were patrolling the no fly zone in northern Iraq.
JS: Do you remember when your service ended?
[533]
NB: Yes, in the summer of 1974.
JS: Did you make any close friendships?
NB: Yes, and the Marine Corps was small enough that over the years you’d bump into people that you served with eight or ten years ago. I made a lot of good friends.
JS: What did you do after the service ended?
NB: I came back here to Indianapolis and went into the environmental business. I was in that for about 20 years.
WS: So you actively worked another 20 years?
NB: I was early 50s when I finished my 32 in the Marines. So that’s pretty young for retirement. I think I was 52 when I retired. Then I went into the environmental business for about 20 years here in Indianapolis.
WS: Do you have a small business yourself or do you own a business or work for a company?
NB: I was president of the outfit that dealt in environmental information. We did not actually clean up. We were not for profit and we served as interpreters of what the EPA was demanding. We explained these things to business and industry. We were pro-business and industry and we were helping them stay out of trouble with the EPA. Lilly was one of my good sponsors and we worked on behalf of business and industry.
JS: Did you join a veteran’s organization?
[583]
NB: Yes, I am in American Legion and Marine Corps Units.
WS: Is it a national organization or also is the local chapter here?
NB: Local chapters.
JS: What kind of activities do you guys have?
NB: We pushed scholarships and raised money. For example, yesterday I was here and we were planning Veteran’s Day activities. General Goodwin is the president of this group and we have a lieutenant governor who’s going to be a speaker of loyal service. There’ll be a parade that we planned and so forth. In the spring of the year we’ll have an armed forces day and another parade. We raise money and a lot of civilian companies want to know, ‘How can we help observe veteran’s day?’ We tell them and they want to know if donations are appropriate. We say, ‘By all means’ and so forth.
JS: Do you attend any reunions?
NB: Yes, mostly marine reunions. First Marine Division for example. We raise money in our local chapter and send it to our national headquarters. We have scholarships that we award. I think the First Marine Division has about a hundred dependents of wounded and deceased marines. They have about a hundred in universities now.
WS: So these are for the people who are going to school?
NB: Yes.
JS: Did your military experiences influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?
[648]
NB: Well I consider myself a very capable infantry officer. I enjoyed my service. I felt I was doing good things for my country. I felt it was an honorable profession. I went back to Lilly right after I retired and they had been sending me letters. Well the personnel planners needed to know how about these guys that went off to the war. What do we do about fitting them back in? I had already decided that I wanted to stay in the Marine Corps. I was not going back to Lilly. First of all, I didn’t have a degree, and I knew that there was a ceiling which I wouldn’t be able to break through unless I had some more education.
WS: So you did think about coming back to Lilly to work right after the war?
NB: Right.
[End of side A]
[Start of side B]
NB: … indicated in their letters that they would indeed consider that I had been on military leave of absence. When I came back, I had already fully committed then I thought I’ve got to give them the courtesy of scratching my name off that list and I went down the headquarters, [in the] same building.
WS: So you probably have seen Mr. Eli Lilly, the grandson of the original Lilly.
NB: I delivered mail to his office. He was the president at that time. His brother J.K Lilly Jr. had the office. They had adjacent offices and I delivered mail to each of those offices. Actually, I delivered the mail to their secretary. Each one had his own secretary and I delivered mail to the ladies, the executive’s secretary. They were very nice gentlemen. They treated me, just a lowly mail boy, as if I were one of their valued employees.
WS: Well, respect for people, that’s the value of Eli Lilly.
NB: I have very high regard for that company.
JS: How did your experiences affect your overall life?
[711]
NB: Right up front, the first thing that happened was I realized I was no longer a boy. I was sort of force fed from boyhood to manhood practically overnight. Then over the years, I had some very fine experiences: how to deal with people, how to look out for people, and of course, how to make a living for a small family. The things that I learned in Marine Corps, just about growing up I thought were invaluable.
WS: Well certainly. You went to the war at the age of 20. Lot of the kids right now are at school and college so I think that’s very important to share with him: your perspective.
NB: How old are you?
JS: I’m 14. Is there anything you’d like to add?
NB: Well I got my pitch in for education.
WS: I think the other thing is that the generation right now, because US has not been in many wars like World War II, enjoy all the freedoms and peace but they don’t know really well that freedom and peace are through a lot of the young men’s sacrifices like [yours]. So I think maybe you can say a few words to him with respect to that. How you fight for the country to keep the world peaceful and keep the young generation [with] a good environment to grow up. Some of your thoughts on that.
NB: I think that the war on terror has changed things rather drastically. These days, air travel is a mess. It’s just a hassle getting on an aircraft these days. It used to be you (would) carefree just walk aboard. Those days are apparently gone forever. We’re up against an enemy that is hard to identify, hard to deal with, and to quell, but with my military background I feel that this is not something you run away and hide from. You just deal with it. That resolve is something that I think maybe I was born with some of it. The training I received and the experiences that I had, in combat and out of combat, the educational opportunities that were opened to me. Here I was, a little mail boy from Eli Lilly, and now I have a master’s degree. So the military experience that I had was invaluable.
WS: And you were very proud that you served the country at the time the country needs you?
NB: Yes.
[Closing remarks]
