Interview of Claude Kiger
Transcript Number 001

July 1 1998

JOSEPH JAMES: Welcome and greetings to you from friends and participants of "World War II Remembered," as they share their lives with you during the tumultuous years of 1937 to 1947, years that changed forever the political and economic thinking and structure of practically every nation on earth. Today's program concerns veterans who served their country with pride and distinction during World War II. In any branch of service, whether in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or Merchant Marine, they all have a story to tell. Our purpose today is to inform the American public of the sacrifices and experiences of these gallant men. The interview today is on videotape, so their military duty and experiences will always be remembered by the citizens of the United States. I'm Joseph James from Wilmington, and today is July the first, 1998. 

CLAUDE KIGER: I am Claude Kiger from Wilmington.

JJ: I thank you Claude . . .

CK: I appreciate it.

JJ: . . . for taking time to share your World War II experiences with us today.

CK: I thank you. I also thank the organization that made this up. I thank Jim and yourself and the rest of the guys who do a great job.

JJ: Thank you, Claude. Now, your current address is, Claude?

CK: 1001 Fitzgerald Drive, Wilmington.

JJ: What was the branch of service you were in?

CK: U.S. Marines, 2nd Division, 2nd Battalion.

JJ: Did you obtain any rank in the service?

CK: Sergeant.

JJ: What was the date of service when you entered the service?

CK: The day after Pearl Harbor, December 8th, 1941.

JJ: And you served?


CK: Four years. I was regular. 

JJ: Where were you inducted?

CK: I was inducted in Winston-Salem but I was sent to Raleigh to pass my final physical before I could really become a Marine. Then I went down to Parris Island.

JJ: Parris Island, that was what I was just going to ask you. Your first days in the service, how did you feel?

CK: I felt lost. As a kid, I was always tough, and when I was sent down to Parris Island, we had to go into a reserve outfit because, at that time, they didn't have groups to form battalions. They had just formed one a week earlier. So he came into our squad room, wooden barracks, where we were and said, "Has anybody in here been to C.C? " So my cousin and his friend said "yes, we've been in them." He said "raise you hand, raise your hand." I said "you don't want me to raise my hand." He said "raise you hand." I said "all right, I'll raise . . ." Then they took us three but there were three Marines that disqualified. They had us out doing short order drills B right, left, right, left -- so I could keep up with the company. We didn't have as many weeks in boot camp as the rest of the guys.

JJ: That's what I was just going to ask you about, boot camp.

CK: Yes, that was boot camp. 

JJ: So you completed boot camp much earlier than the regular recruits?

CK: Much earlier by about ten days.

JJ: Oh that's good. What post did you serve stateside, beside Parris Island?

CK: Well, we left Parris Island and went up to Camp Geiger. It wasn't Camp Lejeune, then, and there were just tents. We put up those tents and they didn't have but one building built up at Camp Geiger. We went up there to board a train to go across to California. It was four to two seats. There's two seats this way and two seats that way and there's four of us. Two slept while the other two held their feet, and then we switched off.

JJ: How was that trip across the country?

CK: We had these houses that brought us food out to the train, but when you're young, things don't really bother you that much and I was just happy to get a meal.

JJ: That is true. Now did you, while you were stateside, have any special training?

CK: I had advanced training at Camp Lejeune.


JJ: At Camp Lejeune?

CK: Yes.

JJ: What do you mean by advanced training?

CK: That was how to advance on an enemy, how to approach them, how to use the knowledge that you've got. Sometimes you wonder why they ever pull maneuvers, but I learned years ago, that you pull maneuvers because you react the way you've been trained to react in combat.

JJ: The same way with close order drills.

CK: The same, that's right. Well, you learn those things.

JJ: Good. Now you told me you had that train trip going across . . .

CK: Yes.

JJ: And where was your port of embarkation?

CK: San Diego, California.

JJ: San Diego?

CK: Yes.

JJ: And what did you do? You were going overseas at that time?

CK: Yes. We went to a little island called Pago Pago, Samoa and we were going to be sent to another outfit. The first thing that they did was assign me, being small, to a B.A.R B a Browning Automatic Rifle. I broke my arm in Samoa, right there-- hit a coconut. So, they couldn't put me in any particular place. Nobody wanted me.
Nobody wants a guy with a broken arm. When I got off the ship, I had my arm out of the cast.

JJ: Why did you enlist, Claude, the day after Pearl Harbor?

CK: Well, I don't know. I really don't. My cousin was going to go. He had signed up for the draft. So I said, well, I'll go too. So, I went for actually no reason.

JJ: I'd like your opinion on the equipment that the Marines provided for you -- the clothing.


CK: I had good clothing. In combat, you take a pack and you put your clean socks and ammunition, too. We had plenty of ammunition, a K ration, and that's about all you carry.

JJ: In your pack?

CK: Yes. Ammunition and socks.

JJ: What about the chow in the Marine Corp.?

CK: We had good chow. After we came back from Guadalcanal, we had our own mess hall and each company had their own mess hall. We didn't form a division mess until after Saipan. Or, it might have been after Tarawa. We formed our own mess hall then.

JJ: I don't think you had very much off duty recreation, did you? You didn't have much time off?

CK: No, we didn't. We formed a soft ball team, but some days you'd have six or eight guys.

JJ: What about the quality of your leadership? Your officers and non-coms?

CK: Yes, I had good officers. I never will forget my first one was Lt. Ray, who was a great officer.

JJ: In the Marines, the non-coms were the real leaders, though, the sergeants.

CK: Well, that's true. The officers were there, but usually if you suggested something and it was feasible, they would do it. Very seldom did they ever disillusion you with no we can't do that, or something like that. It was always possible.

JJ: Did you have many military slang and phrases? As we have?

CK: Oh yes, we had quite a few of those.

JJ: Yes, a lot of things that we can't mention.

CK: Well, you've got to remember, I was just a young boy. I was seventeen when I went in and I was just a kid. Now days, it doesn't seem possible, does it?

JJ: No it doesn't. Now, going oversees, when you embarked from San Diego, what was your reaction? Going over there?

CK: I was seasick. 

JJ: All the days you traveled?


CK: Everyday I traveled, I got seasick and when I would go into combat, I'd get seasick. I'd have to bite on a piece of wood to keep from getting seasick. 

JJ: That's something. You tell me, you left from San Diego.

CK: Yes.

JJ: You must have some interesting stories from embarkation. You know, the group.

CK: Well, they took us to Samoa and then to New Caledonia. The first Seabees had just come in and they set up their tents. The first tent they set up was a poker tent and they played cards. I had never shot dice. The first payroll I ever got was in New Caledonia.

JJ: That's your first payroll.

CK: I drew twenty dollars. 

JJ: That's fantastic, isn't it?

CK: Yes.

JJ: Now, as you said, your travel on aboard ship was kind of new to you, right?

CK: I was seasick and I thought I'd die.

JJ: How was the morale in you unit, even before combat?

CK: A Marine is for another Marine, and another Marine is for another Marine, and they're always for one another.

JJ: Semper Fi. Semper Fi. Right?

CK: Semper Fi, that's always faithful. Never have I seen, while I was in the Marines, one Marine that got into a fight and when it was over with, there was nothing to it.

JJ: How were the letters from home when you were overseas?

CK: I didn't write much. I had a girlfriend and we exchanged letters and I exchanged letters with my step-mother. I was such a rowdy kid.

JJ: Did you ever read the "Stars and Stripes?"

CK: No, we never got the "Stars and Stripes."


JJ: You never did? Oh I see. Now of course, another question. You didn't get a chance to meet many foreign women, did you?

CK: No. We met a few in New Zealand but they were for guys a little older. I was eighteen or nineteen, but we met a few. Oh I fell in love two or three times, I guess.

JJ: I know a lot of men married girls over seas.

CK: Yes they did. We had a boy in our outfit marry one.

JJ: O.K. Now I'm going to get into combat service. Describe, of course, your baptism of fire at Guadalcanal. I guess that was your first engagement.

CK: When we landed and went ashore, there wasn't too much activity. So we laid there, and I sort of sat up and said "them Japanese know we boys from North Carolina was coming down here and so they took off," and then they started. I got a handful of dirt, and in that dirt was a rock, and that rock said to me "don't worry, you're going to be all right, nothing going to happen to you." Like I said, I had broken my arm, so I was used as a runner.

JJ: Oh, you didn't have the Browning anymore.

CK: No. I got rid of that. That's one of the things that I have to be thankful for. 

JJ: You were a runner for your commanding officer?

CK: I was a runner for Lt. Ray and we came up on six or eight that had been shot and killed. One of them was alive and said "Give me water, give me water." I started, and the sergeant, I never will forget him, said "Shoot him." I said "What?" He said "I said shoot him." So, I shot him. He bounced and rolled over and he had a hand grenade tucked in his stomach. They had those hand grenades hid and that was the first one.

JJ: Your unit itself, your squad or your company, how was their combat performance?

CK: Great. We received practically every citation that you could receive.

JJ: Oh, that's wonderful. You got the unit citation then?

CK: Oh, yes.

JJ: That's wonderful. Their courage and discipline was . . .

CK: Oh, yes. I never saw a Marine back off.

JJ: That's wonderful. 

CK: Yes.

JJ: That's wonderful.

CK: We never backed off.

JJ: I know there were many men who were wounded in your outfit.

CK: And killed

JJ: And killed. You were wounded. I know you were, Claude.

CK: Twice.

JJ: Where was that?

CK: That was at Tarawa and it was the second day.

JJ: Second day in Tarawa.

CK: I caught a piece near my hand, on my high school ring, and broke my finger.

JJ: How was the medical care?

CK: Well. They didn't have time . . .

JJ: Well, that's true. The corpsmen running around . . .

CK: Yes. The doctor had me down with a band-aid tied around my hand and the guy who was shot all to pieces was laying next to me. I was least hurt of all, but I still wanted my attention and I wanted them to know that I was hurt. The doctor wanted to cut it off and I said "if you cut it off, I'll shoot you."

JJ: Is that right?

CK: I would have and it wouldn't have been a problem. He sent me back to the hospital ship and they called me down the first day I was in Honolulu and finished my finger.

JJ: You're still suffering a little bit from that wound, aren't you?

CK: No, not really. When I played golf, I always held the club like that. I got hit in the back of the head at Saipan.

JJ: Did you get a chance to rejoin your old unit?

CK: No. 


JJ: No? After you went back to Honolulu . . .

CK: Oh yes. When I went back to Honolulu, they sat me down and said here's your orders. They gave them to a sergeant that was in charge and I was just a corporal, then. We went down to the dock and I looked at the boat, and I said "my God, I ain't going nowhere in this thing." I knew I wasn't going to the States, so I rejoined my outfit, the 2nd.

JJ: That's great. Of course, when you were not on the front lines, you were probably in Honolulu recovering. Did you get a chance to get any R and R, or no?

CK: Yes, we did, but I was too young. I couldn't get anything to drink. It's amazing, they have recreation for the service men, but if you're too young, you're too young.

JJ: When did you attain the rank of corporal?

CK: I attained that at Tarawa and I made PFC after Guadalcanal. We had the O3 rifles, and we got the M1's right after Guadalcanal. Lt. Ray was challenging the Sergeant and everybody else in the company, too. He had been in his tent practicing field -stripping blindfolded, and so he challenged me. I took the challenge and I had it apart and put back together before he had his apart.

JJ: That's wonderful.

CK: When the PFC rank became available, there were three to be made in the division and I took the test and passed and there was about ten of us who took it.

JJ: Now, you were in combat. What was your opinion of the enemy, the Japanese, the soldier himself?

CK: I really and truly hated them with a purple passion. It has affected me all my life and I still can't find within myself and my soul . . .

JJ: Any compassion? Whatsoever?

CK: I had no compassion and I saw the things that they did as military.

JJ: To military personnel.

CK: Oh, God.

JJ: See, some people don't realize what they did. You had other combat experience besides Guadalcanal and Tarawa?

CK: I was hit in the head at Saipan.


JJ: Saipan?

CK: We landed at red beach which was the immediate left flank. There were 36, an Amtrac, and there were 35 of them bad off, either killed or hurt worse than I was. I was mighty lucky, but they wanted to send me back to the ship and I wouldn't let them. I said "I ain't going back to the ship, no more."

JJ: So you stayed there in the field hospital?

CK: No, they just put a gauze around my head and turned me loose. They didn't have a field hospital set up. From where I am to you, that was the beach. I took the gauze off and put a band-aid over it, so I wouldn't be so obvious. My helmet was gone, too, so they had to give me a new helmet.

JJ: Of course, the battle of Saipan was a pretty rough battle.

CK: Yes.

JJ: They wanted to get that _______ field for the B-29.

CK: We landed there right close to Garipan, which is a little town right there and then we moved out. General Smith moved us on out.

JJ: What other actions did you see?

CK: Well, I went to Tinian, across from Saipan, and they pulled a banzai charge on us and annihilated many, many men. I came down with malaria and they sent me back to the field. I was lucky that I didn't get caught in that because I'm sure that I would never have survived it.

JJ: Can you explain to the public what a banzai charge is?

CK: That's Japanese and a lot of them can talk English. We would listen to them and they'd say "Marines, prepare to die" and "Marines, you're no good." They would just talk back and forth and then, all of a sudden, they'd scream and holler and here they'd come. "Banzai." They'd holler "Banzai. Banzai. Banzai." I don't know whether they were drunk on saki but a lot of them died in the charge. All we could do was fire and fire.

JJ: Now, I know you received some awards and decorations. What were they?

CK: I received the Purple Heart with a star. 

JJ: Of course, the medal for the combat unit.

CK: Oh yes, I had a chest full of those.

JJ: The battle stars, right?

CK: Yes.

JJ: Did you receive any medals from foreign governments?

CK: No. I received the unit citation, but I guess that was from our government.

JJ: After Tinian, did you return . . .

CK: Yes, we went back over to Saipan, and then they had the battle of Okinawa. The boats and ships took us up there and they had these Japanese dive- bombers . . .

JJ: The kamikazes?

CK: Kamikaze pilots would come and we would have to go down below deck. Then they said, you've got to go in the south island in the tip. So, I thought, you can't survive, so I gave my money and a ring that I had won to a friend and I gave everything I had away. We went in towards the beach, and they started shelling. We turned around and came right back. That was the easiest combat I ever received.

JJ: Did you ever see a kamikaze actually attack a ship?

CK: Yes, we were aboard and it was about as far as from here to the parking lot.

JJ: Now, Tiger Kiger, we're going back to your combat experience.

CK: All right.

JJ: Tell me about your first day of baptism of fire at Guadalcanal.

CK: Well, I was scared and I don't think there's ever been anyone that wasn't scared in combat. I grabbed a handful of sand, and in that handful of sand was this rock. This rock seemed to say to me "Don't worry. Everything is going to be all right." It's amazing that I've had this rock 57 years, all through life, and carried it. When things get tough, I rub my rock. 
JJ: You call it the rock of ages, right?


CK: Rock of life. I really enjoyed having this, because it has carried me through a lot of things that a person normally doesn't go through. It's just that we were relieving the 1st Marine division at Guadalcanal and we were 2nd Marine division. They still had some snipers who shot at us. We were pretty lucky. I killed my first one there and you go through life remembering the first one you ever killed. You don't ever forget that. When they pulled a banzai, it didn't bother you a bit to shoot them. I just was lucky that I went back to New Zealand after Guadalcanal to a little town called Papakura. It's about 40 or 50 miles north of Wellington and we got liberty to go into Wellington. So we all went at first, and then the Marines got to fighting so bad, that they wouldn't give us all the same liberty any more. We got into so many fights, and I was involved in several, but I never won any of them. We had three or four boys that had girls, and I think one guy married a girl in Hazelwood. He was a radio operator and he married a girl just after we came back to Palmerston North. We had gone on a hike, all the way up and all the way back, and we were the only division that did it. He got a pass to marry her. Then we went to Tarawa for two days. We boarded the hospital ship back to Hawaii and that was great. I had my hand wrapped because I had two broken fingers. I was able to go on liberty but Waikiki Beach, was all barbed wire and fenced off. I couldn't get a drink or anything because I was too young, but we enjoyed it because it was liberty. Then we went to Saipan. I thought they were going to ship me back to the states, but they sent me down to the dock, and I got aboard this little ship. I said, "I ain't going to stateside, I going to rejoin my outfit." I rejoined it, and I wasn't there a month or two, before we set off for Saipan. We landed in Amtracs and we had a shell land right in the middle of us. If you've ever seen a picture of the beachhead at Saipan, you'll see our Amtrac, Chicago Mary, always sitting there on the left flank. That's where it was hit and that's where I got out in the water and waded ashore. After Saipan, we went over to Tinian, and was there about a week or ten days. We had a banzai charge attack on our outfit. I came down with malaria, so they sent me back, so I missed out on that, thank goodness. We stayed there for a while, and then went up to Okinawa. We made a feint at the south end of the beach but didn't land, and went back to the ship. I thought that was the easiest combat I had ever had in my life. Then I went back to Saipan, and then they said "we're going to send you to the states." The Japanese had just surrendered, and I came down with malaria, again. I had malaria ten times. They sent me to the hospital and they asked me in the hospital one day, "You want us to send you back or are you going to go back with your company?" I said "I'm going to go back with the guys I came over with. There ain't many, but I'm going to go back with them." When I got back to the company, they had already shipped out, so I went back to the hospital and I was stuck. I went into Nagasaki the day they signed the peace treaty, and we went on up to Sado, Japan. Then, I was sent back to the states as a medical case. I had had all that you could possibly take and there was just no way that I could take anymore . . .

JJ: That's right.

CK: They sent me back to Balboa Park in San Diego and the doctor talked to me. I told him I just wanted to get back to the states. He said, "well you're all right. Just stay around." I was about to get married to one of the nurses, but we didn't see eye to eye on a couple of things, especially her drinking. They sent me back to Camp Lejeune and gave me a discharge.

JJ: When were you discharged?

CK: I was discharged 30 days after I was supposed to, because I was in the hospital. 
JJ: Oh I see.


CK: Yes, it was1946 and I re-enlisted and went to serve two years.

JJ: Oh, you were a career soldier then?

CK: No, I wasn't. I felt like I was going to be. They offered me 92% disability when I was at Balboa Park in San Diego. I told them, "No thank you. I don't want it." 

JJ: 92% disability?

CK: Disability, and I just didn't want it. I've done without it all these years.

JJ: That's something.

CK: Yes.

JJ: That's absolutely something. A lot of men . . .

CK: I had a guy next door to me that broke his arm playing volley ball and he got a retirement pension. 

JJ: That's something. What was your expectation upon leaving the service?

CK: I didn't want to leave and I had shipped over to get my choice of duty. I got Kansas City, Missouri, train reserves. Of course, at that time, the train program didn't have any laws. When I re-enlisted, I got recruiting duty. This second lieutenant was in my outfit, and he said "Sergeant, you're going to be a recruiter."

JJ: Was that in Winston-Salem?

CK: It was in Winston-Salem and I became a recruiter for a little over a year and a half.

JJ: How did you like that duty?

CK: Oh, I loved it and that's where I met my wife. We knew each other five days and we got married.

JJ: Is that right?

CK: We've been married fifty-two years.

JJ: That's wonderful. You met her in the office?


CK: No, I went up to fill a position for the Marines recruiting at the fairgrounds. They were having a county fair. I went up to see her and the woman that I was supposed to see wasn't in her office. So, I heard these girls in the other office and I went in. I fell in love when I saw her and it hit me just like that.

JJ: Love at first sight.

CK: Love at first sight. I stood her up for our first date, which was the following day. The girl I got the booth from, came over and picked me up. I stood Catherine up, my wife, and then we married.

JJ: That's wonderful and it's a good story. Are you a member of any national organizations?

CK: American Legion.

JJ: American Legion?

CK: Yes, I am a lifetime member.

JJ: How about your unit? Did you have any reunions?

CK: No. I joined the Guadalcanal outfit one time and they met in Norfolk, Virginia. I went up there one time and I couldn't go back. I was just too much. 

JJ: What about your family life after the service?

CK: I've been lucky. I couldn't get a job and nobody wants anyone that hasn't done anything but carry papers or didn't have any experience. So, I went to see a man that his son died in my arms. I sent him his watch, his ring, and what he had in his pockets. He was a night foreman at Reynolds Tobacco Company. I went to see him, and I said "I need a job." He said "Why in the world didn't you come down here sooner, and what you doing down here so late?" He also asked "when can you go to work, now?" I said "Yes." So, he sent me over and I became a time keeper at the Reynolds. I worked there three or four years. Then they said "We're going to have an airlines job, what do you think?" Anything outside was great and I didn't like being inside. So I went to work with Piedmont and I worked for them 30 years. I retired eighteen years ago at the age of 57.

JJ: Well, Claude, you've had some great experiences during the service of your country and we thank you for telling us all of your experiences. 

CK: Well, I thank you and I thank Jim both for organizing this World War II . . .

JJ: This tape will be seen by many people, even after we're gone.

CK: O.K. Yes, that's right. Thank you.