Montgomery County IL Archives Military Records.....Odle, Everett  E. 
WWII - Enlistment 5th Marine Division
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Tim Casey timcasey5@gmail.com and Michael Odle  April 13, 2008, 8:41 am

My father, Everett E. Odle, who was born in Taylorville and grew up in
Litchfield, joined the Marines at age 17. Being only 5' 6" tall, many of
the recruiters turned him down, so he kept going to a new recruiter each
week until he found one in the Chicago area that would accept him. The
funny thing is that once he got to boot camp he found a lot of guys his
size.

Dad was assigned to the 5th Marine Division and fought in the Iwo Jima
campaign. He still has nightmares about working on the burial detail. He
seldom speaks about that whole experience, but he has mentioned jumping
from foxhole to foxhole passing out gas masks while under fire. He
wasn't wounded, though.

Later he was preparing to be part of the force to invade Japan itself, a
hellish prospect, when the atomic bomb ended the war instead. Dad then
became part of the occupation troops in Japan for about a year. He has
told stories of the boat trip there in which they ate bug-infested
rations because that's all there was, and of making friends with some
Japanese families during the occupation.

He joined as a private, was promoted up to corporal, joined the
Reserves, and became a drill Sergeant when he was called up during the
Korean War. He stayed stateside during that war, though.

Now he is nearly 78 and living in Hillsboro with his sister and
suffering from Parkinson's. He still mentions old Marine buddies (such
as O.N. McCorkle) he has lost contact with and misses.



Additional Comments:
Submitted by Michael Odle son of Everett Odle
Michael@starmax.com 

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