John Gustafson
Name: John Gustafson
Class: 1948
Military Unit: US Marine Corps, V-12
Listen to the interview:
John: "I was seventeen years old, February of 1943, about to be eighteen and get drafted. So my dad and I talked about this and I was thinking that if I would get into the military I would like to be in the Navy.… So we went down to the Boston Garden where the recruiting office was … and the recruiter said, 'Oh, we are all filled up for our quota for February but go down the hall and see if there is an opening with the Marines.' I didn't know anything about the Marines! I was completely ignorant about military things. So I went down the hall, they had an opening, so I joined the Marines and went to Dartmouth, was selected for the V-12 program and was assigned to Dartmouth."
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