William Laurence Gardell served in the Marines from 1942 to 1946 during World War II. William or "Billy" Richmond attempted to join the Marines with a group of his friends from South Amboy, N.J., but unfortunately for him he ended up being the only one from his group to be selected by the Marines; he went to boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., alone. Billy just so happened to have the stereotypical look of a Marine Corps drill instructor. He was 5'11, lean, blonde, lantern-jawed and generally mean-looking. He was also 21 and a high school graduate, which made him an old man compared to many of the other USMC recruits at the time. He was made a drill instructor and served training recruits at Parris Island shortly after graduating there himself. He commanded a company of 64 recruits that graduated in October 1942 (he had only enlisted in the Marines himself that May). He was only a Pfc. at the time. Later Billy became a fire controlman/forward observer. He was moved to the 13th Marine Artillery regiment, which was later attached to the 5th Marine Division or "Spearhead Division." He trained at Camp Tarawa and saw service in California, Hawaii and Saipan in the Pacific. He spent time at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, which he would remember fondly years later. He would later land on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima with the first wave of assault troops on 2/19/1945 and would serve in combat until the end of that battle on 3/26/1945. This would be the defining event of Billy Richmond's life. He was promoted to sergeant by this point and would lead small forward-observer teams to direct artillery fire in combat. He was present at the first U.S. flag raising at Mount Suribachi. He and his closest Marine buddy, Sgt. Lester "Bull" Dunham from New York state, advanced ahead of the main body of Marines on Suribachi when they were attacked by a party of six Japanese soldiers who emerged from hidden positions behind them. They eliminated the Japanese defenders and continued their mission. After Iwo Jima he served in the occupation of Japan and was quartered with a Japanese family in Osaka. He would eat rice with the family, who treated him like a human being, and he treated them kindly in return. Billy Richmond had three sisters and four brothers. All of his brothers served in the military during either WWII or Korea. His mother was a Swedish immigrant, and his father was from Scotland, which earned Billy the nickname of "Scottie" during his Marine Corps service. Billy Richmond later served in the South Amboy Volunteer Fire Department and became a successful business owner and family man. He was my grandfather and my namesake.

-William L. Gardell