Harold G. Cowart was born in September 1924 in Statesboro, Georgia. His parents were sharecroppers and he and his 11 siblings were required to do their share of the work on the farm. [Annotator's Note: A person off screen interjects throughout the interview.] Life was tough for Cowart during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. For entertainment, he would go see a movie on Saturdays. He would start school six weeks late because he had to help his parents with the crops. Cowart was playing sand lot baseball on the afternoon of 7 December 1941 when someone announced that Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] had been bombed [Annotator's Note: in an attack by the Japanese]. Cowart knew nothing about Pearl Harbor at the time. He moved to Jacksonville [Annotator's Note: Jacksonville, Florida] and lived with his sister and brother-in-law. He worked in a store for a couple of months before entering the military. On 1 September 1942, Harold Cowart enlisted in the Marines along with a friend from the neighborhood. He was sent to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina] for boot camp then to Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina]. Cowart was initially assigned to a company in the 23rd Marine Regiment [Annotator's Note: 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] but was soon transferred to the 25th Marine Regiment [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division]. With the 25th Marines, Cowart took a trip by ship, and arrived at Camp Pendleton [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, San Diego County, California]. There were German u-boats [Annotator's Note: German submarines] out in the Gulf [Annotator's Note: Gulf of Mexico], but their ship made it safely to California. When he went through the Panama Canal, people threw bananas to the troops. They arrived at a tent camp, and the officers kept them busy so they would not get in trouble. He had three drill instructors who were very strict with him and the rest of the troops.

Harold G. Cowart trained on an M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] with the Marines. After basic training, Cowart could take his rifle apart and put it back together. While he was overseas, he would take rifles from dead troops, so he always had three on him during the war. He also would trade his weapons with others. Cowart was initially assigned to a company in the 23rd Marines [Annotator's Note: 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] but was soon transferred to the 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division]. While his regiment was stationed in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California], they trained hard, three or four days at a time. They practiced different maneuvers. Cowart boarded a ship that headed to the Marshall Islands. His first combat action was the capture of Kwajalein Atoll [Annotator's Note: Battle of Kwajalein, 31 January to 3 February 1944, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands]. He went ashore on one of the small outlying islands. He witnessed the other regiments hit the main part of the atoll. He recalled a huge explosion from ammunition not far from his location. It took about three days to take the atoll. By the time of the landing he was a BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle]team leader. He was responsible for three people in his group. He did not see many Japanese on that island. After the island was secured, his regiment was taken to Maui [Annotator's Note: Maui, Hawaii] to rest and then retrain for the next invasion.

[Annotator's Note: Person offscreen interjects throughout the interview]. Harold G. Cowart and his unit headed to Maui [Annotator's Note: Maui, Hawaii]. He went on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii]. While in Hawaii, they prepared for fighting in Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands]. They would practice invasion on small islands nearby. One day Cowart boarded a ship with his unit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] and was told that they were heading Saipan and briefed on the invasion [Annotator's Note: Battle of Saipan, 15 June to 9 July 1944, Mariana Islands]. The invasion was very rough. Cowart was part of the first wave of the amphibious invasion. He went onto the shore by amphibious tractors. Cowart was faced by a Japanese soldier and tried to shoot him, but his gun was full of sand. Then he heard a shot and the Japanese soldier fell. He continued up onto the beach. His friend, Herb, was shot in the arm and sent home the first day of the invasion. When they settled for the night, he and a buddy took turns staying up for look out. They both fell asleep and when Cowart woke up, he saw several Japanese soldiers scattered on the ground. They had tried to attack, but other Marines were able to kill them before they got to Cowart's foxhole.

[Annotator's Note: A person off screen interjects throughout interview.] There were big rainstorms while there [Annotator's Note: on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands]. Harold G. Cowart received orders to go to the back of the line. He and a friend found a couple of bicycles and went to the beach. They took a quick swim and returned to their unit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division]. He found out they were in trouble for taking too long. The next morning, he was sent to the colonel where he was reprimanded for his actions. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 0:56:40.000.] A few days later, Cowart was made a BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] team leader and corporal. [Annotator's note: A telephone rings at 0:57:07.000.] Cowart was in his first fire fight near the end of the Battle of Saipan. The native women jumped off the cliffs when they saw the Marines coming. [Annotator's Note: Someone is talking in the background at 1:00:30.000 and someone enters the room at 1:03:32.000.] Cowart was standing around with some others one day when a Japanese soldier surprised attacked them with a sword while holding a baby. They acted fast and killed the Japanese soldier and the baby. They continued to fight random ambushes until they secured the island.

[Annotator's Note: A person off screen interjects throughout the interview.] Harold G. Cowart and the 25th Marines [Annotator's Note: Cowart was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] were replaced on Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] after the island was secured. They headed to Tinian [Annotator's Note: for the Battle of Tinian, 24 July to 1 August 1944, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands]. While there, Cowart contracted dysentery [Annotator's Note: infection of the intestines]. Conquering Tinian was easy compared to Saipan, however the Japanese soldiers pretended to be natives to surprise attack the Marines. After securing Tinian, Cowart and his unit went to Maui [Annotator's Note: Maui, Hawaii]. They could go on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and recuperate. His unit was replenished with new Marines that did not receive a lot of training. Cowart was sent to a rest camp for a week. He was able to sleep and eat as much as he wanted. He then began training for Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan].

[Annotator's Note: A person off screen interjects throughout the interview.] Harold G. Cowart and his unit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] invaded Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] with ease, but as soon as they made it onto the beach, the Japanese opened fired on them. After giving a couple of Marines some orders, they were hit by a shell and killed instantly. The Japanese hid in the caves. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings at 1:22:17.000.] While on the island, Cowart was wounded in his leg, evacuated to the beach and taken to a hospital ship. He was eventually taken back to Hawaii and rejoined his regiment there to prepare for the invasion of Japan. Cowart was able to get permission to return to the United States to Oakland [Annotator's Note: Oakland, California] for his injury. He was then sent to North Carolina and was discharged in November 1945.

[Annotator's Note: A person off screen interjects throughout the interview.] when Harold G. Cowart heard that the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] had been dropped, he was relieved. He was discharged at Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He used the G.I. Bill to attend school but dropped out. He also had nightmares for a while. World War 2 made Cowart grow up. He feels he did something for his country. He believes it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana]. [Annotator's Note: A person off camera begins to talk with the interviewer at 1:37:26.000]. After the war, Cowart went to visit the family of a Marine that was killed.