Howard Ricks was born in April 1924 in Metairie, Louisiana. Life was rather austere in his rural community. There were few neighbors and luxuries. His father was a carpenter who worked for the New Orleans Public Service. Ricks was in an ice cream parlor with his girlfriend, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He had no idea where Pearl Harbor was located. He later learned that it was the base for Marines in the Pacific. He figured that the war would catch up with him. He received his draft notice from President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin D. Roosevelt] when he was 18 years old.

Howard Ricks was drafted but took the option offered to him to join the United States Marine Corps. He chose the Marines so he could serve with other white soldiers. He was shipped to San Diego, California for training with the newly organized 4th Marine Division. After boot camp, he proceeded to advanced training at Camp Elliott near San Diego. Living in tents, there was little protection from bad weather. Boot camp was a rude awakening for Ricks with plenty of repetitious drilling, exercise, and instructions. Rifle training only came the last few weeks. Ricks was a hunter prior to service. He knew shotguns but was unfamiliar with rifles. He learned quickly and was rated as an expert rifleman on the firing range. Ricks was with the 20th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division]. They were called Pioneers though no one could define what that meant. Ricks subsequently learned that was defined to be a shore battalion. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were Engineers and Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of naval construction battalions], respectively. Upon deployment, he only knew that he was headed to the Pacific. The full division departed San Diego together. They were bound for Roi-Namur and immediate combat on Kwajalein.

Howard Ricks and the 4th Marine Division completed the battle of Roi-Namur in a few days. Many of the casualties were from friendly fire. The island of Roi was merely an airstrip. It was part of the Kwajalein campaign in the Marshall Islands. An engineer unit set off an explosion to destroy an enemy bunker. The force caused a huge destructive energy which took some American lives. Overall, the loss of Americans in the operation was light. Ricks' company [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] lost one man. His unit was not directly on the front lines, but he saw the wounded and dead being removed from the battlefront. It was a shock for him at 18 years of age. His outfit left Kwajalein on a Merchant Marine ship. Rations were minimal. The ship was partially damaged and lacked propulsion. It was under tow for 15 days while voyaging to Honolulu. The tow rope broke several times during that time. The men aboard had to stand to general quarters each time. Pearl Harbor kept constant vigil on the status of the stricken ship by flying an amphibious aircraft out to check on its progress. Food ran lower and lower. When fresh bread was baked, Ricks and his friend managed to steal a loaf of bread. It was delicious. They did not get a good meal before Pearl Harbor. They were sent to Maui where their Marine tent camp was located. It lacked luxuries. Food was cold. Showers were cold. It was pretty rough. The men were being prepared for the next battle. They did not realize it would be Saipan and Tinian until they were aboard the ship headed that way. The 1st Marine Division was slated to hit Guam. En route, the 4th Marine Division practiced amphibious landings at Kwajalein. Then, it was on to Saipan.

Howard Ricks and the 4th Marine Division [Annotator's Note: Ricks was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] plus the 2nd Marine Division hit the beaches of Saipan. He had no idea when the ramp on the landing craft dropped what would happen. An enemy machine gun might open up on them. No direct fire was experienced when he landed. Some landing crafts were hit further down the beach, but the heaviest fighting was where the 2nd Division came in near a sugar mill. The American airmen strafed the enemy positions. After a few days, the Army's 27th Infantry Division came in to take up positions between the two Marine divisions. When the Army units did not proceed rapidly enough, Ricks' 20th Marine Regiment was forced march to fill a hole that evolved. The 2nd Battalion was to mop up areas bypassed during the advance. That was when Ricks' battalion walked into an ambush resulting in quite a few casualties. Reinforcements had to be sent in to quell the enemy. The advance continued to Marpi Point where the Japanese civilians and soldiers were committing mass suicide. It was the last stronghold held by the Japanese. After Saipan was secured, the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions hit Guam.

Following Saipan, Howard Ricks and the 4th Division [Annotator's Note: Ricks was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] hit Tinian. They went ashore on LSTs [Annotator's Note: landing ship, tank] using amphibious tractors. While the 4th was landing, the 2nd Marine Division appeared to be landing near Tinian town. It was a ruse to confuse the enemy. The assault at Tinian was easier for Ricks than at Saipan because of the size of the beaches and the terrain. There was some machine gun fire, but the worse thing was when his assault tractor hit a mine and blew the track off. The rear ramp would not deploy so the Marines went over the side. Ricks was the first man out on the same side as the incoming machine gun fire. He fell in the hole made by the mine. A friend fell on top of him. The machine gun gradually stopped firing and changed positions. Mortar fire still came in. The men moved forward and established a defensive perimeter on the beach. Another tractor landed and the driver was warned that mines were all around. He was told that he should back up precisely as he had approached the beach. He did not do so and all of the men aboard were killed by a mine the tractor hit. [Annotator's Note: Ricks pauses with the memory.] That night, the troops experienced heavy enemy fire. It seemed that no one was hit by the continuous fire. Rats roamed the area but Ricks did not see any in his foxhole. Moving inland, Ricks and his outfit mopped up enemy resistance. One of the men in Ricks' outfit had a distinctive tattoo on his right arm. The man went inside a cave and was killed by a Japanese soldier. The last thing Ricks saw of that man was his tattoo. After that, Tinian went along pretty quietly. The Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of a naval construction battalion] on the 20th built ramps for tanks to go up the bluffs. More Seabees came in to build the airstrips for the B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. Off Tinian was a small island called Rota. After the Marianas campaign, the 4th Marine Division returned to Maui to prepare for Iwo Jima.

Howard Ricks basically tried to stay alive through various close calls at Saipan. On Saipan, his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] was called upon to blow up a cave. They had no explosives so a demolition sergeant was ordered to obtain some. The order was countermanded and a second sergeant was sent instead. A sniper killed that man as he started to follow the order. Sniper fire continued and Ricks took shelter behind a railroad track embankment. Rounds hit close to him. It was a close call. At Marpi Point, Ricks witnessed many suicides. The Marines attacked caves where natives had their children killed by the Japanese to prevent discovery by the Americans. It was depressing to see children being thrown off the cliffs. It was terrible.

Howard Ricks returned to Maui after the Battle of Tinian. Comfort levels had improved at that Marine base compared to Ricks' previous experience there. The division [Annotator's Note: Ricks was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] was being prepared for the assault on Iwo Jima. En route to the invasion, the 4th Marine Division stopped at Saipan for preparation training. Iwo Jima was a small island shaped like South America. Iwo Jima was the objective for two purposes. First, it was important to knock out enemy early warning radar stations there. Additionally, the island could provide a haven for damaged B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] bombers. Ricks felt with the amphibious assault that his luck was running out. The only amphibious entry into Iwo Jima was through the beach location near Mount Suribachi. The surf was too great at other locations. Ricks landed in a landing craft [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel, also refered to as an LCVP or Higgins Boat]. The only cover the men could take was in bomb craters created by previous American aerial bombardments. The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions landed. Ricks went in on the extreme left flank where the high ground started. He landed at Blue Beach 1. Blue Beach 2 was right against Mount Suribachi. Initially, no one landed at the latter beach. The first eight waves were the initial assault formation. Ricks was in the eighth wave. Little enemy resistance was exerted against the first few waves. When Ricks hit the beach, there was little noise. Five minutes later, the Japanese opened up with everything they had. Landing craft were destroyed. The first LST [Annotator's Note: landing ship, tank] that landed was damaged severely. It turned out to be "holy hell."

Howard Ricks reached the island of Iwo Jima and discovered that the Japanese opposition was nearly invisible. Their positions were largely in caves interconnected with tunnels. For 12 days, his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] was pinned down at the airstrip. Mount Suribachi was finally taken and the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions advanced up the island. Enemy artillery destroyed each supply dump the Marines attempted to establish. The men on the beach kept their heads low in the shell craters. There were no trees or vegetation. With the advance to the high ground in the north of the island, offshore warships lobbed shells into the enemy positions. The Navy pilots skip-bombed those entrenchments. It took 12 days to achieve forward movement of the Marines toward the Japanese. Ricks lost a close friend from Texas on the beach the first day. That first day was tough on everybody. An LST, landing ship, tank, had gates forward that opened up with a ramp that deployed to unload tanks. The first LST to land at the beachhead was severely damaged by enemy fire. When the tanks made it to the island, they had to beware of mines that the Japanese had buried. The enemy had situated unexpended ordnance under the smaller mines to provide the maximum explosive force under American vehicles. Ricks did not know where to hide from the constant incoming enemy artillery fire.

Howard Ricks had several close calls during the Battle of Iwo Jima. A friend was hit by artillery fire and Ricks attempted to aid him. When he returned to his foxhole and rifle, he noticed flesh on the weapon that probably belonged to his friend. The rifle had been destroyed, likely by shrapnel that Ricks had been spared from. On another occasion while under artillery fire, he evacuated one crater and moved to another smaller crater. A mortar shell fell in the crater he had just left. He would have been killed had he not moved at that right time. Mortar shells were hitting all around while he was on Iwo Jima. It would shower the Marines with the volcanic ash that comprised the beaches. When the Americans set a charge in one cave, the smoke would appear at the entrance of multiple other caves. The island was honeycombed with enemy caves and tunnels. One night, Ricks observed Black Widow two engine night fighters [Annotator's Note: Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter aircraft] or Corsairs [Annotator's Note: Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft] shoot down an enemy aircraft. Those American fighters patrolled the adjacent skies nightly. When the first damaged B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] force landed after Iwo Jima's airstrip was secure, it taxied into enemy held territory. The crew was safely rescued. Other aircraft had emergency landings while Ricks was still on the island. Iwo Jima was hell. There were 8,000 Marines killed on the island with 13,000 wounded. The Japanese had 21,000 troops so it was about a one for one ratio in casualties. The Army Air Forces landed aircraft on the island. The Japanese mounted a final banzai attack on the island the day after Ricks and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] was evacuated. There was consideration of Ricks' division going to Okinawa but they were down to 40 percent strength so they returned to Maui.

Howard Ricks returned to Maui after Iwo Jima. The division [Annotator's Note: Ricks was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 20th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division] was being resupplied and readied for the invasion of Japan with perhaps a preceding invasion of Formosa. If the atomic bombs had not been dropped, Ricks and a million others would not have survived. Truman [Annotator's Note: President Harry S. Truman] learned from MacArthur [Annotator's Note: US Army General General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Paficic Area] that one million Americans and seven million Japanese would likely perish with the invasion of the Japanese home islands. Truman elected to save eight million people with the loss of over 100,000 Japanese resulting from the two bombs. The airplanes that dropped those bombs flew off of Tinian. Ricks has observed that Rota is shown on the map at The National WWII Museum but Tinian is not. Ricks was discharged in San Diego on 31 October 1945. He was not a military man and wanted to get on with his civilian life. Transitioning to civilian life, Ricks took it easy at first and then went to work in construction. He had little difficulty in adjusting to civilian life though he had dreams reliving his combat and the enemy firing on him. After Saipan was secure, he nightly watched movies and then slept in an empty cistern. When someone unexpectedly entered his cistern in the dark, Ricks drew his knife. When he got a light to see who it was, he found that the cistern was devoid of anyone else. The individual must have entered and immediately exited when he knew Ricks was there. Ricks has recurring dreams about that incident.

Howard Ricks does not feel World War 2 affected his life very much other than him being aggravated at people who annoy him. It took a long time for him to get his composure back together. Little things annoy him. Combat did not affect him. It is definitely important to teach World War 2 to future generations. Random shootings in schools and other places would not be happening if their enemy was shooting back at them.