Warriors, in their own words, is brought to by the Honor Project, committed to putting the heroes of our nation on record.

This presentation is dedicated to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

John Nicely was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps during the brutal Pacific Island campaigns of World War II.

We met up with him at a reunion of the 2nd Marine Division in 1994,

and he shared his vivid personal memories of frontline combat.

It all began for John Nicely on December 7, 1941.

I was in St. Louis. We were in a movie house and came out of the movie house and someone said,

Pearl Harbor has been bombed.

I said, where in the hell is Pearl Harbor?

At the time, I had no idea where Pearl Harbor was,

or the part that Pearl Harbor played in the future of America

or America at that time.

So from there on, I was anxious as most young men were at the time, but I didn't do anything

about it until finally I just said, hey, they need me and I want to do it.

So I went down and joined the Marine Corps.

This was in 1943, and I discussed it with my wife first, and she said,

that's what you want to do.

I have at it.

Miceley saw his first action in the battle for the island of Saipan on June 15th,

1944. He will remember his waiting on a transport ship the night before the assault.

We were packed in like sardines, one bunk right on top of the other. And it was hot, everyone

was sweaty. There was nervousness, but I think there was anxiety. There may have been fear, but I didn't see it in anyone's nature or

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