Memories and Pseudo-memories

Imagine that your grandchild, a friend or a reporter found out that you were a U.S. Marine in WWII, who survived the Iwo Jima operation and decided you were worthy of an interview. In addition, your life leading up to that event and the years following it would also prove interesting enough to prompt exploration because being a skinny Jewish kid and a Marine seemed so incongruous. The grandchild, the friend, the reporter didn't materialize except in my own head and the prompting came from my own psyche. So Memories and Pseudo-memories comes from the need to discuss what they would have wanted to know, in the format that such things come to one's mind, not chronologically as in a constructed biography or novel. Each episode special and unique! From my birth in Brooklyn, childhood adventures in Rockville Centre, L.I., growing up with relatives and friends in East New York to serving in the 5th Marine Division, fighting the Japanese and then befriending them while in the 2nd Division occupation, is a simple, sit down comfortably and listen, story. The author is a contributor to the exhibit, "Ours To Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City.