Harvey Mack Abbott's interview for the Veterans History Project at Atlanta History Center

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Catalog number: VIS 201.0114
In this interview, Mack Abbott recalls his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. His unit was stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and he describes in great detail the Japanese attack on December 7th. He recalls shooting at Japanese planes; being trucked over to the harbor to rescue survivors from the water; and transporting wounded to the hospital. He remembers subsequent missions to various islands in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Saipan, and Tinian. He describes seeing the bodies of Japanese women and children in the waters around Tinian Island and remembers watching Major General Carl Spaatz award Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets the Distinguished Service Cross immediately upon Tibbets' return from dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. He describes his involvement with the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and his efforts to build the Pearl Harbor monument in the Marietta National Cemetery.

[@johnsmithie821]

My father was there with you on that day sir....Lester Brian McKee....maybe you heard of him.....in any case, I am glad you were there to help....Thank you.