WORLD WAR II VETERANS CONCORDIA PARISH LOUISIANA
MARINE CORPS ROBERT S. RIFE JR.
PACIFIC
24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division Corporal
Combat Experience Invasion of Iwo Jimo
I was born in Glen Allen, Mississippi in 1920. My family moved to Waterproof, Louisiana when I was in the fifth grade, which served as home until moving to Concordia Parish in October 1953. After finishing High School at Waterproof, I went to Louisiana Tech at Ruston, Louisiana, and was there until war began. I enlisted in the Marine Corps in the summer of 1942. “Boot Camp” was at Paris Island, with additional training at My Regiment was on Maui, Hawaii. The Group sailed from Honolulu and went to Guam. From there we went to Iwo Jima, and were a part of the second wave of the attack on Iwo Jima. We went ashore on landing craft March 3, 1945, and initially, were pinned down by a barrage. After dark, the Regiment made its way up to shelter under a cliff. The critical job was to get the Japs out of the caves, where they had hidden. Our last day on the Island, about a month after arriving there, a mortar shell hit, killing all the others in my unit. We returned to Maui, where I was offered a commission to stay in the service and take part in the occupation of Japan. I turned it down. I was ready to go home. The Group got to San Diego just before Christmas. I took a train ride home for Christmas, and spent one day there, before heading back to San Diego. Then I was discharged in January, 1946, and came home for good.
In 1948 I married Evelyn Ogden from Sicily Island. We moved to Concordia Parish in October, 1953 and it has been home ever since. Our oldest son, Stan is a retired Air Force Colonel, living in Abiline,
Texas. Our other children, John and Anna live in Concordia Parish.
Robert S. (Bob) Rife
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