"I want to show you, I’m going to join the Marines, because I’m old enough!" (Video recording, 1:57)

Thomas H. Begay

Thomas Begay at time of interview War: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953 Branch: Marine Corps; Army Unit: 5th Marine Division Service Location: United States; Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater; also: Fort Benning, Georgia; Korea Rank: Corporal

Thomas Begay was born in a traditional hogan in a remote area near Two Wells, New Mexico in 1927. The exact date of his birth was not recorded. He persuaded a Marine Corps recruiter to allow him to enlist when he was most likely just sixteen years old, helped by the fact that--in Begay's words--"my age was flexible." Soon after turning eighteen, Begay found himself on the front lines in the midst of apocalyptic combat on Iwo Jima. Begay was discharged from the Marines in 1946, but a year later joined the Army, with whom he again experienced intense combat in Korea, including at the Chosin Reservoir in late 1950. Begay later worked as an employment assistance officer and senior administrator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Navajo reservation.