The memories of seeing Marines mowed down on the beaches, the stories of captured Americans being subjected to appalling cruelties, were still too raw for him. And I wasn't prepared to be friendly with them.” “And another thing, they had Japanese there. “I had no fond memories of the place,” he said. “For one thing, I think the Marines should get the credit. Years ago, Lingenfelter was invited to anniversary commemorations on Iwo Jima but declined. He and his wife, Margaret, who died in 1997, had a son, who lives in Vancouver, and daughter, with whom he lives in Barberton.

Lingenfelter retired in 1983 after 30 years as a trucker. He later became a cross-country trucker, starting on two-lane roads before the interstate freeway system was built. Life after warĪfter returning to Castle Rock, Lingenfelter's old boss, now a Cowlitz County commissioner, got him a job working on the county roads. Lingenfelter still remembers what was served for Wednesday breakfast on the Vicksburg: dried beans and prunes. “The food was just like eating home cooking after being on that cruiser.” “Life was so different there,” he said about his brief time on the battleship. After the Vicksburg arrived in Pearl Harbor, he transferred to the USS Arkansas for the final leg of his trip home, from Hawaii to Seattle.

He could have re-enlisted but decided to return home with the rank of gunner's mate 2nd class. Lingenfelter had enough service points to leave the Navy following the war.

Ignatowski gets his drivers license