John Farritor
Bio
John Farritor was born July 9, 1919, near the Sand Hills of Nebraska. As a child, he attended the grade school that his grandpa built just a quarter mile from his house, but that was as far as he was able to go with his education. He joined the United States Marine Corps and left his home on July 2, 1941, never to return, telling his mother that the Marine Corps would give him the education he needed and that he would write a book about it one day. When people would ask how far he went in school, he would say “a quarter mile” and leave it at that. He was at the battle of Iwo Jima during World War 2, as well as the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. He loved to tell others that “Many are called, but few are Chosin.” He was a tough Marine and could do the hard jobs, yet he was tender with the children he encountered in war, often caring for them and their needs in whatever ways he could. He wrote that book and titled it Through It All: Stories From the Top, proving that his limited education set no limit to his dreams.
Video Clips
A Christmas Eve Miracle for Joe
John Farritor recounts the beautiful story of how he befriended an orphan on a cold Christmas Eve. He shares he took him in to clothe and feed him and hired him as his houseboy, naming him Joe. He explains how war had left Joe alone in the world, so he did everything within his power to keep Joe with him for as long as he could, handing him off some months later when his assignment there was complete. He recalls teaching Joe everything he could to make him a valuable asset so that the Army would want to keep him and provide for him.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHIZIJ0196s&start=272&end=705
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/john-farritor#clip-1
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Their Bodies Froze (Graphic)
John Farritor describes the gruesome but necessary job of retrieving the casualties of war. He shares one particular account of retrieving the body of a fallen Marine who was found in a cave, frozen due to the extreme cold. He recalls how sometimes, the task seemed insurmountably difficult, but their goal was to get the job done and bring them home.
Share YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHIZIJ0196s&start=1600&end=1809
Share from this page:
https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/john-farritor#clip-2
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