Interviewer what were you doing before the war, sir . James it was so long ago, it is hard. Let me see. Working like at a store, as a clerk at a store, like at that time there were a and p and the and mutual stores, and that is what i was doing then. Interviewer i see that you joined the marine corps. What made you decide to join the marine corps . James ok. Me and a buddy were at the ymca, sitting there like we always do, and we saw two marines coming towards us. They were going to go into the ymca. And they were dressed in blues. So i said to this buddy, man, they look sharp. I think im going to join. And that is how i joined. You know, i never thought of war, nothing, just that uniform. That got me. And thats it. Interviewer it made an impression on you . James mary much, so, yes. Interviewer and still does today . James yes, it still does today. Interviewer so you joined up, and where did you go for basic . James for basic i went to paris island for boot camp. Interviewer how rigor
Battles of guadalcanal and iwo jima. The National World War Ii Museum conducted this interview in 2007 4 its oral History Collection 2007 for its oral History Collection. I am here with mr. James salerno. Please tell me your full name. James anthony salerno. Interviewer when and where were you born . Was born in summit, new jersey, in 1918. Interviewer what were you doing before the war, sir . It was so long ago, it was hard. A store, as aat clerk at a store, like at that time there were a and p stores, and that is what i was doing then. Interviewer what made you decide to join the marine corps . Buddy were ata the ymca, sitting there like we always do, and we saw two marines coming towards us. They were going to go into the ymca. And they were dressed in blues. So i said to this buddy, man, they look sharp. I think im going to join. And that is how i joined. You know, i never thought of war, nothing, just that uniform. That got me. And thats it. Interviewer it made an impression on yo
Further. In 1889, they established the Illinois State Historical Library and since that time we have been collecting all the treasures that help illustrate the wonderful past of illinois. As you might imagine, the illinois story is not complete without a really close look at the life of Abraham Lincoln. In the lincoln collection we have 52,000 uses the cover every aspect of his life. The collection would include about 18,000 autographs written about Abraham Lincoln. He is the most written about american ever, which is quite staggering. On any given day a visitor to the museum is able to see about 100 original pieces from our collection that is on display. There is always a reason to come back to the Abraham Lincoln president ial museum because we are rotating the items out, putting new pieces on display at the time and we always like to say that a visitor that comes today, if you come back one year later you are going to see a whole new group of 100 pieces from his life. So, today i pu