Ed Robinette, 94, of Chattanooga, has been writing World War II stories since he was 85 years old.
He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was just 18 years old. He hadn't even graduated high school.
"At that time, I think we all wanted to enlist," he said. "I couldn't wait. If I couldn't get in, I would have been miserable."
But because of his faith, Robinette was conflicted.
"As a Christian, I didn't believe in killing anybody, but then again, that was what I was there for," he said. "I often wondered to myself what would happen if I had to kill somebody. That was how I felt about it."
He still remembers the first time he had to take someone's life, he said. It came down to either kill or be killed, he said.
"I had thoughts, 'Could I do it?' And I don't know if I could or not," he said. "But then, you get they were shooting at you. And it was either they would kill me or I would kill them."
(Read about other local veterans in our "21-Veteran Salute" series here)
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / A photo of Ed Robinette from when he enlisted in the U.S. Marines is on a coffee table at his house Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Robinette is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Marines in the Marshall Islands, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.BIO
Name: Ed RobinetteAge: 94Branch of the military: U.S. Marine CorpsYears of service: 1943-1946
Even today, Robinette said he doesn't really know if he came to terms with the acts of war.
"Like I say, I was a Christian - didn't believe in it. The Bible says you do not kill," he said. "But then again, why were we there? If we didn't kill, somebody had to.
"You think about it. You lived with it. You came home and had your nightmares and lived with it - you didn't talk about it."
Robinette fought in the Marshall Islands, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa as a machine gunner.
"Constantly, planes were coming down," he said. "We got a lot of shots. The sky was full of planes."
He said they lived in foxholes for much of the time.
"That's where we slept," he said. "We had a tent, but a lot of times until they get through shooting, we had bombers that came through and dropped bombs. Three or four months later, when things got better, we did sleep in the tent later."
When they learned the war was finally over, "of course we all started shooting guns and everything."
When he came back home, he took his GED and went to college at the University of Chattanooga - now known as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - and started working.
Robinette met his wife a few years later, and they were married for 36 years before she died. They had five children together.
Today, he volunteers with Hospice of Chattanooga offering support to grieving families.
"I've had a good life, good marriage. Death don't mean anything to me."
Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Ed Robinette poses for a photo at his house Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Robinette is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Marines in the Marshall Islands, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.