Twig served with the Marines during WW II and is third from left in this photo, taken at Saipan during a shelling attack. (See more.) He was with Company D of the 2nd Armored Amphibian Battalion, createdto lead the assault on key islands in the South Pacific. They fought at Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima, and were in Hawaii preparing for new battles when the war ended.

When Saipan and Tinian had been secured, members of the battalion cleared some land and played baseball with some borrowed equipment. They formed a team, went 28-0 and won a league championship. (During WW II, many major league teams sent equipment to servicemen around the world. We don't know whether that's how Twig's team eventually got equipment.) The ball field was next to the 2nd Marine Division's cemetery, and play halted for the playing of Taps as well as for air raid sirens.

Twig served from March 1944 through November 1945. The battalion remained on Saipan until after the battle of Iwo Jima, then went to Hawaii to prepare for additional battle.

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