I Lied About My Age: A Marine in WWII

Narrated by Rob Morrow

Like many teenagers of his generation, Frank Wright desperately wanted to serve his country during World War II. There was just one problem: Frank was only 16 years old.

Too young to enlist legally, he refused to let his age stop him. Frank used his brother’s identification to pass himself off as older and even stuffed bananas into his pockets to meet the military’s minimum weight requirement.

The deception worked.

Frank Wright became a United States Marine and eventually joined one of the Corps’ most elite fighting units—the legendary Marine Raiders. He saw combat in the Solomon Islands before the Raiders were disbanded and his unit became part of the 3rd Marine Division.

From there, Frank fought through the savage battles of Guam and Iwo Jima. He was wounded multiple times and survived being bayoneted in the stomach during a Japanese banzai attack.

By the end of World War II, the teenager who had lied his way into the Marine Corps had become one of its most experienced drill instructors.

His extraordinary journey began with a simple lie about his age.