In 1943, Arthur Kidwell knew he was going to be drafted, so the Center Grove teen decided to enlist in the Marine Corps.
Then, the summer after he graduated from Center Grove High School, Kidwell convinced five buddies to sign up for service with him.
He fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima and was stationed in Guam when he found out that the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese, ending World War II.
Kidwell was asked to share his story on camera at Sugar Grove Elementary School on Thursday. The recording will be available at libraries throughout Center Grove schools, along with a book about the Marine Corps that Kidwell donated to the school district.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryEducators and students will be able to check out the book and recording at the same time, allowing for a fuller picture of World War II and the Marine Corps, said Nancy McDowell, STEM instructional coach and media specialist.
"It’s a personal touch that can make the book come to life," she said.
Fifth-grader Trevor Magnusen interviewed Kidwell for about an hour. The Sugar Grove student asked the veteran how many students were in his graduating class at Center Grove High School, what boot camp was like, if he had ever been in a plane, been married, what he did after the Marine Corps and what he was like in school.
Magnusen talked to family who had been in World War II and researched the war on his own to prepare for the interview. He is a World War II buff, and he wanted to be prepared with the right questions to ask Kidwell, Magnusen said.
"It appealed to me," he said.
Kidwell told Magnusen and a few other students about growing up in a very loving home with multiple siblings, where his dad worked for Eli Lilly. He told them about how he learned about World War I in school and how he and other students never imagined that they would be involved in a world war, Kidwell said.
"It was something I thought I would never explore," he said.
Then, the war started and the summer after he graduated, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, ahead of his draft number being called up. Soon he was at the Battle of Iwo Jima, where his thoughts were to protect himself and his friends.
"We didn’t get scared. Marines don’t get scared," he said. "I wasn’t scared, I thought, well, this is our duty."
Magnusen asked him about his life after the war, and Kidwell told him he got married, had children and worked for Indiana Bell Telephone Co., before retiring to work in construction and volunteer for the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center.
Kidwell talked about the importance of doing well in school, and how he wished he had paid better attention when he was a student.
"The harder you work in school, the easier it is to live afterwards," he said.
He has always loved his alma mater and wanted to help students, he said. So, when he got an extra copy of a book about the Marine Corps, he decided to donate it, he said.
"Center Grove has a soft spot in my heart," he said.
