100-Year-Old WWII Veteran Don Graves Signs Record Deal
on May 13, 2025
Don Graves’ Story Is One Of Faith And Patriotism
Many of us know the famous photograph of the Marines raising the flag at the top of Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima.
This moment has also been immortalized in the bronze-sculpted Marine Corps War Memorial, as well as in films like Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), starring John Wayne.
Well, John Wayne wasn’t really at Iwo Jima on that fateful day in February of 1945 — and he wasn’t even in the Armed Forces — but Don Graves was!
A retired corporal of the Marines, Graves is 100 years old, and he’s seen a lot of life. Now, he’s sharing his life story through song, and he’s got a record deal in Nashville to help.
Singing “The Sand Of Iwo Jima”
Signing a contract with BMI, the veteran-turned-minister made a visit to Starstruck Studios, and he was joined by some familiar voices.
Graves’ song is called “The Sand of Iwo Jima,” and it features vocals from country artists John Rich and Lee Greenwood.
No stranger to music, Graves recently attracted attention when he sang the National Anthem on May 4 at the Texas Motor Speedway before a NASCAR race.
Now, with his contract as a songwriter, he’s written “The Sand of Iwo Jima” with fellow songwriters Frank Myers and Jason Sever.
In the recording studio, Graves could be seen sharing his experiences with John Rich and others, as seen in a WZTV Nashville broadcast. There, he could also be seen recording “God Bless America,” which he has performed for the public many times.
Watch his 2023 performance of “God Bless America” here:
Related: 100-Year-Old Veteran Sings National Anthem Before NASCAR Race
Don Graves’ Story
In a photo series on World War II veterans done by photographer D. Clark Evans, veterans were also given the chance to share their story in their own words.
Among them is Graves, who said, “I quit high school to join the Marine Corps in 1942 when I was 17. It was always the Marine Corps. My dad was in the Corps.”
He spent the next few years after bootcamp stationed in New Zealand and then stateside again before he would find himself on the beaches of Iwo Jima as a flamethrower operator.
“I landed in the third wave on February 19 at 8 in the morning. On the beach, we knew this wasn’t going to be easy; we couldn’t move, we couldn’t get up. Guys were getting killed. Every time they’d go over the top, they’d drop. I was on the beach at least two hours. It took us three days to go 540 feet to Suribachi — inch by inch, foot by foot, shell hole by shell hole.”
He even remembers some of the horrors of war, sharing:
“On the morning of the third day, we finally made it to the foot of Suribachi and had a grenade fight going up. I burned out a few pill boxes. I saw one Jap going into a pill box and yelled at him. All of a sudden, he came out. He had a beautiful uniform on and a beautiful sword. I thought, this guy is going out in style. He looked at me, had something in his hand, then boom! He was gone; there was nothing left of him. It took us all day to climb Suribachi.”
According to a spotlight on Graves done for the Christian Broadcasting Network, after the war, Graves moved back home to Detroit, where he married Rebecca.
He recalls struggling to adjust to civilian life, and nearly ruining his marriage as he began drinking. However, seeing a film of a Billy Graham sermon in 1954 changed his life.
Both he and his wife became Christians, and he said, “I fell in love with the Bible. I just fell in love with that blessed book. [God] put me in the ministry for 32 years. Had a great time and I worked hard.”
Together, they had four children, and Rebecca passed away in 2016.
