Harrold Weinberger; Believed to Be World’s Oldest Marine

Harrold Weinberger, 97, believed to be the world’s oldest living Marine. Weinberger, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as a major, served in three wars--both world wars and Korea. He was also in the Merchant Marines and the California National Guard. Asked why he liked the military, Weinberger once told The Times in his leathery voice said to rattle windows: “Why not? They fed me.” He ran away from his Canadian home at 16 and tried to enlist in the Canadian Navy, only to be thrown out when they discovered he had lied about his age. So he joined the Canadian Army and spent World War I driving horse-drawn artillery across the fields of France where he was subjected to mustard gas. By the time the United States got into World War II, Weinberger had moved to California. He was 42, but he signed up with the Marines, and worked the South Pacific as a combat photographer. He was wounded filming the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima. On Thursday in Los Angeles.