Even after seven decades, Wilfred "Spike" Mailloux won't talk about surviving a bloody World War II battle unless longtime friend John Sidur is by his side.

It was Sidur who found the severely wounded Mailloux hours after both survived Japan's largest mass suicide attack in the Pacific. The pre-dawn assault launched 70 years ago Monday on the Japan-held island of Saipan nearly wiped out two former New York National Guard battalions fighting alongside U.S. Marines.

"He found me in the mud," Mailloux recounted during a visit to the New York State Military Museum to attend a presentation on the battle's 70th anniversary.