Iwo Jima Day Today---Feb 19, 1945.

[USMC 2571]

Anniversary, today, of Battle of Iwo Jima.

1945

Many good books about it, but take a look at Robert Leckie's "Strong Men Armed".

[USMC 2571]

Ghost from Iwo Jima

Lon Woodrum
Leatherneck Magazine
Gyrene Gyngles
October of 1968

The living warrior never said
The things that burned within his head:
The word was uttered by the broken dead.
I died at dawn, bent toward a thunder island,
Wallowing upon gun-gutted sand
I could not sleep in that strange land;
I have returned to New York towers,
New England hills and Kansas plains;
To gentle towns with quiet hours
And temples singing in the sun..
.I have returned with one desire:
To see what you have done
With what I bought upon that strip of fire.
Red ran my blood
Upon a beach whose name I scarcely knew:
So men could speak aloud their dreams
and hopes before a crowd,
Or pray their prayers to God,
And not be stood before a firing squad.
And it was not alone for Yanks I fell;
It was for Britons, French, Chinese,Israelis, Africans and Poles;
For all the disinherited, tormented souls
In all the agonizing earth and sea
Scarred by the boots of tyranny.
And all the clever tongues have lied
Who said it was for Less than this I died.
The little people of the world looked
And watched me running where the red beach shook;
The little broken, beaten brothers;
The homeless children and their mothers;
The noble men reduced to less than tramps
Who rotted in the concentration camps;
The keepers of the truth...
they stood that dawn
And shouted silently, "Go on! Go on!"
For they all knew, oh, they knew why
I had to run across that beach and die.
I could not sleep in that far land;
I have returned to where your cities stand,
Unwounded;
to your churches on the sleepy street,
And golden miles of unhurt wheat.
I have returned to hear the laughter in your children's throats
And watch the little people cast their votes.
I have come back to see what you who live
Have done with what I died to give.
The living warrior had not said
The things that burned within his head:
The word was uttered by the broken dead
------------------------------------

[gkmoz]

This is my uncle (deceased) Chuck........... Mr. Malinowski was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, serving from 1942 to 1962, during World War II as a member of the B-1-25th 4th Marine Division. He was also a Korean War veteran, A-1-5th Marine Division, serving as a drill instructor.

In World War II, he was in the first wave in the battles of Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He was the recipient of two Purple Hearts in Iwo Jima.

[FoxtrotOscar]

https://scontent.fslc2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/52551983_10216113486381765_8226547270330351616_n.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_eui2=AeFL7jaOJdqIZhbmg9CDmDuM_YVwSYwSskZgd8m4S ge53obMaNOLM6laCRDvYV3Rs9ZSAn42conOUrAnUdbNlRAdlOU joChdTNdW_QzYR89C6A&_nc_ht=scontent.fslc2-1.fna&oh=ca729852e867d1ea2f761e0789fda3b1&oe=5CEC5DF6

[PaulWill]

:usmc::iwo: -- Salute and Never Forget

[PaulWill]

Semper Fi

[Mongoose]

God Bless these Hero's....one and all...

[advanced]

My father was there, 5th wave. He was married 5 times, I'v only been married 4.

[gkmoz]

This Day in History-Feb 19, 1945
On Iwo Jima, 2 divisions of the US 5th Amphibious Corps are landed in Operation Detachment. Before the landing the bombardment groups already deployed are joined by 2 battleships, several cruisers and destroyers from US Task Force 58. The initial assault forces are from US 4th and 5th Marine Divisions with 3rd Marines in reserve. They are carried transported by TF53 (Admiral Hill) and land on the southeast of the island. About 30,000 men go ashore on the first day. The Japanese garrison of about 21,000 troops, commanded by General Kuribayashi, have prepared exceptionally elaborate and tough defenses so that the eight square miles of the island is completely fortified. The Americans realize that the island is well defended since it is part of metropolitan Japan. However, the island is strategically important because it is within fighter range of Tokyo. By controlling the airfields here, American B-29 bombers flying from the Mariana Islands can be escorted. Coast Guard units that participated in this bloody campaign included the Coast Guard-manned USS Bayfield, Callaway, 14 LSTs and the PC-469. Three of the LSTs were struck by enemy shore fire: LST-792, LST-758, and LST-760.


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[gkmoz]

Deleted

[USMC 2571]

We should never forget what Marines did at Iwo Jima and many another island; the sacrifices they made for their country.