marinemom
02-18-05, 05:24 AM
The Shadow of Iwo Jima
60 Years After the Battle, and the Photo, a Reunion Stirs Powerful Memories
By Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005
Mary Pero was 12 years old when her brother died. Word of his death came printed on the page of a Western Union telegram from the War Department delivered to their home in Franklin, a steel town of just a couple of thousand people in western Pennsylvania.
Her brother, U.S. Marine Sgt. Mike Strank, 25, died March 1, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima. He was killed by a mortar round while scratching out an attack plan in the black sand. The following Sunday, friends and family gathered in Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Church for a memorial service. Afterward, they got a call from the local newspaper -- Mike's picture was going to be on the front page the next day, one of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising an American flag atop Mount Suribachi.
"He was dead," Pero said, "but we were very honored that he was in the picture. It was a great honor. But it was hard for my parents because they were still grieving."
The photograph, shot by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press, captured one of the most famous moments of World War II, a single frame, grabbed in a fraction of a second, that memorialized one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the war.
Sixty years later, Mary Strank Pero is in Washington to help commemorate the battle of Iwo Jima, where 6,800 U.S. troops, mostly Marines, were killed and nearly 20,000 wounded during a 36-day assault that began Feb. 19, 1945.
Hundreds of Iwo Jima veterans, most in their late seventies or early eighties, are expected to attend the Reunion of Honor this weekend. The reunion will begin today with a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico that will include a reenactment of the flag raising. Tomorrow, a ceremony is scheduled at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, with its famed statue of the flag raising.
The years have taken a toll on the veterans. It is estimated that about 1,000 U.S. veterans of World War II die each day, and as their numbers shrink, the reunions and commemorations mean a little bit more.
Retired Marine Col. Richard Rothwell, who lives in the Baltimore suburbs, is 92 and a little hard of hearing, and he described himself as "not much of a reunion-goer." But he is going to this one. Rothwell, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936 and then joined the Marines, is one of only two living battalion commanders from the battle of Iwo Jima.
He went ashore late in the afternoon on the first day of the fighting, and by the time the fighting ended, he said, he had lost 80 percent of his men. "I have a lot of friends that I lost," he said, "and some very close."
Rothwell retired from the Marines in 1961. This year's reunion is different, he said, largely because of the passage of time. "I look forward to the good times, good food and drink," he said by phone from his home. "I just don't know if I will know too many of them because just about all the ones I knew are gone."
Rothwell did not witness the famous flag raising, though he was close by. He said he didn't realize the impact of the photo until he got back to the States after the war.
In some ways, the memorial and the photo have immortalized Mike Strank. His sister has few memories of him because he left home for the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937, straight out of high school, when she was still a toddler. He joined the Marines in 1939. She remembers her big brother came home once on leave.
"I remember he was very tired, and I understand he was sick, and mostly he just rested," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Davidsville, Pa. "Neighbors would come over, and all they wanted to talk about was the war, but he didn't want to talk about that. He played cards with me and talked to me like a big brother talking to a little sister. And that is about my best recollection."
Strank was born in Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia. His father moved to Franklin, Pa., found work in steel mill and brought his family over when he had enough money to pay for the trip; Strank was about 2. Strank had two brothers, and one of them, Peter, was serving aboard the aircraft carrier Franklin in the South Pacific when Strank was killed.
The Strank family became local celebrities after the war. "I grew up with that heritage, so my name was recognized in the community, and I knew there was something special about it," said Kathleen Strank Kasper, daughter of Peter Strank. "My dad was a policeman after the war. Anytime any political figures came to town, they'd stop to see my father. I met Hubert Humphrey when he was vice president and, again, when he was running for president."
Kasper said her father did not talk much about the war. He and his parents attended the dedication of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, she said, but her father, who died in 1996, and other family members did not attend the 30th, 40th or 50th Iwo Jima reunions "because it was just too sad for them."
This weekend about 30 relatives of Michael Strank's are expected to attend. "It's really good that we all remember," Kasper said, "because most of these soldiers will most likely not be here for the 70th anniversary."
Mary Pero said she thinks her brother would not have liked all the attention to his actions that one day on a speck of an island in the South Pacific that one Marine called "a hell I will never forget."
The Internet has many sites containing recollections of those who served and survived and went on to have families and rarely talked about their service until they reached the twilight of their lives. And the common denominator of most of those recollections is humility, something that Mike Strank was said to have in abundance.
"We were always very proud of him," Pero said, "but one thing that he never knew was that he was famous. He was famous, but my mother and brothers told me, they said, 'He would have just said, "I just did my job." ' "
Reunion Schedule
TODAY
• 11 a.m.: Commemoration ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, including reenactment of flag raising.
TOMORROW
• 10 a.m.: Commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.
• 11:30 a.m.: Wreath laying at the National World War II Memorial.
• 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.: Reunion banquet at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner; keynote speaker is Gen. Michael W. Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps.
SUNDAY
• 10 a.m.: Memorial service at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner.
60 Years After the Battle, and the Photo, a Reunion Stirs Powerful Memories
By Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005
Mary Pero was 12 years old when her brother died. Word of his death came printed on the page of a Western Union telegram from the War Department delivered to their home in Franklin, a steel town of just a couple of thousand people in western Pennsylvania.
Her brother, U.S. Marine Sgt. Mike Strank, 25, died March 1, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima. He was killed by a mortar round while scratching out an attack plan in the black sand. The following Sunday, friends and family gathered in Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Church for a memorial service. Afterward, they got a call from the local newspaper -- Mike's picture was going to be on the front page the next day, one of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising an American flag atop Mount Suribachi.
"He was dead," Pero said, "but we were very honored that he was in the picture. It was a great honor. But it was hard for my parents because they were still grieving."
The photograph, shot by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press, captured one of the most famous moments of World War II, a single frame, grabbed in a fraction of a second, that memorialized one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the war.
Sixty years later, Mary Strank Pero is in Washington to help commemorate the battle of Iwo Jima, where 6,800 U.S. troops, mostly Marines, were killed and nearly 20,000 wounded during a 36-day assault that began Feb. 19, 1945.
Hundreds of Iwo Jima veterans, most in their late seventies or early eighties, are expected to attend the Reunion of Honor this weekend. The reunion will begin today with a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico that will include a reenactment of the flag raising. Tomorrow, a ceremony is scheduled at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, with its famed statue of the flag raising.
The years have taken a toll on the veterans. It is estimated that about 1,000 U.S. veterans of World War II die each day, and as their numbers shrink, the reunions and commemorations mean a little bit more.
Retired Marine Col. Richard Rothwell, who lives in the Baltimore suburbs, is 92 and a little hard of hearing, and he described himself as "not much of a reunion-goer." But he is going to this one. Rothwell, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936 and then joined the Marines, is one of only two living battalion commanders from the battle of Iwo Jima.
He went ashore late in the afternoon on the first day of the fighting, and by the time the fighting ended, he said, he had lost 80 percent of his men. "I have a lot of friends that I lost," he said, "and some very close."
Rothwell retired from the Marines in 1961. This year's reunion is different, he said, largely because of the passage of time. "I look forward to the good times, good food and drink," he said by phone from his home. "I just don't know if I will know too many of them because just about all the ones I knew are gone."
Rothwell did not witness the famous flag raising, though he was close by. He said he didn't realize the impact of the photo until he got back to the States after the war.
In some ways, the memorial and the photo have immortalized Mike Strank. His sister has few memories of him because he left home for the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937, straight out of high school, when she was still a toddler. He joined the Marines in 1939. She remembers her big brother came home once on leave.
"I remember he was very tired, and I understand he was sick, and mostly he just rested," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Davidsville, Pa. "Neighbors would come over, and all they wanted to talk about was the war, but he didn't want to talk about that. He played cards with me and talked to me like a big brother talking to a little sister. And that is about my best recollection."
Strank was born in Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia. His father moved to Franklin, Pa., found work in steel mill and brought his family over when he had enough money to pay for the trip; Strank was about 2. Strank had two brothers, and one of them, Peter, was serving aboard the aircraft carrier Franklin in the South Pacific when Strank was killed.
The Strank family became local celebrities after the war. "I grew up with that heritage, so my name was recognized in the community, and I knew there was something special about it," said Kathleen Strank Kasper, daughter of Peter Strank. "My dad was a policeman after the war. Anytime any political figures came to town, they'd stop to see my father. I met Hubert Humphrey when he was vice president and, again, when he was running for president."
Kasper said her father did not talk much about the war. He and his parents attended the dedication of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, she said, but her father, who died in 1996, and other family members did not attend the 30th, 40th or 50th Iwo Jima reunions "because it was just too sad for them."
This weekend about 30 relatives of Michael Strank's are expected to attend. "It's really good that we all remember," Kasper said, "because most of these soldiers will most likely not be here for the 70th anniversary."
Mary Pero said she thinks her brother would not have liked all the attention to his actions that one day on a speck of an island in the South Pacific that one Marine called "a hell I will never forget."
The Internet has many sites containing recollections of those who served and survived and went on to have families and rarely talked about their service until they reached the twilight of their lives. And the common denominator of most of those recollections is humility, something that Mike Strank was said to have in abundance.
"We were always very proud of him," Pero said, "but one thing that he never knew was that he was famous. He was famous, but my mother and brothers told me, they said, 'He would have just said, "I just did my job." ' "
Reunion Schedule
TODAY
• 11 a.m.: Commemoration ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, including reenactment of flag raising.
TOMORROW
• 10 a.m.: Commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.
• 11:30 a.m.: Wreath laying at the National World War II Memorial.
• 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.: Reunion banquet at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner; keynote speaker is Gen. Michael W. Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps.
SUNDAY
• 10 a.m.: Memorial service at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner.