thedrifter
07-03-05, 08:06 AM
Drew Frasz retraces Marines' struggle
— Businessman takes time out to visit war shrine in western Pacific
By TERRY WARD
Shaw News Service
GENEVA — Don't suggest Andrew Frasz settles for the path well traveled. Not when his most recent destination was Iwo Jima.
A craggy volcanic mound in the western Pacific, Iwo Jima was the scene of the devastating World War II battle between U.S. Marines and entrenched Japanese forces in 1945.
This spring, the Elburn-based excavating contractor retraced the Marines' heroic struggle, on the 60th anniversary of Iwo Jima — a battle that secured this base that proved critical for the Americans' finishing air attacks on Japan.
"When I heard about a trip to Iwo Jima, I asked, 'Why?'" Frasz recalled. "I said to myself, 'What is there to see there?'"
In other words, what would make a hard-hat businessman chuck his usual routine and travel to the other side of the world to visit a place that hardly is a tourist locale?
His answer is a personal one. His two Australian uncles, his mother's brothers, lost their lives as soldiers in the Pacific theater of the war. And his father, Dr. Edward Frasz, had served in the Navy. Frasz said his interest in the war had percolated for many years.
Frasz acknowledged that most people "know (Iwo Jima) only as the site where the famous photo (was taken) of the Marines hoisting the flag on Mt. Suribachi." An unpopulated volcanic island that still spews steam, Iwo Jima's lure is solely because of what it represents in historical terms.
"I've always wanted to go there, but there were no opportunities except on the anniversaries and with the official Marine Corps tour vendor," said Frasz, whose friends call him Drew.
A chance to visit finally emerged, when he discovered an expedition run by Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours of New Orleans, a company founded by the late historian. Other tours based on books by Ambrose also are available (the writer was instrumental in founding the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans).
The owner of A.E. Frasz Inc., Frasz began the tour in Oahu, Hawaii, where he and his tour mates saw the U.S. Arizona Memorial and the battleship Missouri, on whose deck the World War II-ending treaty was signed.
"It is interesting that the sunken Arizona and its floating sister ship, Missouri, sit side by side at Pearl Harbor, in that the sinking of the Arizona signaled the beginning of war with Japan and the Missouri is where Japan surrendered in Tokyo Bay to end the war," he said.
The tour moved next to the Pacific islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian — seven and a half hours west of Hawaii. After the Marines had captured these islands, Frasz said, Navy construction battalions built huge airstrips and bases in record time to accommodate the new B-29 long-range bomber, which was designed specifically to attack Japan.
Navy planners also determined, Frasz said, that Iwo Jima, halfway between these new B-29 bases and Japan, also would have to be captured for such an aerial assault to succeed.
The reason was twofold, Frasz said.
"One, it would eliminate Japanese radar and fighter facilities that caused the loss of many B-29s and, two, it would provide an emergency landing strip for crippled American bombers returning from raids over Japan that now were ditching into the Pacific," Frasz said.
The airbase on Tinian also was the site at which atomic bombs were loaded for the raids on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Drew said. These loading pits now are covered in glass for visitors to see.
"We were privileged to have several veterans of the Pacific theater with us including Arthur Abramson, a fighter pilot who shot down four Japanese Zeros and Frank 'Blackie' Hall, a Marine who landed on all three islands and fought his way through them," Drew said.
Other tour members included a Navajo Indian code talker who was trained by the Marines to handle communications: the Japanese could not decode the Navajo language.
Much to the chagrin of many visiting U.S. veterans, Guam today has become a popular destination for Japanese tourists, Drew said.
The final stop on Drew's tour was a one-day visit to Iwo Jima, to see the island and attend the 60th anniversary ceremony. The charter flight's pilot flew the plane twice around the island, to give passengers an aerial view of the invasion beaches and Mt. Suribachi.
Drew said the island was returned to the Japanese government with the provision that Americans could return for the anniversary ceremonies. All that remains there, Drew noted, is a small airport manned by the Japanese National Guard. U.S. Marine Corps vehicles and personnel are brought in to run the anniversary activities.
Marine Corps Humvees and trucks operated around the island, which enabled the visitors to stop at various sites, including the invasion beaches and Mt. Suribachi.
"All the veterans were proud but humble," Frasz said. "Even though the ceremony was a joint U.S.-Japanese effort, done in the spirit of peace, it is hard for most of the vets to put their feelings behind them."
Frasz said "Abramson told us that a lot of people are uncomfortable asking vets about their experiences, afraid that it will bring up bad memories, but he encourages them to ask."
"He said it is important for younger generations to know the real horrors and sacrifices of war and it is also therapeutic for the vets to tell their stories," he said.
Frasz said the experience left him moved and is something he won't forget. For Frasz, the tour was something far removed from the ordinary daily worries of a businessman.
Since 1978, Frasz's most compelling concerns, front and center, had been his family and the business he started that year with his wife, Gail.
"I was always fascinated by heavy equipment," he said. "I was a fireman and Gail was a dispatcher. I worked for the Geneva Fire Department for six years and for Aurora for four."
Because of a firefighter's unconventional hours, Frasz was able to work part time at the outset in his new business. Then, in 1983, the firm went full time.
It had started out as a lawn mowing and light landscaping firm, and later expanded into excavation work.
"That was hard to get into because it takes time to build an equipment fleet," Drew said. "We started small, slowly building up our business with excellent employees. We now work for some of the best names in home building and offer them start-to-finish site work."
One of his firm's unique jobs was transplanting prairie from the new Metra suburban rail project site west of Geneva to Campton Hills Park in St. Charles: It was accomplished by means of a method devised by his employees.
Frasz takes pride in being able to focus on area customers.
"We are a local business and like to work locally," Frasz said. "We recently did a job in Geneva, and I realized we had done seven jobs over the years within two blocks."
Even such local concerns, however, played second fiddle this spring when Frasz visited Iwo Jima.
Ellie
— Businessman takes time out to visit war shrine in western Pacific
By TERRY WARD
Shaw News Service
GENEVA — Don't suggest Andrew Frasz settles for the path well traveled. Not when his most recent destination was Iwo Jima.
A craggy volcanic mound in the western Pacific, Iwo Jima was the scene of the devastating World War II battle between U.S. Marines and entrenched Japanese forces in 1945.
This spring, the Elburn-based excavating contractor retraced the Marines' heroic struggle, on the 60th anniversary of Iwo Jima — a battle that secured this base that proved critical for the Americans' finishing air attacks on Japan.
"When I heard about a trip to Iwo Jima, I asked, 'Why?'" Frasz recalled. "I said to myself, 'What is there to see there?'"
In other words, what would make a hard-hat businessman chuck his usual routine and travel to the other side of the world to visit a place that hardly is a tourist locale?
His answer is a personal one. His two Australian uncles, his mother's brothers, lost their lives as soldiers in the Pacific theater of the war. And his father, Dr. Edward Frasz, had served in the Navy. Frasz said his interest in the war had percolated for many years.
Frasz acknowledged that most people "know (Iwo Jima) only as the site where the famous photo (was taken) of the Marines hoisting the flag on Mt. Suribachi." An unpopulated volcanic island that still spews steam, Iwo Jima's lure is solely because of what it represents in historical terms.
"I've always wanted to go there, but there were no opportunities except on the anniversaries and with the official Marine Corps tour vendor," said Frasz, whose friends call him Drew.
A chance to visit finally emerged, when he discovered an expedition run by Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours of New Orleans, a company founded by the late historian. Other tours based on books by Ambrose also are available (the writer was instrumental in founding the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans).
The owner of A.E. Frasz Inc., Frasz began the tour in Oahu, Hawaii, where he and his tour mates saw the U.S. Arizona Memorial and the battleship Missouri, on whose deck the World War II-ending treaty was signed.
"It is interesting that the sunken Arizona and its floating sister ship, Missouri, sit side by side at Pearl Harbor, in that the sinking of the Arizona signaled the beginning of war with Japan and the Missouri is where Japan surrendered in Tokyo Bay to end the war," he said.
The tour moved next to the Pacific islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian — seven and a half hours west of Hawaii. After the Marines had captured these islands, Frasz said, Navy construction battalions built huge airstrips and bases in record time to accommodate the new B-29 long-range bomber, which was designed specifically to attack Japan.
Navy planners also determined, Frasz said, that Iwo Jima, halfway between these new B-29 bases and Japan, also would have to be captured for such an aerial assault to succeed.
The reason was twofold, Frasz said.
"One, it would eliminate Japanese radar and fighter facilities that caused the loss of many B-29s and, two, it would provide an emergency landing strip for crippled American bombers returning from raids over Japan that now were ditching into the Pacific," Frasz said.
The airbase on Tinian also was the site at which atomic bombs were loaded for the raids on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Drew said. These loading pits now are covered in glass for visitors to see.
"We were privileged to have several veterans of the Pacific theater with us including Arthur Abramson, a fighter pilot who shot down four Japanese Zeros and Frank 'Blackie' Hall, a Marine who landed on all three islands and fought his way through them," Drew said.
Other tour members included a Navajo Indian code talker who was trained by the Marines to handle communications: the Japanese could not decode the Navajo language.
Much to the chagrin of many visiting U.S. veterans, Guam today has become a popular destination for Japanese tourists, Drew said.
The final stop on Drew's tour was a one-day visit to Iwo Jima, to see the island and attend the 60th anniversary ceremony. The charter flight's pilot flew the plane twice around the island, to give passengers an aerial view of the invasion beaches and Mt. Suribachi.
Drew said the island was returned to the Japanese government with the provision that Americans could return for the anniversary ceremonies. All that remains there, Drew noted, is a small airport manned by the Japanese National Guard. U.S. Marine Corps vehicles and personnel are brought in to run the anniversary activities.
Marine Corps Humvees and trucks operated around the island, which enabled the visitors to stop at various sites, including the invasion beaches and Mt. Suribachi.
"All the veterans were proud but humble," Frasz said. "Even though the ceremony was a joint U.S.-Japanese effort, done in the spirit of peace, it is hard for most of the vets to put their feelings behind them."
Frasz said "Abramson told us that a lot of people are uncomfortable asking vets about their experiences, afraid that it will bring up bad memories, but he encourages them to ask."
"He said it is important for younger generations to know the real horrors and sacrifices of war and it is also therapeutic for the vets to tell their stories," he said.
Frasz said the experience left him moved and is something he won't forget. For Frasz, the tour was something far removed from the ordinary daily worries of a businessman.
Since 1978, Frasz's most compelling concerns, front and center, had been his family and the business he started that year with his wife, Gail.
"I was always fascinated by heavy equipment," he said. "I was a fireman and Gail was a dispatcher. I worked for the Geneva Fire Department for six years and for Aurora for four."
Because of a firefighter's unconventional hours, Frasz was able to work part time at the outset in his new business. Then, in 1983, the firm went full time.
It had started out as a lawn mowing and light landscaping firm, and later expanded into excavation work.
"That was hard to get into because it takes time to build an equipment fleet," Drew said. "We started small, slowly building up our business with excellent employees. We now work for some of the best names in home building and offer them start-to-finish site work."
One of his firm's unique jobs was transplanting prairie from the new Metra suburban rail project site west of Geneva to Campton Hills Park in St. Charles: It was accomplished by means of a method devised by his employees.
Frasz takes pride in being able to focus on area customers.
"We are a local business and like to work locally," Frasz said. "We recently did a job in Geneva, and I realized we had done seven jobs over the years within two blocks."
Even such local concerns, however, played second fiddle this spring when Frasz visited Iwo Jima.
Ellie