thedrifter
01-22-06, 07:30 AM
01/22/2006
Bolus hopes for visa in search for soldier
BY BILL WAGNER STAFF WRITER
By this time, Bob Bolus had hoped to be on the island of Iwo Jima, scouting the rugged terrain for signs of a cave that might contain the remains of a Marine Corps photographer killed during an epic World War II battle.
But Japanese officials have told him he needs a visa to get on the island, and Mr. Bolus doesn’t have one.
Sgt. Bill Genaust, for whom Mr. Bolus intends to search, died days after photographing a memorable flag raising atop Mount Suribachi as Marines and Japanese troops continued to battle for control of the small volcanic island in the Pacific.
The film that captured the raising of the American flag would be shown in movie theaters across the United States ,but Sgt. Genaust would never see it. Entering a cave with a Marine buddy, he was killed immediately by enemy soldiers holed up inside.
Sgt. Genaust’s remains were never recovered because the Marines feared the Japanese had booby-trapped the cave. A search effort in 1948 was unable to locate the cave, on Hill 362A. Mr. Bolus said a modern Global Positioning System using satellites should be able to do that with the help of a military map he obtained from Scranton veterans of the battle.
Now, Mr. Bolus said, he will visit the island with Marine veterans of the battle who make an annual pilgrimage to Iwo Jima. The island is mainly deserted now but remains Japanese territory.
The Marines are allowed on Iwo Jima only once a year. They don’t need visas for their one-day visit to remember what happened there — 6,000 Marines died and 18,000 were wounded, placing it among the bloodiest battles of World War II. The Japanese lost 21,000 men before the fighting ended. Few surrendered.
So Mr. Bolus has been informed he must write the Japanese government in Tokyo formally requesting a visa for Iwo Jima before he and a few other searchers will be allowed on the island. He doesn’t know for sure that he will get one.
“I have to write a request stating that my visit will be a civil operation, not a government one, unless it should later become that,” he said last week.
“JPAC wants me to stay in touch and forward to them a copy of the letter I send to the ministry,” Mr. Bolus said. JPAC is the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. JPAC seeks to achieve the fullest possible accounting of America’s wartime missing.
Mr. Bolus thinks visiting the island with the Marines will further his efforts.
“I decided I will go with them to Guam and go to the banquet they have there and be able to meet with all the Japanese officials and the American officials who are there. That will make it a lot easier for me to find out what I need to know.
“We will be there, on Guam, where the Marines fly to Iwo Jima, about the third or fourth of March. Japanese are in charge of the island and they pretty much make sure nothing is disturbed.”
Mr. Bolus had intended to fly directly to Guam but has opted to join the Marine veterans in California and make as many contacts as possible.
“They may let me stay there in March and work right through,” he said, referring to Japanese officials who would be available to greet the Marine vets.
Asked what he would do about equipment if he should stay, Mr. Bolus said he would arrange for help from Guam. “They have all the equipment there we would need, which is an excavator, and that would do all the work we have to do.”
People from JPAC will not be on the tour, Mr. Bolus said, but will be available if he finds something. “Then they will join up with us. They need to know that we pinpointed a pretty secure location. Then they can make it a search priority.”
Ellie
Bolus hopes for visa in search for soldier
BY BILL WAGNER STAFF WRITER
By this time, Bob Bolus had hoped to be on the island of Iwo Jima, scouting the rugged terrain for signs of a cave that might contain the remains of a Marine Corps photographer killed during an epic World War II battle.
But Japanese officials have told him he needs a visa to get on the island, and Mr. Bolus doesn’t have one.
Sgt. Bill Genaust, for whom Mr. Bolus intends to search, died days after photographing a memorable flag raising atop Mount Suribachi as Marines and Japanese troops continued to battle for control of the small volcanic island in the Pacific.
The film that captured the raising of the American flag would be shown in movie theaters across the United States ,but Sgt. Genaust would never see it. Entering a cave with a Marine buddy, he was killed immediately by enemy soldiers holed up inside.
Sgt. Genaust’s remains were never recovered because the Marines feared the Japanese had booby-trapped the cave. A search effort in 1948 was unable to locate the cave, on Hill 362A. Mr. Bolus said a modern Global Positioning System using satellites should be able to do that with the help of a military map he obtained from Scranton veterans of the battle.
Now, Mr. Bolus said, he will visit the island with Marine veterans of the battle who make an annual pilgrimage to Iwo Jima. The island is mainly deserted now but remains Japanese territory.
The Marines are allowed on Iwo Jima only once a year. They don’t need visas for their one-day visit to remember what happened there — 6,000 Marines died and 18,000 were wounded, placing it among the bloodiest battles of World War II. The Japanese lost 21,000 men before the fighting ended. Few surrendered.
So Mr. Bolus has been informed he must write the Japanese government in Tokyo formally requesting a visa for Iwo Jima before he and a few other searchers will be allowed on the island. He doesn’t know for sure that he will get one.
“I have to write a request stating that my visit will be a civil operation, not a government one, unless it should later become that,” he said last week.
“JPAC wants me to stay in touch and forward to them a copy of the letter I send to the ministry,” Mr. Bolus said. JPAC is the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. JPAC seeks to achieve the fullest possible accounting of America’s wartime missing.
Mr. Bolus thinks visiting the island with the Marines will further his efforts.
“I decided I will go with them to Guam and go to the banquet they have there and be able to meet with all the Japanese officials and the American officials who are there. That will make it a lot easier for me to find out what I need to know.
“We will be there, on Guam, where the Marines fly to Iwo Jima, about the third or fourth of March. Japanese are in charge of the island and they pretty much make sure nothing is disturbed.”
Mr. Bolus had intended to fly directly to Guam but has opted to join the Marine veterans in California and make as many contacts as possible.
“They may let me stay there in March and work right through,” he said, referring to Japanese officials who would be available to greet the Marine vets.
Asked what he would do about equipment if he should stay, Mr. Bolus said he would arrange for help from Guam. “They have all the equipment there we would need, which is an excavator, and that would do all the work we have to do.”
People from JPAC will not be on the tour, Mr. Bolus said, but will be available if he finds something. “Then they will join up with us. They need to know that we pinpointed a pretty secure location. Then they can make it a search priority.”
Ellie