thedrifter
10-15-06, 06:18 AM
Remembering Iwo Jima -- 40 years later
- Kevin Leary
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Marines gathered at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno yesterday for the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
"We're not here to celebrate a victory," Major Tom Constantino told a noontime crowd of 250 people -- about half of them civilians. "We're here to remember our fallen comrades who died on Iwo Jima, the most brutal battle in Marine Corps history."
It was on Feb. 19, 1945, that the Marines landed on the strategically vital island.
Before the fighting was over 35 days later, 6,621 Americans were dead and 19,217 were wounded. Among the 23,000 Japanese defenders, about 22,000 were killed.
Only 1,083 of the enemy were taken prisoner. Only eight aging heroes of the battle were on hand yesterday. They pulled in their bellies and stood tall when they were introduced to the crowd.
"Feb. 19, 1945," said retired Major Douglas Jacobson, 59, who won the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima. "How etched in our memories that day is." Jacobson, a 19-year-old private first class at the time, was decorated for killing 75 enemy soldiers and destroying 16 Japanese gun emplacements, two tanks and a two anti-aircraft batteries during one day of furious fighting.
"I don't know how I did it," he said yesterday. "We were stuck up on Hill 382 and had to fight our way off."
Jacobson, a career Marine, served in four major campaigns in the Pacific theater and saw action in Korea and Vietnam. "Nothing ever matched the ferocity of Iwo," he said.
"But those were the days when men were men and proud of it," he said. "They never asked if this island was needed, or if the war was just. When they were called to do their duty, they stood up and were counted."
Jacobson, the guest of honor and main speaker at yesterday's gathering, looked out over the cemetery's 112,470 white grave markers lined up in orderly rows and said: "Rest in peace, good buddies. We revere you, we honor you, we salute you."
A special guest of the Marines was retired Chronicle photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the soul-stirring picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, the most famous combat photo ever taken.
Rosenthal was a 33-year-old combat correspondent for the Associated Press when he took the picture.
That photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman struggling to raise the Stars and Stripes amid the rubble of combat came to symbolize the fighting spirit of the Marine Corps and it made Rosenthal a hero in his own right.
Rosenthal's remarks were brief and self-effacing. He said he was proud to be associated with the men who fought on Iwo Jima.
He recalled the young men fighting their way through a hail of gunfire to advance a few yards on the steep beach. "Those who survived the battle never knew how they survived," he said. "It was like walking through a rainstorm without getting wet."
Rosenthal remembered the American bodies strewn about the smoking landscape and the terrible fighting on the hateful island.
Rosenthal told the audience that his was a minor role in the battle for Iwo Jima. "The best part of taking a well-recognized photo was that it served to focus attention on the battle and the sacrifices the men made there.
"The main thing is to remember the incredible bravery of those men who gave all they had to give to live up to their sense of duty. We all owe them a great deal."
This story originally appeared in The Chronicle on Feb. 20, 1985.
Ellie
- Kevin Leary
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Marines gathered at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno yesterday for the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
"We're not here to celebrate a victory," Major Tom Constantino told a noontime crowd of 250 people -- about half of them civilians. "We're here to remember our fallen comrades who died on Iwo Jima, the most brutal battle in Marine Corps history."
It was on Feb. 19, 1945, that the Marines landed on the strategically vital island.
Before the fighting was over 35 days later, 6,621 Americans were dead and 19,217 were wounded. Among the 23,000 Japanese defenders, about 22,000 were killed.
Only 1,083 of the enemy were taken prisoner. Only eight aging heroes of the battle were on hand yesterday. They pulled in their bellies and stood tall when they were introduced to the crowd.
"Feb. 19, 1945," said retired Major Douglas Jacobson, 59, who won the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima. "How etched in our memories that day is." Jacobson, a 19-year-old private first class at the time, was decorated for killing 75 enemy soldiers and destroying 16 Japanese gun emplacements, two tanks and a two anti-aircraft batteries during one day of furious fighting.
"I don't know how I did it," he said yesterday. "We were stuck up on Hill 382 and had to fight our way off."
Jacobson, a career Marine, served in four major campaigns in the Pacific theater and saw action in Korea and Vietnam. "Nothing ever matched the ferocity of Iwo," he said.
"But those were the days when men were men and proud of it," he said. "They never asked if this island was needed, or if the war was just. When they were called to do their duty, they stood up and were counted."
Jacobson, the guest of honor and main speaker at yesterday's gathering, looked out over the cemetery's 112,470 white grave markers lined up in orderly rows and said: "Rest in peace, good buddies. We revere you, we honor you, we salute you."
A special guest of the Marines was retired Chronicle photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the soul-stirring picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, the most famous combat photo ever taken.
Rosenthal was a 33-year-old combat correspondent for the Associated Press when he took the picture.
That photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman struggling to raise the Stars and Stripes amid the rubble of combat came to symbolize the fighting spirit of the Marine Corps and it made Rosenthal a hero in his own right.
Rosenthal's remarks were brief and self-effacing. He said he was proud to be associated with the men who fought on Iwo Jima.
He recalled the young men fighting their way through a hail of gunfire to advance a few yards on the steep beach. "Those who survived the battle never knew how they survived," he said. "It was like walking through a rainstorm without getting wet."
Rosenthal remembered the American bodies strewn about the smoking landscape and the terrible fighting on the hateful island.
Rosenthal told the audience that his was a minor role in the battle for Iwo Jima. "The best part of taking a well-recognized photo was that it served to focus attention on the battle and the sacrifices the men made there.
"The main thing is to remember the incredible bravery of those men who gave all they had to give to live up to their sense of duty. We all owe them a great deal."
This story originally appeared in The Chronicle on Feb. 20, 1985.
Ellie