thedrifter
07-14-07, 06:49 AM
A Veteran Remembers
Diamondhead Veteran Leonard Nederveld Remembers Iwo Jima
July 12, 2007 07:41 PM
On this week's Veteran's History Project, we feature Leonard Nederveld. He is a Diamondhead resident, who joined the Marines during World War II.
Nederveld was 19, when he landed at Iwo Jima. Nearly 7,000 Americans would die in that long battle. Leonard told WLOX's Jeff Lawson that a lot of the men he was with died the first day they landed.
As for the battle to control the island, it went on for weeks.
Leonard was also an eyewitness to one of the most famous scenes in military history - when the American flag was raised on Iwo Jima.
"That was a happy moment," Nederveld said. "We thought we would get off that island in the next 24 hours. Boy were we wrong."
Then, a few days later, the moment that would change Nederveld's life.
He had dropped a hand grenade into a Japanese pillbox. He didn't know that a large amount of ammunition was stored inside. The grenade set off a huge explosion that knocked Leonard 15 feet into the air. The medic got to him within minutes, but could not feel a pulse.
"They left me for dead, lying there on that island," he said.
He awoke nearly 24 hours later, in an immense amount of pain.
"I just laid there for a while. I was either going to die there, or, get up and try to find some American soldiers," he said.
He was in such pain, he could only crawl. He thought he heard the sound of someone digging a foxhole, so he crawled through the sand, trying to get to the noise he heard. Then, Leonard thought he heard the sound of a gun being loaded.
Moments before they fired, someone said it was an American. Nederveld had come within seconds of being killed by his fellow soldiers.
They put him on a stretcher, and that is the last thing he remembers. Nederveld says he passed out from the pain of his wounds. Within days, he was back home in a hospital, where he would spend the next several months.
These days, Nederveld says he does not spend much time thinking about the war. But, when he does, he recalls the good men he served with, many of whom, never came home.
By Jeff Lawson
Ellie
Diamondhead Veteran Leonard Nederveld Remembers Iwo Jima
July 12, 2007 07:41 PM
On this week's Veteran's History Project, we feature Leonard Nederveld. He is a Diamondhead resident, who joined the Marines during World War II.
Nederveld was 19, when he landed at Iwo Jima. Nearly 7,000 Americans would die in that long battle. Leonard told WLOX's Jeff Lawson that a lot of the men he was with died the first day they landed.
As for the battle to control the island, it went on for weeks.
Leonard was also an eyewitness to one of the most famous scenes in military history - when the American flag was raised on Iwo Jima.
"That was a happy moment," Nederveld said. "We thought we would get off that island in the next 24 hours. Boy were we wrong."
Then, a few days later, the moment that would change Nederveld's life.
He had dropped a hand grenade into a Japanese pillbox. He didn't know that a large amount of ammunition was stored inside. The grenade set off a huge explosion that knocked Leonard 15 feet into the air. The medic got to him within minutes, but could not feel a pulse.
"They left me for dead, lying there on that island," he said.
He awoke nearly 24 hours later, in an immense amount of pain.
"I just laid there for a while. I was either going to die there, or, get up and try to find some American soldiers," he said.
He was in such pain, he could only crawl. He thought he heard the sound of someone digging a foxhole, so he crawled through the sand, trying to get to the noise he heard. Then, Leonard thought he heard the sound of a gun being loaded.
Moments before they fired, someone said it was an American. Nederveld had come within seconds of being killed by his fellow soldiers.
They put him on a stretcher, and that is the last thing he remembers. Nederveld says he passed out from the pain of his wounds. Within days, he was back home in a hospital, where he would spend the next several months.
These days, Nederveld says he does not spend much time thinking about the war. But, when he does, he recalls the good men he served with, many of whom, never came home.
By Jeff Lawson
Ellie