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thedrifter
01-01-08, 08:24 AM
Iwo Jima vets remember

By JIMMY NESBITT
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7501 or nesbittj@courierpress.com
Saturday, October 28, 2006

Paul McKinney remembers a day when the decks of LSTs were filled with Marines, bleeding and screaming from gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

McKinney was only 18 when the 5th Marine Amphibian Truck Co. landed on the shores of Iwo Jima in February 1945. Its mission was to transport troops and supplies to the island. A bloody battle with Japanese forces ensued, and soon McKinney and other Marines were pulling wounded men into their vehicles.

There were more casualties "than we knew what to do with," McKinney said. "As a matter of fact, they were putting them on the decks of LSTs."

But, McKinney added, "Our guys just kept going."

Once a year, a group called Iwo Jima Veterans comes together for a reunion. On Friday, the veterans met at LST 325 in Evansville. About 40 veterans attended.

Like all World War II groups, its numbers are dwindling. Most of the men are in their 80s. McKinney, 81, of Peoria, Ill., said this probably will be his last reunion.

McKinney talked openly about his experience at Iwo Jima, but he said many of the men still have trouble sharing memories.

The battle for control of the island and its airfields lasted for more than two months. The United States lost 6,821 men. Only 1,083 of the 22,000 Japanese troops survived.

Today, the battle is famous for the picture taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal of six Marines raising an American flag atop Mount Suribachi during battle. Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for the picture.

"Flags of Our Fathers," a Clint Eastwood-directed movie about the six Marines who raised the flag, was released Oct. 20.

"It was pretty truthful," said McKinney, who has seen the movie. "I thought it was all pretty well done."

Another veteran, George Leonard, 81, of Owensboro, Ky., recalled the thick, volcanic ash that covered the island's beaches. It was so deep in some areas, that you would "sink halfway (up) your knee," he said.

The battle of Iwo Jima ended March 26, 1945. "We were ready for the invasion of Japan when the war ended" in August 1945, Leonard said.

Leonard hasn't seen Eastwood's movie about Iwo Jima, but he plans to.

"Oh, yeah, we're going to be there" when it opens in Owensboro, he said.

Ellie