thedrifter
07-11-08, 07:11 AM
DC visit brings tears to eyes of veteran Marine
07/10/08
John M. Willis
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Looking at one of the flags that flew over Mount Suribachi in February 1945, Calhoun’s Alton Cadenhead said it was hard not to cry.
“I know I’m an old man but I shed a few tears because it brought back so many memories,” said Cadenhead, who as a 19-year-old Marine fought at Iwo Jima.
Last week, Cadenhead and his wife Ila toured the new Marine Museum, met with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James. T. Conway at the Pentagon and watched the weekly Friday dress parade at the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C.
Cadenhead said the visit, which was set up by a retired Marine colonel who contacted the Commandant’s office, was “very special.”
“Not many Marines get to visit the Commandant,” he said. “I was looking for somebody in stiff dress blues, but he was dressed in fatigues. He is a very down-to-earth fellow.”
Conway presented Cadenhead with a Commandant’s Freedom Award, “an honorary thing,” Cadenhead said. He received a similar award in 1999 from then Commandant Gen. C.C. Krulak.
Reflecting on last week’s visit, Cadenhead said the dress parade, which is held every Friday evening during the summer, was perfect. The parade features the Marine Corps Band, Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, Color Guard and Silent Drill Platoon.
“They do a tremendous job with it,” Cadenhead said. “It is so colorful and so meaningful.”
But he said the highlight of their trip was the tour of the new Marine Museum in Quantico, Va.
“It is something that every Marine will cherish,” he said. “Tears come to your eyes if you are a Marine and suffered through World War II.”
The museum’s collection includes both of the flags that were raised on Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, the fourth day of the battle for Iwo Jima — the small flag that was raised first and the larger flag that was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.
The two flags are rotated in the museum’s display, and the larger flag was on display during the Cadenheads’ tour. Museum staff took his photo in front of the flag.
“Word spreads pretty quickly when other Marines learn you were at Iwo Jima,” he said.
Cadenhead, originally from Troup County, was 19 when he stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima, the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history,
“It was a long time ago, and we were just a bunch of teenagers then,” Cadenhead said in an earlier interview. “Now we’re old men, but we’re still young at heart. They sent a bunch of boys to do men’s work, but we became men very quickly.”
On Feb. 19, 1945, some 30,000 U.S. Marines descended on the Pacific island to battle the Japanese forces. An estimated 7,000 Marines died taking the island and 20,000 were injured before the fighting ended on March 16.
“The island was much better defended and fortified than any previous island we had attacked,” Cadenhead said earlier. Cadenhead also participated in the Guam invasion.
Cadenhead said the Corps is interested in what Marines do after they leave the service. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” he said.
After the war, Cadenhead spent many years in the textile industry, including stints at Callaway Mills, Millican and finally Modern Fibers.
Since his retirement, he has been active in local schools, speaking often to students about World War II and the sacrifices made by America’s veterans.
“I try to explain to the students about freedom and what it costs,” he said. “Somebody has to pay the price of freedom, and so many people gave all they had.
“When I visit schools, I am amazed that so many students are interested in what’s going on.”
Cadenhead is a member of the Jake Puryear Detachment of the Marine Corps League. He will be speaking July 24 at the Rome Area History Museum on Broad Street.
Ellie
07/10/08
John M. Willis
Respond to this story
Email this story to a friend
Looking at one of the flags that flew over Mount Suribachi in February 1945, Calhoun’s Alton Cadenhead said it was hard not to cry.
“I know I’m an old man but I shed a few tears because it brought back so many memories,” said Cadenhead, who as a 19-year-old Marine fought at Iwo Jima.
Last week, Cadenhead and his wife Ila toured the new Marine Museum, met with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James. T. Conway at the Pentagon and watched the weekly Friday dress parade at the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C.
Cadenhead said the visit, which was set up by a retired Marine colonel who contacted the Commandant’s office, was “very special.”
“Not many Marines get to visit the Commandant,” he said. “I was looking for somebody in stiff dress blues, but he was dressed in fatigues. He is a very down-to-earth fellow.”
Conway presented Cadenhead with a Commandant’s Freedom Award, “an honorary thing,” Cadenhead said. He received a similar award in 1999 from then Commandant Gen. C.C. Krulak.
Reflecting on last week’s visit, Cadenhead said the dress parade, which is held every Friday evening during the summer, was perfect. The parade features the Marine Corps Band, Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, Color Guard and Silent Drill Platoon.
“They do a tremendous job with it,” Cadenhead said. “It is so colorful and so meaningful.”
But he said the highlight of their trip was the tour of the new Marine Museum in Quantico, Va.
“It is something that every Marine will cherish,” he said. “Tears come to your eyes if you are a Marine and suffered through World War II.”
The museum’s collection includes both of the flags that were raised on Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, the fourth day of the battle for Iwo Jima — the small flag that was raised first and the larger flag that was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.
The two flags are rotated in the museum’s display, and the larger flag was on display during the Cadenheads’ tour. Museum staff took his photo in front of the flag.
“Word spreads pretty quickly when other Marines learn you were at Iwo Jima,” he said.
Cadenhead, originally from Troup County, was 19 when he stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima, the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history,
“It was a long time ago, and we were just a bunch of teenagers then,” Cadenhead said in an earlier interview. “Now we’re old men, but we’re still young at heart. They sent a bunch of boys to do men’s work, but we became men very quickly.”
On Feb. 19, 1945, some 30,000 U.S. Marines descended on the Pacific island to battle the Japanese forces. An estimated 7,000 Marines died taking the island and 20,000 were injured before the fighting ended on March 16.
“The island was much better defended and fortified than any previous island we had attacked,” Cadenhead said earlier. Cadenhead also participated in the Guam invasion.
Cadenhead said the Corps is interested in what Marines do after they leave the service. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” he said.
After the war, Cadenhead spent many years in the textile industry, including stints at Callaway Mills, Millican and finally Modern Fibers.
Since his retirement, he has been active in local schools, speaking often to students about World War II and the sacrifices made by America’s veterans.
“I try to explain to the students about freedom and what it costs,” he said. “Somebody has to pay the price of freedom, and so many people gave all they had.
“When I visit schools, I am amazed that so many students are interested in what’s going on.”
Cadenhead is a member of the Jake Puryear Detachment of the Marine Corps League. He will be speaking July 24 at the Rome Area History Museum on Broad Street.
Ellie