Iwo Jima Day today 2-19-1945

[USMC 2571]

Today is the anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima.

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[USMC 2571]

Ghost from Iwo Jima



The living warrior never said
The things that burned within his head:
The word was uttered by the broken dead.


I died at dawn, bent toward a thunder island,
Wallowing upon gun-gutted sand

I could not sleep in that strange land;
I have returned to New York towers,
New England hills and Kansas plains;
To gentle towns with quiet hours
And temples singing in the sun...
I have returned with one desire:
To see what you have done
With what I bought upon that strip of fire.

Red ran my blood
Upon a beach whose name I scarcely knew:
So men could speak aloud their dreams
and hopes before a crowd,
Or pray their prayers to God,
And not be stood before a firing squad.

And it was not alone for Yanks I fell;
It was for Britons, French, Chinese,
Israelis, Africans and Poles;
For all the disinherited, tormented souls
In all the agonizing earth and sea
Scarred by the boots of tyranny.

And all the clever tongues have lied
Who said it was for Less than this I died.

The little people of the world looked
And watched me running where the red beach shook;
The little broken, beaten brothers;
The homeless children and their mothers;
The noble men reduced to less than tramps
Who rotted in the concentration camps;
The keepers of the truth...they stood that dawn
And shouted silently, "Go on! Go on!"

For they all knew, oh, they knew why
I had to run across that beach and die.

I could not sleep in that far land;
I have returned to where your cities stand,
Unwounded; to your churches on the sleepy street,
And golden miles of unhurt wheat.
I have returned to hear the laughter in
your children's throats
And watch the little people cast their votes.

I have come back to see what you who live
Have done with what I died to give.

The living warrior had not said
The things that burned within his head:
The word was uttered by the broken dead

[silverdollar]

1945- 2015= 70

[Marine1011]

Thank you for that wonderful display of math skills! LOL

[silverdollar]

You are welcome,

[Kegler300]

[Hammer]

God Bless the men who gave all on this day seventy(70) years ago! They paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that I wasn't disappointed that more Marines haven't paid their respects on this thread to these men on this day.

[FoxtrotOscar]

Semper Fi Marines...

I've been fortunate to have been able to visit the Island twice, two words, Awesome & Humbling...

My Uncle was KIA on Feb 20th, PFC, 21st Marines whom I was never able to meet..

Listed below is a great website on Iwo Jima, it also contains an alphbetical listing of all KIA..


Records of War, Iwo Jima http://www.recordsofwar.com/iwo/


On 19 February 1945, the 5th Marine Amphibious Corps (consisting of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions) landed on Iwo Jima (Sulphur Island). When the battle was over, 6821 American Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers , along with an estimated 20,000+ Japanese defenders had died. This was Americas first landing on what was considered traditional Japanese territory. It was the beginning of the end. In the following pages and ebooks, I hope to bring this battle to the reader, at a level of detail and scope I have not yet seen. This is the battle of IwoJima as described by the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions.

[gkmoz]

http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/sto...ript?ID=sr0001

[drumcorpssnare]

God Bless those Marines at Iwo. Recently doing some family history. Found a great uncle who was wounded twice at Saipan. Did he get sent home? Heck no... they patched him up and sent him to Iwo, where he was wounded again. Again, God Bless them all.