19 Febuary 1045...The invasion of Iwo Jima, my tribute to those Marines - Page 2
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  1. #16
    Marine Free Member GySgtRet's Avatar
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    crew,

    Please thank your dad and all the Marines of his platoon,,

    Semper Fidelis


  2. #17
    The Marines that preceded us in service to the Corps set the standard by which we were judged and the high honor that we were held to. The battle of Iwo Jima is another great example of the heart of the Marine in battle. I honor them today!

    "UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE"


    Semper Fidelis


  3. #18
    yellowwing
    Guest Free Member
    Amen and Semper Fi!


  4. #19
    Its sad, there not much coverage on the Iwo Jima invasion, and those that gave their alls.
    A little on the living survivors, seeing that this year is the 60-anniversary, you would figure that he would get some coverage.
    Sad, on how pitiful lack of coverage.
    I speaking from northwest Indiana and the cable channels coverage of the news.
    Must not be news worthy for some.
    Sad
    "That could be another story"
    Dateline;
    Is it any wonder that veterans are now getting the shaft, on co-payments to the VA?


    Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
    Ricardo


  5. #20
    yellowwing
    Guest Free Member
    Survivors remember Iwo Jima
    60th anniversary of famous battle in the Pacific during World War II reunites veterans who fought there.
    By Rob Schneider, IndyStar Feb 20, 2005
    NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- After practicing beach landings off the California coast during World War II, Jack Johnson figured sand was in his military future.

    He was right. The place was Iwo Jima.

    Johnson was among a group of Iwo Jima survivors who gathered Saturday at Lutz Steak House on the west side of Noblesville to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the prolonged fight that may be the best-known battle of the war in the Pacific. The volcanic island, about five miles long, was seen as a vital objective for American forces in the offensive against Japan.

    After lunch, the survivors stood and introduced themselves, although they all seemed to know one another. A Marine flag and a map of Iwo Jima taped to a wall added to the atmosphere.

    These former Marines mostly referred to the island as Iwo.

    It was clear what brought them to the restaurant from Muncie, Lafayette, Plainfield, Michigan City and Indianapolis: their fellow Marines who died there.

    "They were the heroes," said James Huddleston, of Muncie, who helped organize Saturday's event.

    Huddleston was 19 when he landed at Iwo Jima and was wounded twice but was not evacuated. He joined the Marines after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

    "I didn't even know where Pearl Harbor was," he said.

    About 7,000 American forces died on the island, and more than 20,000 were wounded. Nearly all of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers were killed by the end of the battle.

    Even 60 years later, Johnson said he finds it difficult to imagine he played a role in such a monumental battle.

    He was an 18-year-old member of the 5th Marine Division and spent 35 to 40 days on the island he didn't know existed until he set foot there.

    The assault was his first time in combat, and he remembers being up by 4 a.m., eating what he recalls were steak and eggs and then stepping into a landing craft at dawn.

    Johnson, a retired Muncie educator, remembers the island's black sand upon his arrival.

    On Feb. 23, after the Marines fought their way up Mount Suribachi, where they used flame throwers and grenades to clear enemy bunkers, the famous picture of a few Marines raising the U.S. flag was taken.

    Johnson said he looked up to see the flag rise as whistles on Navy ships sounded loudly. It was like a Fourth of July celebration, he recalled.

    Jack Lauck was a 21-year-old second lieutenant in charge of a Marine rifle platoon on Iwo Jima. He said the battle was supposed to last about three days, with another two days to quell any resistance.

    But military intelligence officers had underestimated the number of Japanese, figuring about 12,000 rather than the actual 21,000.

    "It was pretty brutal," Lauck said of the image that comes to his mind when he hears the name Iwo Jima. "The friends you lost hurts more than anything else."


  6. #21
    To the 133rd Seabees - 4th Marine Division
    370 casualties mostly in the first day!
    You Are Not Forgotten!!
    CAN - DO


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