Living history

[soon 2 retire]

I'm on San Juan Island in Washington on vacation visiting my daughter. On the first leg of my flight yesterday I sat next to Jim Baize from Indianapolis. He was wheeled onto the plane and his cap identified him as an Iwo Jima survivor. I usually have 4 gun magazines to pass the time on my flight but I never opened even one of them on that flight. I talked to Jim for 3 hours and the time flew by; I didn't even experience the stabbing neck and back pain that I've come to expect on a flight like that. Here's a site to go and read a little about Jim there are other sites out there that may yield more about him that I'll be checking out later. One says that Jim piloted a landing craft that was hit he was one of a few survivors. A marine took equipment from a dead comrade and gave it to Jim and after 6 weeks of navy training Jim became a marine. He eventually was carried off that island. The scale of the battle he described was unimaginable. He said, "There were 22,000 Japs on that small island and we killed all but 800 of them." At the end of the flight as they were wheeling Jim away I thanked him for "standing in the gap" all those years ago. His body was broken but his eyes burned bright and his spirit was strong.

http://www.scientechclub.org/JimBaizePage.html


Bob usually in NE Indiana temporarily in Friday Harbor, Wa

[Hobie]

Neat! Thanks for sharing.

[jnyork]

A snappy salute for him.

[.45colt]

God Bless Him. Great post.Thank You.

[gamekeeper]

God Bless Him. Great post.Thank You.

+ 1

[soon 2 retire]

When I talked to him I wished that I had a recorder. I recall his story in bits and pieces. He said that most of the work was grenade and flame thrower work and that all the machine gun nests were connected by miles of tunnels. When they cleaned out one nest the Japanese brought a fresh crew and equipment in through the tunnels and they were back in business. His stay on the island ended when they were under attack and he dove into an artillery/mortar hold and another round came to the same hole and got him. Shrapnel went in his neck almost to his brain and broke several vertebra; a wound through the cheek took out 3 teeth; and his knee was blown. He has plates in his back and a new knee that he got years later when technology caught up. A friend came to the hospital in Oregon I think and told him instead of laying around he should get his GED so he did. He later went to Northwestern on the GI bill and got a degree in mechanical engineering and he later got a degree in nuclear engineering from Purdue. He worked for GM Allison Division. He quit to form his own construction company that did public works projects all over the world. He sold that in '95 and started a consulting firm for similar types of projects. His kids mostly run it now and he still puts in about 10 hours a week. He had several kids and 10 grandkids. He gets counseling through the VA and it's only in the last 10 years or so that he's been able to talk about his experiences. He used to go to a survivors reunion for Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan but there's not enough guys left to have a reunion. I'm glad I met him.

Bob in NE Indiana

[KSFlatheadhunter]

Wow, what an honor to get to speak with him like that.

Thanks for sharing!

Darin

[firefuzz]

What an experience! You are indeed fortunate to have gotten to spend that time with Jim.

Thanks for sharing it.

Rob

[AJMD429]

Shrapnel went in his neck almost to his brain and broke several vertebra; a wound through the cheek took out 3 teeth; and his knee was blown. He has plates in his back and a new knee that he got years later when technology caught up. A friend came to the hospital in Oregon I think and told him instead of laying around he should get his GED so he did. He later went to Northwestern on the GI bill and got a degree in mechanical engineering and he later got a degree in nuclear engineering from Purdue. He worked for GM Allison Division. He quit to form his own construction company that did public works projects all over the world. He sold that in '95 and started a consulting firm for similar types of projects. His kids mostly run it now and he still puts in about 10 hours a week.

Too many people these days (likely most of them) would not have worked 10 hours total during those 60 years; they'd have just collected disability and sat on their butt. . .