63 Years Ago

ole pizen slinger · Post by **ole pizen slinger** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:31 pm

February 19, 1945, 8:59 AM, Marines landed on a small Japanese held island in the Pacific. It was the first time in WWII that a part of the Japanese homeland had been attacked. Over the next 30 to 40 days, almost 7000 Marines would die, almost 30000 would be casualties, almost 21000 Japanese would be killed and only about 200 would surrender to the American forces. It was probably the most ferocious battle fought during the war. It was the only battle of WWII in which American casualties outnumbered Japanese casualties. This battle probably most tipifies the resolve Americans had during those times.

The media has not said a word about this battle today. Most of the forums I read have neglected to mention this anniversary. I only hope Americans have not forgotten--will never forget Iwo Jima.
Barry C Jolly

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:34 pm

You'd expect the media to honor such bravery and fortitude now?

We will - they won't. The MSM is part of the problem - not the solution!

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:58 pm

My wife's father (Charlton Shands) now deceased landed on Iwo with the 1st. wave of Marines. He was the only Marine in his rifle squad that was not either killed or wounded. He never could understand why he was the one to survive.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:05 pm

Never forgoten Sir.
Great first post welcome aboard.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:16 pm

Here's to them and those like them!

Thanks for the reminder and Welcome to you.

shooter · Post by **shooter** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:21 pm

We all owe a great debt to those brave men who served, and those who are serving now. Thank you for that post. Myself being only 25, and not very proud of what my generation is doing, I can truly say that was perhaps the greatest generation of men this country has seen since our founding fathers formed this great country.

GEOFF · Post by **GEOFF** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:39 pm

Ol Pizen Slinger,

Thanks for bringing our attention to it!!!

19 Feb 1945 my dad was looking forward to the end of the war with Germany, fighting in the Colmar Pocket of France with the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.

Dads first cousin from the neighboring town, Preston Thornton, was making the DDay landing on Iwo Jima with the 25th Regiment of the 4th Marine Division. Preston was KIA on 14 March 1945 on Iwo and they brought his body home in 1947 and I have pictures on my office wall of the Marine Honor Guard and the funeral here it home.

Dad felt that loss deeply having been in lots of combat himself and made sure our family wouldn't forget Preston's sacrifice.

May we keep the memory of their lives and sacrifice alive!

GEOFF

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:01 am

Never Forgotten. Thanks for the post

Jaguarundi · Post by **Jaguarundi** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:10 am

Today's view ....

....Hollow ground of the past

...a few only known unto God..but never forgotten.

bunklocoempire · Post by **bunklocoempire** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:10 am

Thank you.

Bunkloco

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:31 am

Welome and thank you for the excellent post!

Noah Zark · Post by **Noah Zark** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:29 am

Semper Fi,

Noah
USMC, USMCR 72-86
2111

Ram Hammer · Post by **Ram Hammer** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:46 am

Around here every day is both Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Great post. Welcome to the forum.

stormspotter · Post by **stormspotter** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:15 am

A very good friend at church made the landing on Iwo. He wrote a book, Come Walk with Me, and so far I've read it three times and still find it fascinating. It is unbelieveable what went on there, but again that is war.

God bless them all.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:28 am

Never forgotten.

Welcome aboard.

Johnny

afish4570 · Post by **afish4570** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:36 am

My Dad served proudly in the European theater. He was a 1 st generation German-American who spoke fluent German. He was the translator for the platoon and generally felt the distrust of his fellow soldiers who envyed him cause he got alittle more comforts than they did. He was a replacement troop right after the Battle of the Bulge and at the age of 27 (2 kids so he was called Pappy) He never spoke much about his war years. Would never go camping cause of the cold and poor gear they were issued. He had a buddy who knew the cooks and was able to scrounge a #10 can of peanut butter.He got so plugged up from the lack of food and overdosing on the peanut butter he would never eat it again....Little things I remember as a boy 60 years ago.Dad passed away two months before 911. I still remember some of my dads friends,feeling a bullet never removed from a German machinegun in his arm, scars and metal plates in "Uncle Joes"head, limps from frost bitten feet etc.....Let's not forget the "new vets".I was an early Vietnam era vet & missed the battle field, serving aboard a ship.afish4570

Dastook · Post by **Dastook** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:16 pm

Thanks for the reminder. Welcome to the fire, great first post.

RSY · Post by **RSY** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:33 pm

The interesting thing is there was bias in the media even back then (and even within our government's overall strategy. The European theater was much more widely covered in the papers and radio back then, and the Pacific took a back seat to Europe in the planning of the war.

Most people still think, and I see it often written, that the Normandy invasion was the biggest op of its kind in history. If I'm not mistaken, the Okinawa invasion actually holds that title.

scott

wm · Post by wm » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:33 pm

Every Sunday for several years I sat next to a elderly gentleman named 'Curly'. It was not until the last year of his life I came to realize he was highly decorated USMC NCO from WWII. He had made 3 landings during the war, combat wounded a dozen times (4 purple hearts awarded). He had made the landing at Iwo Jima and could recall seeing the flag raised from the aid station near the beach where they were removing chunks of shrapnel from his head and back. Later that day he refused evacuation and walked back to the front.

He suffered violent night terrors until his last day, as well as physical discomfort from his wounds. And he would tell anyone who asked that he would do it all over again if asked to.

Nicest guy in the world, he used to like to hang out with my sons after church and talk baseball.

Wm

GEOFF · Post by **GEOFF** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:08 pm

Jaguarundi,

GREAT PICTURES, THANKS FOR POSTING!!!

I wondered about what it looks like today!

Gun writer Mike Venturino is going to Iwo Jima soon, sure look forward to what he says about it when he gets back!

THANKS TO ALL YOU GUYS WITH SIMILAR MEMORIES OF THE "GREATEST GENERATION" I SURE CAN CONCUR!!

Thanks again!

GEOFF

ohwin94_61 · Post by **ohwin94_61** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:48 pm

Semper Fi

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:04 pm

There has been one or two TV doc's over here about the Jap war. It is very sobering to watch.
Nath.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:49 pm

Nath wrote:There has been one or two TV doc's over here about the Jap war. It is very sobering to watch.
Nath.

Its even more sobering to hear about it from someone thats was there. My GrandFather was in the Navy and took part in the Okinawa invasion. His brother was a Marine and was part of the landing force. My Wifes GrandFather was in the Army and also fought in Okinawa and a number of other islands. The storys I used to hear from my GrandFather and Great Uncle growing up were definitly not kid friendly.

new pig hunter · Post by **new pig hunter** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:16 pm

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/02/04/ob ... index.html
29 January 2008: the last survivor of the first Mt Suribachi flag raising died. Raymond Jacobs, he was the radioman.

For many many years the only known survivor of that first flag raising was Charles Lindberg. A good pal of mine (a 5th Marine in Korea) had a chance to visit with Lindberg a few years ago. Lindberg died June 25, 2007.

Then just a couple of years ago Jacobs was discovered.

Cheers,

Carl

Jaguarundi · Post by **Jaguarundi** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:16 am

On the 40th anni American and Japanese veterans place this monument on the beach of Iwo Jima.The English inscription face's the water.The opposite side is in Japanese(facing inland).

66GTO · Post by **66GTO** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:15 am

When I read about those WWII battles or watch History Channel documentaries, I am awstruck at the courage of those soldiers. How they landed on those beaches in the face of almost certain death or injury is inconceivable. I visited Gettysburg and stood at the Union positions and looked across that field where Pickett lead his charge into the face of those Union cannons and it brought tears to my eyes to think of the bravery of those Confederate shoulders. Could I have stood up under such conditions? I'll never know.

My father was in the 101st Airborne in WWII and was at Bastogne at the The Battle of the Bulge when they were surrounded by the Germans. He never woudl talk about his experiences, other than to describe the cold and the German 88's firing tree bursts over his foxhole. I know he saw and experienced things he just wanted to forget.

We can never repay the debt we owe to those who fought in our battles. I wish I had a time machine. I would transport every one of those whiny crybaby liberals into the middle of one of those battles and see how quick they found a soldier with an M1 Garand to hide behind.

63 Years Ago

63 Years Ago

Never forget