POST #55

More on the Battle Of Iwo Jima...today is the 75th anniversary of the flag Raising on Mt Suribachi.... (click any of the links in this post to learn more)

This battle will always be on my mind because my Dad fought in the battle with the 4th Marine Division.  He landed on the Island on Feb 24...two days after his 23rd birthday...

Dad was attached to the 23rd Regiment, Baker Company, as part of a replacement group.  There were so many casualties from the first days of the battle, from the 19th thru the 24th.  As it turned out, Dad was the only member of Baker company to make it off of the Island alive.  This photo was taken on March 26th, 1945 when survivors were gathering to leave the island....Dad is circled... 

He sustained no physical wounds...but I think the emotional scars lasted a lifetime.  He never talked about it until towards the end of his life....Once my Brother-in-Law Frank, a gun collector, brought his M1918A2 BAR Rifle, a light machine gun, over to the house when Dad was visiting...

That BAR Rifle is the exact model of gun he carried on the island...He told the story that he was a part of a 3 man squad formed to work with that light machine gun...the gunner, the assistant gunner and the ammunition bearer.  They were all buddies from Basic.  Dad carried the ammunition as well as his own M1 rifle.  As they were coming ashore and moving into position...the assistant gunner was immediately killed by machine gun fire.  Dad and the primary gunner moved forward...then the primary gunner received a shot to the head by a heavy machine gun.  He went down...Dad threw away the M1, picked up the BAR rifle and went for cover.  Dad said he stopped and had to clean his buddys blood and brain matter from the guns receiver to make sure it worked.  Just think...this is a kid that just turned 23.  I can't see how those kids did it...Most of them were younger mostly 18 to 20 year olds...Dad said he was scared s...less when he had the M1, but not so much when he had the BAR.  He also told a story where he was walking alone patrolling a perimeter, when a Japanese officer came running out of a tunnel screaming and waving a sword.  Dad obliged him with a burst of fire from the BAR.  I'm sure he had to shoot others, but that's the only one that was spoken of.  Us kids never heard any of that while we were growing up...when we asked he sternly told us he didn't want to talk about it.

He was the only member of his Baker company to come home as far as he knew...he said he never saw any of them again...

Dad left that island on March 26th....He also left this earth on March 26th...2007

None of these guys ever thought of themselves as heroes...But I sure do...

Until next time...