POST #22-12 

 Day Two...Iwo Jima Battle Narrative, February 21, 1945.. 

Mikey's Dads 100th Birthday Would Have Been This Month...

 We Will Be continuing the day-by-day story of the 1-24 Marines in the bloody battle of IWO JIMA...

Day Two...Quarry

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On February 22, 2022, (2-22-22) Mikey's Dad, Willard W Wemple would have been 100 years old.  We will be following Dad's time in the First Battalion, 24th Marines, Baker company, from February 19th to March 17th, 1945, in....Operation Detachment.

We will not be putting very much on these posts about the 1-24 On Iwo Jima, instead we will post links here leading to a very good, detailed website that will give way more information than we can deliver ourselves. We must warn you that some of the information will be graphic and upsetting, but will give you some idea about what Dad and the other Marines experienced.  If you see a mention of Baker Company, that is the unit dad was to be assigned to.

******

On this day, February 21st,  Willard (Dad) and the 1-24 continued to be held back in reserve, closer to the beach, still doing support duty, carrying supplies, sorting discarded gear, assisting with the wounded, etc.  

******

TODAYS NARRATIVE

Todays narrative is Day Two on Iwo Jima, February 21, 1945...It will be called Quarry...

Click or tap HERE to go to the narrative...It's very interesting 

https://1-24thmarines.com/the-battles/iwo-jima/d2/

Over the next posts and next days we will continue posting daily updates that will follow the battle through logs and stories of the battle as told by a Military Historian and participants on the 1st Battallion-24th Marines Website...

 Visit our YouTube Channel --- MtMikey for all of our videos! - Please Like and Subscribe! -

Until Next Time!!

 

POST #22-11 

 Day One...Iwo Jima Battle Narrative, February 20, 1945.. 

Mikey's Dads 100th Birthday Would Have Been This Month...

 We Will Be continuing the day-by-day story of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines in the bloody battle of IWO JIMA...

Day One...Basin

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On February 22, 2022, (2-22-22) Mikey's Dad, Willard W Wemple would have been 100 years old.  We will be following Dad's time in the First Battalion, 24th Marines, Baker company, from February 19th to March 17th, 1945, in....Operation Detachment.

Operation Detachment

We will not be putting very much on these posts about the 1-24 On Iwo Jima, instead we will post links here leading to a very good, detailed website that will give way more information than we can deliver ourselves. We must warn you that some of the information will be graphic and upsetting, but will give you some idea about what Dad and the other Marines experienced.  If you see a mention of Baker Company, that is the unit dad was to be assigned to.

******

On this day, February 20th,  Willard (Dad) and the 1-24 continued to be held back in reserve, closer to the beach, still doing support duty, carrying supplies, sorting discarded gear, assisting with the wounded, etc.  

******

TODAYS NARRATIVE

Todays narrative is Day One on Iwo Jima, February 20, 1945...It will be called Basin...

Click or tap HERE to go to the narrative...It's very interesting 

https://1-24thmarines.com/the-battles/iwo-jima/d1/

Over the next posts and next days we will continue posting daily updates that will follow the battle through logs and stories of the battle as told by a Military Historian and participants on the 1st Battallion-24th Marines Website...

 Visit our YouTube Channel --- MtMikey for all of our videos! - Please Like and Subscribe! -

Until Next Time!!

POST #22-10 

 D-Day...Continuing Something A Bit Different... 

Mikey's Dads 100th Birthday Would Have Been This Month...

 We Will Be continuing the day-by-day story of the 1-24 Marines in the bloody battle of IWO JIMA...

D-Day...into "Hell"...

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On February 22, 2022, (2-22-22) Mikey's Dad, Willard W Wemple would have been 100 years old.  We will be following Dad's time in the First Battalion, 24th Marines, Baker company, from February 19th to March 17th, 1945....Operation Detachment.

Operation Detachment

We will not be putting very much on these posts about the 1-24 On Iwo Jima, instead we will post links here leading to a very good, detailed website that will give way more information than we can deliver ourselves. We must warn you that some of the information will be graphic and upsetting, but will give you some idea about what Dad and the other Marines experienced.  If you see a mention of Baker Company, that is the unit dad was to be assigned to. 

******

On this day Willard (Dad) would have come ashore.  It took about 30 minutes for his unit, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines to come ashore on a few hundred yards of "Blue Beach"  They were a "Reserve Battalion, and were spared for now the devastating casualties of the assault troops.  A few remarked how quiet it was... They only saw a small fraction of the battlefield for a few moments, but it was enough...their introduction to Iwo Jima.  During the next few days the 1-24 were to be held back in reserve, closer to the beach. The replacements were temporarily assigned support duty, carry supplies, sort discarded gear, assist with the wounded, etc.  It was a disturbing preview of what lay ahead and Dad observed his 23rd Birthday under these hellish conditions... 

******

We will start the battle narrative with D-Day on Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945...It will be called simply... "Hell"

Click or tap HERE to go to the narrative...It's very interesting 

https://1-24thmarines.com/the-battles/iwo-jima/dday/

Over the next posts and next days we will continue posting daily updates that will follow the battle through logs and stories of the battle as told by a Military Historian on the 1st Battallion-24th Marines Website...

 Visit our YouTube Channel --- MtMikey for all of our videos! - Please Like and Subscribe! -

Until Next Time!!

 

POST #22-09 

  ...Something A Bit Different... 

Mikey's Dads 100th Birthday Would Have Been This Month And We Will Be Putting Up Some Photos Of Him And Some Day-By-Day Details Of His Time In The U.S. Marines And The Intense Battle On The Pacific Island Of Iwo Jima... 

Willard W. Wemple  -  1922 - 2007

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On February 22, 2022, (2-22-22) Mikey's Dad, Willard W Wemple would have been 100 years old.  Some photos of Dad's younger days... 

He was a great Dad to 3 boys...The "House Apes"...

Dougie, Mikey and Chuckie

Mikey, Chuckie, Dougie 

Willards Wife Naomi, Dougie, Mikey and Chuckie

Mikey was the only one of the three to do this with Dad!...

When in his late teens, Willard headed out to California.  He worked a variety of jobs, in avacado orchards, sawmills and a dog kennel where he counted Clark Gable and Carole Lombard among his clients.  He also took care of "Toto" from the Wizard Of Oz!  Finally moved to San Diego...

Where he joined Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company, and helped to build the PBY Catalina Flying Boats....

While he was working at the Aircraft Factory, he registered with The Selective Service on June 30th, 1942...

Willard's Selective Service Registration Card

Mikey's Dad, Willard stayed on at Consolidated for the next few years as a war worker, but the need for manpower at the front outweighed the requirements of wartime industries.  On June 10th, 1944, Willard was inducted into the US Marine Corps...

And then reported to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego for boot training...

Private Willard Wemple was sent to infantry school at nearby Camp Pendelton to learn proficiency with small arms.

Then Dad, Private Willard Wemple was assigned to the 24th Replacement Draft, which was attached, but not fully integrated to the 4th Marine Division, and shipped out for Camp Maui, Hawaii, along with over 2600 other Marines on November 13, 1944 on the USS General Callan....

USS General Callan

Then, on January 27, 1945, Dad and hundreds of other Marines departed from Maui on the USS Hendry...

USS Hendry

And arrived on February 18th, 1945 at their destination, an unknown island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...Known as IWO JIMA.

Over the next posts and next day we will be posting numerous updates that will follow the battle through daily logs and stories of the battle as told by a Military Historian on the 1-24 Marines Website...

 Visit our YouTube Channel --- MtMikey for all of our videos! - Please Like and Subscribe! -

Until Next Time!!

 

POST #22-08 

  ...Moving On From Place To Place... 

...To Lake Pleasant, Cave Creek Park, McDowell Mountains And Lost Dutchman - The Supes!...

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On Monday, January 10th, we moved out of Alamo Lake State Park and drove over to Lake Pleasant Regional Park, a distance of 114 miles.  

A You-Tube Video of the drive to Lake Pleasant Regional Park can be watched HERE. 

We camped in spot D-44, on top of an ancient lava flow and could see for miles....

The weather was clear and sunny while we were there, some days breezy, temps around 70. We spent a lot of time on our E-Bikes, a lot of time relaxing in the sun, and experimenting with our new DJI OM-4 camera gimbal to shoot some time-lapse shots  See the YouTube Video of a montage of those shots HERE. We wanted to get one of those super Arizona Sunsets, but didn't get any really good ones. We stayed at Lake Pleasant for 9 nights.

On Wednesday, January 19th, (Mikeys Birthday!) we left Lake Pleasant and moved on to Cave Creek Regional Park, a short drive of 23 miles.

We got one of our favorite spots there at Cave Creek spot D-06. We have stayed in this spot before, and also D-04 and D-08...all are great!

The weather continued clear and sunny while we were there, temps around 70. not much wind. We spent more time on our E-Bikes, and of course relaxing in the sun!

There was wildlife there...lots of Quail...click below to watch...

And more Coyotes....Click below to watch  

We got a good time-lapse....Click below to watch

Of course very time we stay at Cave Creek Park, Barbi wants to go to Keirland Commons to do some shopping.  

All the "good stuff" is there!  While Barbi shops, Mikey walks around looking at expensive cars (Big Iron!)...

And visiting the Tesla Dealership!

We were hoping for more of those super Arizona Sunsets, but didn't get any really good ones. We stayed at Cave Creek for 9 nights.

On Friday, January 28th, we packed up left Cave Creek and moved on to McDowell Mountain Regional Park , Near Fountain Hills, AZ, a short drive of 35 miles....

We got site D-47...

As usual for AZ in the winter, the weather was clear and sunny while we were there, some days breezy, temps around 70. We spent a lot of time on our E-Bikes, a lot of time relaxing in the sun, and a lot of time watching the Quail!

While we were at McDowell Mountain Park we went into nearby Fountain Hills and had a visit and dinner with our former neighbor, former dentist and long time friends Kevin and Pier Brewer.

They still live in Billings and have a winter home in Fountain Hills.  We all had a great visit and dinner together!

Other than that we mostly stuck around and enjoyed the solitude of the camp....We finally got a pretty fair sunset towards the end of our stay...

We stayed at McDowell Mountain Regional Park for 10 nights.

On Monday, February 7th, we moved out of McDowell and headed for Lost Dutchman State Park, near  Apache Junction, AZ, a trip of about 42 miles....

A You-Tube Video of the drive to Lost Dutchman State Park can be watched HERE.

We got what we think is the best site in the Park, #92.... 

It's been very warm here, nearly 80 every day!  Ya gotta love it!!  This is the view from our "patio"...

Lost Dutchman State park is part of the Superstition Mountains - home of the Legendary Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. 

This is a very popular hiking area...Lots of folks hike up to the "Flatiron"...

It's a 6.5 mile hike with a 2800 foot elevation gain...takes 4 to 5 hours to get up there.  The week before we got here a guy who was camping overnight up on top went out to take a selfie, slipped and fell off...a 700 foot drop.  Seems a lot of people have trouble on that hike...every time we are here we see a helicopter making a rescue up there.

Here's a time-lapse of a sunset at the "Supes"!...

We are here at Lost Dutchman until February 21st, and then we head south to Patagonia Lake State Park, about 15 miles north of the Mexican Border...

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Until Next Time!!