[MSSC6644]

Thank you for the reminder. My dad, who died 5 years ago at the age of 97, served those young marines as a Navy doctor.

At his funeral, one of the men who served with him told us that Dad was responsible for saving many hundreds of lives. I have always been as proud as possible, and Dad’s 5 children, 12 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren are being taught about Iwo Jima and the great sacrifice made on their behalf.

[ken5050]

Lest we forget:

There were 27 Medals of Honor awarded for action on Iwo Jima..22 to Marines, 5 to Navy corpsmen. 14 were posthumous. The 27 MoH represented about 30% of ALL the MoH awarded to Marines during the entire Pacific War

[USNBandit]

The first time I flew into Iwo Jima I was overcome by a very odd feeling. To look down at such a tiny island where so many Americans died was very moving. The other place that made me feel like that was Gettysburg.

To this day you can still run your hands through the black sand on the invasion beach and come up with shards of metal in every handful.