Peleliu was a damn waste, too. A MacArthur boondoggle.
My father was in the Marines but did not fight on Iwo Jima--he was in the invasion of Okinawa which began April 1, 1945. My father is no longer living but a friend of his who also fought on Okinawa is going strong at 97. Time is taking its toll--in 12 years the youngest WWII veterans will be 100 years old, so we need to appreciate the ones who are still around while we can.
A few years ago I wrote an Amazon book review for the book, “Flags of Our Fathers”. After I wrote my review giving the book the highest possible score, I read some of the other reviews. What always stayed in my mind was one that said, “This is the best book I’ve ever read, it is the best book I will ever read”.
My late father-in-law, Gunnery Sargent John “Jack’’ Scharffenberger, 4th. Marine Division was among the wounded. But it got him the hell out of there.
There’d a modern school of though by which almost every tough battle should have been bypassed.
Peleilu is one, Iwo always comes up. And basically, we hit the Philippines because MacArthur said he would return.
But often missed is the cumulative effect of these battles in making the Japanese realize they were beaten. By some theories, we should have tricked them, bypassed everything, and just sailed right into Tokyo bay.
1.
Maybe someone should have told the Japanese?
They invested staggering amounts of equipment, food, construction materials, men, conscript Korean labor, and naval transport to fortify and defend Iwo Jima.
Why would they risk that level of resources if the island could have been safely bypassed by the Americans?
Re: “We poured another round of drinks and toasted the Marines, every damn brave one of them.”
Don't forget to toast the U.S. Army.
My Dad was an Army Sergeant, a field radar specialist.
He landed with his squad and all their equipment on D+1.
One of our Freepers has been posting images of the New York Times from the World War 2 time frame, posting them on the same date they were published. Right now, he is posting articles on the assault on Iwo Jima as well as the assault into Germany. Makes for fascinating reading. You can find these postings by searching on worldwarii.