Great Post!
Posted on 02/19/2017 8:35:58 AM PST by Oldpuppymax
Seventy two years ago today the United States Marine Corps sent waves of teenage men onto the black, foreboding beaches on a Japanese held island called Iwo Jima. Capturing Iwo Jima was essential to the American war against Japan as it offered a place for battered bombers to safely land which would save the lives of hundreds of airmen returning from sorties over Japan in barely flyable planes.
The average age of these men was just under nineteen. They knew what was at stake and charged up Iwo’s beaches sometimes straight into enemy machine gun fire that would have stopped lesser soldiers. They kept pushing and killing and getting killed, but never stopped; never whined; never “protested” and never thought of disgracing themselves by demanding a “safe space.”
They were the finest America had and they did a job that simply had to be done. They fought to keep us from being the slaves of the Japanese. They made sure the Marine boast that “If it wasn’t for the United States Marines we’d be speaking Japanese,” was backed up not by words, but by their blood.
Today the great grandsons of the Men of Iwo Jima are largely an embarrassment to themselves and their country. Their blue spiked hair, gold nose rings and proud ignorance of how and why America works make them pale shadows when juxtaposed with their hero great grandfathers.
Many of the Men of Iwo Jima had not finished high school when they stepped forward to fight for their country. Many of them had volunteered after the terrible beating the Marine Corps had sustained in battles like Gradual Canal and Peleliu.
Yet they still came. They didn’t have to be told what they had to do. They were men at the age of 16 and 17 and many were handling man size responsibilities even before they were sweating it out in Marine Boot Camp.
Now there are only a few of these warriors left. Those who are still with us are frail and not what they once were physically but just as strong in their love of America as ever. Should you have the honor of meeting one of these heroes, thank him, because God knows he deserves our thanks and recognition.
Thanks for the reminder. I’m heading out to fly the flag right now.
My late uncle was in that fight.The word carnage is the closest to describing what he went through.
Great Post!
God bless these American heroes who put the country and their buddies lives before their own.
And to my dad, who managed to survive the whole thing.
Here Here.
Great post!
Which is one of the reasons the decision was made to drop the Bomb.
Invading Japan would have been one “Iwo Jima” after another. It would have cost many more Japanese lives than even American lives.
And leaders who knew what needed to be done.
Give honest, decent men a moral undertaking - and they will achieve absolutely incredible things under even the worst conditions.
Slowly coming to the realization that Russia, Germany, Italy ,France, Britain and Japan lost forever its best genetic stock from 1914-1945 explaining the current mess they now have. Coming to believe that although America’s losses were proportionately much lower, the loss of those brave men has forever damaged the fabric of the country.
The Great War killed nearly 10000 men a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year for over four years.
25 years later, the Germans and Soviets each lost more men at the Battle of Kursk than the US lost in the entire war.
27 U.S. Marine Corps and Navy personnel were awarded Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in America, for their heroics in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Semper Fi
Fair Winds and Following Seas
During the funeral for one, I found out that two of my best friends were among the marines who fought in Iwo Jima. My friend Joe was being buried in the military section of the cemetery when I remarked to the other friend that I never knew Joe was in the military. My friend Jim said both he and Joe were in the marines and were part of the force that fought at Iwo Jima. He said when you’ve been in those bloody assaults, you don’t talk about it.
I tried to correct the author about his Guadalcanal error, but to do so required interaction wigh google, which is something up with which I will not put... :)
I had the honor of calling one of the men who was at Iwo Jima my friend - he was a Mississippi Choctaw Indian and an icon in the Ocean Springs area.
Gradual Canal?! How about Guadalcanal. Sheesh.
The picture on my home page is of me saluting the memorial on top of Mt Suribachi. Definitely the most memorable place I visited during my military career. Semper Fidelis.
Fixed it for you. When refering to United States Marines or the Marine Corps the term "Marine" is a proper noun and should always be capitalized.
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