Wounded Marines are helped to a medical aid station by Navy Corpsmen and other Marines on the beach. February 1945
Reading the history of my Father’s WWII Battalion, their bravery is obvious.
The thing which really impressed me was how capable they were. They were just plain good at what they did.
Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue.
One of my favorite Marines, ‘Manila’ John Basilone, MOH recipient, died on Iwo.
The Boys of Iwo Jima became men in little more than a month.
But yes, Being on Iwo was a big part of who he was. Fished and hunted from his wheel chair. Led a league of wheel chair basketball.
Don’t forget there are plenty of good women and men who are members of our all voluntary military today.
Remembering Sgt Ray Jacobs, the Marine in the first photo/first flag up on Iwo!
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GunnyG@PlanetWTF?
SemperTRUMP.45!
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If you see an active duty serviceman today, thank him.
Oh, wait. You can’t. There aren’t any.
Today’s kids are all cocoa-sipping pajamaboy snowflakes.
It has to be true: I read it on the interwebz.
The WW1 generation said the same thing about the Swing-loving generation of 1940. Even the Germans and Japanese mocked the Americans as soft, claiming they would throw in the towel after the first defeat. The Brits got mighty nervous after Kasserine Pass.
Adolescences persists for as long as you're coddled and protected from reality.
The Greatest Generation. They did not hide in a safe space or fear micro aggressions.
My wife lost a cousin on Iwo Jima.
Just one bone to pick, and it supports your point. Some of those Marines weren’t even 18. My uncle lied about his age to get in, and was 16 when he was wounded on Iwo. I don’t argue when they are referred to as the greatest generation.
My thanks to all vets.
My father was 25 years old in 1945. A 1st LT, he met my 2nd LT mother in a Louisiana Army hospital while being treated for wounds suffered in France. She was a WAC. They married after dating for six weeks, and they were married for 62 years, 8 of which were happy (family joke). My parents had five kids by 1950. A latecomer arrived in 1961.
My father carried full adult responsibilities from the time he was 19 years old. To put it mildly, that was a different world.
Sigh. 74 years removed from when young men fulfilled their duty with valor so Americans today can have the freedom to squander it all away.
I remember a neighbor back in 1963. I found a rusted knife in the bed of his pickup truck and asked if he wanted it. His words were..
“Oh yeah! I wondered where that went! I cut a Jap’s throat on Iwo with that!”
Ever wonder why the world is still pursuing nazi war criminals but ceased chasing Japanese war criminals in the early 1950s?