Posted on 02/21/2014 3:11:14 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
This Wednesday, February 19, marked the 69th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. One of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific War and all of World War II, the month-long slug-fest between American and Japanese forces in many ways set the stage for the firebombing of Japan and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In the final stages of the fighting, an iconic picture was taken of U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman raising an American flag atop Mount Surabachi, an image that perfectly captured American resolve and military strength.
The men that raised the flag were Cpl. Harlon Block, Navy Pharmacists Mate John Bradley, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, PFC Franklin Sousley, Sgt. Michael Strank, and Cpl. Ira Hayes. Strank, Sousley, and Block were killed before the fighting ended. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph, and it became the inspiration for the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington, D.C....
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I believe they also had crippled bombers land on the captured airfields while the battle was in progress.
My neighbor an anti-nuke lefty was on his way to Japan. Seventeen at the time. Saved his sorry ass.
He was a gentleman in all his business dealings, he simply exuded honest character.
Not a bad argument. Boils down to hindsight being 20/20. Too many bosses with different agendas
my great uncle died on Iwo Jima.
God bless you Sir, and Semper Fi.
My brother was killed on Okinawa. A few months later I was on Leyte getting outfitted for the invasion of Japan. I was very angry about my brothers death and can honestly say I was looking for revenge. However,some common sense thinking told me the bombs were good for our side, so no regrets to this day as to use of the bombs. I have no sympathy for the people of Japan at that time.
I've often been terrified that I would not have had the sand needed to do what these guys did and keep moving forward straight into the fire of hell. Those of us who were never "there" probably can't fathom in our worst nightmare what hell really looks like.
Your uncle paid the ultimate price because he did what he had to do at the time in his life when he was really needed. That sentiment is for every man or woman who faces his or her crucible and keeps forging ahead when that crucible becomes his or her destination.
That is a great story. If there was ever a reason I would ride a motorcycle, it would be with Rolling Thunder.
They are indeed being undermined by the Left. Damn all of them. All of them.
It was also an early warning outpost for raids and a base for fighters that attacked the inbound and outbound bombers. Could it have been bypassed? Probably, with the acceptance of greater Air Corps casualties. Would those casualties have equaled the Marine Corps and Navy casualties in taking the island? We can argue now until the cows come home, but remember in February 1945 the atomic bomb had still not been tested, and it was not known how long the bombing campaign would continue.
Sure wasn’t that way when I was a Juggie in the 60’s....the term “Service Trash” still had teeth then.
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