"This means there will be a Marine Corps for the next 500 years." Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, commenting upon the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945.
Posted on 04/07/2005 8:27:14 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Iwo Jima - In the hot and humid air on the small pork-chop shaped island, a grey-haired 79-year-old Coast Guard veteran takes slow but sure steps in the black volcanic sand on the beach.
Marvin J. Perrett is back on Iwo Jima - 60 years after one of the fiercest and most memorable battles in American history.
Perrett, with a boatswain whistle around his neck, is the only vet in uniform among the 600 or so people who flew to the island from Guam for a day trip to commemorate the Battle of Iwo Jima, 660 miles south of Tokyo.
The Japanese defenders had been ordered to fight to the death and most did. All but 1,000 of the 21,000 Japanese died during the 36-day battle. More than 23,000 Marines were wounded or killed in a fight that the U.S. military had expected would last only a few days.
The Commander of Coast Guard Far East Activities (FEACT), Captain Michael Blair, and myself, FEACT's XO, had flown in on an USAF C130. Wearing our ODUs and being the only Coast Guard representatives in a sea of Marine Corps green both the CO and I stand out in the crowd, prompting numerous vets to approach and tell us their stories. But is our fellow Coastie, the former coxswain who we are most drawn to.
Perrett, a New Orleans native, was the first Coastie to land on Iwo Jima, serving aboard the Coast Guard-manned attack transport USS Bayfield (APA-33) as a coxswain of one of the Bayfield's landing craft. He overcame what he recalls was "border chronic seasickness" on his initial voyage from the States to Europe before he got his sea legs.
Standing on the Iwo beach in his light blue uniform and bell bottoms, he recounts his experience in front of a History Channel camera. It is a story of survival more than anything else; Perrett had also been part of the invasions at Normandy and Okinawa and had lived to tell about the tales.
Perrett recalls that maneuvering the watercraft was like "driving a bulldozer in the water." The young coxswains would hit the beach full throttle - at eight to ten miles an hour.
The stories of the men who transported the troops to the beaches have generally been overlooked by historians. But as Perrett points out that with people with him, the invasions would not have been possible.
Perrett skillfully navigated his Land Craft, Vehicle/Personnel (LCVP) onto several beaches before Iwo Jima. The 36-foot flat-bottomed craft, made primarily of wood and powered by a 671-Gray Marine Diesel could hold three dozen fully equipped assault troops. The men were packed in like sardines, standing up with 80 to 90 pounds of gear on their backs.
Perrett admits he was scared as he maneuvered onto beaches under hostile fire, but says he was never about to show fear to those 36 troops in his craft.
Now on the very same beach that he saw turn from black to red with American blood, Perrett takes a short break from the interviews and story-swapping to open a can of sardines to eat with some crackers - just as he did 60 years ago on the same beach.
Perrett reflects on what he calls the unexpected "warm reception" received at Iwo Jima, a much more treacherous landing than what he experienced at Utah Beach.
The same landing craft that he had maneuvered successfully and without incident at Normandy and southern France was lost the first day he hit the beach at Iwo Jima. It all happened in a split second, he recalls, as he hurriedly backed off to avoid crushing a young Marine. Because the craft's ramp was not yet up, water came over the stern. By the time Perrett was 50 feet or so off the beach, water had seeped in through the open bow and "the boat just went out from under us." After an unsuccessful towing attempt his boat was cut free and went under.
Suddenly the Coasties found themselves evicted from their ride and put ashore. He and three of his mates held Springfield rifles at the ready but in the confusion they had left their ammunition in their now sunken boat.
Perretts' journey back in time on the beach is momentarily interrupted when a Marine with three stars on his uniform approaches us and expresses his appreciation to the Coast Guard for expertly planted so many grunts on the beach in 1945.
After talking, shaking hands and slaps on the back, we jump into a Humvee to head to the ceremony honoring "Our Greatest Generation" vets.
The Marine Corps Commandant, General Michael W. Hagee, more than 20 other stars and three Congressmen, as well as former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, join hundreds of spectators, paying respect to the casualties from both sides. The theme was one of transition from war and hatred to peace and friendship.
Perrett continues his stories after the ceremony, with several former Coasties and a Congressman from Indiana listening.
Captain Blair and I break from the party and proceed on a short climb up Mt. Surabachi, the 550-foot inactive volcano, where the classic photograph of Marines raising the American flag was snapped by the AP's Joe Rosenthal.
That large flag and the 21-foot long galvanized steel steamfitter's pipe on which it was raised, incidentally, was courtesy of the Coast Guard, requested by one of the young Marines immortalized in the photograph who had come calling to LST-758 and Coast Guard quartermaster Robert Resnick.
At the top of Surabachi, Captain Blair and I imagined that flag being hoisted and tens of thousands of Americans below cheering.
It was hard not to wonder what it must have been like fighting in the harshest of environments. It made me realize that the freedom we enjoy today comes from the sweat, toil and blood of vets, such as Marvin Perrett and men and women like him who fought across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific.
Uncommon Valor Was A Common Virtue...Semper Fi Marines
Perrett reflects on what he calls the unexpected "warm reception" received at Iwo Jima, a much more treacherous landing than what he experienced at Utah Beach.
I often tell people I owe my life to those guys who took Iwo Jima.
My father flew a crippled B-29 to Iwo Jima on a mission back from Japan. Had Iwo Jima not been in the U.S. hands after the battle he was doubtful that they ever would have made it back.
I know there were thousands of other airman who were relieved to have that Island available as well.
Dig it.
I'm just glad your dad (perhaps) only blew up my father-in-law's house, and not him. Otherwise I'd be minus my better half! :)
"This means there will be a Marine Corps for the next 500 years." Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, commenting upon the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945.
QUOTE: "It made me realize that the freedom we enjoy today comes from the sweat, toil and blood of vets, such as Marvin Perrett and men and women like him who fought across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific".
It helps to say this to yourself over and over.
The main reason we are still free to gripe about everything is because of our Armed Forces.
Amen
LOL... They did their past not to take out the in-laws!
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