Posted on 10/13/2006 5:53:36 PM PDT by concentric circles
The former coach has never seen a war movie. When you've seen the real thing, why would you want to?
He doesn't need to sit in a darkened movie theater to be reminded of the buddies he lost in World War II and Korea, Jack McCaffrey says.
Guys who never got to raise a family, have a career, retire and go fishing. Guys who never got the chance to grow old.
No, when you've seen the real thing, you don't need to see a war movie.
"But I'm thinking about going to see this one," the 83-year-old Woodland Hills resident said Wednesday. "I've read excerpts from the book. This one is different."
The movie he's talking about is "Flags of Our Fathers," a best-selling book that has been made into a movie directed by Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood.
It depicts the lives of the six Marines who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima, a moment captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal and recorded forever in history.
From what he's read, the movie is not so much about death and war as it is about life and the curse of forced fame, McCaffrey says.
Not exactly a war movie. More a human tragedy.
He was there that day in 1945 - a 21-year-old 2nd lieutenant sitting in a foxhole, a quarter-mile from where Easy Company erected the flag on Mount Suribachi.
"You could feel everyone's spirits rise, and a surge of pride come out of every foxhole," says McCaffrey, who coached football and track at Van Nuys, Canoga Park and Taft High schools before he retired in 1980.
"Everyone cheered, and the battleships at sea blew their horns. We were all filled with pride, but none of us thought it would be such a monumental moment in history."
During his 30-year career as an educator, he never talked about war with the boys he coached, McCaffrey said. He just couldn't.
"What was to talk about?" McCaffrey asked. "How you survived and your friends didn't? How you got lucky, and they didn't? A lot of us have carried that guilt around."
The history books say that more than 6,800 Americans died in the 36-day battle for that eight-square-mile island in February and March 1945.
In less than a week on Iwo Jima, McCaffrey went from a rookie replacement officer to commander of Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines. It wasn't that he was so good. It was that he was still alive.
"There were nine or 10 officers in the company," he says. "I was the last one who hadn't been killed or wounded. My command lasted exactly one day."
With his gunnery sergeant standing next to him, company commander McCaffrey looked through a pair of binoculars on a dark night when a shell exploded in the sky above, silhouetting his body to a sniper.
"The bullet went through my hand, shattered the binoculars, and it went into my left eye," McCaffrey says.
At dawn, he was airlifted to a hospital on Guam before being sent home to a naval hospital in Long Beach. World War II was over for McCaffrey, but he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves and was later sent to Korea for a year.
Two wars in a span of eight years. McCaffrey had seen enough of the real thing. He didn't need to see the movie.
Indeed.
You're right. Almost as hot as the Terry Schiavo threads.
e.g.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1717856/posts?page=1#1
"That incident was related to Ambrose by some of the Easy Company soldiers as the truth. What actually happened that day is still unclear, and Spiers, the only man who really knows, has never talked about it"
If you look around there is quite a lot of BOB discussion that includes the vets themselves or their close relatives. "Sparky" Spiers step-son answered a number of questions as did Dick Winters in the book "The Biggest Brother." Spiers is an interesting person.
I have been reading military history for 40 years now and I think I have read practically every autobiography, personal story etc published in English. Recent books published on WWII are including a lot of things that wouldn't have been admitted 40 years ago. U.S. soldiers shot prisoners sometimes without a good reason or much provocation. I think nearly all the most recent books I have read mention it at least once. I think Ambrose mentioned in his d-day book the paratroop company commander who had nearly 150 dead Germans nearby his command post, all shot in the head, most shot by him personally.
Spiers is an interesting person.
"Machts nichts" I don't really know how he meant it though. I think it could mean either in this situation, "It doesn't matter" or "Never mind."
I've read before that some German troops would die before they would accept blood that came from black or jewish veins.
My uncle was clear, the young soldier was saying it didn't matter.
The young kid made an impression on my uncle because he was so young. He was just barely old enough to be in a uniform.
The young boy was expected to live because of the care he received. Hopefully he made it home safely to a grateful mother and father.
From what I've read, as brutal as the Nazis were, they treated their POW's fairly well. The Japanese, on the other hand, words can't describe how truly sick they were to their prisoners.
bump
"The only resort the South had was to go "Guerrilla" and fight as the Viet Cong did."
Well, I would point out that the peace movement was pretty strong at least until 1863 (probably even 1864 itself). Had the Army of Tennesee and co. been able to hold back the northern invaders, I think there's a good chance that McClellan (or whatever other Democrat would be running in his stead) would've won in 1864 and the decision would be in favor of the Confederacy.
Also, as historian Bevin Alexander writes about, had the Army of Northern Virginia pressed its advantage at 1st Manassas they could have possibly ended the war quickly. He also suggests that the Army of Northern Virginia had the opportunity to force the surrender of the Army of the Potomac at 2nd Manassas, but the opportunity was lost due to dawdling. He also contends that Jackson intended to cut off the Army of the Potomac's primay route of retreat at Chancellorsville, but Jackson was felled (not to mention quite a few immediate subordinates!!!) before his plan could come to fruition.
I believe artilleryman E. Porter Alexander did suggest the guerilla route as the outcome of the war became apparent.
Maybe the claim on MOHs should be for "more MOHs that day in combat with FOREIGN enemies than any other"......
Why ,the japanese Lost
"Well, I would point out that the peace movement was pretty strong at least until 1863 (probably even 1864 itself). "
While I agree had a couple ofimportant battles been won BEFORE the Elections of 1864 could have resulted in a McClellan winning the White House, the South had to win virtually every battle thereafter until the next presidential elections four years later. Something the South simply could not do.
After the Elections of with a solid win for Lincoln and the Black Republicans the fate of the was sealed. Lincoln would have continued to hammer the South until She was bled white of men material and wealth.
The industrial North had the will, the power and the means to do it. In many of the important economic sectors of The South looked like Germany after WW2. She just couldn't win a war of atrition with the North.
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