I was at the 3rd Mardiv reunion in 1990 (although I was never in 3rd Mardiv) and there were some vets there from the Third Tank Battalion at Iwo, I think it was. Their Sherman tanks were heavily shelled by Jap 120MM mortars. The Sherman had an escape hatch in the very bottom of the floor. Somehow this escape hatch allowed some shrapnel from this very heavy shelling into the tank, or itself generated some shrapnel. The assistant driver was wounded as he sat inside the tank. According to one of the vets, he said, "Oh my God! I'm shot in the ass, how can I go home now!?"
Walt