Free Republic

A 100-year-old World War II veteran traveled from Bristol, Connecticut, to Iwo Jima to mark 80 years since the U.S. fought on the small Japanese island. Joseph Caminiti, a 100-year-old WWII veteran who still goes to the gym daily, joined U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, military officials, and families of those killed in the battle of Iwo Jima to visit the island for the combat’s 80-year anniversary, according to a report by WTNH. Caminiti is among the estimated three remaining living survivors of the battle of Iwo Jima, where the iconic photograph was captured of U.S. Marines raising the...

Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines’ invasion of Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids against Japan, only 660 miles away. The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of the island in June 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which the Japanese—21,000 strong—fortified the island, above and below ground, including a...

Hershel 'Woody' Williams is 17 years old and lives on a dairy farm in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, with his mother and 11 siblings. War is coming; one, he is sure, that will take away America's freedoms and privileges. Marines wear snappy blue uniforms around town and Woody is impressed. If he's going to war, he's going as a Marine. But, at 17, he needs his mother's signature to enlist. Mom refuses to sign the papers. He turns 18 next October - if he wants to be a Marine, he's going to have to wait. December 7, 1941: Japan attacks...

Eddie Vincek was 19 when he and the rest of 1st Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment landed on Iwo Jima. Vincek landed on the rocky Pacific island an hour after the first wave, he said in an interview with the Veterans of Foreign Wars post. “Working on a dairy farm,” he told the VFW, “I was used to seeing animal blood, but not human blood covering over the ground.” On Sept. 29, Vincek celebrated his 100th birthday at a Ruritan Club in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was a farmer for most of his life after leaving the Marine Corps in 1946....

A 102-year-old American World War II veteran who witnessed the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima tragically died while he was en route to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Robert Persichitti, of Fairport, NY, suffered a medical emergency and died in a hospital in Germany last Friday, a veterans organization said. The Navy vet, who had flown oversees with a group tied to the National World War II Museum, was on a ship sailing down the coast to Normandy ahead of Thursday’s D-Day events when he suddenly fell ill and had to be...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~Hershel W. Williams Info from here.             Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (born October 2, 1923) is a retired United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, on October 2, 1923,...

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, in the face of powerful enemy resistance, Marine Cpl. Hershel "Woody" Williams succeeded in destroying several heavily-defended machine-gun pillboxes, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. But his service to his country, and his gallantry, did not end there. In this "Sunday Morning" profile that originally aired on May 30, 2021, Williams (who died on June 29 at the age of 98) talked with CBS News national security correspondent David Martin about his efforts for uring the Battle of Iwo Jima, in the face of powerful enemy resistance, Marine Cpl. Hershel "Woody" Williams succeeded...

Marines, Not Soldiers Published: Jan 28, 2002 I have a complaint about some of the news readers for the local television stations, and I am sure there are countless other Marines with the same one. It is galling to hear the news readers referring to Marines as ``soldiers.'' Marines are not soldiers; they are Marines and always will be. There is no such thing as an ex-Marine or a former Marine. We are all ``Marines,'' period. Soldiers are members of the Army and sailors are members of the Navy. You wouldn't call a soldier a sailor, so why would you...

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY On November 10th, The United States Marine Corps Birthday commemorates the establishment of the Continental Marines. #MarineCorpsBirthday The United States Marine Corps, a branch of the United States Armed Forces, is responsible for providing power protection from the sea. They use the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. The Continental Congress first established the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775, leading up to the American Revolution. Two battalions of Marines fought for independence both on land and at sea. The birth of the U.S. Marine Corps began as a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of his administration's expanding efforts to celebrate Pride Month, President Joe Biden has announced the Iwo Jima memorial will be updated to feature the Pride flag. "This flag is now the most revered symbol in our nation," Biden said during his announcement. "It's only right for the Iwo Jima memorial to be updated to represent the brave men and women and non-men and non-women and those other things who are fighting even more bravely than the soldiers of World War II. These fellas with breasts who were on my lawn — they're the true...

The Allied forces suffered 25,000 casualties, with nearly 7,000 dead. Over 1/4 of the Medals of Honor awarded to marines in World War II were given for conduct in the invasion of Iwo Jima.The island of Iwo Jima was declared conquered by Chester Nimitz on 14 Mar 1945, noting that "all powers of government of the Japanese Empire in these islands are hereby suspended." However, he made the declaration too early, for that fighting had by no means ceased on the island. "Who does the admiral think he's kidding?" yelled Marine Private Bob Campbell. "We're still getting killed!" On 16...

A controversial Virginia school board member is taking heat for saying the Battle of Iwo Jima, a major US victory during World War II, “unfortunately happened” — and set a record for “human evil.” Abrar Omeish made the stunning statements during a Thursday meeting of the Fairfax County School Board while discussing the US’s recent Japanese Day of Remembrance, which commemorates the 1942 internment of Japanese Americans by the US. “Something for us to certainly reflect on as we learn our history and think about it,” she said of the annual event. “The days when, you know, Iwo Jima unfortunately...

A member of the same Virginia school board that came under fire for withholding information about students' scholarships has raised eyebrows by saying the Battle of Iwo Jima, a major US victory against the Japan in World War II, was 'evil' and should not have happened. The comments were made Thursday by Fairfax County board member Abrar Omeish, 28, in reference to the Day of Remembrance, a day of observance for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The holiday occurs on the same calendar day as the first US landings on the island of Iwo Jima on...

One of only four remaining Medal of Honor winners from WW2. The last remaining Marine MOH winner from WW2. The last remaining MOH winner from the Pacific theater of WW2.

Hershel W. "Woody" Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, whose heroics under fire over several crucial hours at the Battle of Iwo Jima made him a legend in his native West Virginia, died Wednesday. He was 98. Williams' foundation announced on Twitter and Facebook that he died at the Veterans Affairs medical center bearing his name in Huntington. "Today, America lost not just a valiant Marine and a Medal of Honor recipient, but an important link to our Nation's fight against tyranny in the Second World War," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in...

The eruption of an underwater volcano near South Iwo Jima sent a plume soaring into flight paths and created an expansive raft of floating rock. Over the past decade, the Japan Coast Guard has occasionally spotted patches of milky blue water about 5 kilometers (3 miles) north of South Iwo Jima island. The discolored water has been a subtle reminder that the summit of an active volcano—Fukutoku-Okanoba—lurks about 25 meters (80 feet) below the water surface. On August 13, 2021, there was much more than just discolored water. A photograph taken by a Coast Guard aircraft flying near the volcano...

SAN DIEGO — Dave Severance, a retired U.S. Marine colonel whose troops were the first to plant an American flag over the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II, has died. He was 102. Severance died Monday at his home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. On Feb. 23, 1945 about 40 members of Severance’s company were sent up Mount Suribachi with orders to plant the flag. A short time later, another group was sent up with a second flag to replace the first. That iconic image was captured by...

The Taliban recreating the Iwo Jima pic with their own flag and captured U.S. military gear.

76 years ago today, Feb. 23, 1945, U.S. Marines raise the American Flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima.

"President Donald J. Trump meets World War II Iwo Jima veteran John J. Sheridan, 95, and his daughter Dianne Fairbaugh on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House." "President Donald J. Trump salutes World War II Iwo Jima veteran Ira Rigger, 97, and his wife Yong Rigger during their visit Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House."