Iwo Jima remembered

[namvet]

19 feb 45 Marines storm ashore at Iwo Jima

[Voted4Reagan]

SEMPER FI

[aboutime]

usmcglobe.jpgUSMCSEAL.GIF Semper Fi Marine!

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/tarawa.htm

This was no picnic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --Tyr

Tarawa is an atoll located approximately 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. It consists of a series of coral islets that stretch through the ocean in a hook-like fashion. The military importance of Tarawa lay in its strategic location at the gateway of the US drive through the central Pacific towards the Philippines.



Bodies of dead Marines litter the beach
after the battle
The largest of Tarawa's islets is Betio measuring less than 3 miles in length and 1/2 mile in width. Here, the Japanese built an airstrip defended by 4,700 troops dug into a labyrinth of pillboxes and bunkers interconnected by tunnels and defended by wire and mines. The task of dislodging this force fell to the Marines of the 2nd Division. The resulting struggle produced one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles in Marine Corps. History

The landings began on November 20 and immediately ran into trouble. Coming in at low tide, the assault boats were forced to disgorge their men far from shore. Wading through waist-deep water over piercing, razor-sharp coral, many were cut down by merciless enemy gunfire yards from the beach. Those who made it ashore huddled in the sand, hemmed in by the sea to one side and the Japanese to the other.

The next morning, reinforcements made the same perilous journey bringing with them tanks and artillery. By the end of the day the Marines were able to break out from the beach to the inland. The fierce combat continued for another two days.

The cost of victory was high for the Marines who suffered nearly 3,000 casualties. The toll was even higher for the Japanese. Of the 4,700 defenders, only 17 survived. Their willingness to fight to the last man foreshadowed the fierceness of the battles to come.

Bombardment Before Landing - "Surely...they would all be dead by now."

They were not all dead. They were alive enough to give us nearly 3,000 casualities. My great friend that passed away in 1987 was there and fought . I asked him how many he killed and he stated , "you stop counting when the return fire is heavy enough"! Up to that point I was at 19.. 6 of which fell to my first grenade. After that I was too scared to bother counting. Trust me, you aint human if your ass isn't scared as hell!!" I asked several times while he was getting hammered but he never would give me any of the gory details. I SUSPECT HE FOUGHT HARD TO FORGET THEM.--Tyr

[namvet]

This was no picnic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --Tyr

They were not all dead. They were alive enough to give us nearly 3,000 casualities. My great friend that passed away in 1987 was there and fought . I asked him how many he killed and he stated , "you stop counting when the return fire is heavy enough"! Up to that point I was at 19.. 6 of which fell to my first grenade. After that I was too scared to bother counting. Trust me, you aint human if your ass isn't scared as hell!!" I asked several times while he was getting hammered but he never would give me any of the gory details. I SUSPECT HE FOUGHT HARD TO FORGET THEM.--Tyr

the Leon Cooper story. which is now a documentary



several years back they dug up the remains of about 300 Marines

also I read Tarawa is slowly sinking

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

the Leon Cooper story. which is now a documentary



several years back they dug up the remains of about 300 Marines

also I read Tarawa is slowly sinking

Thanks. A shame that Tarawa is not a better known battle. Those men gave so much to get so little.-Tyr