[SIZE=“4”][SIZE=“5”]I am not the veteran, but I have a good friend who is, and I will post his experiences and feeling about his time there, from time to time. I have posted today a couple of his reminisces on a recent post of a picture of Easy Company survivors in Iwo Jima.[/SIZE] [/SIZE]
I think that is a great idea! I’ve seen the pictures you’re talking about and they are beautiful, expecially if you think that they’re part of your friend remembrances… I can’t wait to read something about him… But, if you want to post something, may you use a little larger font size? I almost need a magnifying glass to read a “2” size font… 
Thanx for all!
Thanks for your reply, skorzeny 57. I did not meanfor the print to be that small, and totally agree that it was almost impossible to read. I hope to receive information from him in a few days, and will be glad to share.
I enlarged the script a bit, hope that helps.
Thank you very much, flamethrowerguy. That helps a whole lot.
its funny, my cousin was in the Marine Corps and went to Iwo Jima for one of those memorial walk things, and he sent me some volcanic ash from there. it smells like pepper. when something troubles me, i look at that jar of ash and thing of the brave Marines who gave their lives defending our great nation. Semper Fi Marines!
Yeah, I’d like to hear of his remembrances also. Egorka has a thread of his grandfathers (I think) remembrances of the Eastern Front. You should check it out if you haven’t.
Edit: Here’s the link:
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?6713-Who-is-interested-in-my-granddad-s-memoirs
As soon as I get the copy of the talk he gives, I’ll post a little at a time. When I asked about the climate, this past weekend, he told me about the very cool nights. One of the foxhole he dug was in a sulpher area, which he said was warm, and he thought he had it made at night. However, he said it did not take long before he could feel a “burning” sensation through his clothing and had to abandon that foxhole. I am looking forward to other experiences that I feel he will include in his talk.
Cheers
Thanks for the thread location, navyson. I am going to check it out right now. :army:
I remember some time back reading somewhere that some US Army personnel were involved in the Iwo Jima landings but have not been able to find any info on this. Does anybody outthere know anything about this? If there were Army guys there, how many and in what capacity?
:)I found that the 147th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army, landed on Iwo in March of 1945 to garrison the Island. The 147th also did mop up on the island. If there were other Army outfits there, perhaps someone else will fill us in.
[b][i]This will be my first installment from my friend, Clyde Jackson, who was a Private, in Fox Company, USMC on Iwo Jima. All the words are his words from a speech he gives to different organizations who request him to visit. Clyde, and his wife now reside in a home in Dallas, Texas.
" Not many people had ever heard of Iwo Jima until the U.S. forces captured the Mariana Islands and Guam, and then built airfields for the long-rance B-29 bomber to strike at the very heart of the Japanese homeland.
There was a problem-the 2600 mile round trip took them directly over Iwo-this they could not easily avoid, because the 29’s were almost at their maximum distance, and they needed to fly the shortest and direct route. Iwo would also warn the homeland that the B-29’s were on their way.
Another problem- if any of the 29’s had engine problems coming or going, or had battle damage and could not make it back to their home base, a crash landing in the water was their only choice, hoping to be rescued by the Navy rather than the Japanese. Therefore, the decision was made to capture Iwo. With Iwo in U.S. hands, the B29’s would have a safe place to land, plus the long range P 51 fighters could escort the B-29’s on their bombing runs.
Iwo was different from any other island that we captured because it was part of the Japanese Empire, and would be most heavily defended, because a loss of Iwo would be a devastating blow to the morale of the Japanese people and especially to the military high command."
Next: More on the Japanese preparations, as Clyde saw it.
[/i][/b]
Cool, keep it up…
That I will, navyson. :army:
Good job, Texag57. Very interesting, expecially if you think that these are words from a Iwo Veteran. Thanx to you and to him…
Will do, skorzeny57. I will try to add to it daily, but I may miss a day now and then. I do this after work, and after the honeydo’s are finished. Cheers,:army:
Installment Two of Clyde Jackson’s Iwo Jima Experience.
Japanese Preparations
The choosing of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi as the Commander of Iwo was very wise, for he spoke fluent English and was the Japanese military attache’ in Washington in 1928, and had many American friends. He recognized , more than anyone else, the tremendous force that the U.S. would bring against his island.
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi prepared Iwo in the most incredible way with interconnecting tunnels and caves, from one end of the island to the other. This included hundreds of concrete pill boxes, most of which withstand almost any bombing and naval shelling, plus over 900 gun emplacements and thousands of individual fighting positions. Kuribayashi had also trained his 24,000 troops to fight to the death. These facts were attested to by the death of almost 7,000 Marines, and over 18,000 wounded in the 36-day struggle to capture Iwo. After the decision had been made to capture Iwo, the Air Corps started bombing it in December, 1944 and continued until the invasion.
The Invasion task force was made up of more than 500 ships including 8 battleships, 19 cruisers, 44 destroyers, 3 aircraftcarriers, 12 gun boats, 2 hospital ships, 75 troop transports and almost every type ship the Navy had. The task force bombarded Iwo continuously for 62 hours before the landing.
The landing force was made up of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions, with the 5th landing on the left and the 4th on the right. The 28th Regiment, of which I was a part, landed on the extreme left, with their objective being to cut the island in two and then capture Mt. Suribache, the 550 foot high extinct volcano which dominated the entire island. The battleship Texas was firing their fourteen batteries over our landing craft as we headed for the beach. The muzzle blast was so great its seems as though our landing craft was being lifted out of the water.
Next: Hitting the Beach
I heard the story of Iwo Jima landing, hundreds of times from books, images, captions, documentaries, movies… I think that this one is a different way, but the emotion is the same… Thanx, Texag57.
You can imagine how honored and fortunate I feel to actually be friends with talk with Clyde, a real veteran of that fight, and other invasions. He went on to be a very successful architect and family man.
[b][i]Episode 3: Hitting the Beach
Our 1st Battalion was the first to land in our sector, with my battalion, the 2nd, landing directly behind the 1st.
General Kuribayashi had decided not to directly defend the beach, because of heavy pre-assault bombardment, but as soon as the 1st Battalion had started moving inland, and the 2nd Battalion had landed on the beach, all hell broke loose. The General now had what he wanted, a very large mass of Marines all grouped together up and down the length of the beach. He pounded us with everything they had, not only from
the ground in front of us, but with every mortar, artillery (piece), and machine gun-pouring down on us from Mt. Surabachi.
The beach was made up of black, volcanic sand, and because of the wave action there was a series of steep terraces. We bogged down into the sand over our ankles, which made it very difficult to climb the terraces. It was two steps up and one backward. Of course, the Japanese had all of their weapons zeroed in on the terraces. The noise of the exploding shells was overwhelming. I don’t know how we ever survived the beach landing.
After finally struggling up off the beach, I looked down, and it seemed as if the beach was covered–completely covered–with bodies, body parts, and wrecked equipment. I also saw Japanese artillery strike several incoming landing craft which seemed to completely disappear when struck.
The first day was very confusing, as our troops scattered everywhere, but trying to get units together and organized, and then to make contact with our 1st Battalion, which had succeeded in crossing the island, but with a great number of troops killed and wounded, was difficult. After we joined up with the 1st Battalion, we pivoted and started our attack on Suribachi
Next Episode of Clyde Jackson’s experiences: Mt Suribachi.[/i][/b]