Iwa Jima

[StuB]

My great uncle was a Marine and landed on Iwo Jima in the first wave.  
He was a member of the same company as the flag raisers and ended up being pressed into being a runner when they lost all of their radios and all the other runners were killed.  
Other than that he wouldn't tell me much more about his experiences when I asked, just saying "It was hell and I really don't want to talk about it." He died when I was 12 or so.

[Scherf]

The other one who comes to mind is Charles Durning. Haven't checked Snopes on this, but I recall reading that at one point he was attacked by a fanatical teenage soldier - ended up having to kill the kid with a rock.

Among other misadventures.

[Guppy35]

Lee Marvin wasn't on Iwo.  He was wounded on Pelileu if memory serves.  He apparently suffered from a great deal of survivor's guilt for the rest of his life.

Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame was a combat paratrooper in the Pacific.  It clearly influenced his work.

Jimmy Stewart flew combat as a B24 pilot.

Eddie Albert was at Tarawa commanding a landing craft.

What makes Stewart's service stand out to me, is that he was a star already and could have avoided it.  Instead he did it the hard way.  The others mentioned became stars after the war.

[Squire]

I thought James Stewart flew B-17s? I have lots of respect for him, he went in and did the full meal deal, not just a handfull of missions like Clark Gable, although I dont know if Gable was ordered to be grounded, he probably was.

Oh ya and its Iwo Jima. Sorry, I get all spell-nazi when it comes to WW2 stuff.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Squire
I thought Stewart flew B-17s?

Oh ya and its Iwo Jima. Sorry, I get all spell-nazi when it comes to WW2 stuff.

Stewart trained in 17s but ended up in 24s with the 445th BG, 8th AF.  He then moved to the 453rd BG as Ops officer

Good book on his combat career called "Jimmy Stewart-Bomber Pilot"  Lots of great photos from that time.

[P47Gra]

My Grand Dad flew escort missions in a Jug.  Now you all know why my tag is P47 in it.  He escorted for Jimmy Stewart on several occasions before the 51's entered and then he went to train killin.  In fact Mr. Stewart bought several rounds of beers for all the escort pukes.  Stewart said he never found a escort pilot he did not like.  

My father (Thud driver) got his butt saved over Hanoi by a Naval Aviator soon became an Apollo Astronaught.  Ended up getting in the butt later in the day by a SAM 100 miles from base bailed and saved by a Jolly with a Spad as escort.  Go figure.  

To all the vets out there......Never Forget.

[Jonny boy 8]

my great grandfather flew the cosairs in the pacific, between 1943 to the end of the war. with 11 kills.

p51srule:aok

[OdinGrunherze]

Geez, I know that I'm gettin old, but damn???

Granddads and Great Granddads???

My Father, was a USMC rifleman, on Bougainville, Saipan, Okinawa...
Occupied Japan...
In 1950, as a Gunny Sgt. he went into the Pusan perimiter, landed at Inchon, and Hungnam, and had his right knee shot away on a hill above the Chosin reservoir... He would have bled to death, but the blood froze, which kept him alive... He rode out over the pass, tied to the fender of a 2 1/2 ton truck...

I never met a man who was SOOO Hard in my life...
But he had a heart of PURE GOLD!!!

He died fron a blood clot in 1980
I still miss ya pop

OG

[Sloehand]

First, to those yahoos (like the one who started this thread) who simply copy something off of an email sent to them, or from any ol' site on the In-TARD-net without checking to see if there is a shred of truth in it, or who spread this bull guano purposely.  

You are permanently squelched from me reading or believe anything you say from now on.  Can't think of anything more degrading to our WWII and ALL other war vets than to have some but(t)-plug propagate this crapola.  Either for your stupidity or your maliciousness, you don't deserve to live here and enjoy the freedoms the people you denegrate gave us, some at the cost of their lives.

You insult our intellegence (you are found out so simply), our families, our warriers, our heritage and legacy as Americans.

[Squire]

I dont think there is any great harm in a few errors, where exactly Lee Marvin was wounded for instance. Saipan or Iwo Jima, he still served in WW2 and was wounded.

As for Mister Rogers though, thats all bupkuss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers

He never served a day in the Armed Forces. He certainly was NOT a SEAL. From 1968-2001 he was on Mr Rogers Neighborhood, so how he ever could have served in Vietnam is kind of a mystery to me.

Can we still admire the man? sure, I do, he spent his life trying to be a good person and worked in a field for kids shows. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Capt Kangaroo, well, I guess he didnt serve in combat either, but lets remember he wasnt the thread starter, so lets not take it out on him, by all accounts he was an ok guy too, and did serve in the military, I take it he was just turning 18 at wars end, so he was one of the lucky ones that didnt have to invade Japan as a grunt in the fall of 1945 had there been no atom bomb.

I agree folks should check their facts better before posting stuff. Oh well, its the internet.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by john9001
Eddie Albert - World War II --

Then World War II broke and Albert signed up. Albert served as an officer in the navy during World War II, seeing combat in the Pacific Theater. In 1943 during the fighting of the Japanese on Tarawa he rescued 70 wounded Marines, earning him a Bronze Star for his heroic bravery.

Believe he commanded a LVT or some other type of landing craft.  He also took part in the D-Day invasion.


ack-ack

[Mighty01]

praise & SALUTE all those who gave for freedom of others, never to see the fruits of their fighting. but what has not been mentioned yet, is the fact they want to rename Iwo Jima ~ Iwa Jima ~ who Jima? to a name that will displace the history for future generations. the politically correct agenda is amongst us everywhere we turn.
they change the names of dinasours we all knew as kids, they change the history books to change the facts regarding the US Civil war and all it intelled.

It will not be long before they find out Jupiter is not really a planet but was actually the middle of the solar system until it got hit by a big sheet of astroid acid made up of window pane.

the real shame is nobody cares anymore, they have these internet games and worry about how we can get another flight in before we got to leave for work. yeah that's the ticket

but seriously, why would they want to change a part or name of history that so many lost their lives fighting for and or defending is beyond me.

Mighty01

[DAVENRINO]

Originally posted by Mighty01
praise & SALUTE all those who gave for freedom of others, never to see the fruits of their fighting. but what has not been mentioned yet, is the fact they want to rename Iwo Jima ~ Iwa Jima ~ who Jima? to a name that will displace the history for future generations. the politically correct agenda is amongst us everywhere we turn.
they change the names of dinasours we all knew as kids, they change the history books to change the facts regarding the US Civil war and all it intelled.

It will not be long before they find out Jupiter is not really a planet but was actually the middle of the solar system until it got hit by a big sheet of astroid acid made up of window pane.

the real shame is nobody cares anymore, they have these internet games and worry about how we can get another flight in before we got to leave for work. yeah that's the ticket

but seriously, why would they want to change a part or name of history that so many lost their lives fighting for and or defending is beyond me.

Mighty01

I guess the Japanese have the right to change the name of their Island back to it's original name.  Many Japanese have been trying to forget what happened there since they lost the war.  Not much different from changing Truk (the site of a major naval/air battle in Feb, 1944) back to it's original name - Chuuk.  

DJ229  Air Mafia

[Rolex]

Actually, it was changed back in 1968, but a clerical error in 1982 changed it back to the jima pronunciation of the same kanji. Just like the Truk mispronunciation was corrected by the Federated States of Micronesia, as you said, davenrino.

The pronunciation was not changed as a "politically correct" measure. The events, island or history haven't changed. No one has to change their pronunciation of it for the time those events occurred. Iwo Jima was where the events occurred. Iwo Tou is how the same place was pronounced before and after the war.

I don't see many people trying to forget what happened there. There are a few right wing politicians, but that's about it. There is a normal sense of shame in losing, same as all people, right? Just because Japanese don't talk about it constantly, doesn't mean many are trying to forget. Life goes on. On the contrary, Japanese are very patient when 20 year-old American sailors or soldiers try to provoke an argument by trying to rub events that happened half a century, and a few generations ago, in their face. Neither had any hand in the cause or outcome of those events.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
Believe he commanded a LVT or some other type of landing craft.  He also took part in the D-Day invasion.


ack-ack

Nope, that was in the movie Longest Day where he was killed....er... his character was

Tarawa was where he saw the real deal and the horror of it all.

I often wondered what it was like for those guys who actually saw combat to act in movies that tried to portray it.  Big Red One was on the other night with Lee Marvin, and I thought about his time in combat with the Marines.  Must be really strange to pretend after that.