Iwo Jima 61 Years Ago Today
Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:14 pm
Lets never forget their sacrifice!
From www.ledger-enquirer.com
Posted on Thu, Feb. 23, 2006
Lasting memoriesBY MICK WALSHStaff WriterStanding on the deck of an LST landing ship/tank, nervously awaiting orders to go ashore, 22-year-old Harry Williams looked at the mountain at the south end of the island and witnessed a scene most of us have only seen in history books: the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi.
One would think that sight, 61 years ago today, would leave an indelible imprint on Williams' memory. And it has.
But when Williams, now 84 and living in Fortson, recalls his days on Iwo, as he does on each anniversary of the Feb. 23, 1945, flag-raising, another picture pops into his mind.
"Dead Marines stacked up like cordwood, waiting for us to bury them," he said this week from his home in Harris County. "And then watching our 2 1/2-ton trucks, full of dead Japanese soldiers, dumping their bodies into man-made craters. And that was all on my first day on Iwo."
Williams admits he was scared. After all, he wasn't a Marine. He was an Army Air Corps master sergeant, one who was told that once the good guys overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese, which would probably take no more than 72 hours, he and his 17-man detachment would set up a communications network at three island airstrips.
That was the plan anyway.
"None of us had any real combat training, not like the Marines," he said. "I did have a machine gun and the rest of the guys had carbines. Most of us had expert ratings... in training. Fortunately, I never had to fire my weapon."
Taking cover
Once ashore, Williams found himself taking cover in foxholes, dug previously by the first wave of Marines. He waited for the firing to stop so he could go to work installing a tower atop the mountain, the same mountain where the flag-raising had taken place the day before. (Actually, there were two flag-raisings, one with a normal sized Old Glory, the second with a much bigger version of the Stars and Stripes. That effort was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.)
The mountain was secured four days after the invasion, though fighting elsewhere on the 8-square mile island would last until late March.
"The Seabees cut a road up to the top of the mountain for us to use our transmitter/receiver truck," Williams said. "We had to put up a 50-foot wooden tower on the top, then climb up it and attach a directional antenna to it. That was necessary if our planes were to start using the airstrips."
Since Williams was the only climber in the group, he shimmied up the pole, made the proper attachments and returned to the mountaintop in one piece.
But it would be weeks before the Japanese were defeated and the airstrips, which had been used as a kamikaze base, would be suitable for landings and takeoffs by such U.S. aircraft as B-29 Superfortress bombers and P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning fighters.
"We had to wait almost a month before we were able to do anything else," he recalled. "The Japanese were dug in, there were caves everywhere on the island and each was filled with rice. And as you know, they fought to the death."
Deadly victory
The significant U.S. victory didn't come without a cost. More than 7,000 Marines died on the island; another 19,000 were wounded. Of the estimated 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo, only 200 survived the battle and became prisoners of war.
Though the fighting ended March 26, 1945, Williams and many of his fellow airmen did not leave the island for almost nine more months.
"I didn't really have any need to go home," said Williams, who was then single. "The married guys and those with dependents were allowed to go home."
It was on the island that Williams heard the news in early August of the surrender of the Japanese after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Williams, who had attended the old Industrial High (now Jordan Vocational) prior to entering the service, didn't intend to make it a career. In fact, as soon as he returned to the States in early 1946, he got out and got himself a civil service job at Fort Benning.
But four years later, he was recalled to active duty and was once again sent off to war, this time in Korea.
"After that I decided I might as well stay in," he laughed. He retired in 1967, just before he was to get orders to report to Vietnam.
While thoughts of Iwo Jima are never far from his mind, he reserves this time of year to talk about them.
Mary Belle Williams, his wife of almost 56 years, said she never understood the impact that battle had on her husband until she attended a reunion of Iwo Jima survivors in 1984.
"They held a memorial service for those who were killed there or who had died since," she said, "and there wasn't a dry eye in the entire room. It was the most emotional thing I've ever experienced."
Another reunion is scheduled for March 2-4 in Mobile, Ala. But the Williamses won't be attending.
"Our group is getting smaller and smaller," Harry said. "My best buddies -- one lives in Baltimore and another in Daytona Beach -- won't be able to attend, either."
After all, it has been 61 years since the flag-raising.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Mick Walsh at (706) 571-8588
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robbie
From www.ledger-enquirer.com
Posted on Thu, Feb. 23, 2006
Lasting memoriesBY MICK WALSHStaff WriterStanding on the deck of an LST landing ship/tank, nervously awaiting orders to go ashore, 22-year-old Harry Williams looked at the mountain at the south end of the island and witnessed a scene most of us have only seen in history books: the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi.
One would think that sight, 61 years ago today, would leave an indelible imprint on Williams' memory. And it has.
But when Williams, now 84 and living in Fortson, recalls his days on Iwo, as he does on each anniversary of the Feb. 23, 1945, flag-raising, another picture pops into his mind.
"Dead Marines stacked up like cordwood, waiting for us to bury them," he said this week from his home in Harris County. "And then watching our 2 1/2-ton trucks, full of dead Japanese soldiers, dumping their bodies into man-made craters. And that was all on my first day on Iwo."
Williams admits he was scared. After all, he wasn't a Marine. He was an Army Air Corps master sergeant, one who was told that once the good guys overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese, which would probably take no more than 72 hours, he and his 17-man detachment would set up a communications network at three island airstrips.
That was the plan anyway.
"None of us had any real combat training, not like the Marines," he said. "I did have a machine gun and the rest of the guys had carbines. Most of us had expert ratings... in training. Fortunately, I never had to fire my weapon."
Taking cover
Once ashore, Williams found himself taking cover in foxholes, dug previously by the first wave of Marines. He waited for the firing to stop so he could go to work installing a tower atop the mountain, the same mountain where the flag-raising had taken place the day before. (Actually, there were two flag-raisings, one with a normal sized Old Glory, the second with a much bigger version of the Stars and Stripes. That effort was immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.)
The mountain was secured four days after the invasion, though fighting elsewhere on the 8-square mile island would last until late March.
"The Seabees cut a road up to the top of the mountain for us to use our transmitter/receiver truck," Williams said. "We had to put up a 50-foot wooden tower on the top, then climb up it and attach a directional antenna to it. That was necessary if our planes were to start using the airstrips."
Since Williams was the only climber in the group, he shimmied up the pole, made the proper attachments and returned to the mountaintop in one piece.
But it would be weeks before the Japanese were defeated and the airstrips, which had been used as a kamikaze base, would be suitable for landings and takeoffs by such U.S. aircraft as B-29 Superfortress bombers and P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning fighters.
"We had to wait almost a month before we were able to do anything else," he recalled. "The Japanese were dug in, there were caves everywhere on the island and each was filled with rice. And as you know, they fought to the death."
Deadly victory
The significant U.S. victory didn't come without a cost. More than 7,000 Marines died on the island; another 19,000 were wounded. Of the estimated 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo, only 200 survived the battle and became prisoners of war.
Though the fighting ended March 26, 1945, Williams and many of his fellow airmen did not leave the island for almost nine more months.
"I didn't really have any need to go home," said Williams, who was then single. "The married guys and those with dependents were allowed to go home."
It was on the island that Williams heard the news in early August of the surrender of the Japanese after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Williams, who had attended the old Industrial High (now Jordan Vocational) prior to entering the service, didn't intend to make it a career. In fact, as soon as he returned to the States in early 1946, he got out and got himself a civil service job at Fort Benning.
But four years later, he was recalled to active duty and was once again sent off to war, this time in Korea.
"After that I decided I might as well stay in," he laughed. He retired in 1967, just before he was to get orders to report to Vietnam.
While thoughts of Iwo Jima are never far from his mind, he reserves this time of year to talk about them.
Mary Belle Williams, his wife of almost 56 years, said she never understood the impact that battle had on her husband until she attended a reunion of Iwo Jima survivors in 1984.
"They held a memorial service for those who were killed there or who had died since," she said, "and there wasn't a dry eye in the entire room. It was the most emotional thing I've ever experienced."
Another reunion is scheduled for March 2-4 in Mobile, Ala. But the Williamses won't be attending.
"Our group is getting smaller and smaller," Harry said. "My best buddies -- one lives in Baltimore and another in Daytona Beach -- won't be able to attend, either."
After all, it has been 61 years since the flag-raising.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Mick Walsh at (706) 571-8588
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robbie