Iwo Jima Survivors

He walked slowly through the tables, as I stood to gather my backpack full of stuff and leave.  An older gentleman, wearing a blue ball cap bearing the title of this post’s title.  As I stepped into the room, rather than to the door, my two friends, neither of them vets, looked quizzically at me, but I kept moving, standing a respectful few feet, while he reached for the chair back, indicating he was at the table of his choosing, I stepped up and asked to shake his hand and thank him.  He smiled and allowed me to do so.

Making the basic assumption that he was one of the few and the Proud, but not set on it, I asked what he had done there.  He said “Amphibs.  I took the Marines ashore.”  About this time, another gentleman, also elderly arrived beside us and reached out to shake the first man’s hand and said with a smile on his face, not to large, but more of a knowing one.  He said “5th Marines.”

So there I was, thanking one man for his service at that difficult battle, and I managed to be able to thank two of them.

From the USS BOSTON (CA-69) Blog (click to get there)

We chatted for a few moments.  He had joined the Navy in 1940, was assigned to a destroyer (I missed the name), was a radioman and had been in the Battle of Midway, screening the USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6), and later commissioned USS BOSTON (CA-69).  What ever his assignment was in 1945, he took that Marines ashore as said “I was on Red Beach.”  I handed him my card as I told him a week from today, the old war horses would gather for breakfast and to talk and enjoy each other’s company, and I’d be happy to give him a lift (he doesn’t drive any longer).  He rattled off a list of the campaigns he had been in and they were the many big ones.  He did his time all in the Pacific, all on sea duty, all in the fight.  He mentioned, but only in one sentence, that he spent 20 some years in the Air Force.

I then asked if the lady sitting at the far end of the table was his wife, and he said yes, of 56 years, proudly told me.  He then added a story of how he bought her engagement ring in Pearl Harbor, and then carried it in his shirt pocket, in case the ship sank, until he could mail it home to his mother.  It took two months to get there, and his mom slipped it on his then fiancee’s finger, I believe he said at Christmas, and they were married in 1946.  I went over and thanked her for sharing him with me so patiently and let her, and his daughter know about this coming Saturday.  His daughter, whom he pointed out had been an Air Force Nurse, said, “Dad, I think you’d really enjoy that.”  I made sure she had my card, too.

And, in doing a little homework for links here, I found, via the USS BOSTON Blog mentioned above, that a son of one of the Plank Owners, William Kelly, a Signalman, wrote a book based on their Father’s story:  “A Bird’s Eye View.”

We’ll see….oh, and that night, I met a 21 year Army Vet, a Green Beret, who flared up when I mentioned Khe Shan, commenting how they didn’t believe the Special Forces Camp really had tanks in the wire…..

Posted by xformed on February 20, 2010.

Tags: Air Force, Battle of Midway, iwo jima, iwo jima survivors, Navy, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, United States Navy, USS BOSTON, USS ENTERPRISE, wwii veterans

Categories: "Sea Stories", Air Force, History, Marines, Maritime Matters, Military, Military History, Navy

2 Responses

1. X-

   I read the TS de-brief of the survivors of the Lang Vie SF Camp back in 1970 while still in the AF. (Of course I was at DaNang when it happened–but we zoomies knew nothing except the barest details at the time) Talk about hair-raising! “Chilling” is the proper word. The rpt is some 10 pp long–and in great detail. To give but one example is the recounting of one survivor left for dead in the HQ CP bunker as he described the NVA dropping satchel charges down the vent shafts. Not for the faint of heart just to read it, let alone to have been there, Hope they declassify it some day–every American should read it as an object lesson in how the “unthinkable” can happen… and the price that is paid for it in blood & lives.

   by virgil xenophon on Feb 23, 2010 at 11:07 am

2. Xformed, thanks for what you did, and also for sharing the background.

   One event that I look forward to each year is the Golden Corral free dinner for Vets, as it is a perfect place for me to thank those that have went before us. Their ranks are thinning to damn fast.

   V/R

   by Ron Snyder on Feb 23, 2010 at 11:18 am

About Chaotic Synaptic Activity

I’ve traveled extensively, both as a child and in my professional career. I have a global view of the world and the situations we currently face as a nation. Between some practical experiences, lots of reading and some time sitting in classrooms/lecture halls, I have opinions that I will share here.more →