73 Years Ago Today

[Weatherman2020]

I have been blessed to know two Marines who were there. One is still with us on earth, just talked to him this weekend over the phone. Special kind of men who accomplished so much for liberty.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Real men who we owe so much

 

[Sunni Man]

My uncle was an infantry Marine who fought on Iwo Jima.

He hated Japs till the day he died. I remember when he got mad he would rant and rave about those "son's of Tojo".

It the time I was just a kid and didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.

It wasn't until my adult years that I read books on the battle of Iwo Jima and could understood the hell he went through. .....

 

[Damaged Eagle]

Hell of a job.

*****SMILE*****

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

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I have been blessed to know two Marines who were there. One is still with us on earth, just talked to him this weekend over the phone. Special kind of men who accomplished so much for liberty.

God bless those MEN who stepped up and took on the liberal madness that infested the world.

 

[Sunni Man]

The war in the Pacific was a fight to the death. The Japanese fighting on the various islands took no prisoners and refused to surrender. The US Marines adopted the same attitude and didn't take any prisoners until late in the war. ....

 

[regent]

The war in the Pacific was a fight to the death. The Japanese fighting on the various islands took no prisoners and refused to surrender. The US Marines adopted the same attitude and didn't take any prisoners until late in the war. ....

We took prisoners, it was a dangerous task, but we needed the info. The Japanese also took prisoners for the same reason if needed. Perhaps The Sixth Army Rangers freed the largest batch of Americans at Cabanatuan. But, but taking prisoners was indeed risky, even if they were wounded.

 

[martybegan]

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I have been blessed to know two Marines who were there. One is still with us on earth, just talked to him this weekend over the phone. Special kind of men who accomplished so much for liberty.

My grandfather is 98 and was in the army as a wire corporal, serving in New Guinea, Morotai and Mindanao.

We are losing the last of these guys in the next 10 years or so, and its a real shame.

 

[martybegan]

The war in the Pacific was a fight to the death. The Japanese fighting on the various islands took no prisoners and refused to surrender. The US Marines adopted the same attitude and didn't take any prisoners until late in the war. ....

It was pretty similar on the German-Russian Front, but there at times prisoners were taken.

The prisoners didn't have much of a lifespan though, that's for sure.

 

[Lastamender]

Real men who we owe so much

I grew up with those men all around me. My father, my neighbors were all veterans of WWII. They whistled at women and women liked it. They told me to stand up to bullies. And when Civil rights bill was passed, some did not like it, but they said it was the law and it was to be obeyed. Real, pragmatic, caring and loving men when there were only two genders.

 

[jwoodie]

Don't forget the 8th Air Force, which lost more men than the entire Marine Corps in WW2. Bombing runs into German-controlled airspace were akin to suicide missions. With a 10% loss rate, surviving 25 missions was almost impossible.

 

[del]

"By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."- Chester Nimitz

 

[del]

22% of the medals of honor awarded to marines in ww2 were awarded for service on iwo jima.

 

[Lastamender]

Celebrities were heroes. We have come a long way? Neville Brand was the fourth most decorated GI in WWII.

 

[Weatherman2020]

Don't forget the 8th Air Force, which lost more men than the entire Marine Corps in WW2. Bombing runs into German-controlled airspace were akin to suicide missions. With a 10% loss rate, surviving 25 missions was almost impossible.

I am friends with a guy who was a gunner in the 8th. He's no longer with us, but he had great stories I'd ease drop in the talks with another friend who was in a B-25 in the Pacific. Lot of courage by those guys.

 

[Picaro]

My uncle was an infantry Marine who fought on Iwo Jima.

He hated Japs till the day he died. I remember when he got mad he would rant and rave about those "son's of Tojo".

It the time I was just a kid and didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.

It wasn't until my adult years that I read books on the battle of Iwo Jima and could understood the hell he went through. .....

Had an uncle who survived Iwo and was the same way, except with young Japanese, whom he made a point of telling them the older people and their schools were lying to them about their history. It was kind of funny, since the vast majority of young Japanese he would hold forth to around here were Americans.lol They were very polite, though, and their parents thought it was funny.

My father was a paratrooper in the Pacific theater, and also went into Japan as an occupation trooper; seeing some of the atrocities that were 'normal' for them he would kill Japanese soldiers on sight, whether prisoners or not, surrendering or not, while in the Phillipines

. He liked Fillipino people and also Japanese people he met in the occupation of Japan, but it sucked to be a Japanese soldier when he showed up; a lot of men were like that. I don't blame them, either. He wasn't allowed to carry firearms in Japan. lol don't know why they let him in there to begin with, but they did.

 

[Picaro]

Don't forget the 8th Air Force, which lost more men than the entire Marine Corps in WW2. Bombing runs into German-controlled airspace were akin to suicide missions. With a 10% loss rate, surviving 25 missions was almost impossible.

Those missions were true meat grinders; Hitler had stripped almost the entire Eastern Front of AA and interceptors to use on those bombers. I hate heights anyway, and I would have gone nuts holed up in those bombers.

 

[Picaro]

Celebrities were heroes. We have come a long way? Neville Brand was the fourth most decorated GI in WWII.

Jimmy Stewart, too; and Air Force officer. Born into money as well, yet never hesitated to go.

 

[TheParser]

When I watch television programs about World War II, I also feel the greatest admiration and respect for those young Americans who fought in Europe and Asia.

Their sufferings were unimaginable.

*****

Some students and some athletes today do not wish to honor the national anthem. Maybe if someone would gently speak with them in private and show them some films of World War II fighting, some of those students and athletes might change their attitude.

 

[regent]

When I watch television programs about World War II, I also feel the greatest admiration and respect for those young Americans who fought in Europe and Asia.

Their sufferings were unimaginable.

*****

Some students and some athletes today do not wish to honor the national anthem. Maybe if someone would gently speak with them in private and show them some films of World War II fighting, some of those students and athletes might change their attitude.

Maybe to indicate that America still has some need to treat all equally was what some of our wars were about?