Thanks for posting that .

You're welcome. One of my uncles was on that awful island in the 5th Marine Div.

Awesome read, thanks for posting.

My dad was a gunner on one of the tin cans providing fire support. In an 18 hour period they fired over 1900 rounds of 5 inch shells.

Thank you for posting that. That sort of material should be read by EVERY American to see what suffering there was to protect their freedoms.

Few postings from European, Asian and African Theaters of operation also

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
Thank you for posting that. That sort of material should be read by EVERY American to see what suffering there was to protect their freedoms.

Few postings from European, Asian and African Theaters of operation also

You are welcome Louis. Too many accounts are just histories of tactics, command strategy and casualties and results.
These horrific battles had many, many teenagers exposed to continuous combat for days and weeks at a time. The first battalion 6th Marine regiment went 34 hours straight without food during the battle of Tarawa.

I had family members involved in 4 of the 6 worst battles in the Pacific. The only ones missed were Peleliu and Okinawa. Their divisions did not land on the Peleliu and they were both wounded and undergoing rehab by the time of Okinawa.

With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge is a similar account.

I also much appreciate your posting of the recollections of a combat Marine. Most of us go about our daily lives with "narry a care" and unfortunately many do not realize that U.S.Marines/Military are at this very moment going through some horrible experiences in order that we can go about our daily lives/routines.

A visit to any VA hospital will show you the price of freedom.

Thanks for posting that, it allows the rest of us to realise the sacrifices made by others.
"dum vivimus serviemus" "facta non verba"

Thanks again SR4759 for a great post. One of my best friend's Dad was a MARINE and was on Iwo. He ended up being picked as a runner for delivering msgs. The only thing he told us was that you can't belive how fast you can run in combat boots thru sand when some SOB was trying to shoot you. Had an Uncle Dave that was a CPO on the Battelship TEXAS, which is moored about 2 miles from my house.

Thank You.
Semper Fi.

Deeply appreciate your posting this. Our boys did the job. I will be eternally grateful.

Just yesterday (Sunday), I saw a long account on the History Channel here in Japan that detailed the horrific nature of the battles for the Pacific Islands leading all the way dropping of the bombs and to the unconditional surrender. It was very blunt with many interviews, mainly of GIs, but also of Gen. Curtis LeMay and Japanese diplomats. Frankly, I was surprised that it showed on cable in Japan. I think my young children here do not need to see that until they are much older. It was done, I believe, by a British production company around 1976 when many of the old players were still alive.

I had the privilege, way back when, of personally hearing Harry Truman explain his thinking about the bomb. This was back when I was in college at Columbia. He said he had never had any doubt at the time or after that it was the right thing to do. On the show, two different, directly-involved Tokyo diplomats admitted that Japan could not have stopped without that.

There were many in government and the Japan military who were pressing to fight to the last man. What a bunch of idiots.

I guess shock and awe works. It did the job then.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I was amazed at the amount of MG ammo he fired daily! Said they loaded 45 cans of 250 rds each and fired it all! That is over 11,000 rounds!

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Henson:
I was amazed at the amount of MG ammo he fired daily! Said they loaded 45 cans of 250 rds each and fired it all! That is over 11,000 rounds!

Yes that is really amazing.
They carried 2 complete extra machine guns because the barrels were too hard to change when they got hot and burned out.