Feb.19.2010
8:53 am
by Ed Beakley
EEI#28 What kind of war WAS it? – Rows upon rows of White Crosses
On the morning of Feb. 19, 1945, an armada of 880 ships with more than 100,000 Marines, Coast Guard units and Navy support personnel sat offshore. More Marines were sent to Iwo Jima than any other battle. Of the 84 Medals of Honor awarded to Marines in World War II, 27 were earned on 36 days of fighting on Iwo Jima, an unsurpassed record in military history… One-third of the Marines killed in World War II died at Iwo Jima. …
“… Reminders that our freedom was bought not in courtrooms, not from podiums, not in classrooms, but in dirt and rocks, water and sand, in Godforsaken places like the beaches of Iwo Jima and the men who paid the price never bought anything again…
They are, indeed, always faithful, eternally Marines. In dress blues, they march in cadence across the skies with the thousands before and after them. The wind plays taps and wings are their epaulets.”
The words above are by Mary Alice Altorfer. Please read the complete article here at the Ventura County STAR.
And for an indepth view of what kind of war Iwo Jima was see The Battle for Iwo Jima, here and here.
Filed in Elements of Essential Information,What Kind of War | Comments Off
