The start of the battle of Iwo Jima 75th anniversary today.

[Tabonga | 2,533]

My father was a Seabee on Iwo Jima - they landed late in that battle (March 25th) and were bivouced on the airfield they were to begin working on.  Although trained as being capable of combat they had relatively few weapons since the island had been declared secure,  They were woken in the middle of the early morning facing  a banzai charge (in which the island's Japanese commander (Tadamichi Kuribayashi) was reportedly killed) - the Seabees took the brunt of it until a couple of other nearby units could arrive.  The only thing that saved them (according to my father) was that what he described as a "Marine cook detachment" got hit first and the noise gave them a bit of a warning.  (The history books say it was a Marine pilot unit - but the sacrifice whatever unit it was made likely saved my father's (and others) life).  Good thing or I wouldn't be here!!

 

https://www.bradford-delong.com/2015/03/liveblogging-world-war-ii-march-26-1945-iwo-jima.html

 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,135]

Thanks for sharing this. Ive had a number of conversations with people in recent years about how soon it will be that no one from that era will be with us anymore. We (sister and I) have been trying for years to get whatever information we can from my grandmother.  She was in Poland as a kid when the Russians came through to push back the Germans.  Unfortunately, though understandably, she won't speak much about it. The one thing we got her to talk about once was when the Russians came through they burned down the family farm and she hid behind a cow that was laying down in a field. 

I urge that anyone who has a family member still here that experienced that period of time to try and get the to share it and record it if possible. It's probably the most impact-full moment in human history and we have the ability to preserve first hand accounts of it, and should do so whenever possible.