Photo By Jim Dresbach | World War II Coast Guard veteran Carroll George, 95, waits for the Feb. 19, 2015,...... read more read more
ARLINGTON, Va. - Many World War II 70th anniversary commemorations will take place through August, but one bloody remembrance that hits home for Marines and the Coast Guard was held at the Marine Corps War Memorial Feb. 19.
Seventy years to the day the amphibious battle for the Pacific Ocean island of Iwo Jima commenced, a crowd of up to 200 people converged at the foot of Arlington’s Marine Corps Memorial, the statue inspired by the photography of Joe Rosenthal, who snapped the famous picture on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi Feb. 23, 1945. Iwo Jima survivors and friends and relatives of those who went to battle that day in the South Pacific, witnessed a wreath laying by the Marines and Larry Snowden, who held the distinction of being the highest-ranking Iwo Jima veteran present at the anniversary ceremony.
Dozens of Iwo Jima survivors - now in their 90s - braved subzero wind chills-to listen to Marine Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Orban of the United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” play Taps for the more than 8,600 Marines who died during the five-week battle for the eight square miles of island and its three airfields.
Seven decades later, members of America’s WWII fighting force remembered the Iwo Jima struggle that themselves and relatives fought and died. Navy Seabee Jack Lazere was 21 years old when the operation began. Seventy years later, he was at the Marine memorial telling his story and contemplated the odds of survival.
“They [the Japanese] killed 17 out of 30 that landed,” Lazere said. “When we went in the boat to land, I was the only one who came back. I’m the last of the 65.”
Carroll George is now a 95-year-old former member of the Coast Guard. His brother, who is still living but was unable to attend the wreath laying, operated an amphibious landing craft toward and away from Iwo Jima. Carroll thought it fitting to remember his brother’s contribution and all Iwo Jima battle participants.
“They had a rough time. My brother was a member of a landing craft crew. Like me, he was a Coast Guard guy,” George explained. “They operated under tremendous pressure, believe me. They had to have tremendous bravery because they knew what they were getting themselves into. Those Marines going in were so exposed; they were going right into trouble.”
According to the Iwo Jima Association of America who hosted the reunion and the event, the Battle of Iwo Jima was fought from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945, between the United States and the Japanese Empire and resulted in some of the fiercest fighting during the war in the Pacific. Twenty-two Marines received medals of honor due to their courageous acts during the five-week invasion and battle.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2015 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 155925 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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