WEBVTT

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- [Narrator] Iwo Jima is home to one of the most

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famous battles of the Marine Corps.

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The beaches of this small

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Pacific island are thick with history,

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but also with debris that floats in from the ocean.

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- We went to Iwo Jima to do our first ever

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SMP Iwo Jima beach cleanup.

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It's never been done before

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and we've been trying to get out there for some time.

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It takes a lot of logistics, so we were blessed and lucky

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by the chance to be able to go this time around.

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- [Narrator] While the Marines cleared the beaches,

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they reflected on the saga of the island.

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- On Iwo Jima our task was to clean up the beaches

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that Marines fought on.

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We spent a good amount of time

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cleaning up the beaches and picking up all the trash,

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but we also were given an opportunity

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to relax, sit there,

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and just soak in what Marines before us had to do.

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And we were given pamphlets

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and we were read history about the Marines.

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- [Narrator] Over 6,800 U.S. service members

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were killed on Iwo Jima.

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- It was a pretty heavy feeling.

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When you have a chance to stop and just look at the beaches,

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look at the water, look at the sand, you felt the pressure,

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you felt the significance, the importance.

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I couldn't begin to fathom that moment,

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how they felt all those years ago

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when they were storming the beaches.

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But you definitely felt the sense of importance

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and the pressure it was to be there.

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- [Narrator] Reporting from Marine Corps

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Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, I'm Lance Corporal Calvin Hilt.