I Am Interested In Ww1 and Ww2

Today is the 75th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima

[media=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSF463vpCQ]

Threescore and fifteen years ago,

On Iwo Jima's scoriac stones

Many a young man bled and died

For country, God or emperor.

Now looking at this desolate isle

Today, but little more remains

Than mostly unkempt monuments

And dreadful artifacts of war,

Rusting where they fell, so long ago.

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dubkebab · 56-60, M

Very interesting.I really didn't know much about this location-
thank you for posting.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@dubkebab

You're very welcome.

dubkebab · 56-60, M

@Thinkerbell I can only imagine the intensity of those battles-that's a whole heap of leftover weaponry.
I wish I had recorded some of my grandfather's WWII stories...

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@dubkebab

Yes, those battles were horrific. At Iwo Jima, about 75,000 marines invaded and suffered about 25,000 casualties, including nearly 7,000 dead. The casualties at Okinawa were about twice that number.

Roadsterrider · 56-60, M

@Thinkerbell Years ago, I had an elderly friend who was a Marine Combat Correspondent who served in the Pacific Theater in WW2. As a Marine myself, I was interested and he still had a lot of photos he had taken that were never used. What really happened there is worse than what we see in history books today. I don't know if I would have had the courage that those men showed.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@Roadsterrider

I have no doubt that your friend had a lot of pictures that were simply too grisly to be shown in history books or newspapers.

I have Marine and Army combat vet friends who told me that anyone who says he was not scared in combat is not telling the truth. Courage, as I understand it, does not consist in being without fear, but in overcoming it. Semper Fidelis is not the Marines' motto for nothing, given their history.

Roadsterrider · 56-60, M

@Thinkerbell My wife is a nurse, she has always worked in nursing homes and I have always made it a point to let her introduce me to the vets that she takes care of. I have met men who were on Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Guadalcanal, and a few other places in Asia and in Europe. They need to talk, and they will talk about things with another vet, that they won't talk about with their nurse or their social worker. We are losing that history at an alarming rate. Most of the WW2 vets are gone, vets from Korea and Vietnam are in their 70s and 80s. If you want a perspective from someone who was there, visit a local nursing home next veterans day, memorial day or 4th of July. Semper Fi.

braveheart21 · 61-69, M

We need these vets to tell the story of the places and battles they fought in or we will lose this personal history of a terrible time in history forever... LEST WE FORGET @Roadsterrider