My Grandson is in the Navy & he is a air combat rescue swimmer. In 2018 his unit had exercises on the Island and he stated that it was a very hard island to run around on due to the volcanic sand. He sent me a jar of the sand and pictures of WWII relics still visible to this day. Even though I was a grunt in Vietnam and was wounded & medically retired from the Corps because of combat wounds, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the boots of our Marine ansestors who fought in that that terrible campaign! I am so very proud of their sacrifices that they made for our country & Corps
I got to visit Iwo Jima in 1986. I was a 1stLt with 3/7 on deployment at Camp Fuji Japan. Each company got to go and walk the battlefield in the order of battle. I have walked many battlefields in my 20 years in the Corps, but nothing dropped my jaw more than Iwo Jima. I still have a jar of sand from the beach and some rocks from the flag planting site on mount Mount Suribachi.
Serving in Vietnam as a field radio operator was nothing compared to what all those Marines experienced on Iwo Jima, l am so very proud to have had them be such a great role model for myself and all Marines to strive to be. What l experienced in Vietnam pales by comparison what they experienced on that island.
SEMPER FI