80 years ago today.
Lest we ever forget.

RIP Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. 5th Marines.

Here.

My father was there. He took me to a reunion at Marine Barracks One when I was 13 and the adult daughter of one of the men said to me these guys were the fiercest fighting force ever seen on earth.

God bless your dad.

My grandfather Pete Winters was there. Marines.

The real American Hero's ! Man, those guys will be remembered for ever

My father was a WW2 vet and is buried in San Antonio. A couple of years ago my Aggie brother and I visited my parents gravesite. I noticed the gravesite next to them had a marines picture on the stone and the date of death was February 19, 1945. I assumed he was a KIA on Iwo and family had him buried in SA.

"Lieutenant John Keith Wells led one of the most decorated infantry platoons in Marine Corps history 3rd Platoon, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division. He led them at Guadalcanal and on Feb. 19, 1945 he led them on Iwo Jima one of America's most historic battles.
Upon landing on the Japanese held island, his platoon was tasked with assaulting the foothills of Mount Suribachi. Attacking across open terrain littered with enemy fortifications and pillboxes. Wells lead his men from the front, encountering machine-gun, mortar and rifle fire. He continuously moved across the line to lead his assault groups forward.
"Give me 50 Marines not afraid to die and I can take any position," Wells famously said about his Marines who destroyed 25 enemy emplacements on their way up Mount Suribachi.
He was severely wounded during an assault, but continued to command until the objective's enemy blockhouse was destroyed. Unable able to walk, he posted himself at a position where he could observe his men and continue to command before he was evacuated to a hospital ship.
1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier filled in for the wounded Wells, the final push up Mount Suribachi. On Feb. 23 at approximately 10:20 a.m., 3rd Platoon, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division breached its summit and planted an American Flag the first, but often overlooked flag raised that day.
Too small to be seen from the beach, leadership ordered a larger flag to be taken to the top of Mount Suribachi to mark the United States first captured Japanese territory.
So admired by his men, leadership allowed for the wounded Wells to be carried off the hospital ship and escorted to the top of the Mountain so he could witness the raising of the larger flagthat became a beacon of hope and an iconic image for the ages.
Wells remained in the reserves after the war and retired as a Major. He passed away on Feb. 11, at age 94, just 12 days shy of the 71st anniversary of that historic event.
We honor his service and all those brave Marines that followed him on Iwo Jima."
From VA.gov
https://news.va.gov/25983/marine-veteran-john-keith-wells-the-first-iwo-jima-flag-raising/
Keith Wells lived in Abilene. I went to school with his daughter Connie.
I had the good fortune of visiting with him several times as he grew up at Lakeview near Estelline in the eastern panhandle at the south end of the Palo Duro Canyon. A mentor of his was a man named Prof Weatherby who was the ag teacher at Shamrock for many, many years. My roommate at A&M was from Shamrock and was also mentored by Prof Weatherby. I have several copies of Keith Wells/ book "Give Me 50 Marines Not Afraid to Die" that he signed for me. I also knew several other men from Abilene who were on Iwo Jima. Hugh Beck, Grady Robertson and Dr. Dub Sibley. Dr. Sibley played football at A&M.

Who remembers the inscription on the Fountain in the Grove?

It's been so long I will probably mess it up, but it went something like this:

Dedicated to the Fighting Aggies

by Mr and Mrs K. N. Drake

In Memory of Their Son, Kyle N. Drake, Jr.

Lt., USMC

Who Died for Democracy on Iwo Jima

My Grandfather was there with the 4th Raider Battalion

Yesterday said:

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RIP Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. 5th Marines.

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My Dad served on the USS John Basilone in Vietnam

OldArmy71 said:

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Who remembers the inscription on the Fountain in the Grove?

It's been so long I will probably mess it up, but it went something like this:

Dedicated to the Fighting Aggies

by Mr and Mrs K. N. Drake

In Memory of Their Son, Kyle N. Drake, Jr.

Lt., USMC

Who Died for Democracy on Iwo Jima

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https://texasreader.com/2019/05/an-aggies-journey/

An Aggie's Journey
It's October 5, 1941.
In just three days, the defending Southwest Conference Football Champions will be playing NYU in The House that Ruth Built. You want to be there, but there are no funds for trains or buses.
What's a poor Aggie to do?
The answer is "find a way."
If you are Kyle Drake, Class of 1943, your way is found by walking outside and hanging your thumb in the wind.
Three days, 1,650 miles and one date with a Pittsburgh gal later, Kyle was in Yankee Stadium cheering the Aggies to a 49-7 victory over the Violets (yes, they are really called the Violets.)
It was his twentieth birthday.
One night in the Hotel New Yorker and it was time to head home. Kyle grabbed a sign from the lobby, probably used to show attending Aggies where to catch the bus to the game the previous day.
He walked outside to the corner of 8th Avenue and W 35th and held up his sign.

On the journey back to College Station, Kyle used his sign and sort of a travel diary, writing things like:
"Beat NY 49 7"
"Had Aggie get together after the ballgame"
"Visited Several Points in New York"
"Saw old Dookie Pugh" (Quarterback of the Aggies 1939 National Championship team, then playing for the Giants)
"Saw Times Square pretty nifty way to get the news! And NYU Aggie football score flashed on!"
"Northern Gals Ain't So Good Looking"
"Stood on corner in Washington DC with this sign. I'd say 5,000 people saw it not bad advertising, I'll say!"
"Looked Washington over but didn't see old F.D.R."
"Saw Alabama University campus it's a beaut!"
"Someone up there said that North won the war just goes to show you how stupid Damn Yankees are!" (Yes, that's an Aggie Joke.)
"Traveled thru Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Dist. of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York"
"Hitched all alone!"
"6 days for a round trip!"
Kyle had accomplished his mission with skill and efficiency. And his hitchhiking sign made a heck of a souvenir.
On the journey back to College Station, Kyle used his sign and sort of a travel diary, writing things like:
"Beat NY 49 7"
"Had Aggie get together after the ballgame"
"Visited Several Points in New York"
"Saw old Dookie Pugh" (Quarterback of the Aggies 1939 National Championship team, then playing for the Giants)
"Saw Times Square pretty nifty way to get the news! And NYU Aggie football score flashed on!"
"Northern Gals Ain't So Good Looking"
"Stood on corner in Washington DC with this sign. I'd say 5,000 people saw it not bad advertising, I'll say!"
"Looked Washington over but didn't see old F.D.R."
"Saw Alabama University campus it's a beaut!"
"Someone up there said that North won the war just goes to show you how stupid Damn Yankees are!" (Yes, that's an Aggie Joke.)
"Traveled thru Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Dist. of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York"
"Hitched all alone!"
"6 days for a round trip!"
Kyle had accomplished his mission with skill and efficiency. And his hitchhiking sign made a heck of a souvenir.

One of my uncles was on the USS Indianapolis during all of its combat engagements, including the bombardment of Iwo Jima. I have a WW2 book where he wrote a chapter. He was a fire control specialist and through his binoculars as he was watching the island, he saw the US flag being raised on the island.

Yes he was aboard when it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes. Yes he survived. He passed in 2022.

muleshoe said:

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Wanted to share…..


https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/iwo

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For those of you who have not been, if you're in or around Fredericksburg, this museum is legit.

I was stationed in Okinawa 94-95 and had the honor to escort a MOH winner and his family to all of the battle sites for the 50th Commemoration of WWII. It was the highlights of my 4 years in the Marines. From Sugar Loaf Hill to Suicide Cliffs, we walked these sites with these badasses. While I have many great stories from these guys, the Iwo Jima tour was surreal.

After EOD took a year to take out over 2 tons of live munitions, and even discovered a Japanese medical cave that had been colapsed, the Island was cleared for the vets to fly over on a C130. Before we flew out there, a few of us were voluntold that we were going to be Color Guard for the event on top of Mt. Sirabachi.

The island is tiny and we landed on the runway that basically covered most of the island. It was a somber walk from the plain to the beach head where they had landed 50 years prior. The "Meatgrinder".

As we started to walk up the ridgeline from the beach to the trailhead towards Mt. Sirabachi - I heard a vet point to over and say; "That's where we lost Basilone." It was a moment that stuck out to me and I remember it to this day. Those guys remembered every square inch of that place and I guarantee that he pointed exactly where Bailone had fallen.

When we got to the top of Mt Sirabachi, they had built out 3 different monuments. The Japanese had built one for the Kamakaze pilots. There was another for the Japanese that had died on the island. The last was our monument that was located where the flag was raised.

I was the senior NCO of the Color Guard and we did our flag raising ceremony before the Commandant's presentation. I even got to keep the flag. (Well, I ended up with it) We spent the next hour raising flags for the vets that and folding them and presenting them to them as gifts.

I have a ton of stories from that week, but Iwo Jima was an amazing experience.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Semper Fi

Gunny456 said:

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My dad had a deputy that was on the Indianapolis during that same time. He had a very large picture of it in his office that listed all the names of the men on her at that time.
He has long since passed as well. Hope his kids kept the picture as it was awesome.

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My uncle was the last survivor from Texas and one of the last 2 survivors overall. I went to one of their reunions with him a few years ago. Amazing experience. I met the granddaughter of the Japanese Sub commander that sunk the Indy

Gunny456 said:

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I'll 2nd Yesterday's reply!
Thank you.

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I have some photos somewhere in the attic. I'll try to dig em up if you're interested in seeing them.