70th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima

and

I've been watching The Pacific and other WWII movies/documentaries the past few weeks. Amazing what those Marines went through over there.

Rah!

Semper Fi!

And thanks.

Never forget

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Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski (April 8, 1926 – March 4–7, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps private who was captured and killed by the Japanese in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The circumstances of this personally involved one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers, John Bradley.

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Ignatowski's death is also mentioned in the book Flags of Our Fathers, coauthored by the son of flag raiser John Bradley. The following are his recollections of Ignatowski's death:

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"I have tried so hard to block this out. To forget it. We could choose a buddy to go in with. My buddy was a guy from Milwaukee. We were pinned down in one area. Someone elsewhere fell injured and I ran to help out, and when I came back my buddy was gone. I couldn’t figure out where he was. I could see all around, but he wasn’t there. And nobody knew where he was.
A few days later someone yelled that they’d found him. They called me over because I was a corpsman. The Japanese had pulled him underground and tortured him. His fingernails... his tongue... It was terrible. I’ve tried hard to forget all this."
Many years later, in researching my father’s life, I asked Cliff Langley, Doc’s co-corpsman, about the discovery of Iggy’s body. Langley told me it looked to him as though Ralph Ignatowski had endured just about every variety of physical cruelty imaginable.
"Both his arms were fractured," Langley said. "They just hung there, there like arms on a broken doll. He had been bayoneted repeatedly. The back of his head had been smashed in."

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Other eyewitness reports further indicated that Ignatowski had been tortured in the cave by the Japanese for three days, during which time they also cut out his eyes, cut off his ears, smashed in his teeth, and cut off his genitalia

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Semper Fi!

My Dad's life was saved when he was drafted and the Navy recruiter took him away from the Marine recruiter because my Dad had tried to enlist in the Navy but was rejected for flat feet (then drafted a month later). Navy wanted him because he knew a lot about electronics (Grandpa was an EE). He was to serve in the Pacific theater, so as a Marine, his odds wouldn't have been good. Turns out he picked up on the radar, sonar and other ships' electronics so well that they made him an instructor and he served his tour stateside. My Uncle wasn't so lucky-was an officer in the European theatre and in the heart of some of the worst battles in Germany.

For those with Dad's, Uncle's, Grandpa's, whatever, that served in WWII, do yourself a favor and go spend a day with them at the WW II Museum while you can. Took my Dad and my two son's on Father's Day this year, and it was very powerful. The pride and admiration for our service men and women you will feel seeing it through one of their eyes will be one of the most powerful emotions you will ever feel.