Remembering the Marines at Iwo Jima

Today is the 66^th anniversary of the invasion of the sea mount of Iwo Jima.

Let us not forget what those brave men did there.

Members of the 1st Battalion 23rd Marines burrow in the volcanic sand on the beach of Iwo Jima, as their comrades unload supplies and equipment from landing vessels despite the heavy rain of artillery fire from enemy positions in the background.

Of the 3,400 coming ashore with the 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division, only 600 were standing when the battle closed.

Iwo Jima was the only Marine battle where the American casualties, 26,000, exceeded the Japanese -- most of the 22,000 defending the island. The 6,800 American servicemen killed doubled the deaths of the Twin-Towers of 9/11.

Iwo Jima is a small speck in the Pacific; it is 4.5 miles long and at its broadest point 2.5 miles wide. Iwo is the Japanese word for sulfur, and the island is indeed full of sulfur. Yellow sulfuric mist routinely rises from cracks of earth, and the island distinctly smells like rotten eggs.

There are six Flag Raisers in the photo. Four in the front line and two in back.  The front four are (left to right) Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley and Harlon Block.  The back two are Michael Strank (behind Sousley) and Rene Gagnon (behind Bradley).  Strank, Block and Sousley would die shortly afterwards. Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon became national heroes within weeks.

The Stars and Stripes over Mount Suribachi after the flag raising.

16 January 2003 -- F-14 Tomcats assigned to the Black Knights of Fighter Squadron One Five Four (VF-154) fly by the memorial on Mt. Elkhart on Iwo Jima Island. The memorial is to the flag raising during Battle of Iwo Jima on top of Mt. Suribachi. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. William F. Evans.

The memorial reads:

"Among the Americans who served on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." — Nimitz. Dedicated to those who fought here by the Island Command AGF. Erected by the 31st USNCB. Old Glory was raised on this site 23 February 1945 by members of the Second Battalion, 28th Regiment, Fifth Marine Division.

There is a second memorial atop Mount Suribachi in homage to the Marines and Navy corpsmen killed on the island of Iwo Jima . More Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Iwo Jima than in any other battle in U.S. history. In 36 days of fighting, there were 25,851 U.S. casualties – 6,825 killed. Virtually all 22,000 Japanese perished.

From Wikipedia:

The Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19 – March 26, 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S. invasion, charged with the mission of capturing the three airfields on Iwo Jima, resulted in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War II.

The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a vast network of bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels.  The Americans were covered by extensive naval and air support, capable of putting an enormous amount of firepower onto the Japanese positions. The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands, and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Iwo Jima was also the only U.S. Marine battle where the American overall casualties exceeded the Japanese,[5] although Japanese combat deaths numbered three times that of Americans. Of the more than 18,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner.[1] The rest were killed or missing and assumed dead.  Despite heavy fighting and casualties on both sides, Japanese defeat was assured from the start. The Americans possessed an overwhelming superiority in arms and numbers—this, coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement, ensured that there was no plausible scenario in which the United States could have lost the battle.

The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five Marines and one Navy Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. The picture became the iconic image of the battle and has been heavily reproduced.

The Iwo Jima Memorial, also known as the U. S. Marine Corps War Memorial, honors the Marines who have died defending the United States since 1775. The Iwo Jima Memorial is located near Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC.

The 32-foot-high sculpture of the Iwo Jima Memorial was inspired by a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of one of the most historic battles of World War II. Iwo Jima, a small island located 660 miles south of Tokyo, was the last territory that U.S. troops recaptured from the Japanese during World War II. The Iwo Jima Memorial statue depicts the scene of the flag raising by five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman that signaled the successful takeover of the island. The capture of Iwo Jima eventually led to the end of the war in 1945.

The figures of the Marines in the Iwo Jima Memorial statue erect a 60-foot bronze flagpole from which a cloth flag flies 24 hours a day. The base of the memorial is made of rough Swedish granite which is inscribed with the names and dates of every principal member of the U. S. Marine Corps. Also engraved are the words "In honor and in memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since November 10, 1775."

So you think you know what’s going on in Afghanistan…

Read this.  I know it’s long, just read it…

- Free Range International - http://freerangeinternational.com/blog -

Healing Ulcer

Posted By babatim On November 14, 2010 @ 12:44 pm In Afghanistan

After only 90 days of fighting to root out the Taliban of a place they have owned for over a decade, Gen McChrystal called Marjah a bleeding ulcer ^[1]. That was an unbelievably stupid assessment given the nature of the enemy, the rules of engagement placed on the Marines by the General, and the paltry amount of time the Marines had invested in the fight.  Marjah is still being called “the most dangerous place in Afghanistan” ^[2] by embedded media which is, in my professional opinion, not true.  I’ve just returned from a three day trip into Marjah after being lucky enough to catch a ride with the CO of Regimental Combat Team 1, Col Dave Furness who was taking a road trip to visit his battalions in the field.  There is too much information from that trip to post in one sitting so the first dispatch from the trip will cover Marjah.  The other things I saw, like Senators McCain, Lieberman, Graham and Gillibrand in the Nawa District Center will have to wait.

The CO of 2/6, LtCol Kyle Ellison with his boss Col Dave Furness talking to local shop owners in the Marjah Bazaar during his Friday morning walk about. Note the lack of body armor and helmets

Counterinsurgency takes a lot of two things, boots on the ground and time.  The Marines have been at this task for nine months and they are winning.  But it is not easy, it is not cheap in the only currency we care about which is the blood of fellow Marines.  The only persistent bitching I heard from Marine commanders concerned their ability to rapidly employ the most potent tool in their arsenal – money.  They feel if they are the ones doing the clearing they should be doing the holding too and able to directly finance the projects they nominate.  I have a lot to say about that myself but being in the reconstruction business I’m going to (this may be a first) shut up and let that sleeping dog lie for now.  The best way to relate the current state of play in Marjah is with lots of pictures and a little bit of story telling.

The first stop in Marjah was COP Shanfield which is named after one of the squad leaders from 2nd platoon Echo 2/6 who was killed in action nearby. This is the COC which monitors the squad sized patrols that are pushed out of this small base 24/7.

We entered Marjah on the afternoon of 11 November heading directly to one of the dozens of platoon combat outposts (COP’s) which dot the Marjah area.  We were heading for an important ceremony but not one we would wish on anyone else.  As I have said many times before war means fighting and fighting means killing.  Unfortunately the killing part of warfare cuts both ways and when the Americans lose a Marine his fellow Marines host a memorial service.  This is a painful yet important ritual designed to not just to honor the dead but also assist the living in dealing with the loss of comrades they knew intimately and loved deeply.  That is the dynamic of infantry – you know your fellow Marine better than anyone else in the world knows him  You may not always like every member of your platoon but you love all of them.  And there is not doubt in the mind of an infantry Marine that the men he is with will instantly and willingly take suicidal risks to help him if he is in trouble.  Memorials are tough and this one was especially tough for the very tight 2nd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion 6th Marines because they were saying goodbye to their leader.

1stLt James R. Zimmerman of Aroostock, Maine was killed in action on the 2nd of November 2010. He is survived by his parents and his wife Lynel.

The universal sign of a tight platoon is how the junior Marines feel about their leader. Here a young corporal in a filthy uniform with a field haircut gathers himself to deliver a tremendous tribute to his former boss. It was an obvious emotional strain for him which is, of course, the norm for these services but it said a lot about just how good Lt Zimmerman was at leading Marines

The firing detail

There is nothing easy about being an infantryman in combat

This was my first visit to a Marine COP and I wished it had been for another purpose.  Marjah is rapidly healing but that doesn’t mean the Talbian has given up and slinked off to some other area in the Helmand.  Marjah was place where they all ran after getting their asses kicked out of every significant town from Naw Zad in the north to Khanishin in the south and there is very little maneuver room left for the Taliban in Helmand Province.

The 2nd Battalion 6th Marines is currently responsible for the southern, central and some of the northern portions of Marjah which is actually a series of villages organized around a gigantic grid of canals which were built by US AID back in the 60’s.  They are expanding their control block by block by spreading their Marines out into platoon and squad size outposts from which Marines foot patrol constantly.  The villains still offer battle but only on their terms which means they will fire on a patrol only when they have set up IED’s between their positions and the Marines.  When the Marines came back to Afghanistan in 2008 the Taliban had forgotten that they were not like other infantry.  The Marines maneuver when fired upon closing with and destroying those stupid enough to take them on.  After getting mauled time and again the Taliban learned to use small arms fire to augment IED blasts in an attempt to lure aggressive Marines into mine fields full of more improvised explosive devices.  Now the Marines maneuver to fix and then swarm with other units coming in from a different direction or with precision fire from drones.  To facilitate this they establish multiple small postions – partrol from them constantly and then push out to establish more small bases once the area they are working comes under their control.

Every Friday the 2/6 CO goes for a tour of the central bazaar. When he started he could make it from his outpost to the ANP post on the far side in 20 minutes. These days he can't make it that far due to the crowds of Afghans who want to stop and tell him two things; 1. they appreciate the Marines and what they have done and 2. Please don't leave and let the Taliban come back.

The CO has not gotten far when more residents stop to chat

The crowds continue to grow and note how relaxed everyone is in a bazaar where this past summer we were dropping 2000 pound JDAMs

The Marines took the funds from the "Interim Security for Critical Infrastructure" and stood up armed neighborhood watch groups organized by blocks. The ISCI program was apparently designed to allow commanders to hire local "security contractors" for guarding critical infrastructure which is stupid. The Marines view the people as the most "critical infrastructre" they have in their AO so they spend those program funds on armed security of the people by the people. On blocks with ISCI guards ( identified by the arm bands) there are no Taliban. As this car load was heading backing home they got a stern reminder from LtCol Ellison "remember fellas if you are not on your block the weapons stay in the cars right?"

On the way back to base LtCol Ellison stops to present a battalion coin to an Afghan policeman telling him he earned it by always being at his post with his weapon and controlling his intersection like a professional which the Marines find "motivating". This is counterinsurgency 101 in action where small acts of recognition provide huge amounts of motivation

After the bazaar tour it was time for another memorial this one for Staff Sergeant Jordan B Emrick, an EOD technician who gave his full measure while working with a platoon patrol. The Platoon commander who was on point thought he saw something in the ground and SSGT Emrick stepped up to assess what the Lt had spotted. It was a command detonated mine which detonated as SSGT Emrick squatted to get a good look at it.

The afternoon started with a "strong man" show at the local school. Both Inchon 6 and Spartan 6 were invited by the District Governor. In this photo the Sergeants Major from RCT 1 and 2/6 are getting the kids pumped up before the big show.

Waiting for the Parwan performance

The ANP arrive with the District Governor

The show starts with forms from both father and son

Then some father and son brick breaking on a bed on nails

More bed of nails work

The show concluded with the classic "run over the Parwan with a tractor load of police" trick

That evening we were invited to a dinner in the newly opened restaurant by the District Governor so we headed downtown again on foot.

Some of the elders from blocks which have recently been cleared also attened the meal - they were there to ask for permission to stand up ISCI teams in their blocks which comes from the District Governors office

The Marine leaders make it a point to travel into Marjah "slick" which means without body armor and helmets as a show of confidence in local security conditions. But they're not stupid and a fully armed security detail travels with them. A dinner like this attracts things like suicide bombers but there is no way any unknown person would get through the layers of security and into the restaurant. They certainly would have never gotten past these two devil dogs.

Marjah is no longer the most dangerous place in Afghanistan.  That distinction belongs to Sangin where Col Paul Kennedy is leading the 2nd Regimental Combat Team is a very stiff fight to secure the population of that area.  The Marines way of conducting the counterinsurgency fight has caused some friction with our allies ^[3] who think they are too aggressive.  They are, without question, the most aggressive fighters in Afghanistan but they are also proving to be the most adept at holding the ground they have cleared.  The battalion which proceeded 2/6 in downtown Marjah, the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines had a 90/10 IED find rate.  Only 10% of the IED’s targeting them detonated and the others were either detected by the Marines or (in a vast majority of the time) were pointed out to the Marines by the local population.

Colonel Furness told me there was a Corporal in 3/1 (deployed in the South around Khanishin) who had an uncanny ability to spot IED’s.  His squad wanted him on point every day.  49 times there were IED’s placed to target them and 49 times this Corporal found them first.  Know what you get when you find mines targeting your squad 49 times in a row?  Probably a lot of love and respect from your fellow Marines but you don’t get a combat action ribbon because when you find the mines every time the villains don’t shoot.  Mine blasts are used as the signal to attack with small arms and the Taliban are not known for their ability to contingency plan so when the mine doesn’t blow they slink off.   Imagine that; seven months of constant patrols in a kinetic environment but because you are so good at spotting mines you don’t get to wear the coveted combat action ribbon.  Col Furness isn’t a big fan of that order but it is an order so as 3/1 was leaving he showed up at a company formation and meritoriously promoted the kid to Sergeant.  ”It was the least I could do – the kid deserved a hell of lot more… I wish I had 100 more just like him.”

Here is another story you don’t hear every day.  Today one of the squad patrols from 2/6 was stopped by a local man who wanted to turn in his son for being Taliban.  He had told the kid over and over he did not want him fighting for the Taliban who he believes to be immoral and unislamic.  The father and one of his other sons went to the district center and to have their statements video tapped and his son is now in custody.

Counterinsurgency takes time and it is not cheap for the men and women doing the fighting.  The question is not if we can prevail but will we be allowed to do what it takes to prevail and that question can only be answered by our Commander in Chief.  The President can only “vote present” on Afghanistan for so long.  He needs to tell the American people and our allies what we are trying to accomplish in order to define an endstate.   The “July 2011 draw down” of forces is not a plan or an endstate or even a good idea.  It is an abdication of leadership for a meaningless date which is predicated on nothing more than political calculation.   Our president is rumored to be a very smart man.  It is time for him to prove it.

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Article printed from Free Range International: http://freerangeinternational.com/blog

URL to article: http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=3734

URLs in this post:

[1] Marjah a bleeding ulcer: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/24/94740/mcchrystal-calls-marjah-a-bleeding.html

[2] the most dangerous place in Afghanistan”: http://www.katu.com/news/local/107051228.html

[3] some friction with our allies: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090306195.html

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Copyright © 2009 Free Range International. All rights reserved.

Happy Birthday, Marines

In order to wish our beloved Marine Corps "happy birthday," I thought we could honor our friends by posting our favorite Marine Corps  quote. To start:

"Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference.
The Marines don't have that problem."

- Ronald Reagan

The Commandant's message remembers all Marines, but focuses special attention on the Marine who fought in Korea. 

 

The Battle of Iwo Jima: 65 Aears Ago

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Today marks the 65th anniversary of the celebrated flag-raising atop Mt. Surabachi on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, an image emblazoned in the psyche of the American people. As members of America’s Greatest Generation who forged that mental image dwindle from our ranks and leave us with only a fading legacy of their selfless sacrifice on that tiny island so long ago, we must commit ourselves to forever honoring their service and example.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a turning point in the Pacific Campaign. It was the first time in Japan’s 5,000 year history that foreign invaders had prevailed on Japanese soil. Located midway between bomber bases on the Mariana Islands and mainland Japan, securing Iwo Jima was pivotal to the American war effort, providing the U.S. a strategic site from which it could launch smaller escort aircraft to support the long range bombing missions. The battle lasted just 36 days, but the fighting proved tenacious and unrelenting. Lieutenant General Holland “Howling Mad” Smith presciently predicted,

This will be the bloodiest fight in Marine Corps history. We’ll catch seven kinds of hell on the beaches, and that will just be the beginning. The fighting will be fierce and the casualties will be awful, but my Marines will take the damned island.

And he was right. American forces did capture the island, but not without cost. Nineteen thousand Marines were killed in 43 months of fighting during World War II. Nearly one-third of them died on Iwo Jima, making it the bloodiest battle of World War II. Among the casualties of this horrific conflict were three of the six flag raisers that captured worldwide attention. It was also the most heroic battle of the war. Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded in recognition of Conspicuous Gallantry Above and Beyond the Call of Duty prompting Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz to observe, “Among the Americans who served on Iwo Jima, Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue.”

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a strategic and psychological victory for America. Today, the iconic flag-raising during that epic battle is immortalized in a bronze statue situated atop Arlington Ridge overlooking the nation’s capital. It serves to remind all Americans of their precious inheritance of freedom and the noble men and women who sacrificed beyond measure to bequeath it to them. Perhaps Karal Ann Marling, Professor of Art History and co-author of Iwo Jima: Monuments, Memories and the American Hero described it best when she observed,

“…the Marine Corps Memorial stands proudly as the last great vestige of monumental realism in American sculpture - big, commanding, more real than reality.”

It is incumbent upon us as worthy successors to these great Americans to preserve the monument that stands as a testament to their fortitude.


Inscribed outside the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on the island of Iwo Jima were the simple words:

When you go home

Tell them for us and say

For your tomorrow

We gave our today.


Hattip to: James Donovan, Founder / Executive Director, Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation

The Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation is dedicated to honoring that simple, yet poignant request and preserving the monument that both honors the contributions of these great Americans and acknowledges their historic achievement.