A Marine Remembers.....And Is Now Remembered

[ski3pin]

An old Marine rode with his daughter in her car as she brought the 92 year old man back up the hill from a doctor's appointment this afternoon. He was remembering. He mentioned that this coming Sunday was Easter and that it fell on April 1st. The same date for Easter Sunday 73 years ago. The day he drove an amphibious tractor up onto the beaches of Okinawa and he and his fellow Marines fought their way on shore. It was his fifth major beach head landing in the Pacific in World War Two. Fifty nine days later my father in law turned twenty years old.

How many of us remembered?


edit: I typed the above note on March 27th after Julie relayed the story to me. Now the sad update -

This turned out to be the last story he shared with his daughter. The old Marine passed away Easter morning on the 73rd anniversary of that great last battle in the Pacific. Semper Fi, sir.

 

[BILL98388]

I salute your father-in-law for his brave service to our Nation.
Bill
(USN 1969-1975)

 

[ntsqd]

I don't think that I ever knew the date of Okinawa. Now I do and am not likely to forget it.

Thank your father in law for his service, please?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

A great big Semper Fi to Ed. Please give him my best. The war in the Pacific was brutal and dehumanizing, but brave young men like your father-in-law answered the call and did their duty. Truly the greatest generation.

 

[Bseek]

Brought tears to my eyes. Thank him so much for his bravery and dedication to his country. I owe my freedom to him and so many others who didn't make it.

 

[Missing Link]

Please thank him for the sacrifices that he and his comrades made to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy today. How is he doing, health-wise? hope he is in full recovery mode.

 

[cwdtmmrs]

Wow. What a sobering story. We (I do) forget. I don't think I ever knew that date, just Dday. I won't forget now.

cwd

 

[Bigfoot Dave]

Thank you Ski! I think of and honor those men and women almost every day. Not only did they win the war but they returned home and made the USA what it is. They were the Greatest Generation! I worry about tomorrow.......

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Thanks for posting Ski. Indeed the greatest generation.

“The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.”
― Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for all the posts. Ski it's great that your FIL will talk about his stories.
Back in 02 while visiting my dad one of the last times,we talked about his war times but very little.
A lot of the servicemen just didn't want to talk about their "job". They had a duty and didn't think about it any other way.
He was in Italy just after the Anizo landing and was in a "mop up" crew.
He was wounded in the back then came back to the stats and then off to the South Pacific just before the "big bomb" drop.

TuffGuy who is Eugene Sledge? We have a very close friend who's father was at Peleliu but while we visited him many times he just didn't talk about it much.When asked,"it was my job"and that was that.

We owe our whole country to the "greatest generation". They need to be remembered,and taken care of,as also the vets of the present.
Frank. USN Navy 1963/1967,USS Ranger CVA 61 " The galloping ghost of the Vietnam coast"

PS I just checked out the book he wrote.
Thanks for posting this.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Thanks for posting Ski. Indeed the greatest generation.

“The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.”
― Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

One of my favorite books. Another is Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis.

Edit: Stephen Ambrose’s “Band of Brothers” and Farley Mowat’s “And No Birds Sang” are two more from the 2nd WW.

Karl Marlantes “The Matterhorn” is a look at the Vietnam war that makes one thankful to have not experienced a grunt’s life. He also wrote “What It’s Like To Go To War”.

 

[Vic Harder]

This is a topic I care about... the cost of military service and the difficulties in re-integrating after deployment. My fave book on the topic is by Ed Tick, War and the Soul.

Respect.

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Thanks for all the posts. Ski it's great that your FIL will talk about his stories.
Back in 02 while visiting my dad one of the last times,we talked about his war times but very little.
A lot of the servicemen just didn't want to talk about their "job". They had a duty and didn't think about it any other way.
He was in Italy just after the Anizo landing and was in a "mop up" crew.
He was wounded in the back then came back to the stats and then off to the South Pacific just before the "big bomb" drop.

TuffGuy who is Eugene Sledge? We have a very close friend who's father was at Peleliu but while we visited him many times he just didn't talk about it much.When asked,"it was my job"and that was that.

We owe our whole country to the "greatest generation". They need to be remembered,and taken care of,as also the vets of the present.
Frank. USN Navy 1963/1967,USS Ranger CVA 61 " The galloping ghost of the Vietnam coast"

PS I just checked out the book he wrote.
Thanks for posting this.

Here's Eugene Sledge's Wikipedia Bio

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Frank, Eugene Sledge was a Marine who made the landings on both Peleliu and Okinawa. His book “With the Old Breed...” is one of the better descriptions of the Pacific War. It along with Robert Lackey’s “Helmet For My Pillow” were primary sources for the movie The Pacific. Peleliu and Okinawa were arguably the two most brutal campaigns of the entire war. Ironically, many believe that Peleliu was unneeded, and could simply have been bypassed and taken at a latter date. Pick up both books, it’s sobering to read what these folks went through.

Thanks for all the posts. Ski it's great that your FIL will talk about his stories.
Back in 02 while visiting my dad one of the last times,we talked about his war times but very little.
A lot of the servicemen just didn't want to talk about their "job". They had a duty and didn't think about it any other way.
He was in Italy just after the Anizo landing and was in a "mop up" crew.
He was wounded in the back then came back to the stats and then off to the South Pacific just before the "big bomb" drop.

TuffGuy who is Eugene Sledge? We have a very close friend who's father was at Peleliu but while we visited him many times he just didn't talk about it much.When asked,"it was my job"and that was that.

We owe our whole country to the "greatest generation". They need to be remembered,and taken care of,as also the vets of the present.
Frank. USN Navy 1963/1967,USS Ranger CVA 61 " The galloping ghost of the Vietnam coast"

PS I just checked out the book he wrote.
Thanks for posting this.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks Brian and Steve for the update.
Frank

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello Ski and to all y'all
Thanks for sharing moments in your life, and memories. Those are precious not to be taken lightly. I for one may not rember all the dates of events in our collective history. I do however always remember i owe thanks to someone s father mother brother son daughter, or person who came before me and sacrificed something for the future generations (us). I feel I am spoiled and have never known such sacrifices and know it. When an elderly man sporting a ball cap with military info, its like a window into their life. Eye contact, a gentle smile and hello, seem so odd for what their gift has afforded so many. God bless America, God bless us all.

Russ

 

[PackRat]

I too thank your FIL and all veterans....their service and sacrifices make democracy possible.
Semper Fi to him from me...!

 

[Foy]

Ski's father-in-law's remembrances and Sledge's book, twice read cover-to-cover by me, make me recall what is said about recruiting and training service members: The reason 17-19 year-olds are recruited is that older individuals are far less likely to take to the training and almost totally unlikely to do what they're told to do in combat. What Ski's FIL, Eugene Sledge, and so many others have gone through is almost incomprehensible to me. I never served, having turned 18 about 6 months after the Paris peace treaty was signed in 1973. But I have a son and two nephews who are combat veterans of the Iraq and Afganistan operations and I'm in awe of each of them.

I recall from Ski's earlier posts that his FIL telephones him each 10 November at 0500 to sing the Marines Hymn opening bars. Once a Marine, always a Marine!

Semper Fi, kind sir!

Foy

 

[GroovyDad]

That's a great story Ski!

 

[ski3pin]

This turned out to be the last story he shared with his daughter. The old Marine passed away this morning on the 73rd anniversary of that great last battle in the Pacific.