REMEMBERING THE USMC AT IWO JIMA

MEMORIAL DAY, 2014

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by Robert Stebbins, USMC, guest writer

       I was on Iwo Jima on maneuvers nine years after the World War II landing, which began on February 19, 1945.  After the cease fire in the so-called "Forgotten War" in Korea in June of 1953, the Marine Corps began to rotate the First Marine Division out of Korea and back to the United States.  The Third Marine Division was sent from Camp Pendleton, California, to Japan by ship.  We were supposed to spend seven months in Japan and another seven months in Korea, filling in the vacancies left by the departure of the First Marine Division.  I had almost completed my seven months in Japan, but had to return to the United States on emergency leave due to my father's illness.  But, that is another story.

      To commemorate the original World War II landing, the Marine Corps in February of 1954 decided we would have an exercise on Iwo Jima.  We drove from North Camp Fuji to Numazu beach, where we loaded ship for the four day journey to Iwo Jima.  My company embarked on a flat-bottomed World War II  Landing Ship Tank (LST).  If you have never ridden through the tail end of a typhoon in such a vessel, you have missed an experience.  We shook, rattled, and rolled for a couple of days.  In addition, the ship was captained by a very senior naval officer, but had a newly-graduated ROTC ensign fresh out of university and officer's training serving as the ship's engineering officer.  He was responsible to ensure that everything mechanical on the ship worked.

During the voyage accompanied by numerous other ships, our evaporators. which made fresh water, stopped working.  And, while the rest of the convoy was laying down a smoke screen, our smoke machine malfunctioned.  As there was a radio blackout, the other ships were signaling to our ship by flag, inquiring as to the problem, and apparently chiding the ship's captain, who by this time was furious.  He told the engineering officer that he should not appear again at the officer's mess to eat until we had water and smoke.  After a couple of days, the engineering officer eventually produced both smoke and water just before we landed on the beach at Iwo.  I don't know if the ensign lost any weight, but our Marines had a lot of fun joking about the difficulties that our sister service was having in transporting us to Iwo.

        Traveling by troopship was not like traveling on a Carnival Cruise although some might have likened it to a circus.  Berthing areas for the troops were crowded.  The bunks were stacked five high with approximately sixteen inches between each bunk, which consisted of a piece of canvas suspended by rope inside a pipe frame.  There was no air conditioning, but even in the tropics you only needed one "cruise" to learn to try to get the top bunk.  It may have been hotter up there, but nothing got dropped on you.  And, believe me, being on top is much better than being below a seasick Marine.  Even Marines from the "Old Corps" were sometimes subject to a queasy stomach.

      We played war games for a couple of days and were then told that we had won.  So, we had a day or so to relax before the voyage back to Japan, and I had the opportunity to explore the island a little and also to climb Mt. Suribachi.  There was a path to the top, but it was steep and rocky.  On the way up, it was easy to spot entrances to old caves, and scrap concrete and rusty steel fortifications from the battle.

  Once on top, I could see the extinct volcano on the south end of the island, and also see both beaches the whole way to the northern tip of Iwo.  My first and indelible impression was, "how in the world did those Marines ever take this island?" From the top of Suribachi, the Japanese could clearly see the relatively wide volcanic ash beaches that lined the east and west sides of the island.  And, the ash provided no place to hide.  It was impossible to dig into it.  This was long before the days of Kevlar vests and other body protection that are available today.  The only thing between a Marine and a Japanese bullet was a steel helmet and a thin cotton utility uniform.  No fox holes for those Marines.  The Japanese on Suribachi could look right down the Marines' throats. 

  The odor of sulphur was still pretty strong, and we were able to bury our canned C-rations under the warm ash to heat them before we ate them.  Believe me, every Marine whose boondockers hit that beach in 1945, and every sailor who was a coxswain driving those Higgins boats delivering those Marines to the beach were truly heroes.

     The trip back to Japan was uneventful.  However, I still have a couple of photographs that I took from the top of Mt. Suribachi.  They don't compare with the original Rosenthal photograph, but one is of the small monument on top.  Since I was there, a larger Marine monument has been erected.  The other photo is a view looking down the black ash beaches where so many Marines lost their lives.

       I was in boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego for nine weeks in early 1952.  If I remember correctly we got paid about $38.00 or $39.00 every two weeks.  On at least two occasions while we stood in line to be paid, our drill instructors "offered us the opportunity" to contribute to a fund being collected to construct an Iwo Jima statue.  Drill Instructors never had to explain anything to a recruit.  Their suggestions were always sufficient to elicit a positive response.  I can't recall how much I contributed, but at least a few dollars of mine are in the Iwo Jima Memorial which now stands in Arlington, Virginia.  I couldn't be prouder.  Hopefully, it will be there forever.  God bless those men and may they never be forgotten. 

1.  Iwo Jima Memorial   2.  (on right)  Marines and US flag atop Mt. Suribachi
3.  Stars and stripes on Mt. Suribachi   4.  Original volcanic ash assault beach

Sgt. Robert Stebbins atop Mt. Suribachi, 1954

for Mil's Place, 

Robert Stebbins, class of '51, CHS