Iwo Jima

"8 Square Miles Of Hell"

Here's to the men, who waded in, toward "8 Square Miles Of Hell!"
The men who had a task to do, there midst the shot and shell.
They'd won the honor to attack, this island--low but dry,
To madly charge from loaded barge, thereon to fight and die.

Here's to the men who never stood, on Iwo's strangling sand,
The men whose lives were quickly sold, before they reached the land.
Theirs was the lot to lead the fight; they knew the dangers well
, They tasted death there on the fringe, of "8 Square Miles Of Hell."

Here's to the men who leaped ashore, as though it were a race,
To be the first to get in line, to meet death face to face.
They did not falter on the course, until in death they fell.
To give their all....was the call, on "8 Square Miles Of Hell."

Here's to the men who, later on, took Hill 382,
They and their comrades carried on, when fallen ones were through,
Until in turn their numbers came, with shot and mortar shell,
They dropped like flies in dust to die, on "8 Square Miles Of Hell."

Here's to the men who saw it through; the ones who didn't fall,
To never rise and fight again, in answer to the call.
Here's to the few who raised the flag, who lived the tale to tell,
The men who've earned a quick return, from "8 Square Miles Of Hell."

Here's to them all, alive and dead; it matters not the name,
In taking Iwo from the Japs, they stormed our Hall of Fame.
Their deeds of valor made them great; what else is there to tell,
Of men who fought and lived and died, on "8 Square Miles Of Hell."

TSgt. M. K.Nowell


That Flag On Suribachi!
"...and the flag was up.

Six men raised it:
1st Lt. Harold G.Schrier
Platoon Sergeant Ernest I. Thomas Jr
Sergeant Henry O. Hansen
Corporal Charles W. Lindberg
Private First Class James R. Michels
and the Crow Indian, Private Charlo.

This was the flag raising on Iwo Jima that thrilled the troops.
The one that thrilled the world was still to come, nearly two hours later."

"On the sandy terrace below, tired men wept in their foxholes, unshaven men on the beaches thumped each other on the back and shouted. Across the ships, whistles, horns, and bells rang out."

"And near the base of Suribachi, a few feet from the surf, a man said, 'This means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.' He looked like any other Marine, but he was Secretary of the Navy Forrestal. Chance placed him on the beach just as the flag went up..."


From The Book, Iwo Jima
by Richard F. Newcomb, 1965
Holt, RhineHart & Winston






USS Iwo Jima - LHD 7




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