November 26, 20214 yr Hey Noel - Being in the Corps. I'm sure you know about a guy named Ira Hayes (1923-1955). And I also know you're an old-time movie fan. I just watched (for the Nth time) a movie called "The Outsider". Made in 1961, it "sort of" tells the story of this famous Marine. Lots of things in the movie are just for dramatic effect but all-in-all it's not bad. You can download/watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH_5gPaHCuk . Back in the early 1970's I worked with Ira's uncle. And what a great experience that was. Forget the movie. He was the "real expert" when it comes to the Ira Hayes story. He said that he always believed that the thing which contributed most to Ira's problems and untimely death after the war was the flag raising on Iwo Jima. Almost no one at the time knew that the famous picture taken that day was of the second flag raising when the first flag was replaced with a larger one. Ira wasn't there for the first, just the second. He felt is was essentially nothing more than a photo-op and that all the recognition he received wasn't deserved. I feel really lucky to have been a friend of a part of the Hayes family. And to have learned so much about the "real" Ira Hayes story. Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.
November 26, 20214 yr Yeah, I know the Ira Hayes Story. It's sad. Not only did he feel he wasn't deserving of the attention but he didn't know how to handle it either. I think it was a news photographer named Rosenthal who requested a second flag raising, which I believe was posed, so he could get it for his newspaper. Nobody knew at the time how iconic it would become; even to become a statue in Washington. I was eating dinner across from and old man and his son on an Amtrack train some years ago. The old man was a Marine who had been on Iwo Jima. He had some stories to tell. His son had accompanied his to a reunion in San Francisco. In fact his son had to take care of him. Those old timers are gone now and we are the old timers who will gone soon. I hope they remember on this forum. Have you ever read Guadalcanal Diary? There is an episode where some Marines trapped on a beach by the Japanese and one of the guys had to swim back to the main camp to get reinforcements. He was bleeding badly from his chest where he had scraped coral on the swim. He was a gunnery sergeant in my company when I was stationed in Japan. His chest was still a mass of scar tissue. He was a Medal of Honor recipient. We had a change of command ceremony one morning and he was standing in front of our platoon. When the new commander, a captain, came up to him the gunny didn't salute. He said, "Don't you recognize and officer when you see one gunny?" To which the gunny replied, "Don't you recognize the medal of honor when you see one captain?" To which the captain rendered a sharp salute and said, "Ya got me gunny." Some day I'll tell you about how I caught the clap right after we arrived at Camp Fuji and before anyone was allowed out on liberty. Noel Edited November 26, 20214 yr by birdguy The tires are worn. The shocks are shot. The steering is wobbly. But the engine still runs fine.
November 26, 20214 yr Author Sure. I've read Guadalcanal Diary. The first time I was probably 9-10 years old. I read it way back then because I never knew my father. He was one of the guys who never returned from there. He was killed a month before I was born. My fondest possession is a two dollar bill he carried with him that day. I can't wait to hear about your adventure at Camp Fuji.........Doug Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.
November 27, 20214 yr Sorry to hear about your Dad Doug. It happens in every war. We had taken the train from the ship in Yokohama to Camp Fuji. Camp Fuji was a Japanese Army camp and we were taking it over. They told us there would be no liberty for 10 days while we worked cleaning it up. There were Army troops at Middle Camp and sometimes they go on liberty to the town of Fujioka. Fujioka was just outside the gate at Camp Fuji. I drew guard duty along the fence that face Fujioka. As I walked my post I could hear music coming from the bar closest to the fence. And I discovered a hole in the fence. As soon as the sergeant of the guard made his rounds and past my post I thought I'd sneak out for a few minutes and get a beer. It was only about 200 feet to the bar. Well, I got my beer and a josan to boot. Then I skedaddled back to my post. About 5 days later I had the early symptoms so I went to the clapshack and told the corpsman I thought I had the clap. I stripped er' down onto a slide and he put it under the microscope. It was positive and I got my 500,000 units of penicillin. The corpsman (there was no doctor there; the corpsman ran the capshack) asked me how I could come down with the clap when nobody had liberty yet. I said I must have got it the day before we got on the ship in Korea to come to Camp Fuji. He looked at me and told me to get out of there. He had to report cases of the clap to the CO and he called me into his office and asked me how I got it when there was no liberty yet. I gave him the same story and he just shook his head. I got restricted for two weeks and another 500,000 unites of penicillin. The next time I pulled guard duty along that fence I noticed the hole had been repaired. Noel Edited November 27, 20214 yr by birdguy The tires are worn. The shocks are shot. The steering is wobbly. But the engine still runs fine.
November 27, 20214 yr 5 hours ago, birdguy said: I think it was a news photographer named Rosenthal Joe Rosenthal, who was with the San Francisco Chronicle for many years. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rosenthal
November 27, 20214 yr Author Well Noel, as you've learned, sometimes newly discovered holes can lead to less-than-desirable consequences 🙂 . Great story. Edited November 27, 20214 yr by W2DR kant spel Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.
November 27, 20214 yr Well, Doug, these are the things Marines do when they are young, virile, semi-good looking, and dumb as a load of bricks. Noel The tires are worn. The shocks are shot. The steering is wobbly. But the engine still runs fine.
November 27, 20214 yr This one's for you Sue... When the ice is on the rice on Southern Honshu, And the saki in the cellar starts to freeze, When you whisper sweet ojosan I love you, Then you're know your slowly turning Nipponese. And I did. Of all the places I went to overseas I liked Japan the best. Noel The tires are worn. The shocks are shot. The steering is wobbly. But the engine still runs fine.
November 27, 20214 yr Author 1 hour ago, birdguy said: Well, Doug, these are the things Marines do when they are young, virile, semi-good looking, and dumb as a load of bricks. Noel Most 18-year old kids are the same way. I know I was.......Doug Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.
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