Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Isaac Rodriguez | ARLINGTON, Va. (Feb. 21, 2025)–Sailors assigned to the Wasp-class amphibious assault...... read more read more
Subscribe
ARLINGTON, Va. – “I fought like hell,” recalled retired Marine Raider Frank Wright of his experience during the Battle of Iwo Jima eight decades ago.
The same fighting spirit resounded in the shared experiences of the 8 Iwo Jima veterans who sat side by side at the Hilton National Landing, Feb. 22, during a commemorative event for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Eighty years after one of the fiercest battles of World War II’s Pacific campaign, this small band of veterans who fought on the black-sand beaches reunited to share their stories with the next generation of servicemembers.
Sailors from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7)—the second amphibious assault ship named for the battle—attended the event, hosted by the Iwo Jima Association of America (IJAA) and learned firsthand what it was like for veterans who fought on Iwo Jima.
After hearing the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, a young Delmar Beard immediately enlisted in the Navy—as many teenaged boys did at the time. Once out of boot camp, he was assigned to the USS LST-715 in the Pacific theater—one of the first Tank Landing Ships to arrive on Iwo Jima’s Green Beach, located just near Mount Suribachi. At 18 years old, and due to his ability to type about 50 words per minute, Beard became a Yeoman 2nd Class—a position typically dedicated to administrative work; but he, like so many others, bravely positioned himself in harm’s way on the frontlines.
“We were the first ship next to Mount Suribachi [and we had to] unload all the ammunition and high-octane gas and bulldozers. They just had volcanic ash; you couldn’t even drive a jeep on it.”
As he emerged from the vessel, Beard—and his fellow sailors—saw and experienced unfathomable things.
“We could see everything going on; you’d see Japanese on fire coming out [of dug tunnels in the mountain] and rolling in the ash trying to put the fire out,” he said as he recalled how troops used flame throwers in attempts to ‘smoke’ the Japanese out of man-made tunnels inside Mount Suribachi. The U.S. and Japanese death tolls on the island were staggering.
“You saw a lot of Marines—I’m sorry to say—dead on the beach because they couldn’t get them off [the landing craft] fast enough.”
Beard described how he narrowly missed being wounded by gunfire while unloading ammunition on the beach; not so for the marine who was passing him the boxes of rounds.
“There was a lot going on that you didn’t realize, but you couldn’t let it get to you."
When the Marines raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi, that visual represented a sanguine moment for the embattled troops on the island, according to Beard’s fellow veteran Marine Nils Mocker.
“The flag wasn’t victory, it was hope,” said Mocker, a combat intelligence scout during the battle. “I could look up on as far away as you could get and see that in tiny, tiny poster stamp [on Mount Suribachi].”
Hearing the realities of the battle made an impression on Retail Services Specialist 2nd Class Orlando Sanabria.
“The history we learned [and] hearing it from people that were actually in theater, vice reading it in a book, was one of my biggest takeaways from the event,” Sanabria said.
While capabilities on warships like Iwo Jima are vastly more sophisticated than they were on an LST in 1945, Sanabria said one thing he believes remains true for America’s Sailors and Marines.
“The global climate has become more complex, and we just have to be ready to fight.”
Sanabria’s fellow sailor Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 1st Class Christopher Diehl said he felt a renewed sense of dedication and worth in service after hearing from the veterans.
“Comparatively, what they experienced and went through 80 years ago is vastly different than what I have experienced but [I was reminded of] the importance of doing your job—and doing it the right way—while following the orders you are given contributes to the big picture being successful.”
Iwo Jima has a wide range of sea, air, and land capabilities that allow the platform to embark, transport, and land Marines ashore in contested environments. That continued tradition of Navy-Marine Corps partnership—forged in the sands of Iwo Jima—remains key to the United States’ ability to defend its national security interests; deter aggression; preserve its citizens way of life; and to support its allies and partners abroad.
Commemorating this battle also puts the once-fraught relationship between United States and Japan—now strong allies—on full display. Today, the partnership between the two nations is more vital than ever to stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The relationship between the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is very strong. We conduct many joint exercises,” said the Japanese Embassy’s Defense and Naval Attaché Rear Adm. Takaaki Hayamizu, who spoke at the event.
“One plus one equals more than two where our relationship with the U.S. is concerned,” he said noting the close nature of this partnership is directly responsible for both adversarial deterrence and stability in the region.
Sailors and Marines aboard amphibious ships like Iwo Jima not only operate together but also exercise jointly with the militaries of allied and partner nations. For Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Master Chief Rich Garrett, assigned to Iwo Jima’s Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department, connecting sailors with naval history and culture is key to understanding the ship’s mission today and in the future.
“This event really connected our sailors and ship with its namesake and the actual events that occurred on Iwo Jima… as well as the people who were there,” said Garrett. “The deeds of those men taking that island—doing what they had to do with sometimes-limited support—underscores how much today’s Navy-Marine Corps stands on the shoulders of giants.”
Eighty years after the first Marines climbed the steep slopes on Iwo Jima, the name still represents a living bridge from past to present.
“We as an Iwo Jima team can rise to meet the expectations of [the veterans] now and into the future,” Garrett said.
As this generation of warfighters from World War II continues to fade away, retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Raul Sifuentes, IJAA’s executive director, believes the members of today’s amphibious force have an important charge: to carry on the legacy of their leaders.
“We can never, ever forget what these guys did and what they went through,” said Sifuentes. “Don’t forget your roots. A good leader passes these things on, and a good leader prepares their subordinates to take their place.”
Uncommon valor became a shared virtue because the Greatest Generation deliberately chose to live by that ethos.
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Isaac Rodriguez plans to carry that same philosophy with him as he departs USS Iwo Jima for his next command.
“You can always learn from older generations and people who have more experience than you. I’ll take what I learned from them into my future missions,” said Rodriguez. “Persevere… never give up.”
The USS Iwo Jima is the flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, a force uniquely positioned to deter aggression, project power through presence abroad, and execute contingency missions with its integrated Marine Corps team in Support of U.S. strategic interests.
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2025 10:20 |
| Story ID: | 491459 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 576 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, USS Iwo Jima Sailors Mark 80th Anniversary of Seminal Battle of Iwo Jima, Gain Invaluable Insights from ‘Greatest Generation’, by LT Jennifer Bowman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
