Iwo Jima veterans reflect on fierce battle and the seven decades of friendship that followed

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By the time the U.S. Marine Corps division known as the "Fightin' Fourth" reached the tiny island known as Iwo Jima, they had already seen several bloody battles in the U.S.'s island-hopping march toward Japan.

They were among the U.S. military forces that left only 51 survivors from an original 3,500 Japanese soldiers at the four-day Battle of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. At the Battle of Saipan, they helped fight to a decisive victory that surprised Japanese commanders who had been expecting an attack farther south. The Battle of Tinian saw 328 American losses, but the Japanese losses were far greater with 8,010 dead and only 313 taken prisoner.

Then came what would turn out to be key in ushering in victory -- the famous Battle of Iwo Jima, a 36-day assault that would produce some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific campaign of World War II.

On Saturday, six veterans of the "Fightin' Fourth" were at Southeast Missouri State University to reflect on the battle that took place nearly seven decades ago as well as what resulted for them after -- lifelong friendships that are only born on the battlefield.

"It's become more about the friendship we developed," said Walter Wright of Cape Girardeau. "It just grows stronger as the years go on. We're really a family."

The men gather annually and this year, with the exception of Wright, they traveled from several states to participate in a panel discussion at Rose Theatre. The roughly one-hour talk was taped and will be featured this fall as part of human interest piece for River Tales, a news magazine series produced by television and film students and faculty in Southeast's Department of Mass Media.

During the taping, Wright, for example, shared the familiar story about how he joined the Marines at 16, with the help of a forged signature of his mother and the town drunk. Wright gave the wobbly man, who also happened to be a notary, $1.50 to notarize the enlistment papers.

"That buck-fifty probably helped get him a little drunker," Wright said.

Other stories weren't so comical.

Several of the men recalled the deadly battles, including Iwo Jima, where they saw several of their friends die and themselves living in a constant fear of losing their own lives.

Bob Casey of Morton Grove, Ill., said they remember those "dear buddies" often.

"Those that didn't make it, those are the real heroes of Iwo Jima," Casey said. "We're just the fortunate ones that made it through."

The men remembered the island smelling of sulfur, which is what Iwo Jima means in Japanese. Other strong recollections of that conflict is the small island's network of bunkers, underground tunnels and hidden artillery.

When Bud Hampton, who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., saw the island was basically all volcanic sand, he wondered about their odds for winning.

"There was no chance," Morton said. "I said to myself, 'Am I going to die here?'"

On the first day, 600 Marines were killed and hundreds were wounded.

They also admitted an admiration for the Japanese soldiers who fought them, recalling their resolve to fight until death without retreat. But they seldom saw living Japanese soldiers, who largely fired from the island's caves. No Japanese soldiers could leave their position until he had killed at least five Marines.

Hampton said the biggest "morale raiser" for him was when the U.S. flag was planted atop Mount Suribachi by five Marines and one Navy corpsman, an image that was immortalized in the iconic photograph by Joe Rosenthal.

"You look up and see the flag, it did something to you," Hampton said.

Jim Dufek, a professor of mass media at Southeast, coordinated the video shoot Saturday with the assistance from students who traveled from St. Louis and Illinois. Dufek is Wright's neighbor and, when he learned they would be here, asked him if the veterans would be interested in documenting a conversation.

"This was 70 years ago, and they still reflect on those days and have for decades," Dufek said. "It's impressive to see that bond still there. The stuff they faced, they lost the most of any regiment. To be able to share that with future generations, that's what we wanted to do with this."

Dufek said he was impressed that the veterans talked about themselves as dear friends who basically have become family.

"They're more proud of getting together and being a family than what they did in the military," Dufek said. "The military just brought that family together."

The talk was moderated by Frank Nickell, a professor of history and the director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast. After the taping, Nickell said the U.S. combat forces took on the most difficult military challenge in American military history -- attacking 23,000 trained Japanese soldiers.

"The idea is to destroy every soldier on the other side," Nickell said. "And they eliminated every one of the Japanese soldiers with few exceptions and they did with hand-to-hand, tough, bloody combat. These six men of Iwo Jima and the others stand as the model for decades to come."

During the taping, Nickell suggested to the men that they are heroes, an idea the Marines -- never former Marines -- balked at.

"We did what we had to do," said Robert Perrin of Richmond, Va. "We did what we were supposed to do and that's it."

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Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, interviews six Iwo Jima veterans Saturday in Rose Theatre. They are, from left, front row: Robert Casey, Bud Hampton, Robert Perrin; back row: Arden "Art" Menge, Earl Grave and Walter Wright. Video excerpts from the interview are available at semissourian.com/multimedia. (Fred Lynch)

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