David Greene is a WWII veteran and a native of Waterloo, Iowa. He served as a radio operator in the Pacific Theater. Here he tells the story of his experience at Iwo Jima.
My uncle Bobby (who I never had the pleasure of meeting) was a radioman with the 5th Marines. He was killed on Iwo Jima. I remember reading the dispatch that was sent to my mom’s family. I read it after my mom passed away in 1998. In it, the military ‘explained’ that Bobby had hit the beach with the ‘higher up’ he was assigned to. It stated “all he had to do was stay down, but for some reason he didn’t - and he was shot and killed”. Apparently, he and my mom were very close before he joined the Marines. My uncle Mac told me at my mom’s funeral that after Bobby was killed, my mom was never the same. I believed him.
Interesting to hear having been a field radio operator in the USMC myself. Our school was in 29 Palms. Comm. "They can talk about us but they can't talk without us".
Just watched Jocko Willinks Podcast with T Fred Harvey an Iwo Jima silver star recipient and he discusses many of the same men. Very interesting hearing from multiple perspectives of the same story.
God bless you sir !!! My father alvin was army air force pilot attached to g2 in London. He flew photo recon missions prior to and after d day in the European theater. What you did in the marine corp was bigger than anything anyone could do. Your generation saved our generation. We thank you with all of our hearts. Shell g. Palm beach gardens Florida
My dad was also 5th Mar. Div., 26th Mar. Reg.- would have liked to know if you knew each other. He made it through all 36 days as well. Semper Fi Dave and all Iwo vets.
I always remember my ex-wifes grandpa. He was in his 80's. I asked him a lot about the war. He always started off every story with "you ever heard of a little island called Iwo Jima?" I don't know why he always started his story with that. Either he forgot he had already told me, or was really proud of being there. He would always kind of puff his chest out when he said it. Lol. He wasn't a marine, but from what I gathered, drove the landing crafts back and forth to the island. He must have seen some really gnarly sh*t.
