Family Stories

[ex13F]

As a teenager I worked for a farmer who had been a Marine on Iwo Jima. I remember that on one occasion I saw him leaning against a grain silo and waving his handkerchief at me to get my attention. When I ran over to him he asked if I had a strong stomach. I said I did, what did he need done. He told me that an animal had died in a barn and had become pretty ripe in the August heat. He asked if I could take care of it for him, he told me "When I went in there in that heat and that smell hit me, I'm right back on that damned island." After I came back from the Army he told me other things that I will just keep to myself.

 

[Shibadog]

My son is a retired Marine NCO. Once when he was in Japan and scheduled to re-up he and a few buddies were flown to Mt Suribachi and go to re-up on the top of the mountain where the flag had been raised. Son did two combat tours in Iraq.