Carl recalls that after nearly a week on Iwo Jima, it was nothing short of a miracle that he was still going. As a member of the 5th Marine Division Pioneer Battalion, it was his job to unload supplies off the ships, load up the wounded, then move supplies from the beach to the depots closer to the front lines. By now, the beach was awash with burned-out, destroyed landing craft. He remembers, "There were so many of [our] Amtraks lined up, just blown up trying to make it to the stockpiles. It was horrific - something you'll never forget."
In total, the battle of Iwo Jima lasted more than one month. For the first two weeks, Carl stayed on the beach with the Pioneers. Then, on the second week, he moved inland to bivouac, next to one of the airstrips located on the island. Although dug in, the camp consisted of a few tents and, for the first time since landing on Iwo, the men set up a mess hall. Carl laughs, "That's the first cooking we did for ourselves;" until then, the Seabees cooked for the Pioneers.
Although the mess tent represented a small-added luxury to the Marines, it was not immune to the Japanese menace. During the night, two men would be posted at the tent for security. Says Carl, "The Japanese were always infiltrating, trying to break in for something to eat, or trying to get water." After a week, even the guard duty was halted - nervousness and fatigue had set in, and too many men were being lost to friendly fire. The Americans were shooting each other, particularly when someone would get up to go to the bathroom. In the darkness, any movement looked hostile.
Thus, "We stayed in our foxholes, and one night [the Japs] blew that dang thing all to pieces. It was a good thing we weren't in that tent, because the Japs just blew it to hell." With the mess tent out of commission, the Pioneers went back to eating with the "good old Seabees" of the 31st Construction Battalion. They even had fresh water; there was a device that converted seawater into fresh, drinking water. Remembers Carl, "It was good!"
Still, despite good drinking water and a darkly humorous end to the mess tent, the reality of Iwo Jima was ever-present. For more than a month the battle raged. Death came swiftly and without discrimination. A man would turn to see his long-time buddy fall, mortally wounded. Maybe he had a wife or child, or both, waiting back home. The stress dehumanized both sides, leading men to do things beyond comprehension. Carl remembers seeing a group of Navy Corpsmen practicing various operations on a Japanese corpse. When asked what they were up to, the medics replied, "Oh nothing - we're practicing taking out an appendix."
Then, there were those intent on collecting gold teeth from the bodies of the Japanese. Stubborn teeth could be pried loose with a Ka-Bar. Carl shook his head, "That was just stupid - I couldn't stand that." But, like it or not, a great deal of gold was collected from the mouths of the enemy.
Then, on March 4, 1945 (coincidentally, on Carl's birthday), the most amazing thing happened. Carl was at the airfield bivouac when he saw the first B-29 land at Iwo Jima. The Marines could see it coming a long ways off, and knew it was inbound. Says Carl, "Boy, he used up the whole runway!" Following this first symbolic landing, many more would follow. Carl recalls a stricken B-29 touching down: "One came in that was all banged up, oh was it shot up! He came in just perfect, but I've never seen a plane so riddled! Two of its engines were out, two or three of the crew were dead, with some wounded, and he came in without the wheels down!" Amazingly, the B-29 pilot set the massive bomber down "just perfectly" on its belly. Carl continued, "That was something to see, a big plane like that come in on its belly. The sparks just flew out in back, but the plane never caught fire - just unreal."
These initial landings occurred in the midst of heavy fighting. On March 4th, the front lines were not far away from the airfield. Carl chuckled when he described the crew emerging from a crippled plane. They'd duck and flinch with every explosion or mortar fire, even friendly. Carl laughed, "It was a joke how they'd do that. We were used to it, and were walking around like nothing happened!"
In fact, fire and ordinance was criss-crossing the sky in every direction. A low-flying Corsair would drop a 500-pound bomb just 200 yards in front of Carl's position, "We'd watch those things, just hoping they'd go over the top of us! They'd go in with a WHUMP, about enough to lift you off the ground!" Ships were firing rockets, incredibly primitive and unreliable in 1945. Once in a while a dud would come gyrating into the midst of the Marines. Also showering the Americans were .50-caliber shell casings from low-flying Corsairs, strafing close enough for the men on the ground to actually see the pilot.
The planes would come in, .50-caliber wing guns all lit up, firing at Mt. Suribachi. The firing was so continuous; Carl describes the sound like ripping a sheet of paper. "We'd get hit by a casing once in a while, but no one got hurt from it."
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
In total, the battle of Iwo Jima lasted more than one month. For the first two weeks, Carl stayed on the beach with the Pioneers. Then, on the second week, he moved inland to bivouac, next to one of the airstrips located on the island. Although dug in, the camp consisted of a few tents and, for the first time since landing on Iwo, the men set up a mess hall. Carl laughs, "That's the first cooking we did for ourselves;" until then, the Seabees cooked for the Pioneers.
Although the mess tent represented a small-added luxury to the Marines, it was not immune to the Japanese menace. During the night, two men would be posted at the tent for security. Says Carl, "The Japanese were always infiltrating, trying to break in for something to eat, or trying to get water." After a week, even the guard duty was halted - nervousness and fatigue had set in, and too many men were being lost to friendly fire. The Americans were shooting each other, particularly when someone would get up to go to the bathroom. In the darkness, any movement looked hostile.
Thus, "We stayed in our foxholes, and one night [the Japs] blew that dang thing all to pieces. It was a good thing we weren't in that tent, because the Japs just blew it to hell." With the mess tent out of commission, the Pioneers went back to eating with the "good old Seabees" of the 31st Construction Battalion. They even had fresh water; there was a device that converted seawater into fresh, drinking water. Remembers Carl, "It was good!"
Still, despite good drinking water and a darkly humorous end to the mess tent, the reality of Iwo Jima was ever-present. For more than a month the battle raged. Death came swiftly and without discrimination. A man would turn to see his long-time buddy fall, mortally wounded. Maybe he had a wife or child, or both, waiting back home. The stress dehumanized both sides, leading men to do things beyond comprehension. Carl remembers seeing a group of Navy Corpsmen practicing various operations on a Japanese corpse. When asked what they were up to, the medics replied, "Oh nothing - we're practicing taking out an appendix."
Then, there were those intent on collecting gold teeth from the bodies of the Japanese. Stubborn teeth could be pried loose with a Ka-Bar. Carl shook his head, "That was just stupid - I couldn't stand that." But, like it or not, a great deal of gold was collected from the mouths of the enemy.
Then, on March 4, 1945 (coincidentally, on Carl's birthday), the most amazing thing happened. Carl was at the airfield bivouac when he saw the first B-29 land at Iwo Jima. The Marines could see it coming a long ways off, and knew it was inbound. Says Carl, "Boy, he used up the whole runway!" Following this first symbolic landing, many more would follow. Carl recalls a stricken B-29 touching down: "One came in that was all banged up, oh was it shot up! He came in just perfect, but I've never seen a plane so riddled! Two of its engines were out, two or three of the crew were dead, with some wounded, and he came in without the wheels down!" Amazingly, the B-29 pilot set the massive bomber down "just perfectly" on its belly. Carl continued, "That was something to see, a big plane like that come in on its belly. The sparks just flew out in back, but the plane never caught fire - just unreal."
These initial landings occurred in the midst of heavy fighting. On March 4th, the front lines were not far away from the airfield. Carl chuckled when he described the crew emerging from a crippled plane. They'd duck and flinch with every explosion or mortar fire, even friendly. Carl laughed, "It was a joke how they'd do that. We were used to it, and were walking around like nothing happened!"
In fact, fire and ordinance was criss-crossing the sky in every direction. A low-flying Corsair would drop a 500-pound bomb just 200 yards in front of Carl's position, "We'd watch those things, just hoping they'd go over the top of us! They'd go in with a WHUMP, about enough to lift you off the ground!" Ships were firing rockets, incredibly primitive and unreliable in 1945. Once in a while a dud would come gyrating into the midst of the Marines. Also showering the Americans were .50-caliber shell casings from low-flying Corsairs, strafing close enough for the men on the ground to actually see the pilot.
The planes would come in, .50-caliber wing guns all lit up, firing at Mt. Suribachi. The firing was so continuous; Carl describes the sound like ripping a sheet of paper. "We'd get hit by a casing once in a while, but no one got hurt from it."
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
