It took more than a month for the U.S. Marines to overwhelm the entrenched Japanese on Iwo Jima. For the past few weeks we've heard the stories of one man, one perspective on the experience. Carl's job of offloading supplies was just one of many, although no less essential than the next.
Carl spent more than a month on Iwo. He left without a scratch. As he talked about his experience, he shook his head at how the bullets would crack when they got too close. How many times had he escaped injury or death by flinching, or not flinching? How many times had even the smallest unconscious movement on his part put him out of harm's way?
Carl admits that while he "never got a scratch" on Iwo Jima, he did lose his hearing to an artillery round. He described the incredible story: "We got hit, we were up on the front lines, getting ready to get out. (There was a group of us) all packed up, standing up, to go back when this damn artillery hit. It was just unreal. I was never so close to a hit the whole time I was on (the island). The concussion just knocked us over completely. But we were lucky - not a one of us was hit by shrapnel! What protected us I really don't know. It was a hard hit - the closest I ever got, the whole time I was on Iwo, to an artillery shell."
This close call occurred cleaning up the last pocket of resistance on Iwo. Despite going to Cooks' and Bakers' School, despite his operational training with the Pioneers, Carl was put on the front line as an infantryman - "Every Marine a Rifleman." As a man who was there, Carl describes the last organized resistance on Iwo Jima: "The last pocket was on the north end of the island. We went in there to relieve the 28th Battalion - they were decimated something fierce. We were on the front lines, just to hold the line. We didn't dare shoot, because (our guys) were coming toward us. We were not an infantry unit; I wasn't trained for that. So we went up there, and I can remember pulling a dead Marine out of the foxhole we were staying in. We stayed there for seven days, and we never moved the dead - we just pulled them out of the way and left them. Every time we went into our foxhole, the Japanese had a firing lane on us. So, every time we'd move, that son-of-a-gun would open up on us!"
For a full week, Carl and three others were posted at the foxhole. They were unable to move the dead Marines, unable to move at all, for the direct firing lane the Japanese had on the position. The men would take turns, running out of the foxhole to retrieve food and ammunition. Sometimes the Japanese would fire at the Americans, and sometimes he would wait. During the week, of all the times the men were shot at, none from Carl's unit were hit.
In a situation like this, even the necessary chore of going to the bathroom became a life-and-death matter. Normally, you'd just go in the foxhole, and simply throw out the waste. Well, one of the guys didn't want to go in front of his buddies. Carl laughed, "He was kind of a funny person, wouldn't go (to the bathroom) in the foxhole. He says, 'I'm going back behind the rocks'. We knew he was going to get shot at, and they did! It just scared him to death! I don't know if he actually went or not, but it took him about a half-hour to get nerve enough to come back to the foxhole. And then he came back just hauling, just as fast as he could!"
During the week on the front line, there were four Marines in the foxhole. They took turns getting supplies, as well as guard duty. One night, Carl recalls, he and one other guy were sleeping, while the other two were on watch. Carl was jolted awake by the sound of a grenade. When the pin is pulled, it flies away with a "zing!" - this is the sound that awoke Carl. His first thought was panic - was there a live grenade in the foxhole? Seconds ticked away like years. As it turns out, the Marine on guard grabbed a grenade to lob at an infiltrating enemy. He pulled the pin, threw the weapon, actually hit the Japanese soldier "right in the butt," but it was the wrong grenade! It was an illuminating grenade, which blinded the Marines, rendering them temporarily unable to shoot!
From the next foxhole came an American shout, "What the hell is going on down there?!" Carl's group yelled back that a Japanese had slipped through the line. "Anybody hurt?" No one was hurt, but the enemy had escaped toward the rear. About an hour later came a call from the back line - they got him.
During this experience, the men on the front line were given explicit orders not to fire, for fear of hitting incoming Americans. Suddenly, a Marine opened up. When asked "what the hell" he was doing, he calmly replied there was a twig obscuring his view, and that he only wanted to clear it.
Carl shook his head at the memory, "It was frightful up there. At night you could hear the Japs. We were right at the head of a ravine. If they had come up that ravine, we would've been the first ones hit. It just wasn't the best position to be in."
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
Carl spent more than a month on Iwo. He left without a scratch. As he talked about his experience, he shook his head at how the bullets would crack when they got too close. How many times had he escaped injury or death by flinching, or not flinching? How many times had even the smallest unconscious movement on his part put him out of harm's way?
Carl admits that while he "never got a scratch" on Iwo Jima, he did lose his hearing to an artillery round. He described the incredible story: "We got hit, we were up on the front lines, getting ready to get out. (There was a group of us) all packed up, standing up, to go back when this damn artillery hit. It was just unreal. I was never so close to a hit the whole time I was on (the island). The concussion just knocked us over completely. But we were lucky - not a one of us was hit by shrapnel! What protected us I really don't know. It was a hard hit - the closest I ever got, the whole time I was on Iwo, to an artillery shell."
This close call occurred cleaning up the last pocket of resistance on Iwo. Despite going to Cooks' and Bakers' School, despite his operational training with the Pioneers, Carl was put on the front line as an infantryman - "Every Marine a Rifleman." As a man who was there, Carl describes the last organized resistance on Iwo Jima: "The last pocket was on the north end of the island. We went in there to relieve the 28th Battalion - they were decimated something fierce. We were on the front lines, just to hold the line. We didn't dare shoot, because (our guys) were coming toward us. We were not an infantry unit; I wasn't trained for that. So we went up there, and I can remember pulling a dead Marine out of the foxhole we were staying in. We stayed there for seven days, and we never moved the dead - we just pulled them out of the way and left them. Every time we went into our foxhole, the Japanese had a firing lane on us. So, every time we'd move, that son-of-a-gun would open up on us!"
For a full week, Carl and three others were posted at the foxhole. They were unable to move the dead Marines, unable to move at all, for the direct firing lane the Japanese had on the position. The men would take turns, running out of the foxhole to retrieve food and ammunition. Sometimes the Japanese would fire at the Americans, and sometimes he would wait. During the week, of all the times the men were shot at, none from Carl's unit were hit.
In a situation like this, even the necessary chore of going to the bathroom became a life-and-death matter. Normally, you'd just go in the foxhole, and simply throw out the waste. Well, one of the guys didn't want to go in front of his buddies. Carl laughed, "He was kind of a funny person, wouldn't go (to the bathroom) in the foxhole. He says, 'I'm going back behind the rocks'. We knew he was going to get shot at, and they did! It just scared him to death! I don't know if he actually went or not, but it took him about a half-hour to get nerve enough to come back to the foxhole. And then he came back just hauling, just as fast as he could!"
During the week on the front line, there were four Marines in the foxhole. They took turns getting supplies, as well as guard duty. One night, Carl recalls, he and one other guy were sleeping, while the other two were on watch. Carl was jolted awake by the sound of a grenade. When the pin is pulled, it flies away with a "zing!" - this is the sound that awoke Carl. His first thought was panic - was there a live grenade in the foxhole? Seconds ticked away like years. As it turns out, the Marine on guard grabbed a grenade to lob at an infiltrating enemy. He pulled the pin, threw the weapon, actually hit the Japanese soldier "right in the butt," but it was the wrong grenade! It was an illuminating grenade, which blinded the Marines, rendering them temporarily unable to shoot!
From the next foxhole came an American shout, "What the hell is going on down there?!" Carl's group yelled back that a Japanese had slipped through the line. "Anybody hurt?" No one was hurt, but the enemy had escaped toward the rear. About an hour later came a call from the back line - they got him.
During this experience, the men on the front line were given explicit orders not to fire, for fear of hitting incoming Americans. Suddenly, a Marine opened up. When asked "what the hell" he was doing, he calmly replied there was a twig obscuring his view, and that he only wanted to clear it.
Carl shook his head at the memory, "It was frightful up there. At night you could hear the Japs. We were right at the head of a ravine. If they had come up that ravine, we would've been the first ones hit. It just wasn't the best position to be in."
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
