[sand88]

The Saipan operation involved the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions.

Yes. My father was in the 4th Marine Division. He went from Siapan to Tinian then Iwo Jima. He said the "meat grinder" on Iwo was total hell. He never said much until his later years. The stories was chilling.

He was underage when he entered. His parents had to give permission for him to join the Marines.

To think what these men went through to defeat evil and now to see what leads us. Words cannot express how I feel.

[Brad from Tennessee]

In Vietnam I knew a gunnery sergeant, a Greek immigrant, who joined the Marine Corps when he was 14 (He was a big guy) and fought on Iwo Jima when he was 16. One memory he related to me was hugging the beach while being shelled. He said the Japanese were dropping huge 320-millimeter mortar rounds. He said because of the relative softness of the volcanic sand on the beach the fuses on the ordnance didn't ignite until the shells had bored deep into the pumice. He survived.

God bless your Dad. I can imagine how anybody who came out the other end of that slaughter pen alive might remain silent for 50 years. When I was growing up I worshiped guys like him and still do.