The Common Virtue
January 3rd, 2007 | by Todd W |
I’ve been plowing through Pacific War material over the past month, mostly because actions there get lost in comparison to the European Theater. My own knowledge is spottier than it should be, so soaking up some of these details has been a good exercise for me.
Iwo Jima should be known to about everyone. Next to Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima is probably the second most popular answer if you asked a random person to name a Pacific War battleground. The fame is for good reason.
Bill D. Ross happened to be a Marine combat correspondent on Iwo Jima (Ross died of cancer on August 30, 1994). His account of the battle is one of the finest books I’ve ever read, capturing both the brutal horror of World War I style ground combat, while illustrating the unimaginable bravery and heroism of the Corps. Each page was a blow as personal stories were told, more often than not ending with the death of the subject.
The story of the Suribachi flag raising has been recently well-documented. Not to slight the importance of that event, Ross’s book doesn’t spend a lot of time on it, focusing instead on the hard, relentless grind of Marines taking the island yard by bloody yard, leaving an average of a dead Marine for each yard gained.
24,000 Marines were killed (6,100) or wounded (18,000) in one month, while nearly all of the 22,000 Japanese defenders were killed. With a 1:1 casualty ratio, Iwo was quite different from the 5:1 to 10:1 ratios, in favor of the Marines, seen in other battles. Twenty-seven Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded in the thrity days of combat, one-fourth of all Medals of Honor received by the Marine Corps for the totality of World War II.
Medal of Honor citations not only honor the individual, they serve as representative accounts of untold heroism on the behalf of every man who took part in that battle.
One at random:
GRAY, ROSS F.
CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Acting Platoon Sergeant serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines, Fourth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 21 February 1945. Shrewdly gauging the tactical situation when his platoon was held up by a sudden barrage of hostile grenades while advancing toward the high ground northeast of Airfield Number One, Sergeant Gray promptly organized the withdrawal of his men from enemy grenade range, quickly moved forward alone to reconnoiter and discovered a heavily mined area extending along the front of a strong network of emplacements joined by covered communication trenches. Although assailed by furious gunfire, he cleared a path leading through the mine field to one of the fortifications then returned to the platoon position and, informing his leader of the serious situation, volunteered to initiate an attack while being covered by three fellow Marines. Alone and unarmed but carrying a twenty-four pound satchel charge, he crept up the Japanese emplacement, boldly hurled the short-fused explosive and sealed the entrance. Instantly taken under machine-gun fire from a second entrance to the same position, he unhesitatingly braved the increasingly vicious fusillades to crawl back for another charge, returned to his objective and blasted the second opening, thereby demolishing the position. Repeatedly covering the ground between the savagely defended enemy fortifications and his platoon area, he systematically approached, attacked and withdrew under blanketing fire to destroy a total of six Japanese positions, more than twenty-five of the enemy and a quantity of vital ordnance gear and ammunition. Stouthearted and indomitable, Sergeant Gray had single-handedly overcome a strong enemy garrison and had completely disarmed a large mine field before finally rejoining his unit and, by his great personal valor, daring tactics and tenacious perseverance in the face of extreme peril, had contributed materially to the fulfillment of his company’s mission. His gallant conduct throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Six days later, Gray died in another firefight on Iwo.
This highlights the ordeal of the war. Regardless of what one did to survive today, death waited patiently tomorrow.
