We landed on Iwo in a rain storm. The fun part was that it rained for about 6 of the 8 hours we were on Iwo. I hiked my 330 lbs plus backpack up Suribachi (4 miles). Yes, I am crying.
By the time I got to Suribachi, the main group had moved on to a ceremony on the beach. We stragglers spent time taking photos and such. The Japanese had prevented the main group from running flags up the flag pole- they had taken the pole down. An old guy said a profanity and got a bunch of us to put the pole back up. It was strangely ironic that here we were - about 6 guys - putting up the pole again on Suribachi. I walked off after the pole was up and when I heard everybody cheering; it was the flag going up the pole. I turned and took a photo.
Gabe and I then hiked down to the beach through the brush - Iwo is a primitive place. It was raining and I had left my rain jacket at the hotel because the tour people said they would give us a lighter one. Turns out they ran out of jackets...but it actually kept me cool.
Gabe and I ate lunch sitting on top of a blockhouse ( a concrete structure used to house machine guns to shoot the Marines). The blockhouse overlooked the beach from about 400 yards away.
We walked some of the beach but it was just like the books say. Your feet sink down to about the top of your shoes in some places - past your ankles in others. I directed Gabe to run up the terrace just like the Marines did. He did it but I crawled up behind him. My feet kept sinking in the sand as I moved up the terrace.
Gabe went inside two caves. The caves still have ammo and rifle racks and other such things. The Japanese don't put things in museums; it just stays where it is. He also found a circle of ammo casings washed down to just below the terrace.
As we walked back to the hangar, we were running out of time and it was a driving rain storm. The time was around 2:30 Iwo time and we had been there since 7:30. We were hoping to go to the northern end to see Kuribayshi's command cave but a jeep came up on us and an old Iwo vet said, "Get your asses in the jeep." A major storm had come up and we were in danger of getting stranded so they were rounding up stragglers.
Turns out the main group that rode the vehicles were on the beach for a ceremony when they were notified of the approaching storm. The Marines forced everybody to get into the truck and wouldn't let anybody get and black sand (volcanic ash) off the beach. It was a real downer for the tour.
Since Gabe and I were on foot, we were able to get our 4 water bottles of black ash. I got some extra and put it in my lanyard pocket. When I saw some of my tour friends didn't get any ash, I gave them my black sand. We still have some left but at least those guys got something.
The storm was a driving rain storm as we boarded the plane. I boarded with Admiral French from Guam Naval Base. As it turns out, his son plays football - so we talked about high school football. Admiral French was a pretty neat guy. Both he and his wife gave up their first class seats to some veterans. And Admiral French is a really tall guy. He also refused to ride on the shuttle so he could walk and talk with me in the rain. (I see why he is an admiral.)
Iwo was one of the loneliest looking places I had ever experienced. I thought how sad it must have been to leave all those Marines behind in those graves for 3 years - then come back and get them. It truly felt like an isolated cemetery.
We leave for Houston at 1:00 AM Guam time. - that is about 7:00 PM your time. We will arrive in Houston at about 7:00 AM your time.
See you all after spring break.
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21 comments:
Hey Coach, this is josh perkins from 2nd period...Did you get a chance to see some of the spider traps the japanese had built!
Sounds like it was really good Gabe wanted to hike up.....the others missed putting up flags, getting sand....it sounds worth it to have hauled yourself up the 4 miles for those perks....can't wait to hear more details....
hey coah its kissa, josephine and will, we're glad your having such a great time, hows iwo really look like is it exactly like the the one in the movie? or is it completely different?
Hello there senor Walkman, Boney was not aware of there being a volcano on Iwo, if there isnt, where did the black sand come from?
Hey coach, its jackie and tracy from 2nd period. So out of curiosity how bad did it smell on Iwo Jima? Since Iwo is the Japanese word for sulfur and the island is full of sulfur, did your sand smell like rotten eggs?
Hey Coach, its Eduardo from your first period class. Were you actually "climbing" 4 miles because if you were then that must of been a pain. Oh and about the volcanic ash, you should of sold it to the people you gave it to you...just saying, you would of gotten good money I bet. It seems like you found a good person to talk to, Admiral French seems like a cool person. I hope you and Gabe are having a great time over!
Eduardo Moreno - 1st Period
Hey Coach, raising the flag must have felt awesome, like almost surreal. I'm glad you guys got some black sand and that you met a few interesting people. Was it just your son and you on the beach or were there more people? That probably felt weird but cool to be on the beach.
Have a safe flight back and have a good break.
Hey Coach Walker!
It's Eryn from 3rd period. It must have felt amazing to raise the pole on Suribachi. It's pretty cool that there were six of you...like a third flag raising. Too bad Joe Rosenthal wasn't there- you could have become a superstar. Not that you weren't already...
hey caoch, its john satriano from your first period, hope the trip has been okay, it sounds like yall had some fun posting up the flag, and collected the ash and stuff. but after walking 4 miles how do your knees and feet feel? hope you have a safe flight home coach.
ps coach manuel misses you, he was knockin on the window again
Coach.
It's Angry White Girl.
How exactly did you feel eating in the place where the japanese troops were killing our men and walking around on those beaches? did you cry?
have a safe flight home.
Hey Coach... It's Chelsea Wood from your 3rd period. Your trip sounds amazing: black sand, veterans, rain, and walking... do you and your son ever get a chance to run up the beach to the terrace like you mentioned in class?
coach this is stephanie from your 1st per that's really interesting how the Japanese don't put the stuff in museums i think i would prefer that i never considered it
Coach, during the raid on Iwo Jima, how many machine gun nests were hidden on the beach for ambush and about how many overlapping fields of fire did they provide to try and stop the tide of troops storming the beach. Also, what calibre weapons were they using at the time?
Hey Coach, Its Andy House from 3rd period...I was wondering if you got to meet a survivor of Iwo Jima on the Japanese side. Because I would find it very amusing to hear 2 stories of the Americans fighting the Japanese and the Japanese fighting the Americans...I hope you brought back some neat stuff...if they let you idk...later...enjoy your spring break and get use to the time change again.
Hey Coach,
I hope you held up all right during the hike up Mount Surabachi. Were you able to see inside of the caves at all?
So the trips over now and I'm sure everything was amazing about it. But what was the coolest thing you did?
And I know you know a lot about Iwo Jima but what did you learn from your trip?
-Adam Lyon
It sounds like you had a great trip. Its a good thing you were able to get the sand, and experience a flag raising like the historical one. It must have been interesting to see the battle artifacts first hand, and just be there.
Joseph Kamm
3rd period
Its Will from 1st i see you'll be in Houston tomorrow at 7:00....So you'll be in class right, Iwo Jima sounds intresting did it look battle ridden and did you crawl through any tight fitting tunnels.
hey coach!! its shelby klutts!
sorry i was absent on wend. and thurs. so obviously i didnt right the essays in class but im doing ur blog!! yay! so glad ur having fun! it soo sounded worth it walking all the way up there to see what u got to! have fun!
hey there coach walker, it seems that you are having some great adventures. in the book i read that the allied countries at first establish a democratic government to japan, what really happened with that system why did they turn communist ?
Hey Josh Perkins, the spider traps were mostly bulldozed but I'm sure some still exist. The caves go down about 4 to 5 stories underground and it is almost impossible to breathe without oxygen because of the sulfur fumes. And unlike regular caves, it is hotter as you go down.
Sales and gang, the feeling I got was that the movies didn't capture the realness of the island. It is very much different being there. Once scene from both movies that struck me as "just like being there" was the scene from the Japanese blockhouse overlooking the terrace and the beaches. We ate lunch sitting on top of one overlooking the beach and the view from inside it was exactly like the movie. Otherwise, the real deal was very much different from the movies.
Boney, Iwo continually belches sulfur gas, heat and fumes. The black sand is in fact - not sand -(an important fact to remember going through US Customs).
Jackie and Tracy, even from miles away from Suribachi the air had a sulfur taste. (I was the only person around that could actually taste it because I am allergic to sulfur.)Inside the caves the sulfur smell was stronger as you went deeper. Sulfur steam pits were located just about 50 yards from the site of the flag raising on the south side of the island and it was pretty noxious near that point.
Eduardo, I didn't climb but walked up a road. And for the fat boy, a straight up walk after a 4.5 mile hike over a dirt and volcanic ash road is no easy thing. Don't forget I had to haul my 330 lbs down and on the beach too!..Haha..Yeah, I could sell the sand but that would be like selling sand from a graveyard. It is a sacred place for both the Japanese and Americans. (And if feels sacred, too.)
Goetz, my son and I were the only two walking together down Suribachi and onto the beach. We literally had to walk our way through bushes and chest-high brush to get down to the beach. He had hooked up with another group on the way to Suribachi and I lost him. Later, Marines in a Hummvee came by and there he was in the front seat. We were near Suribachi at that point and he jumped out and we walked up to the top together.
Yeah, Eryn it was surreal.
Satriano, my knees were DONE by the time I got down Suribachi. And I was still 4.5 miles from the airfield and hadn't been to the beach - another 1.5 miles. Waling in the ash was something that is hard to describe. Just like in the books and movies, your feet sunk as you moved up the terrrace. I made Gabe run it like the Marines and he was gassed. Naturally, I crawled up the terrace and still kept sliding down. It rained the entire time so I was hurting and wet on the trip back...Two days later, I feel worse!!
Chelsea, I did make him run up the terrace just like the Marines. On the trip home, he looked at me real serious and said, "I don't care what mom says, I am going to join the Marines when I grow up." Evidently, the place made an impression on him.
AWG....Gabe and I ate lunch on the block house. We were completely alone with a guy about 1 mile in the distance on the beach near the surf. It was drizzling rain and almost completely silent. You could hear the surf breaking quite loudly...like a rushing car going by. Yes, the moment wasn't lost on me. I told my son that were sitting where people died. The entire island gave me a strong sense of sadness and lonliness..none less than as you say, that point near the blockhouse. As we walked down the road, the wind was rushing by us and all I could think of was what a lonely place to be buried for all of those 3 years that it took for the Americans to come back for our dead. And as you know, some Americans and many, many, Japanese soldiers are still there in caves.
Koch, the block houses that still survived and those where you could see that used to be there before being dozed under had overlapping fields of fire. One block house had a Japanese machine gun still mounted. The barrel was bent like a wet noodle...probably the result of a flamethrower. Suribachi was incredible in that you could see how it looked straight down the beach. And some of the greatest enfilade fire came from entrenched guns from the north while Suribachi overlooked the south. Going there in real life, you can see how a congested beach would make for a killing field. Unbelievable to behold. The melted barrel machine gun was a Type 3. The Japanese also used mortars with effect. A mortar killed my subject, Jack Chevigny, on Yellow Beach 2. The Japanese also buried their tanks and put AA guns in the caves. All in all, Marines couldn't even see the Japanese as they fired on them from 3 directions.
House, the son of Kuribayishi was at the ceremony but I didn't get to talk to him. He was strictly VIP and I was nobody special.
Lyon, the trip enlightened me primarily on two things. The beach was much longer than it looks on a map. And the island was much larger than my brain grasped. Suribachi is almost a vertical climb if you were climbing it and that struck me, as well. The isolation of the place was also something hard to imagine. It seemed a really lonely place to die.
Sorry Will, my flight didn't make it until 7:15 AM today and I was running low on gas. I figured in the hours and I had slept 6 hours of the last 72. And for the big daddy coach, sleep is like a donut...gotta have it. I will check the blog periodically throughout spring break for more questions, though.
Hey Jared, thanks for commenting. The Japanese government is still basically the same format as established after WWII. For more information the following is a site that tells you more - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2136.html In some ways the Japanese military personnel were helpful while we were there on Iwo, in other ways, they were quite rude. I chalk it up to the language and cultural barriers. For the most part the Japanese military personnel (engineers on duty for a period of 3-4 months rotation on the island) were extremely helpful and one guy even stopped and loaned his flashlight to us so we could look in the caves and guided us to another - and he couldn't speak a word of English.
Interesting how they preserve the remains of the war. Its also cool how the veterans are very respectful and still use military like "tacticts" in every day life (saving you guys from the storm etc.)
-Charles Grealy
3rd Period
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