66 Years Ago Today - Iwo Jima

We owe who we are today to the "Greatest Generation"! Their sacrifices, courage, and commitment to this country and the world make ALL of them heroes.

Even though we are losing these men and women, we will never forget what they accomplished, and what it cost for them to achieve the impossible.

They make me proud to be an American!

God Bless them guys. Some folks don't know but the famous flag raising pic on Mt. Saribachi[?] is the second time the flag was raised.

God bless them all

...

~ SALUTE ~


Ls

A great big THANK YOU yo all our vets past and present. If not for them we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today.

Some folks don't know but the famous flag raising pic on Mt. Saribachi[?] is the second time the flag was raised.

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I knew that. But it's still a great picture that inspired a nation. A picture of the first flag raising probably wouldn't have had the same effect although it would have been historically accurate.

Was the picture ever depicted to be the "first"?

Small point-but to say those guys were ASKED is just plain wrong.
Heard it before, do not know how it came into use.

Many were drafted-later all were PUT on landing craft and TOLD to get off and go get 'em.


I did 4 years, 66-70 with 18 months in the bush in RVN.
Don't recall ever being asked to do anything.
I was ordered to report for a draft physical.

As inspiring as this is .. I really don't see this as being gun related.

Now before you call me un-American, thank you I have seven years of time in service and I'm going strong and I take my oaths very seriously.

I understand the sentiment a lot, but the usage of old slurs and the like and of the constant ongoing about one particular generation being the "greatest generation" is a bit inane.

They're not Japs, they're Japanese. Japanese Soldiers, to be exact. And the greatest Generation had its fair share of PTSD, disfunctional returns and the like as well.

In any case, it's good to remember. But we can't plant seeds with our fists. And rhetoric like that doesn't serve anyone.

In 1999 I was scheduled to go to Iwo Jima for a day. I was on the second of two flights. My friend went on the first and mine got cancelled. Wish I could of gone. My grandfather was in either the 82nd or 101st airbourne during WW2 and made 3 combat jumps including Normandy. My other grandfather was on the Ploesti raid in a B24. Thank God such men lived.

Nushif

No slur intended. Don't understand the rest of your comment. Why you so down on America.

As inspiring as this is .. I really don't see this as being gun related

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What the heck did they fight with??? GUNS, GUNS and more GUNS and they were Japs and krauts and limeies and frogs, yanks, white eyed devils. Put you political correctness away. The names, nicknames, slurs are part of historical accuracy.
By the you way in Japan are still Gungi (SP??)i! Go look that up you white eyed devil.

Spelling is 'Gaijin' . Roughly translated it means Barbarian.

Nushif said:

I understand the sentiment a lot, but the usage of old slurs and the like and of the constant ongoing about one particular generation being the "greatest generation" is a bit inane.

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They were called and still are the "Greatest Generation" because virtually any male of fighting age was involved somehow militarily. Exception maybe being the youngest son at home on the farm. Still, even most of them ''volunteered". Not only was it the troops that served from that generation, but the families and spouses of those troops also served in supply type roles by leaving the farm to build ships and make ammo or to work in the VA hospitals. They rationed their gas and food, while turning in any metal item that was not absolutely necessary, to be recycled and used in the war effort. This great of sacrifice by a NATION of people has never been repeated since.

Nushif said:

And the greatest Generation had its fair share of PTSD, disfunctional returns and the like as well.

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Yes they did, and with the atrocities they experienced in such great numbers on both the European and Pacific Theaters, it stands to reason. But for the most part, they came home and dealt with it themselves. It was know as "Battle Fatigue", and most of them(and their families) found a way to live with it. They didn't run to the VA and want a disability check and some "happy pills", they were just happy to be home and alive. Same with minor disabilities. Most of those that came home with those, were too proud to ask for anything. Too many of them felt guilty coming home at all in that condition instead of like their buddies, in a box.

What 460 said!!..

That was well put. Yes it was a NATION that made a sacrifice, they supported the Nation and took pride in doing it. It was Rosie the Riveter and not "gett'en it real" with some Jersey Shore crap and abuse of hair gel.

Alright, let's set some things straight here.

I have lost some family in WW2 as well. To be exact ... my great grandfather. Because of the war, I never even knew him. He was in the Luftwaffe.

I am fresh off the boat (ten years ago) from Germany and have retained at least a small amount of outside perspective. If I recall correctly, we do indeed have some non americans on this board.

Now, how would for instance any of you feel if I posted something along those lines about the Battle of Verdun. Promptly someone else hops on and says "Good shootin' Wehrmacht."

... Need I go further? Need I remind you folks that this is the high road ... and of the fact that there is a pretty darned good chance that we have some people on this very board whose great grandfather, or even father died in Word War II as well. In the Japanese Imperial Army.

I know I don't appreciate being called a Kraut by some random stranger. I know you don't appreciate coming to the UK and being called a Yank. Where do you think it's ok to do it to others coming here?

This has nothing to do with thin skin. I've had much worse dished out by people less eloquent or rather "bad language" avoiding than anywhere here. But never under the heading of the High Road.

America

This is AMERICA....It is a culture that you let get off the boat and live a life of freedom...your price of admission. Love the country, the flag and our history. America allows you to come here and practice your faith and express your feelings and opinion with the freedom of speech. It is not meant to suppress the AMERICAN way of life and turn us into the country you were escaping from to begin with.

Though I am usually against name calling of any kind, I have absolutely no problem with people using slurs to refer to people that they are killing during war time. One way to mentally deal with what soldiers are given to deal with is to dehumanize the enemy. Heck I could care less about people calling me a Yank. Who cares? Being proud of your fighting men and remembering them for what they did and said and were is more important than offending a few people by using language from those days. A name is just a name and its your choice on how it makes you feel. The only person that is offended is the one that chooses to be.

Oh my GOD

I guess i should of been highly offended when a swabbie called me a jar head and vice verse.... I must of missed the sensitivity training.

Threads like this are a tough subject here. Military history is not clearly "on-topic" unless the actual subject has to do with the firearms used.

("Well, they were fighting with GUNS...", doesn't cut it, by the way. )

We do usually allow a brief "remembrance" thread on anniversaries such as this, but we cannot allow debate threads about the battles or the actions of the soldiers involved.

... Having said that, I'll close with the following:

I've come to perceive the fighting man on all sides of every conflict as having a certain honor, a spirit of self-sacrifice for his country and comrades, and other highly admirable qualities. Soldiers are called to do terrible, horrible things, not (as a whole) because they are terrible, horrible humans, but because they sacrifice their own desires, ethics and morals (to some degree), and even lives in the service of their country.

Few things warm my heart as much as seeing American Veterans meeting German Veterans to embrace and remember on the shores of Normandy, or Vietnamese and Americans revisiting the battlefields on which they faced each other. Or Japanese, Korean, etc. To dishonor any of them, now, would be unthinkable. And "un-American" if anything ever could be.