What Iwo-Jima Looks Like Today

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 พ.ย. 2024
  • Late 2022 footage of Iwo-Jima (Io-to) with news audio from 1945.
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ความคิดเห็น • 366

  • @SuperFrank6666
    @SuperFrank6666 ปีที่แล้ว +496

    My oldest 1st cousin, J. T. Hillman died on Iwo 6 days after he landed. His remains were returned to his mother in 1957. He is interned with his parents in the Hope Mausoleum in New Orleans, LA. RIP. He was 19 years old.

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Such carnage. And then it turned out that we never did land on mainland Japan (though we did bomb it)

    • @anibalcesarnishizk2205
      @anibalcesarnishizk2205 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Bodies buried there did not turn into bones at all, because of the sulphur they got mummified.

    • @wolfgangholtzclaw2637
      @wolfgangholtzclaw2637 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thank You J.T. Hillman!!!

    • @wadepsilon01
      @wadepsilon01 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      10,000 bodies of Japanese soldiers are still missing.
      The families search the island every year, but it is difficult to find them because of the harmful volcanic gases and the fact that the entire island rises and changes its topography.
      The whole island looks like a giant tombstone.

    • @williamca7067
      @williamca7067 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@muffs55mercury61 we didn’t because it was going to cost … many lives

  • @mongo4utube
    @mongo4utube ปีที่แล้ว +243

    My Dad fought on Iwo. PFC Thomas H. Williams, WIA D-3. Just died a few years ago. I've got his original foot locker with all his gear in it.

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I would be proud of him, too.

    • @Glenn.F
      @Glenn.F ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Many thanks to your Dad for his service.

    • @vasaaviarion
      @vasaaviarion ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I don't know how anyone could have fought in that battle and remained sane. The island didn't look pretty like this in those days. It was pockmarked with craters, littered with body parts, splattered with blood, and stank of death, gunpowder, and constant fear. 29,000 people died in an area less than 8 square miles. You couldn't walk 10 feet without stepping over a body. Iwo Jima may have possibly been the most terrifying, horrific, battle in all of human history. The bravery of those who fought that battle gives me chills.

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@vasaaviarionI would say that is more than an accurate description. Humans were not cut for what happened there and dealing with it mentally if they survived.

    • @dustysmoke4996
      @dustysmoke4996 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@vasaaviarion There are more than a few battles in ancient history where 50,000+ men were cut down to the last man in pitiless sword, spear and bow combat... all in one day. But it was still a terrible battle.

  • @chad3539
    @chad3539 ปีที่แล้ว +219

    I came to Iwo Jima in December 2016 and June 2017 for two historical tours with my job. I stood on this very beach and on Mount Suribachi twice. Still, have about 6 pounds of black sand in a ziplock bag in my closet. The weather was just like this in the video and I actually went in one of the tunnel systems and went down about twenty feet. It was hot and humid in the tunnel even in the winter due to the volcanic activities. You can smell the sulfur on top of the mountain and that was when I realized why it was called Sulfur Island. I could not imagine how the Marines and Japanese soldiers could fight and survive the hellish battle field for so long. I have mad respect for both sides and feel even more proud to be a Marine.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Great comment Chad, thank you!

    • @Scriptum_1
      @Scriptum_1 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Why the hell do people like to keep soil... is like to owning cemetery soil

    • @tubbers20
      @tubbers20 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@Scriptum_1 Joe Rosentahl brought back a vial of the sand and it was in the Navy/Marine Corps Museum on Treasure Island.

    • @blusnuby2
      @blusnuby2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Then read: WITH THE OLD BREED, by E.B. Sledge & feel even PROUDER. Hoo-Rah !

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Good that you went. A lot of men died for that black sand.

  • @allenmccreary2359
    @allenmccreary2359 ปีที่แล้ว +96

    My father, 18 at the time, was wounded while his LSM (LSM-46) was on the beach off loading flame throwing tanks and barrels of napalm. The mortar blast threw him back onto the barrels in the back of the bay. Was able to be treated, recover and rejoin the crew later, earning The Purple Heart

  • @captaincrunch8523
    @captaincrunch8523 ปีที่แล้ว +103

    I served a 2 week tour of duty on IWO in 1957 when with the US Airforce . Virtually no restrictions as to where you were allowed to explore . Walked most of the island and top of Surabachi . Still at the time much of the stuff from WW2 laying around . IWO video of today looks so much different than what it was during my time there. I remember sitting on the cliffs overlooking the ocean{ invasion side } watching the sunset . So different from just 12 years earlier when fierce battles were taking place .

    • @diffened
      @diffened ปีที่แล้ว

      8523, my father was stationed there for I believe one year in 1955-56. What did the air force do on the island? I don't remember ever asking him.

    • @captaincrunch8523
      @captaincrunch8523 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@diffened I'm not sure, however I think its purpose was for refueling aircraft . We went to and from Tachikawa via MATS C124 . As I recall the AF maybe had a hundred personnel. There also was a Navy installation at the opposite end from the invasion beach. Was supposedly secret At the time the prop planes didn't have the range and had to refuel there and at Wake.

  • @TedJ71
    @TedJ71 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    My uncle who since passed away was in 4th Marine div on Iwo, he received 2 bronze stars and 2 Purple Hearts through the island campaigns. I have his unit book shows all the islands they fought on and names of all the men kill, wounded. I still look at it from time to time in amazement what they went through. I served in USN 71-75.

  • @lilorbielilorbie2496
    @lilorbielilorbie2496 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    My best friend from high school which goes back to the early 70's. His Dad was part of the soldiers who landed on Iwo Jima. He said his Dad never ever wanted to talk about what he saw there.

  • @fortawesome1974
    @fortawesome1974 ปีที่แล้ว +87

    As an ex Infantry Veteran, I would love to visit Iwo Jima even though as an Australian none of us fought there. I can't imagine how horrible it would have been with the heat, lack of cover, water and food and the many friendly fire accidents.

    • @BirdsfromHuntingdon
      @BirdsfromHuntingdon ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Happy Anzac Day! 🇦🇺🇳🇿🇦🇺🇳🇿

    • @blusnuby2
      @blusnuby2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      The battle for Okinawa was worse, & the taking of Peleliu, "pound for pound," was perhaps (the roughest) of ALL Pacific islands fought on by American Marines & Army combatants.....

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@blusnuby2 Yes it was !

    • @mkilner
      @mkilner ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Looks like it would been freezing cold, average temp of 65f, a lot perished from hypothermia I’m sure! RIP.

    • @wadepsilon01
      @wadepsilon01 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Currently, the island is home to the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. military facilities in Japan.
      Civilians are basically prohibited from entering the island, and only former residents (those who emigrated during the war) and family members of soldiers who died on the island are allowed to enter on a limited basis.
      Incidentally, the official name of this island is Iwo-Tou, not Iwo-Jima.
      There exists an Iwo Jima with the same spelling in a different location than here, and the U.S. military got the designations mixed up.

  • @Bonzodoct6
    @Bonzodoct6 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    My Uncle Martin Edward Montgomery Survived What he called the meat grinder of Iwo as part of a 105 howitzer crew and was emotionally traumatized from that battle until he passed in 1972 he never wanted to speak about what he did or seen my aunt said he would awake at night screaming and in cold sweats I can't imagine what happend to him.😢

  • @SuperBigblue19
    @SuperBigblue19 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    I went within a couple miles of Iwo Jima on a ship when I was 20. To think so many young men had their lives cut short on that tiny protrusion is one of the saddest times of my life.

  • @freedomforever1962
    @freedomforever1962 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Semper Fi ❤️🤍💙🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🇺🇲🦅🇺🇲
    God Bless America
    From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli
    Rip ~ Thank You For Your Service and Your Sacrifice.
    ~ Blessings.

  • @BattleAxe1345
    @BattleAxe1345 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    Really puts things in perspective on the loss of life while seeing how tiny the island is.

  • @deniece0821
    @deniece0821 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    My grandfather, Cpl.Louis Basso was a Marine 147th Infantry Regiment who fought at Iwo Jima. He returned from the war physically unharmed. Sadly, I never got to know him. He died before I was born. He was only 39. He returned very traumatized, as most did. I guess he only spoke of the war a couple of times. Without going into specifics, let's just say that ultimately, that battle killed him.
    My grandfather was an Italian immigrant. His parents (my great -grandparents) immigrated to American when he was a baby. This is also why he was sent to Asian territory during the war. (Descendants from Italy were not sent to Europe during the war for obvious reasons.) My grandfather was proud of his Italian heritage but even more proud to be an American and fight for his country. He was also a devout Catholic. Apparently he got into a battle with the enemy in a foxhole at Iwo Jima and had to kill a man. Even though it was the enemy and he was in a situation of kill or be killed, it affected him deeply. He never got over it.
    It may seem weird to mourn a grandfather that I never knew...but I do. 😔

  • @tinmanozzie
    @tinmanozzie 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I was on the U.S.S. New Orleans ( now a coral reef of of Hawaii} We pulled up off the coast of Iwo Jima one Sunday morning' musta been 90 or 91 and had a prayer service, the flight deck was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  • @muffs55mercury61
    @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    Imagine fighting a battle knowing that 5000+ others have already been killed. An awful toll.
    Ira Hayes was from my home state of Arizona and he died in 1955 just 45 miles from where we lived. He is not forgotten

    • @torpedo58
      @torpedo58 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      He was an honorable and brave American.

    • @finddeniro
      @finddeniro ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Bob Dylan sang a Song..
      Remember Him..

    • @johnstewart1590
      @johnstewart1590 ปีที่แล้ว

      Never heard Dylan's song but Johnny Cash did the popular "Ira Hayes".@@finddeniro

    • @mstevens113
      @mstevens113 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ​@@finddeniroJohnny Cash did as well

  • @SteveGee1986
    @SteveGee1986 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    My uncle was killed while clearing out the caves. He was 17 years old.

  • @SugarWildflower-si4ox
    @SugarWildflower-si4ox ปีที่แล้ว +32

    God bless the Marines that fought lived and died in one of the most hard fought horrific battles in history. 🇺🇸

  • @kevinlatham5661
    @kevinlatham5661 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    the bravery and fanaticism of the japanese on iwo jima and okinawa and the casualties the US suffered in these operations was a significant factor in the decision to use the atomic bomb rather than a land invasion of the home islands.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Indeed. Many thanks for commenting!

    • @ArwingFighter
      @ArwingFighter ปีที่แล้ว

      Hiroshima and nagasaki were more likely firebombed. Nobody would be living there if atomic bombs were used.

    • @robinpreese
      @robinpreese ปีที่แล้ว +7

      They wouldn’t stop , fight til the death , every man woman and child. The Japanese were tough

    • @MikeJones-rk1un
      @MikeJones-rk1un ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@robinpreeseI don't think tough is the right word since they tortured men women and children wherever they went .

    • @wadepsilon01
      @wadepsilon01 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@MikeJones-rk1un
      On the battlefields of mainland China and Southeast Asia, there were many Chinese guerrilla soldiers who were women and children.
      At one port in China, women dressed in kimonos smiled and waved at Japanese soldiers who had landed. When the soldiers approached to greet them, the women fired their concealed guns and shot the unwary soldiers dead.
      There is also a story of a mother and her child, who were working in a field while the soldiers were moving through a rural area, pulling a rifle out of a basket and shooting them from behind.
      As a result, the Japanese military became more suspicious of civilians and tougher in areas close to the front lines.
      I believe events similar to this were experienced by the US military several times during the Vietnam War.

  • @roymcnicholas4825
    @roymcnicholas4825 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Very haunting video it made images come into your mind and think of those men on both sides dying for that little piece of land , really well filmed

  • @donb7113
    @donb7113 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    My step uncle was a marine who first fought on Makin atoll, then on Iwo Jima. He was permanently handicapped due to injuries inflicted on Iwo.

  • @7515-j3w
    @7515-j3w ปีที่แล้ว +25

    If you really want to know why Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, just read the book "Bloody Okinawa" by Joseph Wheelan. The Japanese would not stop fighting until they were completely wiped out. It happened on Saipan, on Iwo Jima. Total War. Never again.

    • @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk
      @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Major General Fred Haynes, USMC dec...totally agreed with him. The Japanese would have never surrendered. The casualties on all sides would have been horrendous..yes worse than the bombs.

    • @robpelick7460
      @robpelick7460 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      As Churchill said:
      "Everyone talks about fighting to the death
      ....the Japanese do it."

  • @Me2Lancer
    @Me2Lancer ปีที่แล้ว +13

    My ship USS Brister DER-327 visited Iwo-Jima several times in 1964 as an extension to our patrols of the Marianas Islands. This is a somber reminder of those visits. Making it more poignant, I learned our executive officer served as a landing craft coxswain during the battle for Iwo-Jima.

  • @CurtRaftshol
    @CurtRaftshol ปีที่แล้ว +13

    My Marine daughter, Captain C-130 pilot, re-enlisted her sergeant on the flag raising site on Suribachi a few years ago.

  • @Thom3748
    @Thom3748 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    As a young journalist in the Bay Area in the early 1970s, I met Joe Rosenthal -- who took the famous photo of the Marines raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi--at a news conference. He was shooting for the SF Chronicle at that time. My newspaper's photographer was with me. Joe ambled up to us--he knew Gordon, the photographer with me--and ended up telling us about how he got that famous shot during the battle of the Marines raising the flag at Iwo. The flag raising was actually the second of two--the flag being too small in the first. The Marines ordered a second raising with a larger flag. He was such an unassuming character for having taken one of the most famous war photographs ever. Joe was on the short side, and wore a black beret. Very soft spoken. I wonder how Joe and the thousands of Americans who died or were wounded there would feel about the Japanese flag now flying over the island? Such is the irony of history.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for sharing this, Tom.

    • @Firedog-ny3cq
      @Firedog-ny3cq ปีที่แล้ว

      It's a flag. Get over it. Semper Paratus.

    • @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk
      @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk ปีที่แล้ว

      Alot of them do not like it. We did it during the Vietnam wore. We were transporting troops to Vietnam thru Japan. The Japanese didnt like it. So we returned Iwo to sweeten the deal. We still have some rights.

    • @Thom3748
      @Thom3748 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@BonnieHaynes-gg4nk I was merely making an observation about the irony of war in general. The island belonged to Japan before the war, so, it's logical the island would be returned to Japan post-war. The Vietnamese are big fans of the U.S. these days despite what we did to them in war. I visited North Vietnam some years ago, and was amazed at how friendly everyone was to me and my traveling buddy.

    • @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk
      @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Thom3748 I have heard that from even my daughter. But it looks like a really hard trip. I would love to go.

  • @FrankSGuerra
    @FrankSGuerra ปีที่แล้ว +5

    My grandfather had a shell land near him on Iwo Jima, setting off a bunch of white phosphorous he was carrying. He had horrendous burns over the whole lower half of his body. They never healed. I remember watching my grandmother change his bandages in the 80s. He died in his early 60s as a result of those wounds.

    • @JohnPublic-dk7zd
      @JohnPublic-dk7zd ปีที่แล้ว +1

      My dad worked for Patton, and his last tour of duty was Germany in the mid 60's...he feared no man, but he was scared of us (we were little kids then) maybe coming across a white phosphorus bomb while playing outside in the woods...I do remember finding two exploded incendiary bombs, we would mark the location and alert the MPs...Iwo maybe took the fighting to it's zenith, but everywhere the war left scars...my dad never spoke of what he did or saw, but a thunderstorm would send him to bed, and it was years before I realized how a storm sounds just like artillery fire...

    • @usersrt46
      @usersrt46 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      嘘つくな

  • @walterbryan1798
    @walterbryan1798 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I remember watching and rewatching a program about this battle when I was a kid. There’s always been something that fascinated me about it.

  • @Scott-hh3gh
    @Scott-hh3gh ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Spent 4 days there with a Marine battle study group in 89. It's a very humbling experience walking the invasion beaches., inspecting the numerous tunnels and standing atop Mt. Suribachi.

  • @jackmoorehead2036
    @jackmoorehead2036 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Just a note, 1 out of every 3 Marines killed in WW 2 were killed on Iwo Jima.

  • @mikelang8020
    @mikelang8020 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    My Dad's Buddy Bill Juntlan Died the FIRST Day 😢 Bar Man 18 yrs old 6'4" All Marine GOD BLESS Him

  • @mkilner
    @mkilner ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Thanks for this very moving footage, with the original commentary it sends a stark message that war is hell!

  • @jmitch623
    @jmitch623 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Army 68-71. Spent some time on Okinawa. Saw remnants of that battle as well. I can’t even imagine.

  • @66doodz
    @66doodz ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I can't imagine the actual physical amount of ordinance that makes up that landscape. Hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, bombs, and bullets. You probably can't take a step without stepping on American steel and lead.

  • @30AndHatingIt
    @30AndHatingIt ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Three iconic American moments:
    - The Revolution and birth of the first free nation since Ancient Greece.
    - The Apollo Space program.
    - The Marines fighting their way up and planting the Stars & Stripes atop that dormant volcano.
    We’re dying now, but we were once remarkable. RIP America.

    • @ingurlund9657
      @ingurlund9657 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sad that the people liberated from the camps in 1945 are the people who killed you and all the rest of us.

    • @texaswunderkind
      @texaswunderkind ปีที่แล้ว

      What American Exceptionalist nonsense. Here are other iconic moments in history as the greatest nation of freedom as appointed by White Jesus:
      1) Writing of the United States Constitution, which in its 5th paragraph established slaves as 3/5ths of a human being.
      2) Civil war, where half of the states were willing to tear America apart and kill their own brother to preserve murder, torture, and rape of slaves.
      3) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): The United States Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" (segregation) was constitutional, thus ushering in 68 years of second-class citizenship for black Americans. Directly referenced by Adolf Hitler when planning his treatment of German Jews.
      4) 19th Amendment (1920): women finally get the vote, only 144 short years after "...first free nation since Ancient Greece" was founded.
      5) The International Jew: The World's Problem (1920): Series of articles by Henry Ford published into a book admired by Adolf Hitler.
      6) Indian Citizenship Act (1924): Native Americans finally recognized as citizens of the place they already existed in before whites arrived.
      7) Buck v. Bell (1927): the U.S. Supreme court upheld Virginia's Eugenical Sterilization Act, authorizing forced sterilization. Also cited by Hitler as being a really, really good idea for undesirable groups in Germany.
      8) January 6th, 2021: after losing the most secure election in history, Donald Trump attempts a fascist takeover of the county in a violet assault of a joint session of Congress in the nation's capitol. Even the 9/11 attackers were unable to get to the U.S. Capitol, but Trump could.
      America holds great promise for freedom, but unfortunately throughout most of its history, that promise has not been realized.

  • @toddcarpenter714
    @toddcarpenter714 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    As a Marine, I would love to visit Iwo Jima. I was stationed at Okinawa in the 80s, I kept my ears open for a flight going to Iwo. (I was at Futenma, hoping to catch a C-130 flying there, no dice)

    • @rhugh02
      @rhugh02 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I was right there with you in the 80's. Loved my time in Okanawa and camp Fuji Japan. Good times. So long ago now.

    • @toddcarpenter714
      @toddcarpenter714 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@rhugh02I loved Okinawa. That was a great duty station.

    • @marine4lyfe85
      @marine4lyfe85 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I was at Camp Kinser the whole year of 1986. Good times. I still talk to a lot of buddies on Facebook.

  • @Ro6entX
    @Ro6entX ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Without ever being there myself, can tell it has changed a lot since those dark days of WW2. Noted the island itself has risen up some due to volcanic activity, human remains have been found. I know the Japanese commander body was never found but would be historical significance if it ever is.

  • @BobSmith-dk8nw
    @BobSmith-dk8nw ปีที่แล้ว +8

    There are two versions of the classic "Flag Raising On Iwo Jima". One is a still photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal that caused the sensation about the Flag Raising when it was published. The other was a movie of the Flag Raising
    th-cam.com/video/LEtukwfLX90/w-d-xo.html
    filmed by Marine Corps Combat Cameraman Bill Genaust.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Genaust
    He is still on the Island.
    They were exploring a Japanese Cave and needed a flashlight. Bill had one so he went in. There was a fire fight in the Cave and Bill was killed. Because the Japanese still held the cave - the entrance was collapsed with explosives.
    There were several attempts over the years to find Bill's body - but they couldn't do it.
    So - the man who was looking through the range finder of the motion picture camera that took that moving image of the flag Raising - the man whose eyes you are seeing that through - is still there.
    .

  • @Mike-s1r
    @Mike-s1r 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Rip John Bowen ! Your stories of this island won’t be forgotten!

  • @DavidDavid-ux8ed
    @DavidDavid-ux8ed ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Time heals all wounds.
    Too bad that time cannot heal the horrific memories of the Marines who fought there and experienced the horrors.

    • @muffs55mercury61
      @muffs55mercury61 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      There was a filmed documentary of some American survivors going back to the island in 1985 for the 40th anniversary and none of them had a straight face later and many broke down bawling. Time heals but not entirely.

    • @ragnarlothbrok9133
      @ragnarlothbrok9133 ปีที่แล้ว

      Wounds may heal but scars remain.

    • @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk
      @BonnieHaynes-gg4nk ปีที่แล้ว

      As the wife of an Iwo Marine, that is not always true.

  • @drpeterc12
    @drpeterc12 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Magnificent record of a battlefield. Well done !!!

  • @PackFan2323
    @PackFan2323 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    My dad was a B-29 side gunner and was so grateful for the efforts of those who fought on Iwo, allowing the Seabees to construct airfields. He had to fly from Tinian to bomb Tokyo one last time after Hiroshima and Nagasaki on a mission called "The Convincer". His plane ran low on fuel and they had to land on Iwo. He survived the war and we went to DC on an Honor Flight in May 2013. He passed away 6 months later on Thanksgiving 2013.

  • @rvt2239
    @rvt2239 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I talked to a vet from Iwo once at the VA. He showed me his elbows and they were all marked up. He told me that the black sand on Iwo was more like crushed up rock in some places and crawling around in it tore up their elbows.

  • @FuzzyWuzzy75
    @FuzzyWuzzy75 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Unfortunately, I have never had the chance to tour battlefields outside of the Continental US. But I have been to a good many American Civil War and American Revolution battlefields.
    I hate to sound like I am telling ghost stories but it has never ceased to amaze me how there just seems to be an almost unexplainable feeling on these battlefields. They just so often seem to have an energy that exists there that lets you know that something significant happened there. You get the feeling that even if you were completely ignroant of the history, you'd still know that something significant happened there. I imagine that is true of battlefields all over the world.
    I don't think I have ever seen a battlefield that gave you that same feeling just from seeing film footage on the internet like I see here with Iwo Jima.
    Even now, all these decades after the battle Iwo Jima just has an intimidating looking presence about it.
    I have been to Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg and other Civil War battlefields and would just get that feeling like the hair on the back of my neck would stand up. But there was also a strange peacefulness to these places, especially on a nice warm sunny day with the breeze blowing and an almost deafening silence with the exception of the birds singing. That serenity is just such a stark contrast to the history that made these places famous.
    But here, just watching this clip, I don't get that serene feeling. Just looking at that clip gave such an ominous and intimidating feeling. I can only imagine what it would feel like to actually be there. It seems to me that it would be quite a spooky experience.

  • @darthgrundle2349
    @darthgrundle2349 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    If you venture there, be quiet and respectful, many souls are still there..looking for their friends.

  • @Firebrand55
    @Firebrand55 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Excellent vid........soundtrack and unspoken images totally effective. To see these images now and think of the realty in 1945. Nearly 7000 marines gave their lives for this postage stamp on the Pacific, with many wounded.....24,000 casualties in all....not forgetting the Japanese garrison, killed almost to the man; 22,000.

  • @planetside11
    @planetside11 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I wish I could go there and visit. Not sure why. I just wish I could. I guess I just want to pay my respects to the thousands who fought and died there.

  • @polydueres
    @polydueres ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Semper Fi in honor of my father Burlin C. Beam PFC 4th Marine Div. Iwo Jima

  • @diffened
    @diffened ปีที่แล้ว +5

    My father was stationed on Iwo Jima in 1955-56, as a US air force captain. He said that while exploring the caves they would sometimes find parts of bodies and I believe it was standard practice to send the remains back to Japan. Don't know what they did on the island, but they would occasionally fly to Japan for R&R/vacation time.

  • @wadepsilon01
    @wadepsilon01 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    The island has risen an average of more than 15 meters over the past 100 years due to volcanic activity, increasing the island's area by nearly 20%.
    There were no port facilities on the island, so the U.S. military sunk unneeded ships and used them as scaffolding for berthing.
    Those ships also appeared on the surface as the island rose.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      This has resulted in more human remains being uncovered, with the possibility of some very delayed homecomings.

    • @chazzthaspazz4475
      @chazzthaspazz4475 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@travelphotofilmthats so creepy

    • @fishingthelist4017
      @fishingthelist4017 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Iwo Jima is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. It sits in a caldera that was formed by a catastrophic eruption, and the uplift means that one day another catastrophic eruption will obliterate the current island and cause damage throughout the Pacific Rim.

    • @anibalcesarnishizk2205
      @anibalcesarnishizk2205 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That means the island grows 15 cm a year.If that is growth average, the island, this is a supposition of mine, didn't still exist when Jesus Christ had been born.Geologists know better.😮🤤🤔

    • @fishingthelist4017
      @fishingthelist4017 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@anibalcesarnishizk2205 scientists can't say precisely when the last island was wiped out, but it was over 850 years BC(and I won't add the E). The next big one could happen within the next thousand years.

  • @deano6912
    @deano6912 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank-you so much for posting. I have read a few books on Iwo Jima - it was great to see what it looks like now.

  • @Tommytoolsqueezer
    @Tommytoolsqueezer 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Looks spooky. Though crazy how peaceful it looks today

  • @lablackzed
    @lablackzed ปีที่แล้ว +6

    The hand of death has truly pass over that island alot of lost souls still walk it.

  • @rubbabubba6489
    @rubbabubba6489 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    God bless our soldiers. Past, present, and future. May their sacrifice never be in vain

  • @TripsandFeasts1
    @TripsandFeasts1 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The father of a girlfriend of mine received the Medal of Honor as a result of what he did on Iwo Jima. He was often asked to be a guest on various historical tours to Iwo. But, he never went back & he never talked about what he did there.

  • @landonpotts6815
    @landonpotts6815 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great job on this video.
    I served in the USMC. 83-89.
    Marine Detachment USS Iowa BB61 & Echo 2/8.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thank you for the comment! Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @ChrisH930S
    @ChrisH930S ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My uncle was a Marine Raider on Iwo, never wanted to talk about.

  • @Bruce-1956
    @Bruce-1956 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you gor this amazing video.

  • @briangoldy8784
    @briangoldy8784 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Young Men on Both sides. Never had a Chance to Live a Full Life, Buy a Home. Marriage, Children. Enjoy a Sunset or Sunrise . SUCH A WASTE...........War.

  • @bjornmclir5015
    @bjornmclir5015 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My grandfather was 18 when he ran a landing craft carrying round after round of young marines to their deaths on the beaches of iwo jima. I was fortunate he survived the war.

  • @nyca520
    @nyca520 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thank you sirs for your heroic bravery and valiant service to our country RIP 🇺🇸

  • @opieangst
    @opieangst ปีที่แล้ว +1

    MY grandpa on my dads side served in this very pacific theater. Pvt. Louis Green. U.S Army.
    I wonder sometimes how haunted these places could POSSIBLY be, if at all?

  • @maureencora1
    @maureencora1 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    USMC, Heaven is for Heroes, May They R.I.P. Semper-Fi

  • @jgmopar
    @jgmopar ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My Grandfather lost his life March 26, 1945, on Iwo Jima. 1 or 9 marines to die in the last battle. RIP to all the brave soldiers that lost their lives fighting on IWO

  • @slairconditioningandheatin8663
    @slairconditioningandheatin8663 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    My grandfather enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at 17 years old. He says he brought marines ashore and took wounded back to the command ship. He passed away 2 years ago

  • @Dumb-Comment
    @Dumb-Comment 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Imagine without the two atomic bombs, the Japanese were going to turn their whole country into Iwo Jima

  • @davekreitzer4358
    @davekreitzer4358 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    My great, uncle was just coming over the ridge and watched the first flag go up , and my father during the Korean conflict , training for the invasion of Formosa ( Taiwan ) , but the Chinese never invaded , have all of Dad's Iwo pictures , while he was there !!! 😎

  • @johnelliott7375
    @johnelliott7375 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My Uncle Joe was a Marine and he was in the flag raising photo, bottom row second one from left. I will say he survived the war made it home and was eventually killed by a drunk driver while he was walking back to the farm house after the war was over. God bless and have a great day today.

  • @HoldTheLine1990
    @HoldTheLine1990 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I’ve walked the beaches of Iwo Jima and have sand from there too.
    It’s humbling to walk around the island and know what the outcome was.

  • @MmmChipotle
    @MmmChipotle ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was honored enough to visit in 2007 time-frame. VMGR 152 SUMOS

  • @DMS-pq8
    @DMS-pq8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Iwo Jima was returned to Japan in 1968 and now has a small Japanese military base

    • @tonymanero5544
      @tonymanero5544 ปีที่แล้ว

      I thought the island is unoccupied and operated as the grounds for the approx 30,000 dead Japanese soldiers station there.

    • @DMS-pq8
      @DMS-pq8 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tonymanero5544 No civilians live there just military

  • @DailyTradingRoom
    @DailyTradingRoom ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Incredibly well done

  • @garkmr6200
    @garkmr6200 ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember reading about Iwo Jima back in the ‘70s.
    I remember reading that you could still smell death on the island 30 years after the fight.

    • @Firedog-ny3cq
      @Firedog-ny3cq ปีที่แล้ว

      Don't believe everything you read.

  • @chad3539
    @chad3539 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    And thank you very much for sharing this video

  • @robingilmore1444
    @robingilmore1444 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent. Thank you

  • @MrBradleyDavid
    @MrBradleyDavid ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What madness it must have been to fought and survived this battle for a spec in the ocean in some island chain you can’t find on the globe for it’s size.

  • @mattgaudio3806
    @mattgaudio3806 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Gorgeous landscape. I would love to visit.

    • @tonymanero5544
      @tonymanero5544 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Actually it’s literally a rock with very little vegetation. The airfield was the only important asset. Today, the island is unoccupied and authorization is required to visit the island as the cemetery of about 30,000 and 5,000 dead soldiers.

  • @Vincent-db4st
    @Vincent-db4st ปีที่แล้ว +4

    My grandmas brother Franki was killed their . Soon as they landed family was told . Mortar fire. My dad was 1 yr old I'm 56 and have his death certificate signed . My dad just gave me

  • @tubbers20
    @tubbers20 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have these recordings on cassette. So funny when they talk to 'The Goat.' 😊

  • @squangan
    @squangan ปีที่แล้ว +3

    A little fly speck island in the middle of nowhere that had meant nothing to the world through the ages was turned into hallowed ground over the course of a few days. Somehow it became a place where thousands of people went to and died before it was for most intents and purposes abandoned back to nature again.

  • @johnmancuso9077
    @johnmancuso9077 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I was lucky enough to be able to meet Charles Lindberg, the last survivor of the first flag raising, while I was on leave in August of 2001. I got hurt in a off duty accident four days after September 11th. I was with the fifth Marine regiment, and my battalion was over seas when we invaded Iraq, and my battalion got held over in Japan and they got tongo there. I got a print that talks about the two flag raisings when my mom, little sister and I went and visited with in in August of 02.

  • @EraX52
    @EraX52 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fun Fact: It's also home to a volcano as I think the shore of which they fought was at sea level, now the place where they fought has been uplifted by the magma and is now 15 meters above. Correct me if I am wrong.

    • @trevorn9381
      @trevorn9381 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The island is the top of a massive volcano that someday will blow its top in a cataclysmic eruption and blast Iwo Jima out of existence.

  • @30pvfd
    @30pvfd ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My one of my HS teachers fought on IWO was a great man I’m friends with his son rip

  • @Randomthingsforyuo
    @Randomthingsforyuo 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    They should’ve kept the gravesite cemetery there still, for what men back then did for their country

  • @anibalcesarnishizk2205
    @anibalcesarnishizk2205 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Had all Japanese generals been like Kuribayashi, the war in the Pacific would have been a much worse nightmare.

  • @rollotomassi6374
    @rollotomassi6374 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Semper Fi to all the United States Marines and we ask God to bless and protect them all.

  • @josephbrewer5523
    @josephbrewer5523 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The actual landing beaches are inland now. The Island is rising 6" every year. So the black sand you see is not the actual landing area (if you will). There is also an active volcano in this area that has formed a new island. Iwo Jima is VERY active - before much longer the island will resemble nothing as it does today.

  • @acidpoptart4270
    @acidpoptart4270 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Dude all that flat land, the hill being so fucking close with the best view down at just plain fields. Fuck that shit

  • @bradcarson3119
    @bradcarson3119 ปีที่แล้ว

    My grandpa was on iwo jima after my dad passed away I found letters that my grandpa had written to him I would say that there are small bits of iwo soil in the fibers of the paper I cherish those letters I have only read them once as they are to fragile to handle

  • @Drelam
    @Drelam ปีที่แล้ว

    Such a small Island and area that saw extreme suffering and violence. That's one beach I especially wouldn't want to walk on alone at night.

  • @danielbritton8588
    @danielbritton8588 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Iwo Jima was taken for the airstrip which was needed badly for escort fighter planes to fly cover for B-29's & as an emergency airfield for B-29's having trouble with damage or engine problems who could not make it all the way back to Tinian or Saipan.

    • @JohnPublic-dk7zd
      @JohnPublic-dk7zd ปีที่แล้ว

      The number of air crews saved might have exceeded the number of men killed to take the island, if IIRC...it is an unfortunate truth that command has to make such decisions, often with conflicting intelligence, even today...

  • @Joe-oo3xv
    @Joe-oo3xv ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The dog tags hanging were cool

  • @MrOlgrumpy
    @MrOlgrumpy ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The bloodiest battle,The Somme,Belleau Wood,etc etc

  • @Jimmycardcollector
    @Jimmycardcollector ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Where did all the big debris go from the battle?

  • @novavon88
    @novavon88 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    "Bloodiest battle in history?"
    Stalingrad would like a word if you have a moment...

    • @robertsole9970
      @robertsole9970 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      And Gettysburg

    • @vinny4411
      @vinny4411 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@robertsole9970
      Antietam remains the bloodiest day in American military history

    • @briantoplessbar4685
      @briantoplessbar4685 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It wasnt even the bloodiest battle the marines fought in 1945…

    • @vinny4411
      @vinny4411 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@briantoplessbar4685
      Okinawa

  • @juicyj3819
    @juicyj3819 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Must be a creepy place to stay the night

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It’s very peaceful!

  • @sgt.grinch3299
    @sgt.grinch3299 ปีที่แล้ว

    We were off the coast on the 40th anniversary of the initial invasion. It was my first WestPac. Semper Fi to all my fellow Warriors.

  • @Bizz9000
    @Bizz9000 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    Welp time to go back play battlefield 5

    • @CloudyB_MT
      @CloudyB_MT ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The latest Battlefield game worth playing 👍

  • @XD-yd4zs
    @XD-yd4zs 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The human losses during the Iwo Jima landings were twice the losses in the Normandy landings. The Japanese stationed on Mount Suribachi left the marines on the beaches for half an hour, and then the meat grinder began.

  • @afreightdogslife
    @afreightdogslife ปีที่แล้ว

    This place is on my bucket list of places to go see before I expire.
    As an American veteran, that's the least I can do.

    • @travelphotofilm
      @travelphotofilm  ปีที่แล้ว

      It is hard to get to, but certainly worth the trip!

  • @larrywiggin3489
    @larrywiggin3489 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Surprisingly very green theses days compared to the hell hole it was in the mid forties!

  • @john-bloss
    @john-bloss ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Could you let us know the source for the audio. Apologies if you’ve already been asked - I looked but didn’t see it.