Subject:
Memorial Day 2000, Lest we forget
Date:
Mon, 29 May 2000 12:17:27 EDT
At 0902 on February 19, 1945 Bobo's Bastards (B Company, 28th
Marines)
landed near the base of Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Lt. Frank Wright
and his
First Platoon planted the American Flag and quickly struck out
for Iwo's west
coast. at 1030 elements of this platoon reached their
objective, and
Suribachi was severed from the rest of the island. The four day
struggle for
Suribachi was underway. Twenty-one men from Baker Company died
this day and
another fourty-four men were wounded. We pay tribute to those
men of B
Company sacrificing their life this day and during the rest of
the battle.
The dead included: Cpl. Buford L. Aten, Pfc. Robert R.
Bilstein, Pfc Edward
L. Brashear, Cpl Arlyn G. Brown, Sgt Gerald L. Cox, Sgt. John
Csicsko, Pfc.
Iva L. Gray, Jr., Pvt. James K. Hope, Pfc James J. Hummel, Cpl
Robert C.
Jacobson, Sgt. Warren H. Jones, Pvt. Gene B. Kimball, Pfc.
Willie J. Luchak,
Cpl Harry W. Ours, Pvt. Lucien A. Rogers, Pfc Elwin I. Alcock,
Cpl. Mariano
R. Delise, Pfc Desmond G. Kurch, Pfc Elmer Lawlis, Jr., Capt.
Dwayne E.
(Bobo) Mears, and Lt. Nion R. Tucker, Jr.
After the First Battalion successfully crossed the island, they
pivoted to
the south and joined in the assault on Suribachi. On the
morning of February
23, the First Battalion made it way along the western base of
Suribachi and
made contact with the Second Battalion of the 28th Marines on
the extreme
southern tip of Iwo. The Second Battalion successfully scaled
Suribachi on
this day and planted the American flag. These four days cost
Baker Company
eight dead and fifteen wounded. The dead were: Pvt. Lucien A.
Robers, Pfc
Lester O. Gundersgaard, Cpl Harry W. Dawson, Pfc James M. Dean,
Cpl. Walter
J. Kazmer, Pvt. Donald H. Roundtree, Pvt. Wayne E. Ryan and Sgt.
J. D. Dawson.
Baker Company spent the next five days taking bypassed pockets
of Japanese
and closing caves. During this period, five men would be
wounded, but none
of Bobo's Bastards would be killed.
On February 28, the 28th Marines moved north to help in the
assault on the
plateau. Even as the 28th moved north, the First Battalion of
the 27th
Marines assaulted Hill 362A and were violently repulsed. The
taking of Hill
362A and Nishi Ridge would fall to the 28th Marines, with B
Company in the
forefront of the battle. On March 1, the First Battalion would
lose 93 men
taking Hill 362A. 29 of these men would be from Baker Company.
Early on the
morning of March 1, naval ships saturated the surface of Hill
362A with heavy
shells. Low flying aircraft straffed, bombarded and rocketed
the hill.
Marine artillery added their voice to the cresendo with their
105 and 155
guns. The First Battalion, including B Company quickly captured
Hill 362A.
It would take another two days to take Nishi Ridge a few hundred
yards to the
north. Sixty-five men from the First Battalion would die and
another 218 men
would be wounded. Hill 362A and Nishi Ridge cost B Company 72
wounded and 18
dead. Those killed were: Cpl. Carl B. Hoppe, Mvt. Owen E.
Taylor, Cpl David
C. Eaddy, Jr., Pvt. Leslie S. Yost, Cpl Thomas J. Miller, Pfc
Paul L. Adams,
Pfc John W. Brannon, Jr., Pfc James A. Butler, Cpl. Raymond J.
Huber, Cpl.
Hurchel G. Luckett, Pfc Floyd J. Nuthals, Pl. Sgt. Harry K.
Scarborough, Sgt.
William W. Woods, Pfc. Ludwig. A. Halas, Pfc Oswald G. Lowrance,
Pfc. Leonard
M. Niedbalski, Cpl Donald F. Ward, and Pfc. Paul W. Watson.
On March 4, B Company and other units of the First Battalion
were relieved
from the lines and returned to the base of Suribachi to regroup
and receive
replacements. On March 8, the First Battalion once again moved
north and
joined in the Battle for the Badlands. In a five day struggle 81
men from the
First Battalion would die and another 175 would be wounded. B
Company's
casualties included 20 wounded and 10 dead. The dead were: Lt.
Daniel
Ginsburg, Pfc Robert A. Jamison, Pfc. Remo A. Bechelli, Pfc
Raymond D.
Boulter, Cpl Willard C. Burroughs, Cpl Berlyn P. McKee, Pfc.
Russell V.
Braga, Lt. Lester E. Hutchcroft, and Pfc Nelson B. Boyd .
On March 13 the marines approached General Kuribayashi's final
stronghold to
become known as "Bloody Gorge." Down to a couple thousand men,
the Japanese
would hold the enemy at bay for another twelve days. On March
24, the last
organized resistance in "Bloody Gorge" would collapse, but not
without great
cost to the marines. The First Battalion's casualties for the
last encounter
totaled 102, with 40 dead. B Company suffered 20 wounded and
9 dead. The
following men men paid the supreme sacrifice in this last
engagement: Pfc
Dale O Cassell, Jr., Pvt. Carl M. Strong, Pfc. Marvin ;H.
Marshall, Pfc
James L. McAllister, Pvt Frank A. Solomi, Pvt. James L. Tucke,
Pfc. George
P. Thornton, Pfc James B. Treadway, and Pvt. Jack Miles.
Of the 6,775 men who died as the result of wounds received on
Iwo Jima,
nearly half of this number was from the Fifth Marine Division.
On March 26,
73 of the 295 men who fought with B Company boarded the USS
Zeilin for the
long trip back to Hawaii. Many of these men had been wounded at
least once,
and some twice during the battle.
I pause to pay tribute to our dead.
Bob Allen, B Company, 28th Marines
USMC987332
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