John Lauriello; Iwo vet gets to land at beach again
Marine_7002 reminds us that the battle for Iwo Jima (Operation Detachment) began 70 years ago tomorrow and he sends us the story about a community which raised the funds to send 91-year-old veteran John Lauriello for his second landing on the island;
Ade said donations as of Tuesday totaled nearly $20,000 — more than the goal of $12,000 to cover airfare, hotels and other expenses for the Lauriellos. The 10-day trip to the Pacific island starts March 16 and requires four flights between the U.S. and Iwo Jima.
Ade said contributions will be turned over to the Iwo Jima Association of America to pay for the Lauriellos’ trip and possibly for another Iwo Jima veteran.
[…]
Lauriello will be returning to where he landed with the first wave of Marines on the beach to fight an entrenched enemy that hid in caves and tunnels. The battle later was memorialized by a Marine statue depicting the U.S. flag-raising on Mount Suribachi — an event Lauriello witnessed from a distance as a member of the 5th Marines, 27th Regiment.
“I’m just flabbergasted and so excited thinking about it,” he admitted. “I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to them for such a generous outpouring and for their concern.”
According to Wiki, Mr. Lauriello was lucky – of the 70,000 Marines and soldiers who assaulted the island, about ten percent were killed and more than a quarter were wounded during the five-week battle.
Category: Historical
Great story!
I hope he re-lives his memories in a manner that suits his desires!
God bless the USMC!
Well said Master Chief!
…
A large group of ISIS insurgents are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune: “One US MARINE is better than ten ISIS fighters”.
The ISIS commander quickly sends ten of his best soldiers over the dune, whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence. The voice then calls out: “One US MARINE is better than one hundred ISIS fighters.”
Furious, the ISIS commander sends his next best hundred troops over the dune and instantly a huge gunfight commences. After ten minutes of battle, again silence. The voice calls out again: “One US MARINE is better than one thousand ISIS fighters.”
The enraged ISIS Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence.
Eventually, one wounded ISIS fighter crawls back over the dune and, with his dying words, tells his commander, “Don’t send any more men. It’s a trap… there’s actually two of them.”
Damn Marines… All a bunch of showoffs !!!
And the finest bunch of cut throat killers on the planet !!!
Heard that in boot camp, only it was Army. Course that was a few years ago. Still a good story. Also was told that it would take 13 sailors to beat up the average Marine, 12 to shake him out of the tree and one to stomp the stuffing out of him. Also was told that our beloved DI’s would never lead us astray.
Ah yes, the island hopping campaign.
Here in lies a lesson in the societal differences between our ‘Greatest Generation’ and todays generation.
In 1945 our Nation stoically endured a butcher’s bill of 6800 killed, and over 20,000 wounded over the course of 36 days in order to hand Imperial Japan a butcher’s bill of over 18,000 dead. And then we went on to suffer worse at Okinawa over the course of 80 days. Did our Nation whine for an end to hostilities? No, we demanded victory and prepared ourselves to keep killing Japanese until THEY ultimately gave up.
Fast forward to today. Over the course of 14 years, 2001 to present, we have endured a little over 6,700 KIA spread across multiple continents. Today, as a Nation, do we demand victory and prepare to soak up more casualties (comparatively light in view of history), while we keep killing terrorists in massive numbers until they cry ‘uncle’!? No, our masses and their mouthpiece in Washington whine about an end to hostilities, and want to broker peace with an undefeated enemy.
Honestly, who can doubt that our country is on the long road to irrelevance on the international scene at this point when the message we send to the world is one of such pathetic vacillation.
THIS is just one of the reasons so many of us middle aged patriots feel the country is headed for the ‘end’, if not all ready tiptoeing through it. We lack the collective National will to set aside our petty comforts in order to win a decisive victory and secure the country unconditionally.
Bahh, sorry, rant over. :/
My hat is off to Mr. Lauriello and his compatriots. I’m forever in awe of the sacrifices they endured, and the service they rendered our country.
I understand how you feel and at times I also feel the same.
The difference between now and then is the level of violence we can show to the enemy and the higher level of protection our troops have.
Now one guy with a radio can call in a B-1 Bomber, an A-10 or a klik clearing MLRS.
Our men are better protected in their equipment, to wit, the M-1 Abrams tank. Very few crew are killed when one of them gets hit with the best the enemy has to offer.
I think that protection has also given the weak knees to the politicians as has the experience in Vietnam.
The problem is that hey haven’t learned the lessons of Vietnam and are repeating the same damn mistakes we made in that war.
The 58,272 we lost over there have demanded that we keep a better watch on our politicians about war and the tactics they use.
The Generals that led the troops into Iraq in I & II knew that it could have been a huge loss of life.
The people that sign up these days are the bravest of the brave, the same guys that landed on Iwo are present in our military today and if needed I am certain that they would run off that ramp just like they did back then.
I am proud of these young men and women, they are also the greatest generation, they are brave as hell knowing that they fight a war with one hand tied behind their backs.
And THAT is the fault of the politicians, not the American Public…
Good for this Marine too. I am happy to see that he survived this long and that he can land on a peaceful site this time.
I should have been more specific, yes, our fighting men and women today are by and large the equal of any we’ve ever produced, and we are blessed to have them. I’ve served alongside some folks I’d walk through fire with, and for.
But the clap trap I hear among the common citizens on the street is the most depressing bunch of drivel imaginable. And the fact that about half the country supported the current WH administration enough to give it a second opportunity to screw up the Nation even more is the most distressing thing of all.
I honestly don’t see how our current state of affairs gets turned around peacefully, the inmates are almost fully in charge of the asylum.
Our military is as it was, an incredible instrument of force staffed by the best our best! But.
But our unwashed masses don’t hold a candle to our past society, and that’s gonna be our downfall in the long run. 🙁
We watch living history as it fades. I was among the generation that knew those who returned from WW II. Our neighborhood was chocked full of the Veterans. We watched war movies that gave us images of what the Veterans never talked about with us present. Their number is few now. They did great things, these men. They did great things.
I was born ten years after WWII and lived in a town that had a ton of those brave men that fought in that horrible struggle against evil.
I worked with a lot of them as an LPN and loved hearing them talk about their exploits in the war.
I think the guy that touched me the most was on a Rocket Launch Ship that was hit by a Kamikaze plane and survived.
He had a Silver Star for his bravery.
I saluted him every time I went into his room. I really loved taking care of him and did my best for him whenever he wanted something.
God those were good men.
I go to the VA now and see a lot of young guys here that have sacrificed so much for the rest of us.
They are all cut of the same cloth…
“I saluted him every time I went into his room.”
To be aware before it is too late is a wonderful thing. I had the honor of personally knowing a man who joined the Army in 1940 for the opportunity to get outside of the United States and see some of the world he imagined he otherwise might never see. He got to see the Philippines and was there when Pearl Harbor was hit. He was a POW, a slave laborer in a mine in Japan, and, later, a National Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. He insisted I call him by his first name: “Everyone does,” he said. But I could not. And I am glad I never did. Your salute reminded me of that.
Yesterday in Albuquerque, NM I went to what is call a “Blue Mass”. This is a Mass for military, police, firemen, first responders and persons working in prisons. At that Mass there was one of the last (if not the last) Navajo Code Talkers. He was 92 years old. And still stood tall and was proud that he was and is a Marine.
We talked for a little while and when he found out that I have been to Okinawa he said that he had been there also. But I told him that much had changed since he was there and that no one was shooting at me.
He is just one of the many who lived and fought during WW II and I hope that they will be remembered along with all of us who have also served.
All my respect for Mr. John Lauriello. I cannot imagine the thoughts, memories and heart aches he will experience.