Firing their weapons in the airs screaming and yelling and thatas kind of stuff. And iing really thought they hd mind. Heirs i could not figure out what was going on. Then i caught on to what was on. Gng i then i looked on top of mount suremy w bocce and i jumped up started doing the same doesnti think they were doing. Firing my weapon in the air,ingy jumping and screaming. I jumped up and started firing in the air and screaming lik everybody else. Ii wonder ho many marines we lost at that particularly moment. But it changed the whole attitude of the whole thing. It absolutely did something to. Us capacity from the and the exhibits base in quantico virginia we are joined now by marine corps history chief edward nagasaki, and Museum Curator mr. Owen connor on this eve of the 75th anniversary of the battle of equal jima, explain why there are to exhort flags in that hallway that are sitting there right now . We want to take the opportunity to make sure the folks got a chance to see both flags that were lifted over monster but she does not always something that we do but since it is the anniversary, 75th in particular. We want to make the effort to give people the opportunity to see them. Flags are important to the marine corps. I have been talk about the first flag being the most important flag. Of the veterans who are actually at the battle. The second flags americas major media sensation, and iconic moment. You have both flags up with two different stories that you can certainly. Tell that first flag, a smaller flag, explain how it went up and when the change happened and how far into the battle of iwo jima did this take place . Shortly after the marines had landed on the 19th of february they want to isolate mount sarah bocce when monster but she was isolated, they went up to the top of sir but she sort of not knowing what to find but when they reached the summit they wanted to let everyone know that they had sort of cleared the peak and they planted the first flag on the island this flag was a smaller flag it was not large enough to be seen so. To be seen, so it was immediately decided to put a larger flag on Mount Suribachi. We have heard numerous veterans telling us the moment they saw the flag go up, you heard the ships surrounding the island honking their horns, you saw marines cheering. Humorously, a lot of veterans we have spoken to pointed out that they were busy trying not to be killed during the battle and kept their heads down, so you hear a lot of Great Stories from when the flag first went up. We heard one of those first stories from woody williams. You are sitting next to Edward Nevgloski, the marine corps history chief. How much longer did the battle go on after the flag was raised over Mount Suribachi, and why did this moment become the moment that symbolizes the marine corps so much so that the moment that is represented in the marine corps statue in virginia . The battle will go on, would rage on for another month. The battle entailed hundreds of thousands of casualties. So, you know, the flag raising at the outset of the battle, it was at a time when the marine corps is taking a significant number of casualties. The battle on par with what estimates had dictated. But there was also a sense of morale and continuing to press, and the flag raising represents that. For the marines that did see the flag raised, the sailors that were out at sea, it was symbolic in that the fight has just begun, it is going to continue together as a team come as a nation. This island can be seized. Unceremoniously in some it became a calling charge, if you will. It was something that motivated the marines and continued to resignation to resonate in their minds as they pushed on for another month. Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of the start of the battle of iwo jima, the landings beginning february 19 of 1945, lasting 36 days, 26,000 american casualties, including nearly 7000 dead. Of the 20,000 japanese defenders, only 1100 survived the battle. Medals of honor awarded during for actions during the battle. The topic as we focus on the National Museum of the marine corps this money. As we focus on the battle of iwo jima, asking viewers to call in as well come on special phone lines split up regionally. If you are in the eastern or central time zones, 202, 748, 8000. A special line marines and marine family members, 2027488002. Go ahead and start calling and now as we show you some of the scenery of the museum. Owen connor is one of the gallery curators at that museum. Can you explain how the raising of the flag over Mount Suribachi is incorporated into the dna of the museum that you sitting in . The second flag when rosenthal snapped the image, i often emphasize it is really this iconic media moment. Early in the war we would send correspondence to the pacific and it could take weeks, months for things to get back. But when it comes to the flag being taken, it is literally from the battlefield, the front pages of america. Within about two days, International Dateline times. It is almost a viral moment. It is ingrained in the museum, from the architecture that you see and from the way it has traveled through time. I always say it takes on bigger meaning within the marine corps. It symbolizes victory in world war ii, it came at the right time. Patents tanks were rolling across germany, the allies were winning in to europe, and then there is this pattons tanks were rolling across germany, the its just such a beautiful artistic image that sort of rises above the moment. Mr. Glossy, there were some 110,000 americans to participate baited in the battle of you iwo jima jima how many of those were marines . The estimates were in the range of the five when it. Then they landings and marine enforcement that come in there. Typically, we look at 74 to 75,000 marines will touch the ground, and that includes the navy court man along with them. In addition to that u. S. Army soldiers that are supporting us. What was cystic importance of the battle, im considering the losses that we talk about already, could the island have been bypassed in the larger war effort . Thats a good question. The importance of a blue jima is, you have to understand the larger show and at the allies, its all about logistics. And what i mean by combat power is your forces, your equipment, your firepower, your beams, bolts and mandates if you will. The pacific is a very large theater. You have to build up enough power for the ultimate objective, which is mainly japan. And they compete capitulation of the Japanese Forces. In order to do, that the allies will have to make a slow, methodical approach of seizing key strategic islands along the way. And as that is occurring, we have to pick and choose these islands based on what those islands present to us. Do they have ports anchor and offload . Do they have reconstructed facility said the marines could move in and take over, airfield, for example. As we get closer to mainland japan, evil jima is that defense fortress and the middle of the pacific that will stop our aircraft from delivering ordinance on mainland japan. If we can see these evil jima, we can save, we believe, hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of aircraft. So, the key is to think of it logistically and what it resumes to our ability to cease the mainland. The force brought by the americans as they landed there, what was the japanese goal . Do they ever think that they could when that fight . The Japanese Forces believe early on that they developed the fences that there was a chance that they could defeat us. As the war lingers on, the belief is that the japanese probably wont be the industrial power, the industrial might to hold us off and it goes off and the defense and delay and defense, even jima is built 28 years earlier and continued to be improved with each passing year. By time, the leader will get to a pyjama, he essentially knows that this is the last stand. Japan is not going to hold, out so the idea is to kill as Many Americans as ten. With the potential to delay, but knowing in the end that it will be his final resting place. Live from the National Museum of the marine corps, we are joined by edward nagasaki, more green corps history chief, world war ii gallery curator, taking your phone calls, and we do have that special line for marines and family members, 202 748 8002. Calling from arlington, virginia the home of that marine corps memorial. Jessica, good morning. Good morning, thanks for taking my call. I would like to say that i so much appreciate the work of the marine corps in trying to educate the public about the war in the pacific. I dont think the public is aware of the war in the pacific as much as the other areas that saw battled throughout the world. So, im very appreciative of that. And i will be thinking of the people that sacrifice their lives this week while the acknowledgment of a regime is being recognized. My dad was in the pacific as a bomber and survived but all that said, thank you so much, and good luck. As we noted, the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the landings that he would jima begin tomorrow. Mr. Connor, what is going to happen at the museum there throughout these days, the 75th anniversary . Well, we are very excited. The 22nd and 23rd we will be showing large numbers of artifacts, highlighting what we have collected since we opened in 2006. From my own personal collection that ikea right here we are highlighting the medals and the sacrifice of the personal stories of the marines involved. One of the things ive noticed as we have collected here, we try to document the stories of each individual, as much as the battle itself, and there is a trend that involves over and world war ii with the marine corps, particular by the wars, and we realize that were running out of men to fight these battles, and the number of medals that we have, we start seeing these trends where there are 17 year old enlisting, 18, 19yearold members. Or there later marines are drafted her family men in their thirties so by far the number of casualties you start to see reflected in these medals that will be displaying you sort of reflect this and really the human toll with this generation in world war ii or so. Focused on americans pride and what we accomplished, but we also have to understand that these are real people and they are marines that all gave up something and lost in the battle there is a human toll through it and we have our limits as a country so its something you want to highlight those individual stories and faces this weekend. One of the individuals are viewers just saw from the cases in your exhibit space three was the navy cross of john as have you been here a lot more alone john basilone. Written john basilone, any gunner knows about john. He will receive the medal of honor as a machine gun squad leader during the battle for guadalcanal. He will depart the theater and go back as part of the bond drive, and then later on while he is an instructor at Camp Pendleton teaching future marine machine gunners, he will return to the site, return to the pacific theater, and he will land on iwo jima, and he will be killed in the war, and get the navy cross. A letter the marines that were trained in Camp Pendleton, california, becoming back to the pacific to and landed on iwo jima, where the marines he was killed with months later. We mentioned before, some 27 medals of honor were given them if you looking for out for actions on iwo jima good segments at how many of the i gentelman received marine individuals who received not the other one those 27 medals it off doing the math, historians math of the 27 deaths, 13 or 14 were posthumous awards to marines. 27 for one battle alone sort of speaks to the volume. Just the savagery of the conflict of 24 battalion commanders, 14 were wounded or killed in a. The uncommon valor, the common virtue, it is certainly not hollow words. It is absolutely true. And one of those battalion commanders, Lieutenant Colonel chambers received to the medal of honor, one of the more popular stories. The medal of honor at iwo jima consumes 80 of the medals of honor that will be received by the marine corps during the war. So when you consider those staggering numbers, aside from the casualties, it is amazing the ferocity of the fight, and just the absolute heroism. These are the stories that we know about. The stories that we dont know, the things that happened that remain between those marines, the eyewitnesses, there are probably 27 more medals of honor that we just dont know about. On the line for marines and family members, this is john out of kitty hawk, north carolina. Good morning, john. Good morning. Thank you for having them on today. This is very special for my family. We were a fivestar family in world war ii. We had navy and marines at iwo jima. My grant u er, thomas hines, was wounded by a sniper, and luckily survived. I just want to say thank you from multiple generation marines, we really appreciate it. John, thank you for the call. Mr. Nevglosk, what does a fivestar family mean . You have five family members there in theatre, participating in conflict. The goldstar is if one of those family members is killed. To see a flag in the window, which is what most americans did at the time, a small flag that would be displayed in the window of their house, and for each service member, deployed in theater for being in the war, there was a star. So that is the significant contribution from that family. John is on the line for marines and family members from illinois. Good morning. Hi, this is john. My dad was on iwo jima, i was a marine in vietnam. Going through Old Newspaper articles that my mom saved, my dad has been dead for 40 years. I am going through newspaper articles, and here is an article that my mom saved from 1944, 45. I guess it is 1945. It is an article that says my dad got the purple heart on iwo jima. Within that article, it also mentions another neighborhood of chicago, the neighborhood, a fellow named maccarthy. Im almost certain it is mccarthy. He got the medal of honor. But it is all an old yellow piece of newspaper article. Can you recall a fellow giving a medal to a marine . It is such a gorgeous place. All of you jar heads have got to go see it. God bless america. Woohoo for jar heads. Edward nevgloski, for you, sir. I do not know if it is this particular one, but i will certainly look into it. I really appreciate the fact that the gentleman calls me ski that is such a marine corps thing. If you are a marine and your last name ends with s k. I. , you will certainly be known as ski. Owen connor is the world war ii gallery coordinator at the National Museum of the marine corps, joining us this morning into special edition of the washington journal, brought to you by the washington journal American History tv. As we explored d. C. Area museums and the american story. Mr. Connor, coming back to the mr. Connor, my back to the exhibit, related to iwo jima, i want to talk about a picture of some glasses, pens and a brush that are in a case there. Can you tell the story specifically of those glasses . As a curator, we are always collecting personal stories, and their option their object that meant something to marines in the battle. It also gives us an opportunity to talk about the marines themselves and the characters. One of the characters, william odom he was better known to his friends as wild bill from bougainville, and he was a young marine who enlisted in 19. He had been previously wounded in the battle of saipan. When he fought in iwo jima, he had gathered artifacts that meant something to him, and some of these were captured japanese personal effects. He wanted to tell the story about how even at the worst and darkest of times, marines could find dark humor in the events. He would tell me the story about, they labeled them tojos glasses, and when the marines were pinned down in the action that day, he and his friends entertained themselves, waving the glasses over the berm at the japanese snipers that were taking fire at them. As he related the story, humorously, by the end of the day, they had spent most of the day pinned down, and a young southern had crawled up to their position and was looking for some heroism, and he decided he could take out the japanese sniper. Bill and his friends pummeled the young marine quickly and told him not to fire, which caused the marines confusion. He said that if they shut the sniper, they would just replace him with somebody who might be able to hit something. So he said they were happy that they had tojos glasses that we keep them alive a little bit longer. I thought it was a wonderful story. How much of your collection comes from donated items, and is it something that continues to grow, especially now, as we are getting to a time where we are losing so many world war ii absolutely, and that is what means so much to me. People see this Wonderful Museum and they expect that the marine corps has always been collecting these things. It really we opened in 2006, and this has made such a wonderful it has given us such a wonderful opportunity to add to our collection. These stories that individuals can relate, just bring in naturally through our doors, the vast majority of our donations come directly from the families. Sadly, until recently the veterans themselves would bring the object in. That is the thing that is so powerful, to be able to speak to that marine and their families, for them to share the photos of him, his accomplishments in the war, the war stories, i talk to people when they donate and it is an opportunity to build a time capsule to their loved ones, their marines. So that the marine history is not lost. Our museum sort of serves that purpose in allowing that to be documented and saved for future generations. The flags behind you . Were they in a private collection or private hands . Thankfully, the most important artifacts are the iwo jima flags. Despite intels claiming that their relative may have obtained the real one or something humorous along those lines, we know for a fact that the marine corps has possession of these on some of the earliest correspondence from headquarters from the marine corps showed these marine flags were sent to quantico at an early marine corps museum, as early as april of 1945, so it was quickly recognized that these flags were of vital importance. In fact, they sent three flags back to headquarters at marine corps, Quantico Marine corps base, and basically the first flag, the second fly, and the third flag were over a Division Cemetery at the time. Very important artifacts to us. Taking your phone calls as we come up on 9 30 on the east coast with special phone lines. Marines and family members, 2027488002. Otherwise, split up by time zone. From aberdeen, south dakota, this is jim. How you doing, guys . Doing well, jim. Good morning. I just want to say you guys are studs. I really love you. I have had a number of uncles who fought in a number of wars the korean war, what were two. A number of things. I dont have a whole lot to say because i am kind of emotional. I just respect this country so much i think it is just the best country in the world, in history. God, i love you guys. The thing is that i wanted to say was, i just lost my uncle last week. He thought, you know. I never had the chance to fight, but i would fight for this country. I would fight for this country. Thank you for sharing your story, and very sorry for your loss. Mr. Connor, talking about people getting emotional, i wonder what the scene is there, especially in front of the iwo jima flags. Is that something that happens, as you watch people go through exhibit . Absolutely. Our museum is entertaining. There are a lot of things in the museum designed to sort of captivate peoples minds and imagination. It always inspires me when people come to the world war ii gallery. Suddenly there is a somber reverence when you realize what you are looking at. To the callers phone call comments about being an american, i think that unifying aspect between the rosenthal photo and seeing the authenticity of the flag, it hits people hard. Another aspect of the gallery over your shoulder, if you are looking at the flag, we have an exhibit that basically has an insignia for each corpsman and marine that was killed in the battle, and it is a real tangible sort of evidence of the severity of the conflict and the savagery of the fighting when you can put your hands on each one of these ornaments and you realize it is a life that was lost in the battle, it is sort of unifying to us all as americans as a really important thing. I am glad that people have that reverence for the flag and that they can see that. The image really is symbolic of us all as americans, and in almost the same sense, the marines forward. This is sandy, on the line for marines and family members. Concerned about the marines, my father went out in 1942 to the south pacific. You know, and where there many all over in iwo jima . Accounted for . Absolutely. Edward nevgloski, go ahead. Absolutely. Our africanamerican marines, munford point means, definitely were represented on iwo jima. They provided logistical support, helped to bring casualties back, brought water and food to the front lines. But over time, even the africanamerican marines would find themselves rushed to the front and fighting right alongside their white and hispanic brothers. So absolutely, the munford point marines were represented and represented well during the 36day battle. They are a very important part of the museum story, world war ii gallery. We recently enhanced aspects to tell the story. Iwo jima is sort of the culmination of their history, where they were assigned to defense battalions, combat roles, and were not given the full support necessarily of our country. But as the war progressed, there were signs of these ammunition and depot companies, and they were not intended to be frontline troops, but they go these they go to these secondary positions and they went to the front. It is a story that we do document throughout the gallery, and their journey through world war ii, becoming accepted as full marines in america. It is a really important story. I will add to that that the marine is going to tell you, especially the marine under fire, that there are no politics. There is no social agenda. There is none of that when the shooting starts. It does not matter who the person is to your left and right and what their skin color is. That will be ingrained in a lot of marinesminds from that point forward. Iwo jima is kind of like that steppingstone. From there, the integration of africanamerican marines into allwhite units it will take its roots there at iwo jima. And i think that is a significant part of the american story, the american experience. Delmonte, california. This is david on that line for marines and family members. Good morning. Good morning. Semper fi. I served with the army and marines. My wife served for one week at Camp Pendleton. We had the honor of serving with a congressional medal of honor winner. He is in his 80s and he was a young guy. My grandmothers stepbrother served at bella wood and in world war i. We ended up being stationed in germany. Willie williams is a great american. God bless him and god bless the marine corps. Semper fi. Do you happen to remember any of the poem that your wife wrote about Willie Williams . Right now, no, but she starts off as saying he is a young guy. She says he served his country and never asked why. That is what everybody is supposed to do it he was a young guy when he went over there. My god we were sitting there and he had the congressional medal of honor with him. He shared it with us. He was the guest of honor and we did not even know that. When they called him over, he said i am not leaving this table yet. Im not ready. By the way, i served in iwo jima and i have the right to do what i want to do. God bless him. Thank you. Thank you for your phone call. Edward nevgloski, we showed a at the start of the segment a video clip of woody williams. Can you tell the rest of the story . As far as the citation, his medal of honor . Please. He is in a position as an nco, a corporal at iwo jima, where the last thing you want to do is get held up in a position under enemy fire peered once the enemy pins you down, you have to be able to break the enemys momentum there and sometimes it takes the actions of one individual marine. Being his position and stature as a small unit leader, he knows that that pressure is on him. He has got to pick up and move forward, getting his marines out from underneath the enemy fire. What he will do is make several very daring decisions and charges at enemy positions. Machine gun positions. Machine gun positions that are encased in concrete and he will do that with small arms, with a rifle, with a flamethrower. At one point he is able to reach a pill box and stick his weapon inside the pillbox while the machine gun is still firing at him. He also has machine guns at different angles, different positions that can support the one pillbox he is trying to destroy. His marines see that, and they immediately think, we cannot allow woody to go out there by himself, and on top of that, he is our leader and he is setting the example. The follow me kind of idea that marine corps ncos represent. His charge is there, across fire swept terrain, also targeted by artillery and mortar fire. And of course, he doesnt have the ability to see 360 he cannot see everything that is going on to his left and right, but he certainly can feel the enemy fire targeted on him. An absolute amazing, daring act, that if there was anything greater than the medal of honor, he certainly should be considered for it. Back to phone calls per this is dan out of falling waters, west virginia. Good morning. Good morning. I would just like to also say that it is a Wonderful Museum. It is close to Quantico Marine base, and i have been to quantico. In front of lejeune hall, there is a plaque dedicated to general lejeune, and in the writings of it, congress wanted to disband the marine corps after world war i, and general lejeune is credited with saving the marine corps so they could fight greater fights later. Thank you. That is just a comment. Edward nevgloski, seems like a perfect time to jump in here. There is probably a least a dozen times when the Marine Corps Service organization has looked at a redundant on the american taxpayer for example, the marines are small force. We are restricted primarily to ships and naval stations. To 17s and 18 hundreds. We will assist the army in expanding lane campaigns. We will seize islands. We will do very small army like tasks. Or augment the army. As we enter world war one, the marine corps is already in the process of transitioning from being more or less and augment to the army and to the navy to be completely maritime and conducting advanced face force operations which will conduct in world war ii. Then world warm one happens in the marine corps finds itself ashore. Thousands of marines fighting almost as if it was a second land army. That all happened throughout our history. The result is, politicians will question, do we need a second land army . Is there another mission for the marine corps . There are times after world war one, the most obvious was postworld war ii. When all the Services Come together to the side essentially with the department of defense will look like. This is really even before the marines landed in okinawa, there is a determination amongst the are me and the navy that the marine corps will go away it will be absorbed by the other branches, and we will have a collection of very senior, decorated marines that will go before and walk the halls of congress known as the chowder society. Basically put the marine corps story out there for the sake of our survival. We will survive, publicly will be written that the marine corps will stay a separate branch. It will have its own mission, and that is what we executed the stay. But the color is correct, there are a number of times with the marine corps is almost absorbed by the other branches. This morning on the washington journal, focusing on the mission of iwo jima come on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the landing. Mr. Connor, we have been highlighting some of the exhibits you have on display down there at the National Marine corps museum. One of them is a helmet with a pretty incredible amount of damage to it. Can you tell us about that the helmets sorter a stark testimony the helmet is sort of a stark testimony of the savagery of the battle. A marine, 30 years old, a member of the battalion, struck by enemy fire on the first day of the battle thankfully, if you look at it, you would have concerns, but he survived. There were severe lacerations to his head, but he was evacuated from the island shortly after his injuries, and he donated the helmet to us here and his family donated the helmet to us, and thankfully he lived to the ripe old age until 1969 when he passed away of natural causes. But within our collection, there are numerous helmets and artifacts like that. That are sort of a testimony to just how awful the invasion was those are those kinds of things, the mementos that you have. Fairly recently we took in a collection from a young marine, who was wounded in the battle, and still had his pocket contents in the uniform, the dungarees. You could still find his cigarettes and chocolate wrappers and things from the day he was wounded that were there. These other kinds of artifacts that we have here that sort of just capture those moments in time. Hopefully they will affect our viewers the way they affect us. Back to our lines for family members of marines. Good morning. Yes, good morning. I am a descendent of navajo. My father was with the fifth marine division, third battalion, 27 rings at iwo jima. Their role was to secure the airfields and send out the code when the flag went up on Mount Suribachi with the 28 marines, and the code went like this. [speaking native american language] that means Mount Suribachi. When they say over and out, it says the rabbit went home. So they came in on red beach, the second wave with radios. So i wanted to tell you that. You might have some information there at your museum, your anniversary. Thank you. Stay on the line for a second it i will let Edward Nevgloski jump on. They were our native american brothers that were able to come through their dialect, through their language, provide the ability for us to pass information that could not be deciphered by the japanese intelligence, and what an asset it proved to be. In addition to that, the native americans were some of the most fierce fighters. They in many ways, that whole native american philosophy of protecting your ground, standing your ground, fighting for the person to your left and right, meshed so well with being a u. S. Marine. Hats off to the code talkers and everything they brought to the fight. Go ahead, mr. Connor. The museum is debuting an enhancement in the next few months, focused on navajo code talkers. I think it is one of those under told stories. It has become a cliche to talk about their contributions in the sense that they did this word substitution. But what the exhibit is going to concentrate on is the code aspect of it, that it is not just something that was sort of a simple rudimentary thing, but it is a cryptologic story. I think that has been under told in the world war ii code talker narrative, and it is so wonderful to hear the caller actually speaking in navajo. And they are not literal translations of things, they are actually quite fascinating what they were doing from a cryptologic standpoint. We really owe them a lot. It is an amazing story. I was going to ask before you go, do you remember what the codeword was for iwo jima, and could you speak it . I dont have the code right now, but i do have semper fi. Semper fi goes like this [speaking navajo language] so Mount Suribachi semper fi. How do you say that . Thank you so much for calling in this morning. We appreciate that. Kevin out of clearwater, florida. Good morning. Good morning. My father was with the navy underwater demolition, fraud men. He was in on the invasion of iwo jima. He said they were clearing away for the marines they were clearing a way for the marines. The marines were right on the spot. He said that after we did our job, we had to go in with them. We had to fight, this was an invasion, the mission, and he just said in the beginning, he said to the left and the right we were being slaughtered. He said i did not know if i was going to die, i just wondered when. He said it took so long to get to the top, so many days to the bunkers there, he said when it was all over, he said for the most part it was such a bunch of young guys laying on the beach dead, so many young guys, my men and i walked to the beach. One soldier spoke of heroics, you know, and he said when he came back, you know, he said that is the reason why i would never go to the beach with the family, because when i would go to the beach, iwo jima would all come back to me. And i said like it is never really over . And he said sometimes. The battle of iwo jima, he described it as being in other battles, but for me iwo jima was the worst because it was so narrow and the enemy was right there, so close to us. He said it was 46 days of sheer terror for me. And he said at night, the japanese would sneak up, and it was so dark, and try to kill some of our soldiers. Anyway, it is so interesting listening to your show because you are hearing different perspectives. Not everybody went to the same experience went through the same experience of iwo jima. In some ways it is so much worse. The estimations that the marine corps would take casualties to 23 of the. Force we actually almost reached that so the estimates were pretty good, 21 of the force is wounded or killed destroyed equipment destroyed wounded or killed, destroyed, equipment destroyed. But as the initial waves go ashore and the casualties start to mount, each Landing Craft that comes in, the sailors and the marines would throw crates of ammunition into the sand, just scattered about. They are not putting them in any particular location, they are just throwing them out so the marines can, when they get a chance, come back, break the can open, get a resupply of ammunition, move back, and try to get an inch further, in addition to throwing out cans of ammunition, the marines and sailors start to throw out ponchos. The confusion is, when we need the ash what do we need these ponchos for initially, and it is to recognize that it is to cover the dead littering the beach. That is a somber thought. I can only imagine being a survivor of iwo jima, if i went back to see that beach, remembering what it looked like 75 years earlier, that would be amazing. But the gentleman, the caller talking about his relative doing the underwater demolitions clearing the way, make no bones about it, we have been bombing iwo jima from the air for 77 days prior to 19 two february 19. Then the naval department, for three days prior to the landing. The element of surprise is gone. The japanese know we are coming, 77 days before it happens. So a lot of the obstacles they put out under the water, there are very few, but there is enough to get the marines to believe that this is going to be a defendant beach. Really the obstacles are about 100 yards inland. That is the volcanic ash, the large hump that the marines have to go over. When they finally go over, after about an hour of being on the beach, they break a certain defense line and the japanese start to engage them. So the initial entry onto the beach is not bad at all. It is about an hour later when we hit the high ground of the volcanic ash firm, that is when we triggered the japanese defense. About 10 minutes later this morning, from the National Marine corps museum in quantico, virginia. Writing in this morning, i get to washington, d. C. , at least every other year. But no matter how many times i go, one monument gives me the chills and a smile. It is the raising of the flag at iwo jima. It is magnificent, and it is the actions of our finest. Mr. Connor, can you talk about the history of that memorial in arlington, and how many survivors of iwo jima where there, do you know, when it was it sort of falls outside my scope of what we do, as we concentrate on the museum itself. But what i can say about the 12 in sculpture and the iconography of the actual flag raising, the flag has a journey story, whether it is the sculpture that we see in arlington or this displayed at the museum. Other than the media moment, i talk about the journey to us and how it got to the museum. One of the most fascinating stories is it becomes a sum symbol of the war bond tour of the war, the main visual image used the war bond tour raises more money for the cause than all the other war bond tours prior to it. I think that is amazing if you think about it, that as americans we are paying for a war as it occurs. Even by 1945, wages were increasing and folks were more worried about improvements after the war, the men are still fighting. But they are still conscious, and the flag image can inspire people to think so much more for their country. The flag continues its journey. After the war there is a freedom train that carries an original version of the constitution, the bill of rights, the iwo jima flag. It travels through the country to inspire americans, this renewed sense of patriotism, 1949, we are bringing back these memories, the iconography of the flag. It is an important visual symbol in arlington, one of the tangible forms of the power of the iwo jima flag raising and what it means to us as americans. Jane is next out of illinois. Good morning. I was wondering how long after the invasion of iwo jima did they invade okinawa. My father i have an article from the paper. My father was one of the first two men on okinawa, and he was 28 years old. I wondered whether there were more casualties on iwo jima or more on okinawa. I know there was a lot of casualties. Also i remember my dad came back, we were never told to get out of bed, we were always told to hit the deck. We were never called in for supper. We were always told chow down. There is a lot of different lingo from the marine corps. We got that as kids. And my brother also served, and he was on okinawa. Thanks so much for the call. Mr. Nevgloski . We have been focusing on okinawa as the next step. The Island Hopping campaign that the marines are executing. Okinawa will be much more complex. Of course, as an island, it is much larger than iwo jima. Iwo jima is only eight square miles. Okinawa is four to five times that. You are also definitely encroaching upon you are no longer in the japanese front yard at okinawa. You are in their living room. You are actually cracking into their living room. And we have to understand, okinawa is also going to be the pinnacle where we establish and bring all of our combat power remember i talked earlier about the logistics mindset of the pacific theater. All of that combat power is going to make its way from the different islands past iwo jima to okinawa. That is the steppingstone for mainland japan. You are going to have 100,000 plus troops land at okinawa. Youre going to have twice the number of casualties. You will have a lot of civilian casualties as well. All the islands previous to okinawa are going to be uninhabited. Other than japanese, the only people youre going to find our maybe korean laborers that were building the fortresses. You might find the island inhabitants are very small in numbers. Okinawa, you are going to have through japanese citizens there. The complexity of okinawa, monaths later, is extremely significant to understand what okinawa meant compared to what Iwo Jima Iwo Jima is yet another steppingstone to get to okinawa. Okinawa is the pinnacle to get to mainland japan. Time for one or two more phone calls this morning. Our live show this morning from National Museum of the marine corps. This is jeff out of merrimack, new hampshire. Jeff, go ahead. Thank you for picking up the call today, cspan. I want to thank all the past, present, and future service members. We have so much in this country because of you people. I am trying to look at the gentleman in the red tie. I cannot look you in the eye. But thank you, and thank you everybody else who gives us that. Second, this would go to the gentleman with the red tie. My motherinlaw passed away a number of years back at her last name was gagnon. She was second come third she was hasnt she was second cousins with Rennie Gagnon. My wife remembers him coming into the house when she was a kid. They make no big deal of it. It was just amazing to me that my wifes side of the family, they make no big deal that they are related to that hero. That was about all i had to say. Thank you to all the veterans. Can you fill us a little bit in on who he was . Thank you, and thank you for being an american citizen worth fighting for. Rennie gagnon is a marine that is involved in the iwo jima operations. He is there for the first flag raising, and he will go he is identified as an early flag raiser. He will go back to the United States as part of the seven bond drive. He will become a face and a name that is known for years, dealing with the flag raising. He has been highlighted in a couple of movies. He is just another marine, and i think that is what the caller is talking about. There are so many dedicated americans that will fight and survive, fight and die on iwo jima. But every one of them, to a man, are just are just your average, redblooded american boys that went overseas to stop fascism, to stop the evil that was occurring. You know, and a lot of them will come home and never tell their family members, not only what they experienced as an individual, but what they were part of. They went, they did their job, they came home, and they dedicated the rest of their lives to being the best person, the best american they could be. And they were living their lives for the guys who did not come home. And Rennie Gagnon is one of them. Not a big deal. He served on iwo jima, he would not want anyone to give him accolades. He just wanted to be known as someone along with several thousand more just like him that went into their job. That speaks a lot to his character. That seems like a good story to end on. Edward nevgloski, marine corps history chief, owen connor, world war ii gallery curator at the National Museum of the marine corps. We appreciate your time and for inviting us in this morning. Studentcam competition will be announced on march 11. Host from inside the democracy exhibit from the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Miss heartache good morning to you in the Centennial Anniversary here in the passage of the 19th amendment. Explain the wagon behind you and how it ties