FORT SILL, Okla.-- On board the USS Hamlin (AV-15), Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class James Kennedy, then-19 years old, watched the Battle of Iwo Jima through a pair of binoculars Feb. 20, 1945.
"I could see the Marines hitting the beach trying to get up the banks of that black sand," said Kennedy, who was a yeoman in the seaplane tender's office. "I saw all the boats stacking up. It was a bunch of junk. I don't know how the Marines got in."
At night, it looked like Christmas because tracer fire was everywhere, he said.
During the battle, a 5-inch shell went down the Hamlin's smoke stack but failed to explode, he said.
"We don't know where it came from, but probably from the other side of the island from a U.S. ship that overshot the island. If it had exploded it would have been bad because we had thousands of gallons of aviation gasoline."
A few months later, the Hamlin was at the Battle of Okinawa.
"At Iwo Jima it was the Marines who suffered while going ashore. It was at Okinawa where we (the Navy) hit our troubles," he said, referring to the large number of kamikaze plane attacks on ships.
Kennedy, now 87 of Groesback, Texas, was one of almost 40 veterans of the Battle of Iwo Jima Survivors Association of Texas who visited Fort Sill, Feb. 21 as part of their annual reunion. This year is the 68th anniversary of the battle.
On post, the veterans and their family members visited the Army Field Artillery, and Fort Sill Historic museums; and the Marine Corps Artillery Detachment.
At the detachment the veterans saw the artillery equipment today's Marines are using. And, a large group of young Marines who are awaiting the start of their training heard from Medal of Honor recipient former Marine Cpl. Hershel "Woody" Williams, a flame-thrower operator during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Pfc. Andrew Keil, 22, heard Williams' presentation about what it means to be a Marine.
"I'm inspired and humbled, and I look forward to completing my training so that I can move on to the fleet, and, hopefully, be able to use some of the things he did," said Keil, who is from Cape Cod, Mass. "He's a man I consider to be about 10 times the Marine that I could ever be."
Pvt. Raul Delacruz, of San José, Calif., who is awaiting training as a cannon crewmember, said it was an honor to listen to Williams and the advice he gave.
"He's a hero, and I definitely would want to be like him," said Delacruz, 19.
Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Banks, Marine Corps Cannoneer School director, said the veterans' visit gave his young Marines the opportunity to meet the legacy of the Corps.
"These Marines were made famous by the flag raising at Mount Suribachi and fighting at Iwo Jima," Banks said. "The young Marines learned about them in their history classes in boot camp, and now they get to meet history first hand."
Col. Doug Thomas, Marine Corps Artillery Detachment commanding officer, said Williams' presence here was the personification of Marine Corps' courage, honor and committment. The Battle of Iwo Jima is one of the most historic battles for Marines.
"There were 27 Medal of Honor Marines from the battle," he said.
Williams said the battle did not change his life, but being awarded the medal changed everything because it made him a public figure Oct. 5, 1945.
The day after he was awarded the medal then-Marine Commandant Gen. Alexander Vandegrift told him: "That medal does not belong to you, it belongs to all of those Marines who never got to come home," Williams said.
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