Iwo Jima veterans visit Fort Sill

By Fort Sill Tribune staffFebruary 21, 2019

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1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Marines and one Sailor from the Iwo Jima Survivors Association pose for a photo Feb. 14, 2019, at the Patriot Club. They were guests visiting the Fort Sill Marine Corps Artillery Detachment. Behind them Marines from the MARDET re-enact the famous ima... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Medal of Honor recipient retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hershel "Woody" Williams shares a lighter moment as the guest speaker of the Iwo Jima veterans visit to Fort Sill, Feb. 14, 2019, at the Patriot Club. He said the medal does not belong t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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FORT SILL, Okla. (Feb. 21, 2019) -- His clearest memory of the fighting on Iwo Jima was that there was no place to put his dead comrades. They couldn't take them back to the ships off shore, and there was no place to bury them on the island.

"We just rolled them into their ponchos, and stacked the bodies," said retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hershel "Woody" Williams.

Williams, age 95, whose actions as a corporal during the battle earned him the Medal of Honor, was the guest speaker as the Fort Sill Marine Corps Artillery Detachment (MARDET) hosted the Iwo Jima Survivors Association reunion Feb. 14, here.

Near the Patriot Club 520 Marines who are students, and cadre here, lined Quinette Road and saluted as several aged Marines and one Sailor pulled in to the entrance. Students and cadre then formed up inside the club to hear from the veterans.

The visit to Fort Sill was just one of the activities planned for the reunion, said Lynnette Brown, Wichita Falls Iwo Jima Reunion president. A full day of activities at Sheppard Air Force Base was planned for the next day.

Program narrator Marine Staff Sgt. Wesley Brown, MARDET cannoneer instructor, provided statistics to illustrate the enormity of the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The fight began Feb. 19, 1945, and lasted for 36 days, Brown said. Four hundred fifty Navy ships took part. That's more than in the Navy fleet today.

Three Marine Divisions were committed to the fight, he said, equivalent to today's entire Marine active-duty ground-combat element.

The fighting force was comprised of 69,933 Marines, of which 24,053 were killed, Brown said.

The battle saw the awarding of 27 Medals of Honor -- more than any other single battle in U.S. history, he continued. When Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz presented the medals he said, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

Before the battle began, then-Cpl. Williams recalled that they were expecting the fight to last three to five days, and that he was part of a reserve force.

But later on the first day of the invasion an announcement came over the ship's loudhailer that chow would be at 3 a.m. and the Marines would disembark at 5 a.m.

On Iwo Jima, Williams, who was a flamethrower operator/demolitions specialist, was told to grab four Marines and take out a pillbox, or bunker, of Japanese machine gunners Feb. 23. He took two Marines from his unit, and two others he did not know.

"It was so disorganized. I just said you, you, you, and you," Williams said, gesturing pointing. The four Marines would provide cover shooting at the slit opening in the pillbox, while Williams approached it with his flame thrower.

Williams' MoH citation in part reads:

"Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines, and black volcanic sands, Cpl. Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine gun fire from the unyielding positions.

"Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another.

"On one occasion, he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent, killing the occupants and silencing the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon.

"His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment, and aided vitally in enabling his company to reach its objective."

Williams said he is not a hero; the heroes are the ones who never made it back. Two of his four riflemen were killed during the assault on the pillbox.

"The Medal of Honor does not belong to me, it belongs to them," he said. "The only reason I have it is because of what they did."

Afterward all the Iwo Jima survivors met with the young Marines to share their experiences.

Lance Cpl. Chase Holmes, artillery radar repairer student here, was one of the young Marines who heard from the Iwo Jima survivors.

"It was a lot of insight, and quite frankly much more back-story than the History Channel or any show could ever provide," said Holmes, whose grandfather fought as a Soldier in the Battle of the Bulge. "Just seeing the expressions on their faces, and hearing the depth of their stories, it really touches you."

Pfc. Henley Dean, artillery radar operator student, said she learned much from the veterans.

"I got an understanding of more of the Marine Corps history, the legacy I'm falling under, and the importance of our impact," Dean said.

To young Marines who didn't get to hear from the survivors, Dean said to them, "Remember what your uniform is representing and the history before you."

After the ceremony, the Fort Sill Artillery Half Section led a slow procession of the Marine convoy to MARDET Headquarters where the guests were treated to lunch, and to further mingle with Marines.