Posts Tagged ‘Iwo Jima’

Hershel “Woody” Williams, Last Living World War II Medal of Honor Winner, Dead At 98

Wednesday, June 29th, 2022

Sad news: Hershel “Woody” Williams, the last living Medal of Honor winner from World War II, has died at age 98.

Williams was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on Oct. 5, 1945, from President Harry S. Truman for his “valiant devotion to duty,” the Woody Williams Foundation said.

“Today at 3:15am, Hershel Woodrow Williams, affectionately known by many as Woody went home to be with the Lord. Woody peacefully joined his beloved wife Ruby while surrounded by his family at the VA Medical Center which bears his name,” the Woody Williams Foundation wrote.

Williams, who was born in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, served for 20 years in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves and then worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs for over 30 years as a veterans service representative.

The U.S. Navy commissioned a warship called the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams in his honor in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020.

I had previously honored Williams for my 2019 Veterans Day profile.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as demolition sergeant serving with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945. 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 machinegun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by 4 riflemen, he fought desperately for 4 hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out 1 position after another. On 1 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 resistence 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. Cpl. Williams’ aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Sometime in the next decade or two, the last living World War II veteran will die, and that epoch-changing conflagration will pass out of living memory.

(Hat tip: Dwight.)

LinkSwarm for August 7, 2021

Friday, August 6th, 2021

Greetings, and welcome to another Friday LinkSwarm! Biden not just dropping, but deflating and throwing away the ball on border security, Andrew Cuomo finally behaves badly enough for the MSM to notice, and some tidbits about hacking attacks.

  • Biden’s proposed budget wants to cutting funding for border security…by 96%:

    His administration has presented Congress with a Department of Homeland Security budget proposal that calls for slashing spending on what it calls “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” by 96%.

    In fiscal year 2021, Congress approved $1,513,000,000 in funding for border security assets and infrastructure. Biden is now asking that Congress approve just $54,315,000 for fiscal year 2022. That is a reduction of $1,458,685,000—or 96.4%.

    What exactly is Biden cutting?

    Biden’s DHS has presented Congress with a 562-page “overview” of its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal for Customs and Border Protection. The explanation for its “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” plan is presented on pages 326 through 350 of this document.

    The presentation divides “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” into six categories: Integrated Fixed Towers; Remote Video Surveillance Systems; Mobile Video Surveillance System; MVSS-M2S2 Modular Mobile Surveillance System; Border Security Assets and Infrastructure End Items; and Border Wall System Program.

    In the past two fiscal years—as reported in Biden’s proposal—the Border Wall System Program has been the most significant of these. “This investment,” it says, “includes real estate and environmental planning, land acquisition, wall system design, construction, and construction and oversight of a physical barrier system.”

    In fiscal year 2020, it received $1,375,000,000. In fiscal year 2021, it received the same amount.

    Now, if Biden gets his way, the federal government will not spend one penny in fiscal year 2022 on planning or constructing a “physical barrier system” at the border.

    Obviously, Democrats want a massive influx of illegal aliens so they can amnesty them and have them vote for Democrats. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • Indeed, the Biden Administration has stopped apprehending illegal aliens at the border.

    As illegal aliens are still being allowed to cross Texas’ open border, U.S. Border Patrol has reportedly reassigned all hands from “apprehending” to “processing.” A former federal agent says these massive waves of illegal aliens are one of the “biggest sources” of rising cases of the Chinese coronavirus and advises Texans to contact all their state officials to stop illegal crossings at the border.

    Victor Avila, a former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, has previously told Texas Scorecard that federal and state officials aren’t making serious efforts to stop illegal aliens from crossing the border. He said the number of illegal border crossings has recently skyrocketed.

    On Tuesday, Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith (R) told Texas Scorecard that U.S. Border Patrol informed him they had been given new orders. “They’ve all been reassigned to processing,” Smith said. “None of them are actually going to be enforcing the border.” Avila commented, “That is what I’m hearing exactly.”

    Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe described processing as “paperwork, documentation, etc.”

    “We’re in a bad spot now,” Smith said. “Texas is on its own.”

  • Speaking of border security: “Texas landowner fears for kids’ safety amid worsening border crisis, says they can’t play outside anymore.”
  • “More Illegal Immigrants, Border Agents Testing Positive for COVID-19.” The way Democrats love expanding governemnt in the name of fighting Flu Manchu, you wonder if this is a bug or a feature… (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
  • Speaking of fearing for your safety from illegal aliens: “ICE Confirms Suspect in Slaying of MyPillow Employee is Illegal Immigrant…Last week, 55-year-old America Mafalda Thayer was brutally beheaded in Shakopee, Minnesota.”
  • “House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans released their report on COVID-19’s origins, pointing to evidence of a lab leak, genetic modification, and a cover-up, making the case the virus accidentally emerged from the Wuhan lab in August or September 2019.” Or pretty much what every conservative blogger has been saying for almost a year and a half…
  • “‘For $1/Day’… Double-Blind Ivermectin Study Reveals COVID Patients Recover More Quickly, Are Less Infectious.”
    

  • This week’s Democratic political scandal de jour is an official state probe of New York Governor Andrew “Granny Killer” Cuomo committed multiple instances of sexual harassment. “These interviews and pieces of evidence revealed a deeply disturbing yet clear picture: Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of federal and state laws,” said State Attorney General Letitia James. It would be ironic if it was this rather than killing some 15,000 elderly New Yorkers by putting Flu Manchu cases in nursing homes that brought Cuomo down.
  • Speaking of which, the New York Times has a recap of the Cuomo’s disasterous Mao Tze Lung policy:

    Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, once widely celebrated for leading New York out of the coronavirus pandemic’s darkest days, is now embroiled in crisis over how many of the state’s nursing home residents died because of the virus and an apparent effort to hide the true toll.

    Beginning last spring, Mr. Cuomo was criticized over a state requirement that forced nursing homes to take back residents who had been hospitalized with Covid-19 once they recovered. Critics said the policy had increased the number of virus-related deaths among nursing home residents.

    At the time, Mr. Cuomo and his aides dismissed the outcry as politically motivated, and in July, the State Health Department released a report that found the policy was not responsible for an increase. The report did, however, raise questions in some quarters about how the state was reporting deaths.

    In January, New York’s attorney general said the administration had undercounted nursing home deaths by several thousand. Mr. Cuomo later acknowledged as much, blaming the lower figure on fears that the Trump administration would use the data as a political weapon.

    “Don’t you see? We had to lie to you, because Orange Man Bad!”

    The suggestion that the actual death count had been covered up intensified criticism of Mr. Cuomo, including from his allies in state government. The scandal deepened after reports that the governor’s aides had altered the July report to hide the true figure.

    In April, The New York Times reported that Mr. Cuomo’s aides had gone to far greater lengths than previously known to obscure the death toll, repeatedly overruling state health officials over a span of at least five months.

  • New York State Senate minority leader Rob Ortt wonders why Cuomo is still governor:

    First, there was the nursing-home scandal, in which Governor Cuomo deliberately undercounted the number of seniors who died due to his directive placing COVID-positive residents back into understaffed, underequipped nursing homes — and then misled New Yorkers and federal officials about it. Estimates suggest that as many as 15,000 New York seniors due to his actions. Worse yet, while covering up these deaths, he took a cool $5.1 million to write a book touting his COVID leadership and then allegedly used state staff and resources to produce this propaganda piece. One needn’t be a skeptic to link the timing of the deal to the cover-up of the scandal.

    And that’s just one of the many fires engulfing the Cuomo administration. At this point, it’s hard to keep up with the litany of abuses perpetrated by Governor Cuomo and his staff. Despite anointing himself as a champion of women, Cuomo has been hit with more than ten accusations of sexual harassment since December. First, he said he’d investigate these allegations himself. When public pressure forced him to establish independent investigations of the charges, he stalled for time and declined to comment while the investigations played out. Now, with a Democratic state attorney general investigating the claims, the governor and his top aides have stonewalled, threatened, and gaslit witnesses and state officials, accusing them of playing political games.

    There have also been reports that Cuomo’s friends, family, and donors received preferential access to COVID-19 tests and health information. There’s the matter of a $62 million COVID-related state contract being given to a medical network that donated $230,000 to the Cuomo campaign. There’s the claim by gaming interests that the governor’s team threatened them until they coughed up campaign money. And another investigation is centered around allegations that a top Cuomo aide linked vaccine access to political support of the governor.

    In an attempt to silence these stories, the governor has responded with brute force. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is on the record as saying Governor Cuomo hurls invective at officials and the media to make them feel “belittled.” Democratic assemblyman Ron Kim — who lost a close family member to COVID in a New York nursing home — called for Cuomo to provide answers about the nursing-home tragedy. Cuomo personally phoned Kim and threatened to “destroy” him, before holding a press conference in which Kim was referred to as a “habitual liar.” Democratic state senator Alessandra Biaggi has released text messages showing threats she’s received from the Cuomo administration.

    The behavior displayed by Governor Cuomo is appalling, but it’s nothing new. This is who he is, and who he has always been.

    More ethical lapses snipped.

    The obvious lies, the ham-fisted cover-ups, the corruption — we’ve seen it all time and time again from this governor. When there’s even a hint of an investigation into wrongdoing that implicates him or his cabal, Cuomo cuts his losses and scorches the earth. This is who he is: a mean-spirited bully with a flagrant disregard for the rule of law, ruthless in defense of his own venal interests and public image.

    The Cuomo administration has run the gamut of travesties and tragedies. Personal viciousness is the governor’s calling card, and criminal behavior his M.O. Even as they’re barraged with one scandal and outrageous revelation after another, he and his inner circle continue to operate as though it’s all business as usual. So why is Cuomo still the governor of New York? Democratic lawmakers — the very same ones who called on him to resign when the sexual-harassment claims first emerged — continue to stand with him and normalize his behavior more than seven months later, partially out of fear and partially out of a complete lack of interest in governing.

  • Even Biden has called on Cuomo to resign. For all the good that will do.
  • Meanwhile, Cuomo seems locked into the Ralph Northam strategy: Assume that the (D) after his name absolves him of all sins against Social Justice and just wait out the storm confident no one will dare hold him accountable for his actions. And don’t forget the media’s nonstop fluffing of Cuomo back in 2020:

    The Rolling Stone cover; Politico declaring him a “social media superstar”; Harry Enten of CNN declaring that, “The rise of Cuomo shows that times of tragedy can make very unlikely political heroes”; Carl Bernstein declaring that, “[It’s] real leadership of the kind the president of the United States should have provided to the American people throughout this crisis, but hasn’t”; Jesse McKinley and Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times declaring that, “Cuomo’s handling of the crisis has fostered a nationwide following; Mr. Biden called Mr. Cuomo’s briefings a ‘lesson in leadership,’ and others have described them as communal therapy sessions”; Ben Smith of the New York Times declaring that, “Cuomo has emerged as the executive best suited for the coronavirus crisis”; the New York Post (!) declaring that New York women were developing crushes on him; and Jen Rubin gushing: “Watching Andrew Cuomo is inspiring, uplifting, fascinating. He weaves details and humor and math and common sense all together. He is magnificent.” Even the Columbia Journalism Review started to worry that the adoring tone of the coverage was overlooking real problems with Cuomo’s decision-making.

    And this is all separate from his appearances on his brother’s CNN program. I suspect you remember or can find examples I didn’t list above. Oh, another classic example, from Rebecca Fishbein of Jezebel: “I swooned when he told a reporter he had his own workout routine. I have watched a clip of him and brother Chris Cuomo bickering about their mother at least 20 times. I think I have a crush?”

  • Don Surber says that Cuomo’s real sin is being an outsider:

    Democrats in Washington want Andrew Cuomo to resign to allow the Democrat lieutenant governor to run New York state. If a Republican were next in line for the job, Democrats would be falling on grenades for Cuomo. That is, after all, what happened in Virginia when Governor Black Face unleashed his oppo research on the Democrats in the line of succession.

    There are no criminal charges against Cuomo.

    Cuomo’s problem is not sexual harassment. His problem is Democrats see him as a threat if he chooses to run for president.

    Democrats in Washington want no part of playing second fiddle to an outsider. They had their fill of outsiders as presidents with Bill Clinton. Democrat senators want the White House all to themselves. In the 6 presidential elections since Clinton, Democrats have nominated a senator or former senator for president and vice president each time.

    Governors need not apply.

    (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

  • “Experts Warn Of New ‘Cuomo’ Variant That Is Dangerous To Young Women, Fatal To Elderly.”
  • Israel hits Lebanon with artillery and air strikes after rockets were fired from there.
  • Texas Governor Greg Abbott is calling a second special section starting August 7, the first one having accomplished Jack and Squat.
  • “Georgia Democrats Say ‘We’re F***ed’ With Voter ID Required, a ‘Turnout Catastrophe.'” Seems they can’t win if we don’t let them cheat…
  • National Review wants you to know that Huey Long was a bad role model. Or you could just, you know, watch All the King’s Men, which remains a timeless classic. It won the Oscar in back-to-back years with All About Eve, another timeless classic, both of which showed you what the old studio system could achieve when they were working at the top of their game.
  • Inside the fight against a ransomware attack against the Texas town of Borger (which is way the hell up north of Amarillo):

    In Borger, a city of fewer than 13,000, early indications were worrisome as the city raced to shut down its computers.

    Gibberish ransom demands spat out of printers and displayed on some computer screens. Government files were encrypted, with titles like “Budget Document” replaced by nonsensical combinations of letters and symbols, said current city manager Garrett Spradling.

    Vital records, like birth and death certificates, were offline. Payments couldn’t be processed, checks couldn’t be issued — though, blessedly for Borger, it was an off-week for payroll. Signs posted on a drive-up window outside City Hall told residents the city couldn’t process water bill payments but cutoffs would be delayed.

    One update shared with city officials soon after the attack described how every server was infected, as were about 60% of the 85 computers inspected by that point. A city government email told council members that agendas for a meeting would be in paper format, “since your tablets won’t be able to connect.” An official told a judge it was unclear if computer systems would be operational in time for trials two days away.

    Because the city had paid for offsite remote backup, Borger had the capability to reformat servers, reinstall the operating system and bring data back over. A newly purchased server that had yet to be installed came in handy. The police department, however, retained its data locally and the attack hampered officers’ access to previous incident reports, Spradling said.

    Rolling offsite backups are a Good Thing.

  • “Biden Admin Blames China for Microsoft Email Hack.”

    This is my shocked face.

    “The administration has so far declined to impose sanctions on China over the hack.”

    It being the summer rerun season, let me display that exact same shocked face all over again…

  • Ransomware gangs that disappear may just be changing names.
  • Top 30 security exploits. (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
  • APD officer Lewis “Andy” Traylor dead after a collision with an 18-wheeler.
  • Seventeen suspects arrested in Polk County, Florida child sex predator sting…including several Disney employees.
  • CNN goes an entire week without hitting 1 million viewers. CNN was already losing $10 million a year back in 2019, even with trump boosting their ratings. How much does it cost to run a network with an audience of less than 1 million mostly elderly viewers?
  • Speaking of CNN:

  • Expensive Ivy League college film degrees are a scam. “Recent graduates from the Columbia University film program have an average loan debt of six figures against a low-to-mid five-figure income. And given that the master’s program takes four years, Columbia alumni enter the competitive field at around age 30, a detrimentally late start. Graduates soon face the shocking realization that they not only crippled their future but also wasted their money and youth.”
  • Are electric vehicles more expensive to maintain than those with internal combustion engines?

    Automotive News published a report on Thursday of this week noting that EVs were 2.3 times more expensive to service than ICE vehicles after three months of ownership. Analytics firm We Predict compiled the data by looking at roughly 19 million vehicles between the 2016 and 2021 model years.

    That figure drops to just 1.6 times more expensive after one year, the report noted, as a result of a 77% drop in maintenance costs and a decline in repair costs. The data showed that service techs spend about twice as much time diagnosing problems with EVs as they do with regular gas vehicles. They spend about 1.5 times longer fixing them and the labor rate for repairs was about 1.3 times higher.

    Presumably some of this gap will drop as technicians become more familiar with them.

  • Classical music’s suicide pact:

    Classical music is under racial attack. Orchestras and opera companies are said to discriminate against black musicians and composers. The canonical repertoire—the product of a centuries-long tradition of musical expression—is allegedly a function of white supremacy.

    Not one leader in the field has defended Western art music against these charges. Their silence is emblematic. Other supposed guardians of Western civilization, whether museum directors, humanities professors, or scientists, have gone AWOL in the face of similar claims, lest they themselves be denounced as racist.

    Also this: “Orchestras should hire diversity consultants to develop ‘extra-musical evaluation’ criteria for orchestral positions, such as serving as an institutional spokesman.” Diversity consultants always demand hiring more diversity consultants. What are the odds?

  • The Offspring fire longtime drummer Pete Parada for refusing to get a Flu Manchu vaccine. “Given my personal medical history and the side-effect profile of these jabs, my doctor has advised me not to get a shot at this time.” If the other members are vaccinated, why the hell should they care? Stupider still: Parada already caught the virus last year, so he probably has more immunity than the vaccine provides…
  • Col. Dave Severance, who helped take Iwo Jima (and commanded the second flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi, the one in the famous photograph), dead at 102.
  • Where does this rank among disturbing YouTube videos? I give it a three.
  • “To Defeat Delta Variant, Experts Recommend Doing All The Things That Didn’t Work The First Time.”
  • Biden Quits Presidency To Focus On Mental Health.”
  • Game!

  • Memorial Day: Remembering John Basilone

    Saturday, May 23rd, 2020

    This Saturday before Memorial Day we honor the life of Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, who was not only the first Medal of Honor winner in World War II for his actions on Guadalcanal, but left the cushy life of a Bond Drive hero to return to action in time for the invasion of Iwo Jima.

    His actions on Guadalcanal put most movie action heroes to shame:

    John Basilone was born on November 4th, 1916. Basilone was born and raised in Raritan, a small town in New Jersey. He was an adventurous and restless child always looking for something new and exciting. After finishing the 8th grade, Basilone elected not to go to high school. He searched for some adventure and excitement and, not finding any, he joined the Army in 1934. After his basic training Basilone was posted to the Philippines.

    During his time at his base in Manila, Basilone developed a mechanical talent for working with guns, especially machine guns. Basilone also developed a talent for motivating and leading men. After his three year enlistment ended Basilone returned to Raritan. A couple of years later he once again found himself becoming restless and looking for new adventures. He decided to reenlist in the service but this time he joined the Marines.

    Ten months into World War II, Basilone found himself on the island of Guadalcanal, it was August of 1942. The Americans had secured an airstrip that was vital to the war effort. The Japanese and Americans were involved in one of the fiercest battles of World War II. The Japanese were determined to take the airfield and had assigned an entire Japanese division to the task of capturing the airfield.

    Standing between them was only one Marine Battalion. The odds were certainly not in favor of the Americans. Basilone, who was in charge of 16 men, established a defensive position with 4 heavy machine guns in front of Henderson Field. It was October 24th when the Japanese launched a massive attack. The strategy Basilone had established for his unit was to let the Japanese advance to within 30 yards. And then to “let them have it.”

    The plan worked. They fired at the first group of attacking Japanese, successfully wiping them out. This first charge was only the beginning of the overall enemy attack. They charged several more times. Eventually this attack took its toll. Basilone, while manning the left two machine guns, heard a loud explosion come from the right setup of the machine guns. Moments later, one soldier from the right side crawled over and informed him that both right guns were knocked out and that the crew was all dead or injured.

    Basilone knew he had to get to the knocked out guns to see if he could get them working. The first gun was beyond repair, but the second gun had a chance. There was no light to aid in examining the damaged gun. Basilone would have to troubleshoot the problem in the dark, it was now that Basilone’s expertise with machine guns would pay off. He was able to feel the parts to find out what was causing the gun not to fire. Basilone quickly had the gun working again. As soon as it was back in action, the enemy charged. With the extra gun now working, Basilone and his unit easily beat back the Japanese attack. The attacks kept coming. Basilone told two of his remaining Marines to keep the heavy machine guns loaded. Basilone would roll to one machine gun and fire until it was empty, then roll over to the other one that had been loaded while he was firing the first one. At about 3 AM they were almost out of ammunition.

    The Marines had stored ammunition about 100 yards away. However, this would be a difficult 100 yards. There were enemy troops on both the sides and behind their position. Basilone ran and crawled through the jungle. Bullets flew off over his head and grenades exploded around him. But he continued and made it to the ammo dump. Basilone threw six heavy cartridge belts over his soldier.

    As he started back to his men, bullets were whizzing all around him again. But he made it back and soon he found another challenge. One machine gun had been smashed. Basilone took parts from another knocked out gun and fixed it quickly. Later in the night, the ammunition ran low again. Basilone would need to go for more, but this time it would be to another ammunition dump, 600 yards away.

    Once again the Japanese threw everything at him, but he snaked through the grass well enough so that the Japanese could not find a clear target. Basilone made it back with the much needed ammunition which held off the enemy attacks. Finally the attacks ended around sunrise.

    The daylight revealed a scene of utter carnage on the ground. Hundreds of bodies laid dead in front of the American positions, In fact, the entire Japanese regiment, around 3000 men, had been “annihilated.” On this night of October 24th, and 25th the U.S. had turned the tide of the war and the previously undefeated Japanese were on their way to defeat. For his heroics that night Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor.

    He did his Bond Drive duty, but refused an officer’s commission and a chance to teach gunnery to return to active duty, shipping out of Camp Pendleton on August 11th, 1944…just a month after he had gotten married.

    On February 19th, 1945 the Marines arrived at Iwo Jima and were ready to attack. The Navy had bombarded the island for 36 days. Some Marines hoped this intense bombing would allow them to take the island with little resistance. However, there were 22,000 Japanese warriors who were well dug in, heavily armed, and prepared to die.

    The first U.S. invasion force landed on the beach at 9:05 AM. Basilone’s group landed around 9:30 AM. They were surprised to find little opposition. The Marines got up on the beach and noticed that their feet could barely move in the soft black volcanic sand of Iwo Jima.

    For one hour, the U.S. was able to get their transports up to the beach and unload the men without major resistance. Then, with the beach crowded with U.S. soldiers, the Japanese began their counter attack.

    Suddenly the Japanese from their hidden blockhouses began firing away at the exposed U.S. troops. The Marines were getting annihilated. Survivors later wondered how anyone survived the initial Japanese barrage. The U.S. forces were on the beach, but they had little or no cover, were still disorganized, and had not yet gotten enough heavy equipment ashore to defend against this type of attack.

    The troops had trained for years, but nothing could prepare them for what was happening all around them. The soldiers would later say how frustrated they were that they could not see the enemy to fight back. The Japanese counterattack had stalled the U.S. invasion. Most Marines were hiding in the sand. The beach was littered with damaged vehicles, equipment, and dead soldiers. The invasion was not moving.

    Brave men with leadership ability were needed to rally the troops. Basilone rose to the occasion. Many survivors of the battle recall that in the midst of the battle, with everyone hunkered down in the sand, there was one Marine out in the open, running around, directing men. It was Basilone. He first guided a tank out of a mine field. Only a few tanks came ashore and they were needed to knock out Japanese blockhouses.

    Basilone had noticed a particular Japanese bunker had been effectively shooting mortar shells and raging deadly fire upon the U.S. troops. This enemy strong position “had to go”. Basilone found and organized some machine gunners along with demolition men and directed them toward the bunker. Basilone instructed a demolition man to blow a hole in the concrete structure, while others gave cover against other nearby enemy positions.

    A large explosion went off opening part of the bunker. Basilone then told the enthused machine gunners to hold their fire and directed a flamethrower operator to charge the pit. The brave flamethrower charged the pit as quickly as he could, stuck his nozzle in the pit and ignited the flame. Some of the Japanese soldiers ran out of the pit screaming as they tried to wipe away the jellied gasoline that was burning them. Basilone cut them down with a machine gun. Fellow soldier, Charles Tatum, said “for me and others who saw Basilone’s leadership and courage during our assault, his example was overwhelming.”

    After knocking out the bunker, Basilone led twenty men off the exposed beach area to a location where they could take some cover and plan their next move. He ordered the men to stay while he went back to get more men and some heavy machine guns. Basilone gathered some troops and weapons and started back across the beach to the waiting soldiers. But Basilone was hit with a Japanese mortar shell which landed right in the middle of him and the men he was leading. He died from his wounds around thirty minutes later.

    For his actions that day, John Basilone was awarded The Navy Cross. The military paid tribute to Basilone by naming a ship after him. An anti-submarine Navy Destroyer, the U.S.S. Basilone was commissioned on July 26th, 1949. His home town of Raritan honors him every year with a parade…Basilone remains the only soldier (non-officer) in U.S. history to be awarded both The Medal of Honor and The Navy Cross. He is also the only Medal of Honor winner to go back into combat and be killed in combat.

    Here’s a link to his official Medal of Honor page.

    Veterans Day: Honoring Hershel “Woody” Williams

    Sunday, November 10th, 2019

    For Veterans Day 2019, I’m honoring Hershel “Woody” Williams, Marine corporal and flamethrower operator during the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of two living Medal of Honor winners left from World War II. His citation reads:

    For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as demolition sergeant serving with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945. 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 machinegun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by 4 riflemen, he fought desperately for 4 hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out 1 position after another. On 1 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 resistence 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. Cpl. Williams’ aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

    Rank: Corporal

    Organization: U.S. Marine Corps

    Company:

    Division: 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division

    Born: 2 October 1923, Quiet Dell, W. Va.

    Departed: No

    Entered Service At: West Virginia

    G.O. Number:

    Date of Issue: 10/05/1945

    Accredited To: West Virginia

    Place / Date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945

    He returned to his native West Virginia, served a couple more stints in the Marine reserves, and created a foundation in his name to help Gold Star Families.

    Here’s a news segment on him:

    Here’s him remembering his World War II service:

    He fought on Guam before landing on Iwo Jima. He too out seven Japanese pillboxes.

    On October 5, 1945, he was invited with twelve others to the White House, having no idea he was about to receive the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman.

    He’s 96 and still travels to support his foundation and Gold Star families 200 days year. Here’s the foundation’s official Twitter feed.

    From all America, thanks to your service, Mr. Williams.

    (The other living Medal of Honor winner from World War II is Charles H. Coolidge, who helped hold a hill in France from four days of German attacks. He lives in his native Tennessee, and his son, Charles H. Coolidge, Jr., made Lieutenant General in the Air Force.)

    70 Years Ago Today…

    Monday, February 23rd, 2015

    U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi:

    It was not the end of fighting on Iwo Jima. Of the six men in the famous flag-raising picture, three (Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, and Michael Strank) died in the battle. The three survivors (John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes) survived the war, but all have passed away since.