Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945

Seventy three years ago today the Marines invaded Iwo Jima.  This battle has been in most Baby Boomers minds all of our lives because we came from the generation that fought World War II.  Susan's father, O.T. Bentrup was in the 3rd Division and fought on Bougainville, Guam and Iwo.  His specialty was telephones.  He strung phone wire on the battlefields of the Pacific, so when War History Online posted this photo, it caught my attention immediately. 

This photo was taken on Iwo Jima, and we don't know the names, of course; but we can tell you what is going on.  A Japanese soldier was concealed in a shellhole.  You can see telephone line coming across the hole and a Marine with no rifle looking in.  That is the telephone man.  While dragging a spool of phone line, the Marine could not carry his rifle.  One hand would pull the line, the other would hold a .45 or his Kabar.  O.T. did not tell us much about his battles, but he did say to me one time that he sure got tired of sticking his Kabar in Japs.  You see, when he dived into a shellhole, he had to look for enemies.  He would have to stab immediately if an enemy soldier was in there. That is why we know what happened here.  The telephone man dived in dragging his line, saw the enemy, stabbed or shot him (probably stabbed) and then found that it was a live soldier and not a corpse.  A medic was summoned, and the wounded man is being given a cigarette while waiting for a litter.

I sure wish O.T. was here to visit with today.  He was always quiet on these anniversaries, and always cheerful on November 10, his second birthday.