A little while ago I saw an older man wearing a ball cap emblazoned with the words “B-29 Superfortress’ stitched on it. The cap was of a common design, but the words on it are becoming rarer as time passes on.
I looked at the man and asked him if he was flying out of Guam or Tinian, the 2 main bases for this type aircraft during the Second World War.
He had been flying out of Tinian and raining fire and steel on the Japanese Empire during the latter days of the war. He spoke of missions flown, friends lost and friends he still stays in touch with.
I mentioned that I had lost a distant relative long before I was born. The man had been a Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima. I told the old man that when I had started looking into the family tree I had noticed this man had been killed and I searched and was fortunate to find two living men that had served with him in his squad.
That’s when it happened. The old man asked me if I could pass word on to the two old Marines. It suddenly got pretty dusty and his eyes welled up pretty good.
“Tell those Marines that I had to make a forced landing on Iwo Jima once. We were low on fuel and the airplane was pretty beat up. If it hadn’t been for those Marines, We’d have had to crash into the sea and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have lived to raise a family and see grandchildren and great grandchildren. Can you thank them for me?”
I have to admit it was a pretty emotional moment for me, too. I told him I would pass his thanks on.
Semper Fi, guys.
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That's awesome.
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