The other day I posted about a cousin of mine

that was KIA during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

I mentioned that he wanted to become a math teacher and let's run with that.

A Japanese machine gunner killed him on 12 March, 1945.

What did we lose that day?

Actually it's hard to say. The possibilities are endless. He actually could have come home, attended college on his GI Bill, become a math teacher and brought his life experiences into the classroom with him.

I went to school in the 50s and 60s and almost all of my male teachers had served in WW2 in one way or another. I had a math teacher in Jr, High that had been a footslogger in Europe and had seen considerable action. I remember that once in a while he'd have a faraway look on his face for a moment or two and snap out of it.

I had a history teacher that flew over The Hump and brought supplies into China. He was a loadmaster on a C-47 and the route he took was often referred to as the 'Aluminum Highway' because of all the crashed airplanes that littered the mountain passes.

These people brought a lot of life experience with them.

A lot of WW2 vets became teachers because of their experiences in the service. People fail to understand that when a man sews on corporal or petty officer stripes he pretty much automatically becomes a teacher. It's still the same way. The services are pretty much run by the NCOs who teach their subordinates their jobs and duties. 

Non veteran teachers hate it when this is pointed out because a lot of NCOs often lack formal education, or at least used to. It galls the hell out of them.

Jack had already been a teacher when he put on corporal's stripes and worked as an assistant drill instructor at Parris Island. He had taught civilians how to be Marines. Maybe the die had been cast.

Then again, maybe he would have decided to simply go another route.

On the other hand maybe he would have come home after his experiences in the Pacific and simply become PTSD case hiding in a bottle. Some did.

What did we lose at Iwo Jima when Jack was killed?

Nobody will ever know.






To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY