WInter 2012-13 SpearheadOFFICIAL PUBLICATION of the 5TH MARINE DIVISION NEWS“Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue” ASSOCIATION 64TH ANNUAL REUNION - SAN DIEGO, CALIF. SEPTEMBER 9 -13, 2013 HANDLERY HOTEL AND RESORT Iwo Jima photo and the man who helped save it By Paul Farhi THE WASHINGTON POST The battle had raged for four days, and would continue for 31 more, a marathon of sand and heat and unrelenting death. But at that moment there was an order from the brass: Get a bigger flag up there. The small American flag fluttering atop Mount Suribachi, the volcanic peak on the island, was too small to be seen by the troops fighting below. From his makeshift command post near a captured Japanese airstrip, a 24-year-old Marine combat Norman “Norm” Hatch, 91, poses for a portrait near the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. photographer named Norm (Matt McClain/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Hatch began to scramble. The next few hours, and the days immediately called Iwo Jima. The Alexandria resident, the last man following, would thrust Hatch into the story of one of living directly involved in its creation, helped ensure the most famous photographs in history, taken 68 years the image’s place in perpetuity. ago this week on the speck of rock in the Pacific Ocean Continued on page 6 TONY DE SANTIS Final Roll Call Secretary Written by Army Sgt Chris Matthewson, Fifth Marine Division Assn. as “Chris Soldierpoet,” who served in Afghanistan Submitted by Billy Joe Cawthron, Chaplain, 2560 Gulf to Bay Blvd., Ste 200 and used by permission Clearwater, FL 33765 Tel.: (727) 791-4020 We stand in rows, all at attention Email: [email protected] Our names called one by one His name called, but no one answers, They call twice more, then none. SPEARHEAD NEWS Published four times annually in the interest of the 5th Marine Division Association A crashing volley rends the air, As the guns in sequence shoot EDITOR One final, thunderous roar, Ray Elliott This jolting last salute. 2609 N. High Cross Road, Urbana, IL 61802 (217) 384-5820; [email protected] Gleaming rifles, polished brass Dressed in their very best FOUNDING PRESIDENT With smart precision they pay their homage Gen. Keller E. Rockey As we mark this Soldier’s rest. President ................................................ Bill Behana Vice President ........................................ Bob Mueller Secretary ............................................ Tony De Santis The rifles silent, two by two Treasurer ..................................................... (Vacant) We march to the tiny alter Legal Officer .................................. Stephen Lapardo Snap to attention, long salute Sgt-at-Arms ........................................ Eugene Blase It’s then I start to falter. Chaplain ..................................... Billy Joe Cawthron Trustees ........................................... Tony De Santis, The tears all flow, as I stare ahead Ivan Hammond, Warren Musch, Before those sand-worn boots Penny (DeFazio) Pauletto and Guy “Al” Stratton The upturned rifle holding tall Sharp blade for steely roots. In This Issue: For but a second, I glance down His tags so gently sway, Final Roll Call ....................................................... 2 Catch the sun, and share the gleam The Editor’s Guest ............................................... 3 Then twist into pewter gray. Letters ..................................................................... 4 Replacement of small-unit leaders in combat ...... 5 My tears play back his face, Original print of eulogy inspires awe ................. 8 As his voice rings in my head Final Muster .......................................................... 9 In that moment, he seems alive Memories of memorial sculptor.............................. 9 And I feel like I’m dead. Auxiliary history ................................................. 10 Translated sentiments for battle ......................... 10 Just a minute, yet seems a lifetime Reunion/Locator Message .................................... 10 As the bugle softly plays 65th Reunion Registration Form ...................... 11 I step away, but leave my heart My mind a forlorn haze. Such ‘tis life, our hardest duty Archived issues of Spearhead News are To leave our brother there. available to view at www.talespress.com He was so young, with so much promise But war is never fair. 2 | Spearhead | Winter 2012-13 THE EDITOR’S to apply, not only to themselves, but to all of humanity. This document that began its life with the purpose of guiding a young nation down the path of freedom and Guest independence has continued to secure the rights of By Jessica Elliott American citizens ever since. Through the Constitution and its amendments, Americans have established the Editor’s Note: Jessica placed first in Illinois and 18th in freedoms of speech and religious worship; abolished the nation in the 2012-13 Voice of Democracy essay/speech scholarship program, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. slavery; given a voice to every adult through the vote, You can hear her speech and that of the other state winners online regardless of race or gender; as well as safeguarded at heroes.vfw.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8307. many other aspects of American independence. These inalienable rights represent the ideals that our 2012-13 VFW VOICE OF DEMOCRACY: country was built upon. They are the values instilled in the hearts of our citizens. The Constitution, and all its Is our Constitution responsibilities and challenges, continues to influence our actions and decisions to this day, because it has still relevant? evolved alongside its people. A man once said, “The United States Consitution has It is the morning after my eighteenth birthday. It is proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation still dark outside. In fact, it’s five a.m., but I am wide- of rules of government ever written.” That man was awake with anticipation. I am at the airport, preparing Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the United States to embark on what I know will be an unforgettable during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor — the event journey. I have been given the privilege of going on that led to America’s involvement in World War II. His the Central Illinois Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., adherence to the Constitution compelled him to take a program that takes World War II veterans to see their action against the oppressive forces that threatened our memorial in the nation’s capital. country and its principles of freedom and equality. It’s been nearly 70 years since these men were at From Washington and the founders of our nation, war, but their sense of duty remains undiminished. I to Lincoln who unified a divided people, to the young never met a single veteran who’d say he would not men who enlisted in the military some 70 years ago, the serve again if he had to do it over. Something compelled Constitution has continually inspired Americans since them to enlist all those years ago, and I see that same its signing. Quite simply, it was written to ensure the drive in their eyes as 90-year-old men. What, I wonder, promise of a better tomorrow, and it was this aspiration do they all feel so strongly about? I saw in the eyes of each World War II veteran on the I soon found my answer. Honor Flight. They risked their lives to preserve the For written in stone, there at that reverent memorial American way of life, as well as to provide future – their memorial – are the words: “Here in the presence generations with better opportunities to pursue their of Washington and Lincoln, one the 18th century father dreams in peace. and the other the 19th century preserver of our nation, My generation enjoys a world made possible we honor those 20th century Americans who took up by their actions. No passage of time will lessen the the struggle during the Second World War and made the importance, nor diminish the relevance, of their defense sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted of our Constitution. This is why their story is not one to us: a nation conceived in liberty and justice.” to be confined to a history book; it did not just change The veterans on this Honor Flight responded to the the world once — it perpetually changes it. Just like call of these great presidents — whose monuments the actions of these brave veterans, the Constitution salute the World War II Memorial on either side — continues to affect how Americans interact with each the call to uphold freedom, to fight injustice, and to other, and with the world. It is not a dead and dusty protect from tyranny. These values are embodied in our document by any means. nation’s Constitution, a code that Americans have come It lives, and it lives within us. Winter 2012-13 | Spearhead | 3 LETTERS Father enjoyed reunions, spoke Kitano Point. Although wounded by shrapnel and to students and business groups suffering from combat fatigue (for which he was awarded two purple hearts), my father always felt very (My father) Bernard Neiweem was a member of the fortunate to have been one of only four men from his Fifth Marine Division, 27th Marine Regiment, Joint platoon to leave Iwo Jima under his own power, i.e. Assault Signal Company (JASCO), with whom he able to walk off at Kitano Point. landed in the first wave on Iwo Jima, Red Beach One. There was no doubt that the training he received at Father was also a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton, Camp Pendleton and Camp Tarawa, combined with the Calif., prior to the Iwo Campaign and served with the fact that he shot expert, were major factors in his survival, U.S. Occupation Forces at Sasebo, Japan. Dad and his but my dad often said in honest humility that luck was wife, Peggy, made a return visit to Iwo Jima in 2000 the biggest factor: “How else can you explain why for the 55th anniversary memorial program. Mom and the guy right next to me, with often more training and Dad attended most of the Fifth Marine Division annual combat experience, was dead and I wasn’t?” reunions over the past 20 years, which they enjoyed The Marine Corps was the only constant in his life; immensely.