Friday, December 7, 2012

Pearl Harbor Day....



My Grandfather enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at the age of 30 or so. When he went to war

he was a coxswain of  LCVP's at Iwo Jima and  in the Pacific.

He was on the USS Rutland 192.


From a short account he had written for the local paper:

On Feb 19th 1944 US troops attacked the Japanese stronghold on Iwo Jima. 

For 8 days the Rutland dropped off troops and cargo and handled casualties. 

Although 11 of the LCVP's were lost through enemy fire, being swamped in the high surf

 and other causes and several of her beach party personal were wounded, not one man was 

killed that came from the Rutland.

  His fellow crewman went almost without sleep for the whole operation. 

They fought off several kamakazi air attacks before leaving the island on Feb. 27th.


RIP  "Papa Joe"
April 16,1913- May 20, 2001

7 comments:

  1. Those were the day. Those were the days when people thought twice about attacking the United States. Those were the days when violence against American citizens resulted in swift, terrifying, and brutal retribution. Those were the days when we punished aggressors, instead of apologizing to them.

    What happened, America? When did we start electing cowards and pansies to rule over us?

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  2. Bravo Zulu Papa Joe
    Boilerdoc at attention with a respectful salute

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  3. I have some bad memories of the war too ... my father died at Auschwitz ............ He fell out a gun tower. :0)

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  4. Amazing that he made it. You ought to make a separate post with more information, pictures and decorations. We'd got to get this stuff down, because if we don't, when we are gone, so is it for all eternity.

    Quotes
    http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=75&highlight=quotes
    3. "He alone deserves to be remembered by his children who treasures up and preserves the memory of his fathers."

    --Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brock, you are a good and wise man

      Delete
    2. Hi Brock, Let me talk to my mother and see what she has for info. Thanks :)

      Delete

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