I have a suite and small hospitality room here. Last night there was some knocking at the door and several of the Iwo Jima Marines wanted to know if we had any bourbon inside! We couldn't invite them in fast enough and what a night we had. Even at their age, let me tell you these guys know their way around a glass [or two] of bourbon and they can go well into the wee hours!
I spent a lot of time with Fiske Hanley, 100 years old, and a B-29 Bomber engineer in WWII. He's written a book and I ordered it from Amazon a
few minutes ago. Fisk was in college and in 1943 was drafted. He
became part of a bomber crew and participated in several WW II battles in the
Pacific. He bombed Iwo Jima, "along with a whole lot of other bombers" before the
Marines stormed the beach.
Fiske said their instruments were off and 80% of their bombs
hit the ocean killing tons of fish. The remaining 20% missed the Japs by
a mile and landed on the beach. He thought they had failed. Later he
talked to the Marines who made the landing on the beach. They said the
coral was so hard in places they couldn't dig in and they were being killed by the dozens
just getting off the landing craft. The only thing that saved them were
these huge craters dotting the beaches....it was the only place they were safe
and they didn't know why they were there. Yes, it was Fiske and his
misguided bombers who cratered the beach head that saved thousands of
lives!
Fiske went on to engage in bombing runs on several islands
as they worked their way toward Japan. On a mission to drop sea mines
near the coast, they were shot down by the battleship Yamato. Only he
and another of his crew survived while some other crews of the other planes
survived. He was captured and taken to Tokyo.
In Tokyo, he and thousands of other air crew were put on
trial for war crimes against Japan. They were sentenced to death and many, many of them were beheaded. Fate intervened and the war ended before they got to Fiske, but it was pretty close.
Why do I love this country? Because of amazing guys like Fiske willing to risk it all for a noble cause!
A Fiske Selfie
Fiske explaining how things really got done
BONUS PIC: Senior Vice CIC Hal with Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient Woody Williams!
