WEBVTT 1 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.719 Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbas. Our guest in this edition is 2 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:23.160 Donald Graves. He's a US Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the 3 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:29.480 Battle of Ewojima, where he served as a flamethrower operator. Today we'll hear 4 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.880 the first part of Don's story from joining the service, to training and eventually 5 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:40.159 to the top of Mount Suribachi on Ewojima. That's where he was a witness 6 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.439 to the flag raising in the early days of fighting there. In the next 7 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.280 edition, we'll hear about the horrific fighting after the flag raising, countering the 8 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:54.759 devastating Japanese mortars, and a very real perspective on the cost of freedom. 9 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:00.159 Today we begin mister Graves's story at the beginning. Donald Graves was born in 10 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.719 Detroit, Michigan, in May of nineteen twenty five. When he was just 11 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:10.640 four years old, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began, and 12 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:17.799 his family was significantly impacted. Graves remembers his mother sewing and patching and scrubbing 13 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:23.680 clothes clean because new clothes and dry cleaning were simply not affordable. As a 14 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.599 kid, Graves sold copies of the Saturday Evening post for five cents apiece, 15 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.680 and he was able to keep one and a half cents of every sale. 16 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:38.840 The depression also forced his family to move outside of Detroit. I grew up 17 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:44.359 in Detroit, but I lived in my grandma and grandpa's cottage fifty miles out 18 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.959 of Detroit during part of the depression because we couldn't pay rent. But we 19 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.040 were fortunate that my grandma and grandpa had a cottage on a beautiful lake, 20 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.280 one of the best fish in lakes in Michigan at that time. So that's 21 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.079 where we grew up. We went to a country school. We walked two 22 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:06.560 and a half miles all the time because we didn't have a car, and 23 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:09.159 we went through the snow and everything. It was rough, really rough. 24 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:15.199 Graves also remembers the hope that President Franklin Roosevelt brought to the nation, including 25 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:20.960 urging Americans not to be fearful. Little did he know that FDR would be 26 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:25.960 his commander in chief just a few short years later. Graves was sixteen when 27 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:31.560 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December seventh, nineteen forty one. He remembers 28 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:37.400 the day vividly, as well as the process of joining the Marines. It 29 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:42.879 was the day after Pearl Harbor. It was the eighth of December. And 30 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.080 I remember that the three of us, we were buddies. We grew up 31 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:47.960 together, we went off to war, we came back home, we got 32 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.280 married, and that seemed to break our fellowship up. But we were sitting 33 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:58.159 in an old car in front of my house on the eighth of December in 34 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:00.199 the morning. And you know, that was in the time when the big 35 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:05.560 bands were going good and heavy, and we loved the big bands, and 36 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.479 we were listening to the big bands recordings. Then all of a sudden, 37 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:13.919 the announcer came on and he said, ladies and gentlemen, will interrupt this 38 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:17.159 broadcast. The President of the United States is going to address the nation. 39 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.039 And we didn't know what's he going to say, you know, and on 40 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:28.319 came the President, and this is what he said. And I have a 41 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:37.560 habit of talking somewhat like him. Yesterday, December seventh, nineteen forty one, 42 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:45.080 a date there will live in infamy. United States of America was suddenly 43 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:52.400 and deliberately attacked upon by the naval and armed forces of the Empire of Japan. 44 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:59.479 I interpret the will of Congress and of the people. We shall gain 45 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.840 try victory, so help us God. I said to my two buddies, 46 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.960 I'm going to go down. I'm skipping school tomorrow morning. I'm going down 47 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.080 to the Marine Corps office and I'm going to sign up. They said, 48 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.240 you can't. You got me seventeen. You're only sixteen. I said, 49 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.480 I only got six months ago. I'll get the paper, but I'm going 50 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:21.399 down there. Next morning. I got up and I told my two sisters 51 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:26.120 and brother, I said, don't say anything to my I'm going. I 52 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.920 told them what I was going to do. They said, okay. So 53 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.360 I went downtown one mile. I practically ran it, got into the Frederal 54 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:40.959 building, went up on the fourth floor. I knew every building downtown. 55 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.439 I delivered invoices there and on the fourth floor and the GUTTI sergeant met me 56 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.480 in the doorway and he says, what can I do for you, young 57 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:53.480 fellow. I says, I'm going to sign up. He said how old 58 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:56.879 are you? I said sixteen. I can't do it. You've got to 59 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.839 be seventeen. When will you be seventeen, I said, I'll be seventeen 60 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.240 and five and a half six months. He said, I'm going to give 61 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:09.040 you some paper. You take this to your mother and father when you turn 62 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.199 seventeen. You have them sign that, and you bring this to me and 63 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.360 then we can do a business. And he said do you want to do 64 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.240 that? And I said yes, sir. He said go and he gave 65 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:23.720 me the paper and I ran all the way home. Now I was so 66 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.360 excited. I ran through the back door. My mother was in the kitchen. 67 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:30.360 She stared at me. She said, what are you doing home? 68 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:34.040 And I went, oh, my gosh, ma, and I told her 69 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.839 what I did. She said, I'm not going through this again. I 70 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:41.120 went through one war already, I'm not going to go through this. Throw 71 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:44.959 that paper away. I went in the dining room and I stuck it in 72 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.879 the top door with papers on top. Six months later, we had a 73 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:54.480 birthday. I was seventeen. My dad was there. He wasn't always there, 74 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.920 but he was there that time. And I said, Dad signed this. 75 00:05:58.040 --> 00:05:59.959 He said, what is it? I want to go in the room 76 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.519 because give me a pen and he signed it. And he said to my 77 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:06.800 mother, Vera, come here, sign this. He's going in the Marine 78 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:11.639 Corps. And she said, I'm not signing that paper. I went through 79 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:15.319 it with you and I'm not going to go through that again. And he 80 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.399 said, vera, listen to me. The boy walks out of school, 81 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:25.040 he's been doing odd jobs. He'll probably turn out to be a bum. 82 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:28.680 And when he said that, I went like this to my mother and she 83 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:30.319 said, give me a pen. Give me the pen. She signed it. 84 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:34.079 I'm done with it. I ran all the way back downtown Detroit. 85 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:38.079 Met the gunny again. He said, how did you? I said, 86 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.120 I'm seventeen. The papers were signed. He said, good, see that 87 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.439 door over there. I said, yes, sir. He said, you're 88 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.800 going in that door and you're going to meet a Navy doctor and that doctor 89 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:51.920 is going to check you over from the top of your head to the tip 90 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:56.040 of your toes, and you ain't never going to forget a young man. 91 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.759 You want to go? I said, yes, sir. He said go, 92 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.439 And I went through it and I will never forget that physical. I 93 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:08.160 still remember it. From there. It was onto training in San Diego. 94 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.920 Grave says he not only remembers the intense training, but a huge sense of 95 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.279 patriotism that swelled throughout the camp. There were so many kids signing up in 96 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:24.120 the Marine Corps that they had to put tins out along the Boondog, which 97 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:29.240 is down by the water. All along there there were tents. Kids were 98 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:32.920 just storming in and the D's they had to they had to make more d 99 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:39.199 I's drill instructors. That parade grown was not as big as it is now. 100 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:42.160 I was there three weeks ago. I spent five days there. I 101 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.959 couldn't believe it. But it's big now, and it was small in those 102 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:50.600 days. And we would all all the platoons would gather up and we would 103 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:55.519 march in around one another. We never touched. We thought we were going 104 00:07:55.560 --> 00:07:59.040 to crash into one another, but that d I had his left or blink 105 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:05.279 right or blak. We've brought around one another. Every morning the band came 106 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:09.639 out and the flag was raised and they played the Star Spangled Banner, and 107 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:15.040 I remember that every one of us kids had tears coming down our face. 108 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:20.160 I have to tell you, we were Americans, and we were taught this 109 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.920 in our schools in that day, and we had the national anthem every morning 110 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:31.600 before classes started. We used to walk out around the flag pole every grade 111 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.360 school, every junior, high school. I can't speak for high school because 112 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:39.440 I went off to war. But every morning we went around the flag pole. 113 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.840 We sang the national anthem as a janitor was raising Old Glory up on 114 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.200 the flag pole. That's the kind of kids we were. That's what the 115 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:54.039 schools taught us. As mentioned, the training was intense, and Grebs says, 116 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.440 the young man who finished boot camp were very different than the ones who 117 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:05.039 arrived in BOOKEMP. We had no idea of this, but when we got 118 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:11.519 in there, we were somewhat shocked. They took teenage boys and made young 119 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:16.440 men out of us. They took every bit of nonsense out of us. 120 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:22.240 We completely changed, and I think that's the only thing in our day. 121 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:28.360 We didn't have post syndrome. We didn't have any of that after the war. 122 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:33.519 But we came back to what we left and now we're changed and we 123 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.480 can adjust to this. So that's what war does to young men. When 124 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.320 the training centers that boot camps get through with you, you are in a 125 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:46.919 different world, you're in a different family, and your language changes, your 126 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:52.360 respect for things change. The biggest reason for the change is because these young 127 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.080 men knew they would soon be at war and only one side could win. 128 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:05.799 One of the most serious things that we learned, emphasis on it kill or 129 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:11.919 be killed. I can remember we did bayonet practice. Now, the First 130 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:15.200 World War, there was a lot of bayonet practice because you hit head on. 131 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:20.879 But the Japanese came to us at two o'clock in the morning and we 132 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.039 were fighting. We couldn't go to sleep. We hadn't had sleep for six 133 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:33.200 weeks on Iwo Jima. And you're trained to fight that, so your whole 134 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:39.000 outlook, your brain is transformed into fighting the enemy or be killed. After 135 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:43.399 going through basic training, Graves was thrown a curveball when he was selected to 136 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:48.960 train and serve as a flamethrower operator. My captain put that on my back. 137 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.799 He said, Graves, you're a new friends. So I said, 138 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.639 why sir, Because you're short. The other boys tallness don't make it. 139 00:10:56.360 --> 00:11:00.919 Do you know? I have to tell you the lifespan of the flame tour 140 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.759 in combat four minutes. That's the life span I went through six weeks and 141 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:13.440 came off the island all by myself. No other flame tours. I'm the 142 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:18.840 only one that came back in my battalion. That's Don Graves, a US 143 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.679 Marine Corps veteran of World War Two and the Battle of Ewogma. When we 144 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:30.919 come back Graves will share more of his flamethrower training. He will also tell 145 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:37.639 us about his first short lived deployment and the build up to EWOGMA. I'm 146 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:43.519 Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Sixty Seconds of Service. This sixty Seconds 147 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:48.559 of Service is presented by T Mobile. T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a 148 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.519 veteran and military families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network. Visit 149 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:58.000 t mobile dot com slash military to learn more about how they support our military 150 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.720 community. In Hampton, Virginia, a program called Troops to Teachers with centers 151 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.720 and states across the country, is helping veterans become teachers. That program is 152 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:11.240 having an impact in Hampton Roads. James Kimbrow is a teacher at Cacoutin High 153 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:15.480 School in Hampton. He's also a twenty two year Army veteran. His journey 154 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.519 to the classroom began while he was still in the Army. He said, 155 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.360 I just grew to absolutely love helping soldiers be better versions of themselves, furthering 156 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.279 their career, furthering their training, and helping them go through that. When 157 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.799 he retired, he reached out to Troops to Teachers for help becoming a teacher. 158 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:35.360 They've assisted up to three thousand veterans since twenty seventeen. For more great 159 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:41.519 veterans stories, just go to National Defense Network dot com. This is Veterans 160 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:46.679 Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this addition is Don Graves, 161 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:52.720 a US Marine Corps veteran of World War Two and the Battle of Ewojima. 162 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:58.080 Still Ahead, Graves shares his gripping story of coming ashore at Ewojima and fighting 163 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:03.519 to the top of Surabachi, where the American flag was famously raised. But 164 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:09.159 we pick up our story as Graves explains why the flame thrower he was ordered 165 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:13.879 to operate required a very different mindset than carrying a rifle with the rest of 166 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:20.559 the infantry. We made a flamethrower operator is entirely different. It's entirely different. 167 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:26.080 And I thought when we trained, I thought, I'm going to really 168 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:30.759 be scared with this thing, But you aren't. When I hit the beach 169 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:33.480 on my back, we hit the sand, I had a man on my 170 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.679 left and a man of my right. They have to take care of me. 171 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:41.320 If they're gone, I don't know what I'm going to do. And 172 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.759 I had to go through some of that until another buddy caught up with missus 173 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:50.320 ogle with you. That's what happened. But a flame thrower is number one 174 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:54.039 when they see the fire. Any of us, you would do it yourself, 175 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:58.200 everybody would do it. You'd be terrified because fire is rolling at you 176 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:05.519 consumes, so it's a devastation. But I felt like a lot of power 177 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.240 when I fired that flame tour, But I knew that it was a target. 178 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.879 I never thought about it too much. Though. The flamethrower became a 179 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.799 critically important weapon on Ewojima, as we will learn later on in Don Graves's 180 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:22.440 story. But how did it work? How long did they last, and 181 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.000 what happened when you ran out of fuel? Graves gives us a quick tutorial. 182 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:31.279 The flame throw was seventy two pounds full, and you had five gallons 183 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:35.080 of fuel, two and a half in one tank, two and a half 184 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.919 of the other, one pressure tank in the middle. You had fifteen seconds 185 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:43.600 if you held the trigger back. That's all you had. What we did, 186 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:48.720 though, was burst, burst, and we had about six or seven 187 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:52.200 bursts in your route. And you call for another field wind, they'll pick 188 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:56.279 up the other wood. Before long, Graves and his fellow marines were sent 189 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:01.480 about as far south as you can go in the South Pacific, but plans 190 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:07.000 to finally enter combat had to be delayed. First time I went overseas, 191 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.399 it was nineteen forty two. Later in forty two, after I graduated from 192 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:15.320 boot camp and we trained, I was with a second anti tank battalion. 193 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:20.200 I drove a Dodge pickup truck with a thirty seven millimeter mounted right next to 194 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.039 my head. That's why we're hearing aids. I lost a lot of my 195 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:30.000 hearing. And we went overseas to New Zealand. It took us six weeks 196 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:35.799 to get there. We could only travel seven knots and curve like this all 197 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.919 the way because of submarines, and we trained there for three months. We 198 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.320 were ready for bear. We were loaded, We were told we were going 199 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:48.200 to go someplace, and before we board a ship, they canceled out and 200 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:52.960 we were told we were going to go to mea New Caledonia, another just 201 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:58.120 off the Solomons. We were there, and then all of a sudden we 202 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.559 got well, we're going to leave there, and all the Mariesia were not 203 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:06.360 actually in combat at that time, went back to San Diego and we formed 204 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.320 the fifth Marine Division along with some new fresh boots. Graves would be reassigned 205 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:15.159 to the new fifth Infantry Division of the Marine Corps, and, as he 206 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:19.600 explains, the division was an interesting combination of troops like him who had not 207 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.320 yet experienced combat along with others who had seen a great deal of action. 208 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:37.039 What built this division up the raiders They just disbanded, paratroopers, disbanded all 209 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:41.679 special weapons went into the fifth Division, and that's what they formed the fifth 210 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:45.720 Division. I would say that three fourths of our troops in that division had 211 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:52.399 already had combat, rest were fresh boots. And that's the division that I 212 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.960 was assigned to after I went over and we came back to the States and 213 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:02.320 we were running too that division, and it was a great fighting division. 214 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:07.000 As the fifth Marines waited for their assignment, war planners were hard at work. 215 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:12.000 The division would be sent to Ewo Jima, and Graves says President Roosevelt 216 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:17.079 and Admiral Chester Nimitz had a very good reason for that. Now, a 217 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.480 Navy admiral told me this. I was speaking to the Navy group and he 218 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:26.039 stood up and said this. He said. Roosevelt came in in his wheelchair 219 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.839 with this everything on his lece and he had a long stick and he rolled 220 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:36.759 right up to a board and put the stick on a little spot about five 221 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:41.759 six hundred miles south of Tokyo, and he said, gentlemen, do you 222 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:48.799 know where I'm pointing? They didn't know. Admiral Nimmus stood up. He 223 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.759 said, mister President, if I'm not making a mistake, you were right 224 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:57.160 on an island called iwo Jima. And he says, exactly, I want 225 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:02.839 that island. It's it's knocking our beat twenty nine out of the sky. 226 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.960 They wire ahead when we crossed over them. It needs to be out of 227 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:11.680 the way. We've got to do it. And Admiral said, mister President, 228 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.839 I want that Adam too, And that was the reason. That's Don 229 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:19.119 Graves, a US Marine Corps veteran of World War Two and the Battle of 230 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:26.000 Ewogima. When we come back, mister Graves shares the gripping story of arriving 231 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.240 at Ewojima, the struggle to get off the beach, and the fighting all 232 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:34.680 the way to the top of Mount Suribachi. And of course you'll hear about 233 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:41.000 perhaps the most famous flag raising in history. And Don Graves was right there. 234 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:48.400 That's next I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is 235 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:53.839 Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is Don Graves. 236 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:59.359 He is a US Marine Corps veteran of World War Two and the very 237 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:04.079 costly Battle of Ewojima. More than two years and nine months after Graves joined 238 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:10.359 the Marines at age seventeen, he was finally headed into combat on the island 239 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:15.319 of Ewojima in February nineteen forty five. As we mentioned before the break, 240 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:22.240 President Roosevelt and Admiral Nimitz decided the island was critical in advancing successfully toward Japan. 241 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:29.960 Air defenses on Ewojima were taking too many American lives and destroying our planes. 242 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:34.680 The island needed to be under Allied control, so the fifth Division headed 243 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:38.920 west across the Pacific. But Graves and his fellow Marines were kept in the 244 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.480 dark about where they were going and what they would be doing for a very 245 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:51.400 long time. Going to Ewojima, we left San Diego three divisions, and 246 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:55.400 it took us two and a half weeks to get there. One day out 247 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:00.279 they finally brought clay models on tables and showed us what e regima looked like 248 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:07.400 what was underneath, caves and everything. We did not know at the time 249 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:11.920 what the casidies were. When our air force hammered away on it, very 250 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:15.640 little. They just went back underground. Let them go ahead and have their 251 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.039 fun bombing. But it didn't tear up their planes and things. They lost 252 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.440 their air force. That's why it was a little bit easy for us. 253 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:27.319 After training for nearly three years, Graves and the other Marines were more than 254 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:32.240 ready for the fight ahead, or so they thought. He says. Most 255 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:37.400 Marines were not afraid as the invasion drew closer. None of us were afraid. 256 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.160 We talked about this. Those of us that made it went back home. 257 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.839 We would sitting in the citty near the PX, having a little party, 258 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:48.440 and we would talk. But we weren't afraid. Why. I don't 259 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:53.759 know. We trained so long as so much we wanted to use it, 260 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.200 and here now we're going to use it. I think that's it. The 261 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:02.519 morning of the invasion, the Marines were greeted with a fancier breakfast than usual. 262 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.200 Some saw it as a special treat before heading off into combat, but 263 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:11.319 Graves says others had a more cynical approach. The first time I ever had 264 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:18.799 steak in the Marine Corps was on a board ship. The very morning we 265 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.920 hit the beach. We could see the battle on the oend. We could 266 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.599 see our planes flying over and fighting. And all of a sudden they brought 267 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:32.960 chawa from down below, and it was steaking eggs. And I had a 268 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:34.880 kid next to me and says, hey, buddy, what's with the steak 269 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:41.319 and eggs? You see Graves use your head. What do they do with 270 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:48.640 convicts before they execute them? And we all kind of laughed. That's the 271 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.480 humor we had. We did not know what we were in for. That 272 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.920 steak and eggs would come back up for more than a few As they climbed 273 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:02.240 into the landing crafts got information and began the shore, Graves says. The 274 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:07.480 Japanese resistance began well before they reached the beach. He says, the landing 275 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:12.079 crafts and the Marines on board suffered through withering fire. Oh. I would 276 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:18.000 say three four hundred feet away from them the island easily. They tried to 277 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.480 stop us from hitting the sand, you know, And what they did when 278 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.640 we hit the sand and got started walking, it came up just below your 279 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:33.480 knee. They had taken bulldoozer and powed up all the that's not sand, 280 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:37.880 it's volcanic ash what we call a sand, and they powded it all up 281 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.839 so that it would sink when we walked in it. See, our half 282 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:48.440 tracks are tanks. They just sat there. They couldn't get up. They 283 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.759 knew what they were doing. The first wave got the green light to go 284 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.480 ashore, and of course the second wave followed. Then Don Graves and the 285 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:03.119 rest of the third wave got their turn, and Graves vividly remembers the intensity, 286 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:08.319 the uncertainty, and the determination to push through the fierce attacks unleashed by 287 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:14.279 Japanese forces. The Japanese called our vehicles that took us to the beach, 288 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:21.640 they called them alligators because they had wheels and also tracks, and so that's 289 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.440 what we loaded up and we rallied around the circle. Then all of a 290 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:30.319 sudden, the commodore dropped the flag and each wave went in. I was 291 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.640 in the third wave, Green Beach one, two three, and that all 292 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:40.839 three divisions and hit. When we got up towards the shore. As we 293 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:45.960 were going, I heard something and it was a sound I never heard before. 294 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:52.240 It was a whoomph whoomph, and they were blowing our landing craft out 295 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.039 of the water with our buddies in it. It was terrible, but they 296 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.039 did not hit us. We could not get up on the sand. We 297 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:04.160 got it was about two and a half three feet of water, and the 298 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:11.000 boatsman said, all right, overboard, buddy, overboard. I said, 299 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:12.839 how am I going to get out of here? So my two guys left 300 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:17.200 and right got me, picked me and pushed me over and went down the 301 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.400 water. They jumped over, picked me up, and we ran to the 302 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:26.720 sand and hit face down. And I heard everything going on, the scream 303 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:32.400 and they yelling, the rockets, everything going on out in the water behind 304 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:37.319 us. And as I looked to my right, every vehicle, every equipment 305 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.039 that tried to get up on there was blown in half and turned upside down, 306 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:48.359 and marine bodies floating in the water. Terrible sight. The courage to 307 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:52.480 fight and win was in abundance that day on the black ashy beaches of Ewo 308 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:59.559 Jima, and so was the will to survive. Marines lying on the ground 309 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:03.039 all over the beach, thick bump elbow to elbow, some dead, some 310 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:07.200 alive, some terrified. I've even seen a few guys. I had a 311 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:11.079 kid crawl back to me from the top and he was shot in the neck 312 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:14.680 and he said, help me, buddy, help me. You can't. 313 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:17.799 You can't help. We have Corman for that. And I said, don't 314 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:19.319 worry abouddy the corner ooka. They're common, they'll take care of you. 315 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:23.319 Don't worry about it. And he wouldn't. Right on by me. That's 316 00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:27.759 what you tell him. Don Graves was no different as he lugged his flamethrower 317 00:25:27.799 --> 00:25:33.519 with him while trying to advance on the beach. It was right there on 318 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:38.200 ewo Jima that Graves made a vow to God, a vow that he would 319 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:41.640 eventually make good on. When I hit the beach, I failed to say 320 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.319 something. I prayed for the first time in my life. We were not 321 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:49.799 church going kids. We didn't have any decent clothes, we didn't spend time 322 00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:55.000 in church. But I knew there was a God, and I said God, 323 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.359 I said, I don't know much about you, but if you can 324 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.680 get me off this, I don't know, serve you the rest of my 325 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:03.119 life. Well six weeks later he got me off, but you didn't get 326 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.559 me until nine years later at a belly Graham Meeting. Getting off the beaches 327 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:14.240 at Ewojima proved difficult for many US forces. The sand, which was really 328 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:18.559 black ash, made it hard to find footing, and military vehicles bogged down 329 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:25.359 and became inviting targets for the Japanese. The intense Allied bombing campaign before the 330 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:30.680 amphibious landing had accomplished very little as the Japanese hid in their caves. Ewojima 331 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:37.160 is also very rugged and mountainous, meaning the Japanese held the high ground and 332 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.559 often found shooting positions in the clefts of the rock that were virtually impossible for 333 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:47.480 the Americans to detect. But despite all of those factors stacked against them, 334 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:52.559 Don Graves and the other Marines who survived the initial invasion found a way off 335 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:57.799 the beach. It took me about two maybe perhaps to three hours for a 336 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.359 lot of us to get moving because the ones in front of us the first 337 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:07.079 two waves, they weren't moving. We had to let that this is the 338 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:11.000 problem. When you hit an island in the South Pacific. You've got to 339 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.680 the first battle is the beach that's number one. Then you got to get 340 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:19.319 across. You got to take the island that's number two. And if you 341 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:22.720 don't get number one up there, you can't have number two. And that 342 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:27.240 was the problem. We couldn't move, They wouldn't let us move, so 343 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:32.559 we were jammed up. Now it was time to execute their assignments, and 344 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:37.960 for the fifth Marine Infantry Division, the tasks were very clearly defined. Dog 345 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:42.920 Company. We had three companies in our battalion. Easy Company was the company 346 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:47.720 that went around the left and took the patrol look to put the flag up. 347 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.960 We were fighting our way up on the right side in the middle. 348 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:56.359 If company was over on the right of us, we went right up through 349 00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:00.240 the through the middle, and the Japanese come out of their case waves. 350 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:03.240 There were caves all over and dropped hangarin is down on us. We had 351 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:10.279 heavy casualties, heavy and we couldn't throw anything back because it won't go uphill. 352 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:15.119 Everything rolled back at you. But while the objectives were clear, completing 353 00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:19.400 them proved more difficult. As Graves just suggested, the Marines had to go 354 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:26.000 uphill and then fight their way over to Mount Surabachi, and the Japanese used 355 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:30.000 every possible obstacle to slow them down. When we got up to the top 356 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:36.079 from the beach and made a left turn. Those of us that were left, 357 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:41.039 we moved and dropped in foxholes. And I have to tell you the 358 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:45.079 Air Corps which is now the Air Force, the Air Corps, when they 359 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:51.279 dropped those bombs made a great, big, beautiful hole, just like Tailor 360 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.720 made for three marines. You crawl in and you could live in that. 361 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:59.519 We could not dig at ourselves because it would cave in on us. That 362 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:03.240 brew that right out of there, and that's what that's what we hid in 363 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:08.279 all the way five hundred and seventy five feet on the third day, and 364 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:11.759 when we reached the base, they were you could see them run back and 365 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:15.839 forth behind rocks. They had rocks. They had a real good fortification. 366 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.839 So we sat there for almost a day trying to get over that thing. 367 00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:26.039 We called for aircraft cover and they came in and pounded it, and then 368 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:27.440 we just went right in and that was it. Now, I didn't have 369 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:33.839 a bayonet because I had the gun, you know, so, but the 370 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.240 boys used their bayonets if they had to. Fortunately, they went back in 371 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.799 the cave down below and headed towards the north. On February twenty third, 372 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:48.440 nineteen forty five, four days after coming ashore, the Marines reached the summit 373 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:53.759 of Mount Surabachi, but Graves had no idea that one of history's iconic moments 374 00:29:53.799 --> 00:30:00.680 would soon follow the flag raising. We finally reached the crest and as we 375 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:06.039 got up on the hill on top of Mauser Rabachi, they're raising that flag. 376 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:10.119 And the first thing we said was, how in the world did they 377 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:11.720 put a flag up. We didn't know anything about a flag. We had 378 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:17.720 nothing. We didn't know about putting a flag up. I tell you how 379 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:23.680 that happened. Our battalion commander Chandler Johnson had a flag that the captain of 380 00:30:23.720 --> 00:30:29.079 the transport gave him and said to him, Chandler, he said, when 381 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:30.799 you get up there, try and put this up for me. Will you 382 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:33.240 do that? And he said yes. Well, he gave him the flag, 383 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:37.119 but we had no pole, We had nothing to tie a flag on. 384 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.440 But when they got up around the top they met a few Japanese. 385 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:45.440 They had a skirmish, they killed them, and they started rigging up something. 386 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:49.240 It was a pipe. Now, when people see that flag of a 387 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:55.079 mouts Rabachi, that's not a flag pole. That is a drain pipe put 388 00:30:55.200 --> 00:31:00.119 together. They found it on top, so they had the mast. Now 389 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:04.039 I wondered what they tied the flag on with. It was wire. They 390 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:10.720 found wire and they tied it with wire. So that's how the flag got 391 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:15.799 up. And I tell you there were five hundred ships out in that bay. 392 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.920 When that flag went up, every ship sounded off with rockets in the 393 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:26.200 air. It was a spectacle. Our boys that got ahead of us on 394 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.559 the north end, they were throwing tracers up in the air. It was 395 00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:36.400 a wonderful sight. Brought tears to her eyes. Six Marines would soon become 396 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:41.400 famous for raising the flag in the Joseph Rosenthal photo, but Graves says that 397 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:47.480 moment was made possible by thousands upon thousands of brave Americans who took the island, 398 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.839 and far too many who paid the ultimate sacrifice. You know, we 399 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.400 heard so much about five or six fellows putting the flag up. That's not 400 00:31:56.519 --> 00:32:02.759 true. Three division put it up. We all did our job. We 401 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:07.359 all put it up, and that should have been said. We all fought 402 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:12.599 that battle so that that flag could be up. That's Don Graves, a 403 00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:17.640 US Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the Battle of Ewojima. In 404 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:22.960 our next edition, Graves will walk us through the rest of his six weeks 405 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:29.839 fighting against the Japanese on Ewojima. He'll explain the devastating impact of Japanese mortars, 406 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.079 how he successfully calculated where the Japanese had positioned a key mortar so the 407 00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:40.000 US could take it out. He'll also share the stories of loss, from 408 00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:46.039 the sheer numbers of American lives sacrifice there to the tragic personal story of one 409 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:52.640 young man in his own foxhole. In addition, Graves will explain why the 410 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:58.720 flamethrower was such an effective tool against the Japanese on Ewojima, and we will 411 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:06.319 hear about a very lighthearted moment involving Graves, his fellow Marines and enemy Japanese 412 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:10.440 soldiers. He will also explain how the Battle of ewo Jima ended, in 413 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:15.160 what it was like to leave the island after so much devastation and loss over 414 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:19.880 those six weeks. You'll hear his thoughts on the end of the war and 415 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:23.799 President Truman's decision to drop two atomic weapons on the Japanese in order to end 416 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:30.720 the war. And you'll hear his reflections nearly eighty years later on the Greatest 417 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:40.240 Generation and how critical it is that younger generations understand and appreciate the sacrifices necessary 418 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:45.599 for freedom to survive. Please don't miss part two of Don Grave's story. 419 00:33:46.519 --> 00:34:01.440 I'm Greg Corumbus. Join us next time for Veterans Chronicles. Hi, this 420 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:07.279 is Greg Corumbus and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the 421 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:13.559 American Veterans Center. For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org. 422 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:17.880 You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter We're at 423 00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:24.239 AVC update. Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full oral histories 424 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:30.440 and special features, and of course, please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast 425 00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:35.280 wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please join us 426 00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:37.280 next time for Veterans Chronicles