The Marine who escorted the Unknown Soldier was a hardcore combat veteran
On Nov. 9, 1921, the steamer USS Olympia sailed into Washington Navy Yard. Aboard the storied ship were 39 United States Marines. Its leader, Captain Graves B. Erskine was as…
The Ballad of Iwo Jima flag raiser, Ira Hayes
In 1964, country music star Johnny Cash released an unconventional album. It was called Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, and it was a radical departure from Cash’s previous release five months prior, “I Walk the Line.”
Listen to these D-Day ‘frogmen’ explain their crazy role in the historic battle
Despite a limited number of submarines and other surveillance assets, naval forces in World War II had to find a way to spot enemy obstructions and defenses at fortified islands and beaches.
Into the gap stepped the frogmen and recon swimmers…
How a couple of frisky Iwo Jima sailors asked for pen pals
In January 1946, a rather amusing wanted ad was published in the pulp comic book Rangeland Romances. “Three lonely sailors” of the USS Mellette sent in a request for pen…
This is what happened to the Marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima
The Marine Corps’ history is a culmination of Marines pushing forward in the face of certain death. Victory comes at steep price paid for in the form of our own…
This Paramarine assaulted Iwo Jima with an improvised machine gun
During the invasion of Iwo Jima and the assault on Mount Suribachi, a Marine Corps Reserve infantryman and paratrooper carried his weapon — an ANM2 aircraft machine gun capable of firing 1200-1500 rounds per minute — onto the beaches and used it…
Today in military history: Marines invade Iwo Jima
On Feb. 19, 1945, Marines invaded Iwo Jima, igniting some of the most intense and violent fighting of the Pacific in World War II. Ask any Marine about Iwo Jima,…
Why sunken ships are popping up from the ocean around Iwo Jima
In October 2021, the Japanese All Nippon News Network photographed the rusted-out hulls of some 24 World War II-era vessels in the waters around one of the war’s most storied…
Here’s proof you can teach an old ship new tricks
When World War II began, the US had yet to develop an official strategy for amphibious operations. Early in the war, we learned that lesson the hard way. This led…
Meet 102-year-old retired Col. Dave Severance, the man who led the Marines that raised the flag on Iwo Jima
As I leaned in to shake retired Col. Dave Severance’s hand, the small white shapes polka-dotting his navy-blue tie came into clear relief as the iconic image of Marines raising…