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Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
IMDB rating: 7.10
Plot: John Marion Stryker is the ultimate Marine, a tough rifle squad leader who in 1943 is assigned a squad of new recruits saddled with three veterans and an old enemy of Stryker’s from previous duties in the Far East. One recruit in particlar is a source of friction with Stryker, Peter Conway, whose father was Stryker’s CO at Guadalcanal and who felt his son was too soft and cowardly to be a Marine. The squad grows more and more resentful at Stryker’s increasingly brutal training regimen and his lack of sympathy for the varied personal problems of the recruits, but his determination to mold them into fighting men helps save their lives when the squad is landed at Tarawa in November 1943 and Stryker risks his life to blow up a Japanese bunker that has slaughtered Marines trapped at a log wall. The now battle-tested squad becomes more closely-knit and Stryker’s relationship with the men warms as the squad eventually finds itself in the bloodiest island battle of the war, at Iwo Jima.
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Directors:
Actors: Wayne John,Agar John,Tucker Forrest,Cassell Wally,Brown James,Webb Richard,Franz Arthur,Holden James,Coe Peter,Jaeckel Richard,Murphy William,Tyne George,Baylor Hal,McGuire John,Milner Martin,Action,Drama,War,Romance,
Were you there – WWII?
Watched "The Sands of Iwo Jima" over the weekend. To any of our seniors, especially the males – were you there? Do you have a story from the war that you’d like to share?
While I was not born until 1961, my father served in the Marines during World War II, aboard the USS Panamint. The Panamint was directly involved in a battle in 1945 during the time my father was on board as a radio operator. The USS Panamint was sent to Okinawa on March 27, 1945 and on April 1, 1945 was already under attack by enemy planes. None of the ships in the formation were damaged. By April 21, 1945 the American flag had been raised on the island of Okinawa (Shima). Kamikaze planes were present before D-Day and attacked on April 6 in mass force. On April 30, an enemy plane crashed into the ship S. Hall Young, carrying ammunition and it caused a fire. That ship was about 800 yards from the Panamint and the fire and rescue team from the Panamint helped extinguish the fire. On May 6, another enemy plane tried to attack the Panamint in a suicide dive, but that ship and others in the area used anti-aircraft fire to shoot down the plane which splashed into the water 1500 yards away because the pilot overshot his aim. On May 11, two other planes attacked and the Panamint began firing. One of the planes dropped a torpedo, but the Panamint shifted the rudder a hard right at full speed, putting it in parallel position from the torpedo and the plane. The torpedo passed by the stern of the ship and the plane erupted into flames about 150 yards from the Panamint and splashed into the sea. The second plane dropped a torpedo which passed the starboard side and missed the stern by 30 feet.
Throughout the first 45 days in Okinawa, the Amphibious Group 4, of which the Panamint was a part, only experienced 9 days without being attacked. The Panamint directed the Combat Air Patrol attacks. On June 15, 1945 the Panamint went on to Saipan and then arrived in Pearl Harbor on July 8, 1945. My family has photos of my father in Hawaii during that time. I don’t know the exact dates of my Dad’s military service, but I do remember him talking about Okinawa and of being attacked by enemy fire but not being hit. This would fit with the story of the Panamint in Okinawa that I just told above because my father did indeed serve on the Panamint and was indeed under enemy fire in this time period. He didn’t like to talk about this, but was very proud to have served during the War. I had to do a lot of research to find out this information, piecing bits and pieces of information my father did tell his family together with documents he had in his possession and internet research on the USS Panamint.
That is my father’s World War II story. He was proud to be a Marine and proud to be an American. I learned to love my country from the example he set. My father died in 2004, so I feel blessed to have had him for so many years, when many people lost their lives during World War II. I believe my generation and those that follow owe a huge debt of gratitude to our seniors who fought in this war to make the world a better place, but also who worked to make the world a better place after the war was over. Thank you!!
Chimichanga to go please!! | Sep 04, 2007
no
Rana | Sep 04, 2007
i was there. i pwned some noob soldiers. got a few headshots. saved a few comrades. ya know. the usual.
rofl_kewl_tommy | Sep 04, 2007
I was alive, but not over there. And too young to know what was happening. All I remember is that Mom had to ration some foods. Something about ration stamps.
kiwi | Sep 04, 2007
Female here, LG. Just wanted to say I was alive but was not overseas. Safe in the USA due to the patriotism and dedication provided by the Armed Forces of UK and USA as well as the others.
I remember asking my mother about something she was horrified about after reading the newspaper. She just told me it was about the war. I figured out as a adult what it was. It was when they found all those concentration camps.
makeitright | Sep 04, 2007
i wasn`t but my dad was at iwo and all over the south pacific with the marines his uncle was also there in the army he was killed in luzon phillipines and was awarded the distinguished service cross i was born in 49 and served in the marines in viet nam as a third generation marine
tealc666 | Sep 04, 2007
Half of me was still in my daddy, but he didn’t realize that he was taking my to war. The other half of my was still in my mommy. She want daddy to come home so they could make me.
Granny | Sep 04, 2007
My uncle went and never came back, he has places named after him in France! My other uncle went and came back highly decorated.
ndnquah | Sep 04, 2007
My Dad was stationed in Bethesda, MD and my mom was "Rosie the Riveter" in an aircraft factory. Two of my mom’s brothers went to Europe, one was killed in France the other returned without a scratch. I took care of a WWII fighter pilot, boy did he have the tales. Said once he came back from a mission without one piece of glass in his plane–said he made some real peace with God at that time. My step dad fought in France and was wounded by shrapnel. He had a plate for a cheek.
lilabner | Sep 04, 2007
Just a twinkle im my daddy’s eye! Actually, he fought in WW11, but I wasn’t born until he was stationed in Korea in 1950
slk29406 | Sep 04, 2007
I’d wager most here are too young to have been there or have any memory of the experience even if they were. My Dad was an Army officer and fought in WWII and were he alive today he’s be 93….
My Mom told me she went to work for the War Dept. in NY during the war – but she was in her very early 20’s at the time…
We moved to Italy to join my Dad in ‘46 and lived there for 3 years and I have vague memories of attending Italian school there
sage seeker | Sep 04, 2007
I was a grade-schooler when the US got in the war after Pearl Harbor, and remember seeing camouflage netting over the buildings and highway where Lockheed and Vultee had their defense plants in Long Beach, CA…remember the ration books [one for sugar, one for meat, one for gas] and remember buying Defense Stamps to paste in a book to make a war bond. Family members and their friends fought all over the world…pilots, Sea Bees, swabbies [my uncle was in the Pacific] and one of my mom’s best ladyfriends had a husband who was in the Anzio beach battle. Neighbor boy went into the Merchant Marine and shoveled coal all the way to Murmansk and back again. My dad was too old to be drafted or to enlist, but worked on some secret "war stuff" as a civilian…his business partner built officer quarters in a construction battalion all over Europe and brought home a Scotch war-bride he met handing out tea & biscuits in an English railway station! Us kids saved bacon-grease and tinfoil and newspapers…had drives at school to see which class or room could bring in the most. In every sense of the word, we were all "there" whether at home or fighting somewhere…even my grandma, who lived on the coast, became a plane-spotter and blackout captain for her little town. She said it kept her mind off where her son was, and maybe even helped him somehow. She baked pies for the coast guard station down the beach from her house…they patrolled at night with big mean dogs watching for spies and submarines.
constantreader | Sep 04, 2007
I wasn’t around yet, I was born in "47". But I know from seeing pictures, that my Dad was in the Navy during the War. As there were several pic’s when they were dating and he had his Navy uniform on. And several of their close friends also had various other Armed Forces uniforms on. I never did find out that story. Thanks for asking, I will have to have a talk with my mother and see where he was at. And get the whole story.
All I remember him saying is that if he had not gotten married, to my Mom he would have made it to Chief. I was not interested at the time, so I didn’t ask. By the time I was old enough to understand it had probably been about 15 years after the War. So didn’t know, didn’t care. But I will find out now. Thanks.
Moe | Sep 04, 2007
When we entered the war I was just short of my third birthday. But, I do have one childhood memory of the war. For many years I just though it was my own private nightmare. I saw a large military plane losing altitude in the skies over Brooklyn and saw it blot out the sun as it headed downward to crash. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned it was real. A B-25 on its way to Floyd Bennet Field that never made it.
desertviking_00 | Sep 04, 2007
No. I made my entrance into this world at 12.15AM on August 1ST, 1944.
My father was up North in the desert in Africa, with the, " 14th Bombing Squadron".
His name was:- LAURENCE Hazelby HALE, HE WAS KNOW AS; LAURIE ( as in LORRY) ), and he was with a lot of Americans and Australians in his Squadron.
Wouldn’t it be great if I found some men who were with him in the Squadron? I’d love to hear from them.
And really looking forword to hearing some of the stories, from the brave men who fought in WW!!
justme | Sep 04, 2007
yup, i was on Guam. before they hit iwo jima we flew from Guam to saipan for three days straight. the ocean was filled with ships for those three days. some sight. we did not know where they were going, but we soon found out. not enough room here for stories. i was in army air corp, mechanic. many people say thanks for fighting in ww2, but no thanks needed. thanks go to the men and women building planes and armament and things for us. they did a magnificent job.
oldtimer | Sep 04, 2007
I wasn’t IN the war, but I lived
thru it. But I was very,very
young. I mean like really
young. In fact, I think I was
just a baby…maybe.
mountaingal | Sep 04, 2007
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