"" Jack Gartenberg was 18 years old when
he was wounded by shrapnel on Charlie
Dog Ridge on the island of Iwo Jima.
Today is 70th anniversary of the start of
the battle and Gartenberg remembers it
vividly.
Now 88 and living in Parsippany,
Gartenberg went from being a teenage
engineering student at City College of New
York to the Marine Corps to Iwo Jima in
just eight months.
Gartenberg was assigned to the 4th
Marine Division in November of 1944 and
went to Maui for training.
"New Year's Day we boarded a ship to
travel to the Pacific," Gartenberg said.
"Didn't know where we were headed for."
All the Marines knew is they were heading
north, and the U.S. strategy was to get
close to Japan one island at a time. Iwo
Jima was a crucial asset for the U.S.
because it was 700 miles from the
Japanese mainland, providing a location
for damaged planes to land.
"Iwo Jima, at the time, you couldn't find
on most maps," Gartenberg said. "It was
so small and insignificant."
The Marines intercepted radio broadcasts
on the way over and found out the
Japanese knew they were coming.
"They said they had a fortress that could
not be taken in 100 years and we would
die," Gartenberg said. "We were hoping
they were wrong."
As the battle began on Feb. 19, 1945,
Gartenberg's first assignment was
guarding Japanese prisoners being
transferred to the U.S.S. Indianapolis for
interrogation.
"In the meantime the invasion took place,"
Gartenberg said. "There was not much the
Japanese sailors could add at that point."
As the U.S. forces suffered heavy
casualties, those on ships like Gartenberg
were directed onto the island. He was
initially assigned to a machine gun squad,
attempting to advance inward on the
island toward the airfields that were the
reason for the invasion. Gartenberg's 4th
Division charged right, while the 3rd and
5th charged up the center and to the left,
respectively.
"One of the hills I remember, we hit it two
or three times and had to fall back each
time," Gartenberg said. "But we kept trying
and were finally able to take it over."
After two days, Gartenberg joined a
demolition crew assigned to run up to
caves and tunnels and throw plastic
explosives to seal the openings.
"With the caves and tunnels, you couldn't
see the enemy soldiers," Gartenberg said.
"Just intense firing."
Gartenberg remembers seeing Marines
take Mount Suribachi and planting an
American flag atop the hill for other
Marines to see.
"When the flag raised it sounded like
Times Square on New Year's Eve,"
Gartenberg said.
A second flag raised three hours later by
six Marines was captured on film and
ended up being the iconic image of the
War in the Pacific.
"The most notable event of World War II,"
Gartenberg said. "That photo was in every
U.S. paper while we were still there
fighting, I learned later."
Gartenberg's division advanced during the
day, and dug foxholes through the
volcanic ash that blanketed the island to
hide in at night.
"It was one hour on watch and one hour
of sleep," Gartenberg said. "But there was
not much sleep with the concern of the
Japanese jumping into your foxhole,
which happened many times."
Gartenberg said during the days he wasn't
scared because he was too focused to
think about it.
"I was heavily concentrated on what I had
to do," Gartenberg said. "During the day I
was so engrossed in my job that I didn't
think about fear. But at night, when it was
so dark you couldn't see anything in front
of you, then I was concerned. I was fearful
at night."
Still, more alarming to Gartenberg and his
fellow Marines was that the volcanic ash
regularly jammed their artillery, leaving
them defenseless.
"We were not just concerned about the
enemy," he said, "But concerned about our
own weapons."
The difference between Pacific and
European Theater in World War II,
Gartenberg said, was the mindset of the
enemy.
"We fought to live, but in the Pacific, they
fought to die," he said. "Some of the fellas
I know personally were hit. At least 25 I
know were killed in action and at least
three times that many were wounded."
Gartenberg was wounded in a fight for
Charlie Dog Ridge on his ninth day on Iwo
Jima.
"It was March 4th, I was hit by a mortar
shell along with half a dozen others.
Three or four were killed close by,"
Gartenberg said. "I was evacuated from
the island and spent a month recovering
in the hospital. I spent my 19th birthday
in there. Then I returned back to the 4th
Marine Division to resume training for the
invasion of Japan."
The first atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, while
Gartenberg was back in Maui training to
invade Japan.
The invasion was canceled after the
second atomic bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki and he was discharged in May
1946, returning to City College and
graduating in 1950.
"It wasn't easy getting back. You're used
to one kind of life and have to forget that
and focus on college," Gartenberg said.
"It's difficult to acclimate after war. It
took quite a while."
Gartenberg pursued a career in
mechanical and nuclear engineering,
designing power plants until regulations
from the Three Mile Island accident in
1979 stopped production of such
buildings.
Gartenberg is currently the president of
the Military Order of the Purple Heart,
Chapter 246 of Morris County.
"We have about 150 members," he said.
"Hopefully there won't be too many more."
Gartenberg is also a member of the
Marine Corp League, and regularly speaks
about World War II in the Pacific. He has
thought about the impact of the Battle of
Iwo Jima for the past seven decades.
"After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the
objective was the invasion of Japan,"
Gartenberg said. "To do that there were
islands that were necessary to take. But
some we would later learn did not have to
be invaded."
A total of 6,821 Marines were killed in just
one month of fighting, the most in the
Corps' history. There were more than
20,000 American casualties of the five-
week battle, adding to a total of more
than 400,000 for all of World War II.
About 20,000 Japanese soldiers were on
the island and almost all were killed or
committed suicide. Only 216 surrendered
during the battle while others hid out with
some remaining hidden for years, even
after the war was over.
"We were told the island would take 10
days to capture and it actually took five
weeks. We didn't expect the resistance
that was there," Gartenberg said.
"The tremendous casualties we suffered
were overwhelming, but when you look
back, the island saved as many airmen as
the Marines we lost on it. So in that sense
you can say it was one-for-one. If not for
Iwo Jima, they wouldn't have made it
back.""
Link.

This bad mofo is Jack Gartenberg. He eats concertina wire and sh!ts napalm.

Semper Fi Marine!

Ty Rich, I enjoy stories like this, makes me know my life wasn't as hard as I thought it was. He was a kid thrown into an adult situation.. And he did an amazing job of it! Salute! :)

Btw.....today is the anniversary of the flag raising....both of em lol

Salute