Manalapan veteran bears witness to history

U.S. Marine stood atop Iwo Jima as famous photo was snapped

Members of Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, pose for a photo taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal atop Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. PFC Fred John Walczak, of Manalapan, is fifth from the right. Members of Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, pose for a photo taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal atop Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. PFC Fred John Walczak, of Manalapan, is fifth from the right.

By dave benjamin

H

e still remembers the moment on Feb. 23, 1945, when members of Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, raised an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the 8-square-mile, hilly volcanic island called Iwo Jima.

Only six Marines from Easy Company who landed on the tiny atoll in the middle of the south Pacific Ocean on Feb. 19, 1945, are still alive to tell the story of that landing.

As Memorial Day 2000 approaches, Manalapan resident PFC Fred John Wal-czak, 82, is one of those six surviving patrol members who can personally speak of the event that many people recall as the most recognized photograph taken in World War II.


In what may be the most famous picture taken during World War II, members of Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, raise the American flag after capturing Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The photo is signed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal with the inscription, “Best wishes to Marine Fred J. Walczak — who sure was there Feb. 23, 1945.” In what may be the most famous picture taken during World War II, members of Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, raise the American flag after capturing Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The photo is signed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal with the inscription, “Best wishes to Marine Fred J. Walczak — who sure was there Feb. 23, 1945.”

The picture snapped by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shows a group of Marines raising the Stars and Stripes atop Mount Suribachi.

Rosenthal lives today in San Francisco.

There were actually two flag raisings that day when the famous photo was taken, Walczak remembers.

During the second flag raising, an additional photo was taken which Walczak believes is even more memorable than the first, because it had all of the members of the patrol who were there that day — Ira Hayes (the only Native American in the patrol), Harold Schrier, Franklin Sousley, Michael Strank, John Bradley, Clarence Garrett, Gradon Dyce, Howard Snyder, Henry Hansen, Phil Ward, Harold Schultz, Harold Keller, Thomas Hermanek, Gerald Smith, R. Michael Larson and a Marine named Garvey. (One patrol member could not be identified.)


DAVE BENJAMIN  PFC Fred John Walczak, Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, holds photos taken and signed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal after the capture of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Photo on right (in frame) was taken at a reunion of survivors. DAVE BENJAMIN PFC Fred John Walczak, Easy Company, 28th Marine Patrol, holds photos taken and signed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal after the capture of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Photo on right (in frame) was taken at a reunion of survivors.

"The most important flag raising was the second," said Walczak, who was 27 at the time. "There were 18 of us in the patrol."

Although most patrols had 40 members, his had only 18.

"Somebody said we had a 40-man patrol, but our Marine newspaper said there were patrols with fewer men," said the veteran.

"I was standing not far from Rosenthal (when he took the first photograph) and looking up at the little hill which was 558 feet above sea level. Joe took that picture, but that was after the fighting was all over," he said. "It took four days to secure the hill."

W

alczak recalled a long tunnel near where the American flag was raised that led into a cave where Japanese soldiers had set up a hospital. He remembered his next assignment.

"1st Lt. Schrier was the officer in charge and he said, ‘You, you and you.’ He picked me to crawl through the tunnel and into the cave" where the Japanese soldiers were, Walczak said. "He said I had to count all of the Japanese. I crawled in and counted 88. It was a sick-bay (hospital). Inside the cave you could look out and see all of the ships (Landing Ship Tanks)."

Walczak pointed to the second photograph Rosenthal snapped — the one of the entire patrol — named each member and, pointing to a couple of the men, said, "These two were killed."

He recalled many of the Japanese soldiers hiding in caves in the hills or in underground bunkers. One such story was the recollection of the moment when one of the Japanese soldiers who was hiding in an underground bunker showed himself.

"We were moving across the island on the west side and it was about 6 a.m. I never saw a more perfect shot," said Wal-czak. "He (a Japanese soldier) must have looked this big (spreading his thumb and index finger apart as far as he could). He pulled the cover up and Schrier took a shot, a distance of a few hundred yards, and hit him in the back of the head."

Walczak said Schrier was killed later as the patrol advanced to capture the island.

Walczak himself was wounded three times as the patrol moved further inland.

"We were in a ravine and I was packing ammunition against a hill; in case they should hit it, no one would get killed. It was March 9 when I got hit," he said. "I remembered what my mother said, ‘Just come back with your eyes, arms and legs.’ I got shot in every place. I got shot in the chest, the neck and the back. I think one shot went through the chest and the back at the same time."

He was taken to the sick bay and put on a C-47 which flew him to a tent hospital on Guam. While Walczak was there, the hospital was attacked and several soldiers were killed.

"I got a break because I was on the other side," he said.

American casualties during Operation Detachment totaled 22,099 dead, wounded or missing. Japanese losses were put at 21,000 dead. Iwo Jima was needed as an air base to launch attacks against Japan. On March 16 the island was finally declared secure.

Speaking of the Marines in his patrol, Walczak could only say, "They were brave."