David Fort received a Purple Heart after he was sent back to Guam after healing from an artillery shell blast in his fox hole on the "meat grinder" area of Iwo Jima. / Photo provided by David Fort
"War is a horrible thing, just horrible" David Fort says of his experience in some of the worst battles in the south pacific against the Japanese Imperial Forces. Fort, originally of Montana, served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He was in the second wave of the invasion of Iwo Jima and was a couple of miles away when the American Flag was raised on Mt. Suribachi. He now lives in Yucca Valley. In this photo he holds a purple heart he received after he sustained injuries in Iwo Jima.
WWII Heroes
Read all the stories from our Coachella Valley WWII veterans.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II daily through Nov. 22 and on a regular basis through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Iwo Jima by the numbers
Iwo Jima, meaning “sulfur island,” was the only Marine battle where the American casualties, 26,000 — which included 6,800 deaths — exceeded the Japanese — most of the 22,000 defending the island.
There were 100,000 men fighting on a tiny island, one-third the size of Manhattan. For 36 days, Iwo Jima was one of the most populated 7.5 miles on earth.
Source: iwojima.com
Reasons for the invasion
Strategically, the island of Iwo Jima — located 700 miles from Tokyo — was crucial to continue B-29 raids on mainland Japan.
The island contained three airstrips the Japanese had been using for their kamikaze attacks.
With this island captured, the kamikazes would have to operate from Okinawa or Kyushu.
The airfields would provide a base for escort planes on their raids with the B-29s.
Iwo Jima would provide an emergency landing strip halfway from Mariana Islands to mainland Japan
Source: “Iwo Jima: The Dramatic Account of the Epic Battle that Turned the Tide of World War II” by Richard F. Newcomb.
Coming Sunday
The United States entered World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
But that was more than two years after the Second Great War had begun.
Great Britain and Canada declared war on Germany in September 1939.
On Sunday, six Coachella Valley residents who fought for Great Britain and Canada during World War II will share their stories in an exclusive special section as part The Desert Sun's ongoing “Honoring Our World War II Heroes” series by reporter Denise Goolsby.
U.S. Marine David Fort at the Corps base of operations on Guam during WWII. / Photo provided by David Fort
More
Sixty-five years ago today, U.S. Navy veteran Paul Lebowitz of Rancho Mirage, a signalman on the USS Gregory destroyer stationed off the coast of Iwo Jima — watched as U.S. Marines planted the American Flag atop Mount Suribachi.
Four days after invading Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, men of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, made it to the summit of the island — a 546-foot dormant volcanic cone.
Although enemy soldiers fought tooth and nail, by Feb. 23, 1945, the U.S. had the upper hand.
“We were the closest to the shore,” Lebowitz said. “We had a spotting plane. We knocked out tanks and trucks. That particular day we were bombarding the island. I was on the bridge. We had an armada of ships — the whole ocean looked like it was filled with ships. The day the flag went up, they all started honking their horns — the sound was deafening.”
When he turned toward the island, he saw the now-iconic scene unfold right out in front of him.
“You could see them raising the flag,” he said. “We all cheered.”
“Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” the historic photo captured by Joe Rosenthal, won the Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1945.
Five of the battalion's Marines and one Navy corpsman were immortalized in the famous photo.
Rosenthal's photo captured the second flag-raising event of the day, according to historical records.
The first flag planted earlier in the day was deemed to be too small to be seen by nearby landing beaches.
Marine Corps photographer Sgt. Lou Lowery snapped a photo of the first flag-raising.
Just the beginning
The capture of Mount Suribachi was the first strategic objective for the Marines, but it was just the beginning of the fight.
The battle raged on until March 26.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran David Fort Sr., who spent 21 days on the island, recalled the difficulty.
“We were supposed to be in the second wave,” the Yucca Valley resident said.
But the day they were scheduled to hit the beach, the Marines came under severe enemy fire.
“We got in the landing craft and couldn't get ashore because the shelling was just atrocious,” he said. “We had to go back the next morning. It doesn't matter how prepared you think you are, you just go and hope you can get on the beach,” he said.
It's very scary,” he said, describing the landing. “We got in as far as we could. When you get off and get in the water, you have to hold your rifle over your head. The deepest was under my chin.”
Unforgiving island
There was little place to seek cover on the nearly naked island.
In Iwo Jima, it was just a sand dune, he said. “There wasn't any protection or any growth that's why there were so many lost on Iwo Jima — because of the lack of protection.”
“It was pretty hard to get off of Iwo Jima without being injured,” said Fort, who was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he suffered in battle.
The Japanese soldiers, who lived in underground caves, were well-protected and difficult to attack.
“One morning they had a banzai raid,” Fort said. “They were fortunate to be on the high ground while we were on a low area, at a disadvantage.”
Suddenly, Japanese soldiers began running down the slope toward the Marines — and on the attack.
“You could see them silhouetted against the skyline, they just came pouring out,” Fort said. “They didn't seem to have any kind of system, really. They just came running down full blast. We just stood back and all you did was keep shooting. They just came in waves. It was bad they'd sacrifice themselves for anything.”
After a few days of battle, Fort witnessed some of his fellow Marines, who had landed before him, post Old Glory on a high point of the island.
“I remember the morning they put up the flag on Iwo Jima,” he said. “That was a great feeling. It was very easy to see Mount Suribachi — it was high and flat.”
Fort was a couple of miles away from the scene.
“It just happened to be a bright, sunny morning,” he said. “There was a lot of cheering. It was a big deal to see our flag up there, even though the war was far from being over. There was a lot of fighting left.”
