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Epilogue: IwoJima,14 March 2002 Our chartered plane lifted off the runway on Guam and climbed into the predawn sky. Looking into the inky blackness I imagined that we would be ying the same course the B-29s had own on their way to bomb Japan in 1945. Along their way they would have own over Iwo Jima. Today several Marines who had survived the battle on Iwo Jima in 1945 were returning for one last look. There were also many family members of those who had fought on Iwo Jima. One man was only ve years old when his father was killed in the battle, and he had come to nd the spot where his father had died. A woman wanted to see where her father, a member of the Navy Construction Battalion, had helped build the airelds on Iwo Jima after the Marines had secured it. There was a Navy corpsman who wanted to see where he had treated the wounded and the dying. The oldest veteran in our group was 89, and the highest-ranking veteran was a retired major general. They all had their own reasons for returning. My reason for going was simple. I wanted to see where my uncle Jim Craig had fought. After all the work I had put into writing his story, all the reading and research and interviews, it was only tting that I, too, should see Iwo Jima for myself. When I serendipitously stumbled onto the Military Historical Tours website advertising the 57th Anniversary Reunion of Honor tour, I was drawn to Iwo Jima like a magnet. As I settled into my seat for the two-hour ight I considered my august traveling companions. They were the very men who had fought alongside Jim during those four fateful weeks in 1945. These were the Marines— many mere boys at the time—who had placed themselves in harm’s way to defend freedom and American ideals. The anxious anticipation in the cabin of the plane was almost palpable. I knew that it would be an emotional experience to stand on the beaches where so much blood had been shed, where so many Marines had died violently and where more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers had died. This was not only a reunion of American Marine veterans. This was also a re- Epilogue | 117 union of Japanese veterans. Marine veterans would be meeting what few Japanese veterans were still alive. Fifty-seven years ago they met on Iwo Jima as mortal enemies. Today they were coming to meet in peace and to reconcile old animosities. A stewardess collected our passports, which would be returned when we boarded the plane for the return to Guam later tonight with an Iwo Jima/Japan visa stamp—a highly coveted souvenir. Before 1945 Iwo Jima was part of Japan, specically the Tokyo Prefecture . After the war the United States occupied the island until 1968, when it was ceded back to Japan as part of a treaty. That treaty stipulates that U.S. Marines can use the island for training purposes. It also states that World War II Marine veterans can return to the island once a year. There are no hotels and no tourist amenities on the island; it is a Japanese military base. The sun slowly rose on the eastern horizon to illuminate the endless expanse of the Pacic Ocean. I looked down on the placid surface of the blue water and wondered what it must have been like for the Marines 57 years ago, crammed on troop transports heading for their date with destiny. It seemed incongruous that the Pacic should look so peaceful as we neared the island where the Marine Corps fought the bloodiest battle in its history. The dawn of D-Day had also been clear, very much like it was today. The pilot informed us of the procedure we were to follow once we landed. A contingent of U.S. Marines would be lined up to formally greet us. Maj. Gen. Fred Haynes, a veteran of the 28th Marines, would have the honor of being the rst person off the plane, followed by the rest of the Iwo Jima veterans, then other World War II veterans, and lastly the families of veterans. As we rounded Mount Suribachi, white fumes coming from the crater reminded me that this volcano is still dormant. Iwo Jima was much smaller than I had envisioned. I was also surprised by how...

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