Nightmare on Iwo Jima: A Marine in Combat

Foreword

T he battle for Iwo Jima, which took place over fifty years ago, is still the battle that many believe defines today’s Marine Corps. Iwo Jima is the only battle in Marine Corps history where U.S. casualties outnumbered the enemy’s. There were no great or grand tactics. The fight was measured in feet and yards, with the enemy fighting from a maze of interconnecting tunnels from which he could see but not be seen. K Company, Third Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, landed with the third wave. Within one hour of their initial assault , a young second Lieutenant, formerly sixth on the company’s chain of command, found himself thrust to the fore and required to take the responsibilities of company commander. When it was over, only 40 of the original 230 men in the company remained , and 100 percent of the officers were killed or wounded, including the young lieutenant. Patrick Caruso, the author, is that lieutenant. Wounded on the fourteenth day of the battle, Caruso was evacuated to a hospital in Guam. Foreword There he realized that his mind wanted to forget what he had seen and experienced and that faces and names were becoming difficult to remember. Caruso desperately wanted to keep alive the names and actions of all those who participated, so he began writing his recollections on any paper he could find; hospital napkins, paper bags, hospital reports, or anything else on which he could write were fair game for his notes. After the war, his wife typed the notes and put them away. In 1970, Caruso wrote an article for the Associated Press as a commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima. The response to his article was tremendous. He received so many letters and calls from the men who were there or from their families that he decided to write a book. Caruso’s story is not about tactics or military strategy; it is a story of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances. Caruso tells what happened in a matter-of-fact style, as he saw it, as he experienced it, and as in-depth as he could. Of particular interest are the vignettes he adds throughout the book. Various chapters cover specific actions and the individuals who were key players. After Caruso tells the story in his words, he often adds the recollection of survivors who took part in the action. This literary device could be distracting, but here it works. The reader is introduced to these remarkable men in an individual, personal way. If you are interested in tactics and strategy, this book is not for you; however, if you are interested in the thoughts and feelings of the men who fought in this incredibly costly battle, you will find Nightmare on Iwo Jima fascinating and satisfying. LTC David G. Rathgeber, USMC, Retired x FOREWORD ...