Here's a recent article from a small newspaper in western, NY. The person in the article is my Mothers' cousin. My dad was from the same small town and fought in the Pacific theater as well.

I've had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Sallazzo about the war on several occassions and really should get down to see him and record a formal interview.

Hope you find this interesting,
Steve
(:-|

Bolivar man recalls fight for Iwo Jima so others won’t forget
By JOHN T. EBERTH, The Times Herald 03/06/2005

BOLIVAR – Tony Sallazzo, 80, remembers them clearly, what he calls his “36 days of hell.”
He remembers huddling for cover under a truck on Iwo Jima’s beach, the wet sand black from volcanic ash. He remembers counting the Japanese shells as they landed in circle around the truck, wondering when one would find him or the ammunition dump 50 yards away.
He remembers the friends he lost and the enemy he fought.
Sixty years ago today, he was Corporal Sallazzo, a 20-year-old Marine in the fight of his life. He was a member of the 4th Marine Division and a seasoned combat veteran when he landed on Iwo’s beach Feb. 19, 1945. He fought on Saipan in June of 1944 and Tinian in July. Tinian was taken in 12 days and Saipan in three weeks. The generals predicted Iwo Jima would fall in three days.
“We thought it was going to be easy compared to what we’d been through,” he said. “We’d lost quite a few guys on Saipan.”
The 4th Marine was about to lose more than a few guys. The division had 19,450 men in February of 1945. By the time Iwo Jima was taken on March 14, the 4th had 3,298 members killed in action and 14,424 wounded.
The Marines gave better than they got. Of the 22,000 Japanese stationed on the island, just over 200 surrendered. The Island is only five miles long and every square inch of it was bought with blood.
“We had a total of 17,722 killed or wounded in action,” Mr. Sallazzo said, shaking his head. “There were only 1,728 of us left when we went back to Maui.”
The Marines couldn’t guess what awaited them as they sat off Iwo’s shores in ships the day before the landing. The Marines watched as U.S. planes and ships pounded the island with bombs and artillery as a prelude to the landing. Mr. Sallazzo said the shelling was designed to knock out Japanese gun emplacements on the island and soften up any troops who survived.
As Marines landed on the island, at first it seemed the bombardment had worked.
“The first three waves landed without any problems,” Mr. Sallazzo said.
Thousands of marines were on the beach. They even had time to establish a supply and ammunition dump on Blue Beach, where the 4th Marine Division was landing.
“I was in the fourth wave that landed on the beach,” Mr. Sallazzo said.
The Marines learned after the battle that the Japanese had carved caves in the hills overlooking the beach for machine guns and cannons. Before the Marines arrived, Japanese gunners had zeroed in on likely landing places along the beach.
“It turns out they had us bracketed on the beach from Mt. Suribachi,” he said. “When the fourth wave landed, my God, all hell broke loose.”
The Japanese guns were so accurate that single cannon shells dropped on four-man stretcher teams and Jeeps on the beach.
Mr. Sallazzo huddled under a wrecked half track that had been hit by a shell. With him were a few other Marines and an officer. The ammunition dump was 50 yards away.
“The shells were landing all around us,” he said. “They were trying to hit that ammunition dump.”
Mr. Sallazzo said he suggested to the officer that despite the shelling, they should move away from the ammunition dump.
“I told him if they hit that ammo dump, we didn’t stand a chance,” he said. As they started to run away from the half-track, the Japanese gunners found their mark.
“I don’t think we’d gone 100 to 200 yards when they hit that ammo dump,” he said. “When it exploded we were thrown through the air like rag dolls.”
No one was injured in the explosion. Mr. Sallazzo said the blast would have killed everyone if they had stayed under the half track.
He’d been on the island for a day. Every day for the next 35 days his life would be in constant danger. He was in combat almost nonstop.
“You didn’t think about it. You didn’t have time to,” he said of the fighting. “If a guy said, ‘We’ve got orders to take that hill.’ Then you took that hill. That was it. We were trained that way.”
He’d rather not talk about the combat other than to offer this: “You know, it was either you or the other guy and I didn’t want it to be me.”
In fact for the last 60 years, Mr. Sallazzo hasn’t wanted to talk about Iwo Jima much at all. He came home to Bolivar after the war and married Barbara, his high school sweetheart. He said he’d seen enough of war and death. It was time to start living.
Together the Sallazzos raised a son and a daughter. Mr. Sallazzo built a successful career as a sales representative for major sporting goods companies. He was the first U.S. East Coast sales rep for Rapala fishing lures after the company started in 1959. Life was good.
He said he felt compelled to talk about Iwo Jima after meeting some teenagers who had never heard of the battle. He said people need to remember the thousands of Americans who gave their lives in places like Iwo Jima to protect the freedom of others.
“Nobody talks about this stuff anymore and it’s not taught in the schools,” he said.
Despite fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II, Mr. Sallazzo was never injured. He said his mother had a lot to do with that.
“She wore out two sets of Rosary beads and a pew at St. Mary’s praying for me,” he said.

shouldnt this be in Junk Drawer or Solder Stories

Yeah, get the moderators on it.

Thought it would be of interest to those working on any Pacific stuff.

Sorry to for the inconvenience...

Accounts like that, anywhere works for me...

Junk draw!!!!!!!!! definately not! while it would be better if it was in the History forum or soldier stories forum I am glad it was posted here otherwise I would have missed it.

All of us, whether American, British, Canadian, ANZAC or other Commonwealth nations must remember what these brave men went through to stop the Imperial Japanese Army during WW2 and this is the only way we can do it, by recording the few stories of the survivers, 'cause if it is not done now it will soon be too late as most of these brave men are now well into their 80's.

I salute all you old soldiers
Cliff

Howdy Steve,

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to share your relative's story with us all. And I'm even more envious of the fact that you have the ear of someone of his caliber. And If I may make a suggestion.....don't waste too much more time putting off your own bit of wisdom " really should get down to see him and record a formal interview.
Take the time and do that interview. Mr. Salazzo's story is indeed one that is no longer taught anymore, and certianly one that should not simply fade away.........

Thx again for posting this pard'...and as far as where you posted it?.....let's not sweat the small stuff shall we?.....it'll get moved if it's that important. The important thing is, you shared the story with us.

And as to your mother's cousin, Mr. Tony Salazzo? I have only one thing to say............. Semper Fi Marine!

Tread.

These guys never talked about this stuff. They just moved on - being part of all that and then moving back to a tiny town. Still amazes me.

I only wish my dad were alive and I would be able to record all of his memories. I remember much of what he told me and have his photos from Saipan and Tinian, but there is always something more I wish I could ask.

But most of those guys don't remeber the color of a truck or a tank - guess they had other stuff on their minds!

Sometimes I feel the Pacific theater is overlooked by the WWII historians, but I think I'm partial because of my Dad.

Hopefully it gives a little inspiration when we work on our models. So maybe someone could model a few GI's crouched under a wrecked half-track. Then it wouldn't be a forum related problem!

Steve

Sniper, do the interview. My grandfather was a machinegunner in the 151st MG Battalion, 42nd Inf Div in WWI. When he returned, he resumed a normal life like most do, but never spoke of the war to anyone, not even his family, until after I returned from my first tour in Vietnam. Then one day it all started to pour out. You don't know how often I've wished I'd written it down. He was 71 then and his health began to deteriorate rapidly after that. I do remember thinking at the time, though, that his war was far more devastaing than mine, even though we were fellow infantrymen. This mild mannered old Grandpa of mine had been a warrior in the finest traditions of the service. Somehow, this gave me the strength to be a better soldier.