For Our Country

Part I: Cpl. James Sullivan

I reached the blackened sand of Iwo Jima. I don't know why the Japanese want this place so bad, it’s filled with volcanic ash and nothing else. Hundreds of Marines landed on the beach, and to our surprise, there weren’t any machine gun fire at us. the First wave and the second wave of Marines has landed and roughly 1,000 men were at the shore waiting for orders. Cruisers and destroyers bombarded the island with artillery strikes to give us ground support. It sounds like the fourth of July. I have never felt so scared and excited in my life.

My company started to head out first. I was issued an M1 Garand. A typical rifle for an infantryman. It shoots 30.06 and can kill anyone with one shot. Our company objective were to take mount Suribachi. The highest point of the island. We capture that, then we have an advantage over the island. We marched on over the sand dune and saw barbed wire. At that moment I knew something is not right.

Two Marines went up to take point. Suddenly six machine gun nests popped out and started shooting. They shot those guys to streadd. I looked in horror, mortar and machine fire from the japs pin point out position. We were losing men left and right. Right next to me was a private named Frank Johnson, a kid that just graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marines to fight for our country. A strapnal has hit him in the leg and took it clean off. His agonizing screams were louder than the gunfire. I went up to help him and yelled for a corpsman. I put pressure on his severed leg to stop the bleeding but to no prevail. He died of blood loss before the corpsman ever got there. He was only 17 years old.

The japanese were relentless. Nonstop fighting for hours. Our company only advanced a couple of feet, and stuck in this stalemate. It has just turned dark. Gun fire halted from both sides. My ammo count were pretty low. I only have a couple of clips left for my M1 before I need to swap to my sidearm. We were in our foxholes, alerted and watching for the enemy’s next move. I looked around me and corps of dead body of my fellow friends that I once knew. My hatred for the japanese grew every second I was on this bloody island. I wanted to kill them all.

It was 0400 and it was my turn to get some shut eye. As I was about to take a nap, a flare was in the air and illuminated everything around that area. Japanese with bayonets snuck through our lines, they started to charge us screaming “BANZAI!” gunshots started to ring. A lonely japanese soldier looked straight at me and started to run towards me. I took out my M1 and shot him right in the head. My first blood. The exhilarating feeling of killing a guy scared me and also put me in a rush i have never felt before. The japanese soldier dropped dead only a couple feet away from me. If I haven’t have shot him I would’ve been dead. These guys are nothing but raw savages.

The wave of japanese soldiers have stopped. They must’ve retreated. I looked at the dead soldier I had killed. His face lied restlessly on the ground. His eyes were open but staring at nothing. I began to loot the body of the dead soldier to see any valuable items. In his shirt pocket, I found a journal and in it, it has a picture of the guy and his wife. I began to look through it. It was in japanese so I couldn’t read it. It probably says how much they wanted to kill the americans. I could care less about what the journal says. He’s dead now and I’m alive. He dies for his country, but I’m going to live for mine.

Part II Pvt.Hiroto Yamazaki's Journals

Day 1: I have arrived on the island of Iwo Jima. The sacred land of Japan. General Hirohito commanded our troops to defend this place at all cost. It would boost the soldiers’ morale if we are able to defend this island. Japan are losing the war and this is our last hope.

Day 4: My company are building guns nest all up the ridge near Mount Suribachi. We are making sure this place would be the most defended area. Suribachi is the most important area and we cannot let the american take this. It the heart of the island. Who ever take Suribachi takes Iwo Jima.

Day 7: the island is filled with nothing but sand. No trees, no grass, just volcanic sand. I’m working non-stop building defenses up. So far we are able to set up 3 machine gun nests. On top of Suribachi we are going to put artillery to back up the ground troop below suribachi. This mountain is going to be almost impossible to get.

Day 14: I’m hungry and rations are running low in the area. We are low on water and food. supplies are not going to arrive in three weeks and the americans are going to invade in less than two weeks. We are not prepared for this battle. A lot of men will die, but it is for our great emperor.

Day 20: we are all set up and ready for the invasion. Now it is just time to wait. Our battleship will not be able to cover us for support. News has it that they were defeated in the battle of midway rendering us alone to defend this island. It is not looking bright and our chance of getting out alive is slim to none.

Day 26: The american has just arrived on the beach. We are prepared to go into battle. I waited patiently at my station for the battle. They must have thousands of soldiers on the beach. We are going to defend this island even if its meant death.

Day 28: The enemy has attacked us hard. We are losing men rapidly. They are advancing on the island and closing near Suribachi. The night time is a good time for a sneak attack; they won’t know when it's coming. My captain has told me to fix my bayonet on my rifle and to charge in to the enemy along with 100s of soldiers. We are the chosen. Only the bravest soldiers goes on this raid. I hope this will prove to the emperor that I’m brave. If I don’t return, I will have died from a worthy foe. I shall never give up and I will die with honor on this island. I shall die for my beloved country.

Epilogue:

Hiroto Yamazaki got killed by James Sullivan on that night by small arms fire. He did what he said what he was going to do. A true Japanese soldier never gives up and dies with integrity. Hiroto left behind his wife and his unborn child. James Sullivan advanced up to take Suribachi. The american has taken the Mountain, but James was injured by a rifle on the way back down. He lived and was shipped home back to the states. For those two, their war was over. The american ultimately won the battle of Iwo Jima, crippling the Japanese moral. It is the beginning of the end for the nation. Two soldiers on different sides did what their country called them to do. To protect the land that they loved.