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By Rebekah Zes
Posted: June 1, 2005
From the moment that I heard about this trip to Iwo Jima, I knew that it would be a monumental event. Remembering the significance of this defining battle sixty years later by traveling to the sites with those who were there would be an experience never to be repeated, and I was blessed with the opportunity to accompany my father on this journey.
I waited with eager anticipation until finally we were there, face-to-face with heroes who were ordinary men — all fathers, sons, and brothers of some family. Yet when they were called upon to defend their families and their nation, they rose up and fulfilled their duty.
These fathers of the freedom we enjoy today spent their time recounting their days before, during, and after the defining point of their lives — the Second World War. They were passing down to future generations a gift — their story, which, had it gone untold, would have died with them.
What a blessing it was to be a listening ear to men eager to recount their lives: there was the Seabee who shared the important role the Coast Guard played in the battle and the way the world was before, during and after the war; there was one of the “Buttermilk Boys” whom I stood beside on the black sands where he landed so long ago, yet the memories were as fresh as yesterday as he reminisced about his first approach toward that sulfur beach in his landing craft; and there was the pilot who was eager to talk about what was most important to him — how his faith in Christ sustained him through the war and throughout the rest of his life.
Taking a trip with my father was special, and traveling to the actual site where such amazing history took place was thrilling, but to me the highlight was to learn from these veterans and to spend time with them. To walk with men where they have not physically walked in sixty years (though they have mentally walked there every day since the battle) was priceless, and I will always treasure it. I hope to honor these men and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice by keeping their stories alive by sharing with others what they shared with me.