Wwii Veterans Stuck In Okinawa, Looking For Help To Get To Iwo Jima

[Phil Lilley]

Note: There are 24 College of the Ozarks students with these 12 vets, part of the Greatest Generation Foundation.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587784,00.html

FOXNews.com

WWII Veterans Stuck in Okinawa, Looking for Help to Get to Iwo Jima

Tuesday , March 02, 2010

By Joshua Rhett Miller

A group of 12 World War II Marines ranging in age from 85 to 97 is stuck on the island of Okinawa, waging what could be their final fight to return to Iwo Jima to commemorate the 65th anniversary of their greatest victory.

The veterans group, the Greatest Generation Foundation, asked the military to help them get to Iwo Jima after a charter plane company that had volunteered to take them to the battle site canceled two weeks ago, Stars & Stripes reported.

But their request, according to U.S. Pacific Command spokesman Marine Maj. Bradley Gordon, had not been approved or denied as of late Tuesday — less than 24 hours before a memorial ceremony was set to begin.

“As of this moment, no one has denied anything,” Gordon told FoxNews.com. “I did not say that it was denied, I said it could be denied.”

PACOM officials in Hawaii and Japan were trying to arrange a military flight for the group if their request was approved, but the aircraft they had designated for the trip “broke,” Gordon said. He referred FoxNews.com to Department of Defense officials for further comment.

"The Marine Corps is exploring all options in order to provide military airlift support for the Greatest Generation Foundation in their attempt to visit Iwo Jima for the 65th Commemoration," Maj. Maureen Schumann, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told FoxNews.com.

The Denver-based nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring U.S. and allied war veterans has two prominent names — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — at the top of its endorsement board. It brought the 12 veterans from the U.S. to Japan last weekend in hopes that the military would provide travel accommodations.

“[The veterans] are very emotional,” Timothy Davis, president of the Greatest Generation Foundation told Stars & Stripes. “They know the dream of going back to Iwo Jima is not going to take shape … We’re going to fight this. I have to do what I can to get these boys back to Iwo Jima.”

One veteran was reportedly hospitalized with stroke-like symptoms after arriving in Okinawa, but he was released Sunday. Another veteran reportedly suffering from an infection was hospitalized Tuesday.

“Reality is kicking in,” Davis told Stars & Stripes. “Come the 70th anniversary [of Iwo Jima] most of them are going to be dead. If we allow these veterans to go to their graves with these stories, then shame on us.”

Iwo Jima was the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the World War II campaign against Japan. U.S. troops captured the island in March of 1945 after more than a month of fighting. Roughly 6,900 U.S. Marines and 20,000 Japanese soldiers died in the battle.

[Phil Lilley]

http://tggf.us/

Worth checking out - watch the videos.

[taxidermist]

Iwo Jima is under the control of the Japanese Military, it is used for training too. the Japanese government normally give permission when training is not occurring, but they have the right to refuse visits. Maybe this is whats happening. There was a story about two years ago about the Japanese gov. halting all visits to Iwo.