Monday, February 26, 2024

Iwo Jima Day

Today, in a Memorial Hall ceremony, we observed Iwo Jima Day at the State House to honor the Marine veterans who served in the major World War II battle in 1945.

Memorial Hall, in the heart of the State House, was an appropriate setting to honor our veterans, their families, and other members of the military in observance of the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Today’s ceremony honored all of the more than 100,000 American GIs who battled on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

Today also marks the first Iwo Jima Remembrance Day without my good friend, and former Manchester-by-the-Sea resident, Larry Kirby. There were 230 Marines in his unit when he landed, but after 36 days there were only seven who remained.

Although he once said, "I just showed up, did my job, and got lucky," what he and others did there was monumentally important and thoroughly courageous.

Before the invasion, there were 22,000 Japanese soldiers heavily entrenched within a network of tunnels and caves. The fighting was particularly fierce and the casualties were high. When it was over, the U.S. Marines were victorious, they captured the island and raised an American flag high on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945