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
