Segment 9 | The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum : Oral Histories

http://www.ww2online.org/view/jim-goodrich/segment-9

WWII STORY OF THE DAY

Annotation


1 of the replacements that was sent to be in Goodrich's squad was killed before Goodrich ever got his name because he did not listen to the advice that Goodrich gave him. It would have saved his life. This was the toughest part of the job for him because he did not know a single thing about this man who was killed. Goodrich tried to not think about things like that because his mind would play tricks on him. Even if your best friend got killed you tried to not think about it. Goodrich constantly had the feeling on Iwo Jima that he was going to get hit. This feeling was with him constantly because of what he was witnessing with his own eyes. The odds were against him. The day that he did get hit there were only 16 able bodied men left in his company.The beach on Iwo Jima was littered with the debris of the invasion. 1 night the Japanese hit the 5th Marine Division ammunition dump and the fireworks were incredible. A lot of tanks were knocked out of the battle by the Japanese. If Goodrich saw a tank he would get away from it because it drew a lot of fire. He remembers the Zippo tanks and their ability to throw flame over 150 yards. The fighting on Iwo Jima was yard for yard. If a unit made 500 yards in a day they were doing a great job.The battle on Iwo Jima lasted 26 days. Goodrich lasted about 20 days on the island before he was hit. He had 1 day off of the front line. They were pulled back and issued new socks and dungarees then sent back up. When Goodrich was heading back up he passed General "Howlin' Mad" Smith [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Holland McTyeire "Howlin Mad" Smith] and the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal watching the Marines pass by on their way back up to the front. In other places the guys could fall back to get off of the line. On Iwo Jima there was no place to go. The whole island was a beach. Even when they were pulled off of the line they still took artillery fire. The only place they could go was to dig a hole and get in it. The holes they dug were hot because of the sulphur. Iwo Jima means Sulphur Island. The heat from the ground was so intense that they could heat ration cans just by setting them down in a hole. When they dug a hole they had to wait for it to cool down before they got into it.
TSgt Joe C. SFC William Farrell PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC Stephen F. CSM Charles Hayden SGT Robert George SPC Margaret Higgins SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas Maj Marty Hogan SGT Damaso V Santana LTC (Join to see) SFC George Smith MSG Andrew White MSgt George Cater SGT (Join to see) SFC Dave Beran SP5 Robert Ruck SGT Philip Roncari SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth 1stSgt Eugene Harless ]