A Letter Home From Sergeant Grant H. Gary On March 13, 1945 Deserves To Be Read
Dear Mom + Dad,
I am writing you from Iwo Jima Island and am safe well. I think that the less said about the battle the better and I hope that it will lose some of its vividness in my mind. What we should never forget are the dead men and those maimed and crippled. Above all, no one after the war should stop fighting to enforce the peace. Those who hate war must always stay prepared. A lot of the stuff here seems to have the USA tinge. Some call it fate, others call it destiny.
Hereafter, I’ll call it religion. There are no atheist on the island. It has some nice airfields planes already are landing. There are sulphuric hot springs here and an abandoned sulfur mine. Mt Suribachi is a volcano and my greatest pride is out flag there. The Fifth division has taken a heavy share. Tell everyone I am safe and well.
Love and kisses, your son
Sgt Grant H. Gary
Getting pictures like this one from stoolies after the interview that we did with Stanley Rubin has been surreal. To see 26,000 casualties on the US side and write that letter blows my mind. There has never been a more loaded sentence than “I hope that it will lose some of its vividness in my mind.” I doubt that it did. There men are heroes.
If you havent listened to Stanley Rubin’s story yet, both part one and two are out. Listen to him share with you what happened in the days leading up to Sergeant Grant H. Gary’s letter home.