Tarawa Tribute – Eye Witness Account – Intermission Story (17)
Gradually, those buried on Betio in the Tarawa atoll are being identified and returned home. Pacific Paratrooper is including this story as a tribute to them.
Edwin Glasberg, 93, has lived an extraordinary life and is known as a WWII hero for a number of reasons. He was born on the 14th may, 1924, in Boston and as soon as he was able, he left school and enlisted in the Marines. He was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Division.
War broke out and he was sent to the Western Pacific where he first used his weapon in anger. He was one of the 18,000 Marines that made up the first wave that landed on the Island of Tarawa. There was no significant resistance on the beach, as the Navy had shelled the Japanese positions before the Marines landed, and his company ran up the beach sheltering behind a four foot high wall. From that point on the battle became increasingly bloody as the Japanese detachment of 4,500 men fought back.
Japanese snipers had been positioned in the trees and picked off the American forces at will. Glasberg spotted a sniper hidden in a coconut tree and dashed to the foot of the tree. Pressing his body against the trunk, where he was safe as the machine gun could not be pointed straight down, he noticed a wounded lieutenant, but Glasberg could not reach him as that would place him in the line of fire. Blazing hot, spent cartridge shells rained down on his head as the Japanese sniper maintained fire at the American forces, so Glasberg simply pointed his rifle straight up and started shooting. He could not see the sniper but as the firing from the top of the tree stopped he could only assume that he had shot the sniper, “I don’t know if I hit him or somebody else did, but he stopped firing. I wasn’t going to climb up to find out.”
The battle raged on and Glasberg, in the company of several Marines, was on manoeuvres when a Japanese soldier leaped out from behind a wood pile and bayoneted Glasberg in the right thigh. “I didn’t realize I got bayoneted,” he said. “You’re so excited, you don’t feel anything.” The Marine in line behind him took out his pistol and shot the enemy soldier in the head. Despite a bleeding wound in his leg, Glasberg remained in the fight.
His next major battle was during the invasion of Saipan. He was part of the contingency that were fighting for Hill 101 and part way up the hill he was wounded for the second time when a bullet grazed the left side of his head. He was awarded his second Purple Heart for this injury and was shipped back to the USA, where he was deployed at the submarine base at Portsmouth on the East Coast.
Soon, he was back in the thick of things when he was part of the boarding party that took control of a German submarine, U-805, that had been forced to surrender. Glasberg was woken in the early hours of 12th May 1945 and ordered to take his rifle, ammunition, and other combat paraphernalia and to report for duty. He had been selected as his file indicated that he spoke German.
Riding in a Navy tender, he and the other six members of the boarding party travelled 25 miles into the Atlantic where they came upon a surreal sight. There lay a German U-Boat on the surface surrounded by six destroyers. The boarding party climbed aboard and in his best schoolboy German, Glasberg yelled, “Alle deutschen Krauts, raus und schnell!” (All you Germans, get out, and fast!) Waving the machine gun in their faces encouraged the German crew to leave quickly, and Glasburg turned to the submarine skipper, Korvettenkapitan Richard Bernardelli. He told the captain, who spoke English, “We’re Marines, not murderers. We’re not going to kill you guys. If the tables were turned, you’d kill us, but we’re not going to do that to you.”
All 31 of the crew were captured, and Glasberg used his fluency in German to look through the papers that were found in the captain’s cabin. “I went to the captain’s quarters. We went through all their maps, and I read them in German, the detailed instructions of their combat patrol. I read the German report. They had sunk three of our ships on their patrol, one off of Nova Scotia, and two in the Saint Lawrence estuary.”
The submarine was then towed to Portsmouth harbor; a trip Glasberg does not remember with any fondness, “I stayed up in the conning tower because the submarine is so musty. You can hardly breathe in it. Plus I got seasick because a submarine on the surface, it’s bobbing up and down in the Atlantic swells.”
After the war, Glasberg lived in Massachusetts where he founded a company making hairbrushes. He married, and his wife bore them three daughters. Glasberg, now 93 years old, is a proud member of the Naples Marine Corps League, and can often be found recounting stories of his life as a marine during WWII at League meetings.
“When you come to think of it,” he said, “not too many Marines in World War II were intermingled in combat with both the Germans and the Japanese,” was his last word.
Story is from War history Online. Pictures are from the Marine Corps League of Naples, FL. and the Marine Corps Association.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Current News –
I located this article in “The Week” news magazine – is this what our children do (or learn) in college? !!
Cy Forrest was kind enough to send us a link to the University’s reply to this letter. I hope the PC people make a note of paragraph # 4.
http://pressreleases.uccs.edu/?p=3424
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Phyllis Birney – Baltimore, MD; civilian employee US Army & Air Force (Ret.)
Beatrice Carroll – Hull, ENG; British Navy WREN, WWII
Werner Eisenmann – Pennsburg, PA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Howard Falcon Jr. – Evanston, IL; US Navy, WWII, PTO & CBI, USS Robinson
James Guglielmoni – Prescott, AZ; US Navy, WWII, destroyer escort
Frank Hurst – Broad Channel, NY; US Navy, WWII
Vivian King – New Plymouth, NZ; RNZ Army # 42512, WWII, Sgt., 27th Battalion, POW
Richard Palmer – Bronx, NY; USMC, Korea
Bernard Sulisz – So.Lyon, MI; US Army Air Corps, WWII
George Totoiu – Oberlin, OH; US Air Force
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Posted on September 18, 2017, in First-hand Accounts, WWII and tagged 1940's, History, Military, Military History, Pacific War, Tarawa, Tributes, USMC, veterans, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 117 Comments.
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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Thank you, Ned.
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In case you have not seen this: https://thehornnews.com/found-remains-of-lost-wwii-heroes-recovered/.
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Yes, I did see this in Stars & Stripes. A lot of work has to be done there, as there were mass graves created during the war. I have entered those into the Farewell Salutes as they are identified and brought home and I will continue to do so. But thank you for bringing the link for those who have not read this article yet. You are certainly on the ball, Rose!!
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💜💜👍👍
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hi
great post how do you find so much information
mike
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Research – books and internet. Facts need to be corroborated.
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Reblogged this on Ace News Desk.
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Thank you, Ian. They certainly deserve the recognition!!
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Your welcome Everitt hope l got that right …They sure do …And may l say what a great post …
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Everett was my father, aka Smitty or Pops in the service. So many in my family had the same name as I when I was growing up that I just got used to GP.
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Ok GP 😊
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Maybe somebody outta tell those fools in that Colorado school that their School wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for those scary military guys.
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That’s how I feel as well. The school itself knows that, as shown in the answering letter supplied by Cy and I included below the article that got you and I so angry.
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Great story. What a hero this man is! I did read Chancellor Reddy’s reply. He is a man of wisdom and writes very well. Love the ‘Military Humor’. 🙂
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Thank you for taking the time to read everything here. It seems the more I try to trim the post, the larger they get! 🙂
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😅
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Reblogged this on Wag 'n Bietjie.
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Thank you for helping me to keep these men in remembrance.
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Truly, he is a hero – and fought in both theaters. Now, that’s something!
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That’s why I used his story to act as the tribute for those who did not come home from that torn island atoll.
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Such a hero! Thank you for bringing it to us!
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My pleasure!!
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One of my customers was a submariner, and he’s said the same thing about a submarine on the surface. I hope this fellow didn’t suffer any serious effects from Irma. His story is just remarkable, and filled with details that just kept piling one on top of another. They were such strong men and woman, no matter which theater they served in. It’s humbling to read their stories.
That cartoon with the three carrier pigeons cracked me up!
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So true about that generation – they amaze me more and more with every article of research I do!!
I know what you mean about the pigeons!!
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Following the link to the University of Colorado, it was the French philosopher, Voltaire, who said, “I do not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.”
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That is true, but I doubt that is what his parents sent him to college for. Instead of becoming closer, it appears the current generations are learning to hate more and more.
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What a lovely story about this brave veteran who is still alive!!!
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Thank you for reading it, Maria. It makes me feel so good to know there are people like you who care – can you imagine how he feels?!!!
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Yes I do and if you meet him I would like you to hug from me. On this day 73 years ago my father was arrested by the Germans as a false air alarm was send out to catch the police force. The Germans thought that they were involved in the resistance (which many were). He was released by a miracle but it left some scars. He was a few years older than your hero. He witnessed police men taken onboard on a huge ship to Germany. Many perished in the KZ camps
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I thank you for being brave enough to share the story of your father and his friends. It is good that as many stories as possible be told – even if they hurt. I will do as you ask. Thank you.
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My condolences to to all. I am very sorry for this loss to the world.
https://thebalticpost.com/2017/09/19/danish-sailor-dies-aboard-hdms-absalon-during-baltic-sea-drill/
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Thank you for sending this. I heard about it yesterday our country is small but I have also heard our loss of Danish Nato soldiers is high in relation to our population though that is another story
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I’m very sorry to hear that. It’s a situation that must be corrected.
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They should make Edwin Glasberg’s story into a movie! Sometimes I can’t get over how these incredible guys went through so many combat ops. One after the other. It is very humbling to read.
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I can not imagine us having another generation like these guys to pull that off. I so agree.
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Interesting story. I can only imagine what our Marines had to endure during that fight. It must have been horrible. I have read that the brutality from the Japanese was met with more brutality by the US Marines. These Marines should always be honored for what they endured in that time.
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Thank you for your feelings about that. They gave us freedoms that so many others can only dream of.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thank you for sharing.
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hi
great story brave guy and after injury still fight on.
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Thank you for reading this post. I so want these troops to be remembered!
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>not too many Marines in World War II were intermingled in combat with both the Germans and the Japanese,” was his last word.
It’s Turth.
His Veterans life seemed happy , it was good!!:D
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Thank you, Nasuko. He seems to be enjoying wearing his uniform still too. It’s good to see.
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I was wanting more, this bloke must have a million stories to tell. what a life.
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I’ll bet he does Beari, maybe someone will convince him to write a book!!
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before it’s too late hopefully. What we in Australia term a living treasure
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These are great stories and should be told.
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Thank you – that’s why I publish them. People too soon forget and young folks don’t even have a clue!
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Great story and good the soldiers were identifced an d braught home again
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Thank you, Mary Lou. It was an awful battle and those men deserve to be remembered.
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An inspiring tale indeed—one of the many reasons the US marine is widely held in respect.
Those cartoons are brilliant! But the ‘social justice’ call is also a wake-up call. (Don’t we just loooooove Snowflakes?) The Japs used to tie themselves into trees so that you’d always be in doubt about whether you got the gentleman or not. Unconfirmed is still a threat and thus a worry … clever.
Tarawa … still a good reason why the guys who call off the preliminary bombardments should be in the first boat ashore …
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Thanks for reading, Argus, and for your opinion. It’s good to hear from you.
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Thank you for another amazing story- the tremendous sacrifice and effort that it took to win all of those islands needs to be remembered! The bit about staying in the conning tower of the sub made me laugh- I’ve never been in one when it’s been sailing, but it sounds like the right decision to me!
Thanks also for including the reply to that sad sad letter at the end- I’m glad that it was addressed.
Any AC yet? 🙂
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Thank you for reading the post, those men deserve to be remembered.
You are welcome, could you just imagine what reprisals would happen if the letter HADN’T been addressed!!?!
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Uf- I’d rather not!
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Quite a story. And I never knew that German destroyers came that close to the coast of North America. Once again, I’ve learned something new from your blog.
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There were submarines that dropped off spies to No. America too. I covered that a while back in this post….
https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/?s=axis+spies
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I will check it out. Thanks.
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Excellent story, GP. Thank you.
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My pleasure, John.
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🙂
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Picked up on the ‘social justice newsletter.’ No justice there! It’s asinine. But it may be a hoax. It certainly isn’t the policy of the University. Quite the opposite. Did some quick research. I am reaching the point where I am skeptical of anything I read on the web that is inflammatory, one way or the other. –Curt
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Cy Forrester sent us the university’s reply to the letter and I included that link at the bottom of the article. It was NOT the policy of the university. I wanted to bring attention to some of the asinine behavior of our young people – and I do mean young. It seems to me, the college kids of today do not grow up. And I’m with you on being skeptical about anything on-line.
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Thanks, G. And I agree. Sadly, it’s more than the kids. I keep my finger poised over the Snopes button to determine the legitimacy of things I see on the Internet. And I spend a lot of time with my finger poised over the hide button on Facebook. It doesn’t help my skepticism to know about the Russians and their efforts to manipulate social media. The Internet opens up incredible opportunities, such as your excellent coverage of World War II. Sadly, it also opens up opportunities for a whole world of mischief. –Curt
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Facebook in my opinion does enough of its own meddling and manipulating – they don’t need Russia to show them how. That’s why I’m not on it.
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True.
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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Thank you, Penny for helping me to share this tribute for Tarawa.
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What a horrific battle, and worthy of being remembered.
By the way, I just started (meaning, I checked it out of the library) Feifer’s Tennozan about the battle of Okinawa. I’ve heard great things about it and it will be quite an investment of time. Any thoughts?
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No comment from me, it is best you read it as though you never heard of the island – the men who fought there never did. I think you’ll get the most out of it that way.
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Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site.
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Thank you for sharing it with your readers.
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It is a great pleasure.
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Such heroism. Great post.
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Thank you for coming by to read it.
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You are welcome. Are you getting settled in a bit? It takes time doesn’t it.
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Once the power gets back – it’s all downhill!!
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My gosh, you are still w/o power? Our family in Holiday and Tallahassee are back on.
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Oh no, that came out wrong – we’re good. We were only out 4 days.
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Oh, okay. We wondered if you were in the band that is still without. We’ve heard there are sections that are still waiting. Glad you are electrified.
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I agree–that comment about veterans is appalling. I have the honor of teaching at the Wescoe School of Muhlenberg College, and we have many veterans here, and this place has been named a top “Veterans Friendly College” and I am very proud of that!
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As it should be, Charles. Thank you for that! Cy found the University’s reply to that letter and I will be adding it shortly.
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You are very welcome.
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Vocabulary fails me re the SJWs wanting to ban veterans from colleges …
Great story about Edwin Glasberg! Thank you for posting it!
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Cy sent me a link to the University’s reply, I’ll be editing it into the post shortly. Thank you for coming by today!
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Enjoyed hearing Edwin Glasberg’s stories, GP. A true adventurer, hero, and gentleman. Interesting and understandable that the adrenalin and excitement were so powerful that he did not feel himself be bayonetted.
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Amazing to read, eh?! Tarawa was an awful battle site, way too many losses.
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A genuinely astonishing story. By the way, I found an article about the illegal newsletter circulated around UCCS and the chancellor’s statement about why a/ it’s against the law to discriminate against veterans, and b/ why UCCS “rejects the notion that we should censor those who denigrate others”. http://pressreleases.uccs.edu/?p=3424
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Thank you very much for doing that, Cy. I found the 4th paragraph especially informative. Perhaps some of the politically correct people will allow all of us to talk again. After I catch up on the comments, I will add this link to the article.
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I’m so happy we’ve captured some of these stories. We don’t have much time remaining. I understand not feeling the pain at first when injured, but you feel it pretty soon afterward. To continue fighting after being stabbed in the thigh with a bayonet had to be difficult. Almost as difficult as remembering enough high school German to give an order. I probably would have ordered breakfast.
I love that top cartoon. Are you back in your own place? I hope you came through the storm well.
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Glad you found the story interesting, Dan. I took Spanish in high school and probably would have kept asking their name – 🙂 We never left home, just hunkered down and as soon as they get around to fixing the Florida room leak, Irma will be out of lives!! All’s well, thank you for asking.
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The position taken by that so called “social justice” paper at the University of Colorado is appalling. Thank you for this tribute to a brave man.
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I so agree! The draft should be mandatory and maybe some of this kids will finally grow up.
The tribute for all those men is nothing compared to what they did for us. Thank you for reading, Anna.
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Great to have you posting again after Irma! A lovely tribute indeed. Lol on the beach image with sandbags😂
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Thanks, good to be back!
Wish I had had some of those sand bags for Irma, haha!
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Yup! True indeed! Take care GP. 🤗🤗
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Great to have these personal accounts. I hope there is an audio recording of Glasburg, too.
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I’ll look into that for you. Thank you for your interest.
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I looked into that audio for Glasburg and could not locate one. At least it is not at the National WWII Museum, Veterans Project or USMC. It would be a good idea for him to do one.
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It would.
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It’s funny. I was thinking on the lines of his last words as I was reading
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Thanks, Derrick.
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A Boston native! I love reading about people from my area. Such a brave man.
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Yes, he is. Perhaps you could stop in and tell him so.
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Such a great story of courage.
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Thank you for reading it, Pierre.
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Another great story, GP. How he makes light of what must have felt like hell on earth at Tarawa. Obviously a brave man, and a humble one too. What a great generation they were.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thank you for reading this today, Pete. I find that generation so inspirational.
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? where did that comment go lol
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I moderate the comments, but not always on-line to answer immediately.
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🙂 no probs, I thought I’d done something daft when it disappeared
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Love to hear about these hero’s. Fab that he’s still going strong.
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So true, one of the few we still have with us. Thanks for coming by.
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I appreciate you sharing these stories.
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