Prehire letters

Hey, was there still a Coast Guard LORAN Station on Iwo when you went there? When I lived there (1985-86) we had a couple of dogs, dirt bikes, and all the other usual military morale boosters. I won a race to the top of Suribachi which I suppose isn't saying much since we only had 27 guys there at the time. They were always talking about giving the island back to the Japanese, and I wondered if that ever happened.

 

wc5b
One more thing...were they still pulling Japanese bodies out of the caves? When I was there this old Japanese guy who had engineered the cave system would come in every 6 months and find a few caves (the marines had dozed them shut or blew 'em up I'm guessing, and buried 'em alive so as not to be ambushed). Then the contents would be removed, and the bones would be pile up and burned. (Clint Eastwood made some movies about Iwo last year) There were caves all over that island and they were so low that you had to bend over, unlike in the movie where they were nice and tall. Wasn't always easy walking because of the volcanic activity making the caves hot too. Hope you didn't fall into a sulfur pit.

 

Yes, I hope I am helping others. Your comments and the comments of others will hopefully help people make more informed decisions when choosing a school.

 

LORSTA Iwo was the master station. Can't remember the E station but I think Hokkaido was N, Marcus Island W, and Yap S. Every Wednesday an Air Force C130 would land, bringing our supplies for the week, then take off a few hours later and go back to Yokota. Our CO was a Lt. Everyone else was enlisted. We had a tower (typical red and white with guy wires) which was on the opposite end of the island from Mt Suribachi. You might have seen it since it's taller than the Empire State Building. Where did you go during your short stay? Hope you made it to the spot they planted the flag because the view is incredible. I don't think you can see the station from there though because it's also on the other end of the island and on a hill which is sloping away. By-the-way, how did you get on the island? I'm guessing you were on a pretty good size ship if you were that far out in the middle of the ocean. There is no dock or port (or there wasn't when I was there). That's too bad you didn't get a chance to run around on some serious history. Iwo Jima is sacred ground for US Marines.

 

No. I went to Iwo right out of boot camp. It was a 1 year stint and People get rotated in and out at different times when you're doing restricted duty so unless you arrive on the same day, you wouldn't get to work with anyone for even one year. By the time you leave, you've been there longer than anyone else. You meet a lot of different people in the military and it's hard to remember them all but when you've got a small group like that, you're more likely. If he was a Chief on Iwo that might be a different story. He didn't happen to be an ET?