Tarawa Betio Gilbert Islands USMC WWII 2nd Marine Division

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Author Topic: New Zealand  (Read 3355 times)

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MikeVE

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Re: New Zealand
« on: September 23, 2020, 10:17:54 pm »
Sadly no, just my dad.  He had more pictures than I would figure him to have kept, but only one photo has a name written on the back of it.  And he was with one company on Tarawa and a different company on Saipan and Tinian, most of his photos were after Tarawa.  The tallest Marine on the top row appears in other photos but I do not know his name.

One of my regrets in life was that I didn't tie up some of those sort of loose ends before my dad died.  He seldom talked about the war, not until after he had a stroke near the end of his life.  He recovered from the stroke, but he did begin to talk about things.  I cannot explain why, but somehow I sort of knew his time in the Pacific wasn't something to bring up.  I have been to Tarawa twice and plan to go again and wish I had at least offered to take him back there, though I am pretty sure he would not have wanted to go.  He never seemed bitter about the war, didn't appear to hold any animosity toward those he fought against, it was just a part of his life that was in his past.

Most of his platoon was killed on Tarawa but after my dad's death I was able to get in touch with four of them who survived Tarawa.  I corresponded with, and spoke on the phone with, about 15 Marines who served in my dad's platoon and his company commander Michael P. Ryan.  I treasure those letters.
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Link to Tarawa on the Web