On February 19, 2022, Fall River, Massachusetts held an Iwo Jima Memorial Ceremony. The event began with an opening prayer and the singing of the National Anthem by veteran George Levesque. Mayor Coogan and Fall River's new VSO officer, Michaela Britto, both delivered remarks acknowledging the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles in American history, and thanking veterans for their sacrifices. George Levesque then sang "God Bless America." Lieutenant Colonel Manny Menace provided a detailed account of the battle, including the 71,000 Marines and 21,000 Japanese defenders involved, the strategic importance of the island's airfields for B-29 bombers, and the heavy casualties: 7,000 Americans killed and 19,000 wounded, with nearly all Japanese defenders annihilated. He shared a personal reflection on the difficulty of notifying families of fallen soldiers, contrasting the telegram notifications of the past with the immense grief experienced by loved ones. The ceremony concluded with the sprinkling of sand from Iwo Jima on the monument, a release of doves provided by Bill and Paula Demaris in memory of two recently deceased Marine Corps League members, Frank Foster and George Devine, and military honors.
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Council
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we know in these troubled times when the world is in great turmoil the things we ask of you may be insignificant but we do pray lord to ask for a better will for all we wish to keep the fires of freedom burning brightly in the skies over this great land of ours and we pray that we'll always keep you in our hearts amen please cover
0:34george george levesque is a veteran he's going to sing the national anthem for us
0:51can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight all the rain parts we watched were so gallantly streaming in the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof to the night that our flag was still there say does that star spangled banner yet well the land of the free and the home of the
2:33i would ask mayor coogan to come up and say a few words please
2:46i do want to say thanks everybody for coming out today and thanks for all of our veterans um 77 years ago the battle of iwo jima started it was one of the most bloody battles in the history of the american uh war and i do appreciate the efforts given by the veterans to make sure we're able to come to events like this today and stand in front of this beautiful memorial again
3:12i am going to keep it short because this is a very tough weather day but i appreciate the sacrifices and i'll never underestimate the efforts they put in to make this country what it is today thanks for coming thank you i would ask fall river's new vso officer michaela britto to come up and say a few words please
3:42good morning everybody mr mayor our elected officials and most importantly my brother and sister marines who are here today mayor coogan just stole half the stuff that i was gonna say but again 77 years ago seven thousand seventy thousand marines um invaded the island of arizona it was one of the bloodiest battles on five days after they landed this monument the photo was taken by joseph
4:10rosenthal and it's become an iconic image of the united states marine corps it's an honor to be here today to represent all the veterans of the city of fall river and i just want to thank you all for being here today in this very cold weather with that being said thank you very much sir thank you okay we're gonna ask george to sing god bless america
4:43god bless america land that i love stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the prairie to the oceans white with foam god bless america my home's sweet home god bless america my home sweet home very good job thank you our next speaker will be lieutenant colonel manny menace
6:0477 years ago on this day a flotilla of 500 ships approached the shores of iwo jima with 71 000 marines and common aboard waiting on the island with 21 000 japanese defenders all dedicated to fight to the last three divisions the third fourth and fifth the fourth and fifth divisions were the first ones to land the planters for this operation estimated it was going to take about four days to take the island
6:58it took four days to take suribachi and raise the flag it took 30 more days to secure that island why why so important there were two airfields on that island on oil one minority at two menoya one had three airstrips the other one had two total of five it was like a big stationary aircraft carrier out in the middle of the ocean but it was 500 miles from the japanese homeland
7:36and we needed something there to support the long-range bombing being done by our b-29s and that's what happened we secured that island but what a cost 7 000 killed 1900 wound 19 000 wounded and the japanese 21 000 all annihilated except for a couple hundred who surrendered not in vain though because from that point on until the end of the war 2281 b-29s landed on that island for emergency purposes
8:29if the island hadn't been secured those b-29s would have had to ditch out in the ocean a great loss of life but i want to turn to something now that's been a little more personal with me when i came back from vietnam i was stationed at marine barracks newport naval base one of my additional duties there was a casualty assistance officer i had to make several calls to families whose loved ones have been killed in
9:10action one of the toughest duties i ever had real tough now think about this back then seven thousand people loved ones killed in action that and their families that had to be notified imagine that i can still remember the families standing in the doorway knowing exactly what i was going to tell them in those days though the way they were notified was by telegram imagine that a western union messenger walking up to
10:02the front door with a piece of paper in his hand okay that's how they were notified so when we dedicate this monument and this anniversary think about those families uncommon valor was a common virtue not just for those who died there but for the loved ones who grieved terribly for many many years because of their lost loved ones so please think about them as we leave here today god bless you god bless america
10:58we were supposed to lay a wreath in front of the monument today but it was never delivered but i do have some sand from one of the members of the marine corps league who went to iwo jima he brought me back some sand i'm going to sprinkle the sand on the iwo jima monument
11:31this is to show that we do have a relationship with this island of iwo jima okay i would ask the members of the marine corps league to get the bridge ready we'll release the doves
12:03the doves are provided by bill and paula demaris bill damaris is a member of the marine corps league
12:17the doves are released in a sign of peace and love and it's going to have a special meeting today because the marine corps league lost two members in the past week frank foster and george devine so this has a special meaning for us releasing these doves in their memory
13:00bruce has asked me to explain the meaning and the release of the white doves in remembrance of the service and sacrifice of a military force to afford the battle of iwo jima the marine corps league will release a white double piece today we'll release two white dubs of peace in memory of our two members that just passed these spirits will honor the memory of those brave souls and in recognition of
13:20american homing pigeons who carried vital messages during world war ii in the battle of iwo jima the van guys in the marine corps illegals sent skyward a platoon of combat ready homing pigeons to escort our white dubs of peace safely home release your dogs police
13:59prepare for military honors
14:19arms
14:55you