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Interview With Gordon Ward, Battle of Iwo Jima Veteran

Aired May 26, 2003 - 13:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back live now at the United States Marine Corps War Memorial, more commonly referred to as the Iwo Jima memorial. But it is a memorial to all Marines who have perished in the line of fire since 1775. A tremendous monument in bronze here to six Americans, which obviously has become an icon all of us are familiar with, perhaps the most reproduced photograph ever.
A lot of special people at the base of this statue today, and none more special than this man joining me now, Gordon Ward, who was on the island of Iwo Jima during that monthlong battle in excess of 20,000 casualties.

It's hard to even imagine as you look back on it, Gordon, what you and the others went through. What are your thoughts on this day?

SGT. GORDON WARD, U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.): Well, my thoughts are that it was a bloody battle and we lost a lot of troops but we had a definite reason for going in there and we had to take the island. It was needed to be taken, because it's located halfway between Saipan and Tenyan (ph), where we had our B-29 bombers based and they were going daily over to Tokyo and they had to fly over Iwo to get there.

But then the Japanese, of course, had fighter aircrafts on Iwo and they would take off and shoot down some of our bombers. And they -- also if the bombers had problem in getting back they got flack for -- flack in the aircraft over Japan or some place and they had emergencies with their engines of getting back, which happened so often and Iwo was a place for them to land as an emergency air field.

O'BRIEN: Now you were wounded pretty early on in the fighting, weren't you?

WARD: I was, unfortunately in many ways. I didn't have to stay will the whole battle. I got off on the second day.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

WARD: And I was wounded quite severely and was on the -- one of the ships there recuperating from my wounds, or at least I was still in half a state of shock, but some body yelled out when they rolled me out on the deck of the ship, somebody said, Hey, they're putting the flag up on Iwo, on Mount Sarabachi. And I glanced up, and I could see the flag going up. And I said, "Well, thank God. The battle's over."

But it wasn't over, because that was put up on the fourth day, and the battle continued on until 36 days. O'BRIEN: Three of the people -- three of the six depicted in that statue died not long thereafter. The other three lived on some years after that.

I'm curious, though. You come here fairly frequently and you're one of the volunteers who tells this story. Do young people fully appreciate the sacrifices of Iwo Jima and World War II in general?

WARD: Well, the ones who come here do.

In the first place, the people that come here are people that like to show a little bit more patriotism than the average American, I believe. And when they come here they're anxious to get what information they can get and I'm anxious as blazes to give it to them, if I have it, you know.

O'BRIEN: We're watching some pictures of you in this and you were a handsome young man and filled with -- well, you got a big smile on your face there. Obviously in between battles.

As you reflect back on your time in battle...

WARD: Well, this -- this one was taken -- that first one was taken just before we went overseas. That was taken at Camp Pendleton, California. And that picture there was -- second picture was just a picture of me. I don't know where it was taken, exactly.

O'BRIEN: Do you think of the buddies you lost there, today? Do you think of the buddies you lost?

WARD: Yes, I think about them. I went back to Iwo one time and it was kind of a shock when I landed there. It was almost if I could hear the names of the people and I could see their faces all over again. It was -- I don't know why. I wanted to go back and I did. And it was quite an experience.

O'BRIEN: Gordon Ward it's a great pleasure to meet you on this Memorial Day.

WARD: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We wish you and yours well on this Memorial Day.

WARD: Well, thank you very much.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

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