Flight To Iwo Jima - March 12, 2005

As we woke up and got ready to go to Iwo Jima, the lines from Shakespeare came to mind, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers". We were part of a very small number of people in history to visit this remote Pacific island. More people climb Mt. Everest than visit Iwo Jima.

The objective was that three generations of Hendersons and Browns would rise up and honor their fathers and grandfathers in keeping with the scriptural admonition, with a promise.

Doug Phillips and the Vision Forum film crew of Geoff and Isaac Botkin were busy from early morning, throughout the day and into the early morning hours. This was the life routine. All week in Guam they were getting interviews for the upcoming film, Faith of Our Fathers. Please pray for the production and funding of this film. If you know anyone who would like to contribute financially, please let them know that this is a worthy project that will have an impact on many generations. For more information, go to www.visionforum.com and you will see the Faith of our Fathrs pages.

Here is a sequence of pictures which chronicle the events of this remarkable day in our lives, beginning in the airport in the early morning hours. Here are some of the pictures we took while waiting for the plane to be readied to take off.


Frank Wright from the Fifth Division, 28th Marines, First Batalion talks of his experience on Iwo. He was the first man out of the LST 1043 and the first of three hundred to cross the island, and promptly planted a small flag in the sand. Of the sixty men with him in his outfit, 19 killed, 35 wounded - six men left unharmed.



Here is my new friend Gregg Ash from Oregon, whose father was on Iwo. Gregg came here to honor his father. He died two years ago behind the podium while he was giving a speech to antwar protesters to encourage them to support their government.

Meet history buffs, the Lonon's from Marion North Carolina. They go to church with my next door neighbors (Stuart and Ann Bulman) parents. Funny how you sometimes have to go half way around the world to meet your neighbors.


Here is David getting the signature of another Iwo Jima Vet. David filled up the whole flag with signatures... He has spoken to me many times of his desire to pass this flag down to his own offspring some day and to tell them the stories of one of the truly epic battles in the history of warfare. His grandfather was there and he told the story to re tell...


Marvin Sneed, Matt Chancey and his son John Nathan, who were for me some of the truly inspring folks on the tour. Marvin Sneed, was a flyer from Iwo Jima, and one of the most delightful people on the trip. It was nice for my father, because the great majority of the vets were Marines. There were so few flyboys on the island during the conflict, because their mission was not to take the island, it was to bring mainland Japan to its knees. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Marvin was a great guy... He would sit down with a group of guys and in thirty minutes would have a new set of friends. He is Matt Chancey's grandfather. Matt's son, John Nathan is perhaps one of the youngest people ever to set foot on Iwo Jima. I want to know how many this young have been there. John Nathan will have an amazing legacy of experience to pass down to his children.


Navajo Code Talker - Father and Son. They came all the way from Black Mesa Arizona area for the first time.


David Brown carrying video gear through the airport


Happy Birthday.... Here is Clifford Mueller and his son with Scott Brown. Clifford turned twenty years old on Iwo Jima the day he arrived on March 12 1945. Today exactly sixty years later he will celebrate his 80th birthday on Iwo Jima.


Kelly and David on the plane to Iwo


These two brothers were together on Iwo Jima. Once they were in a foxhole under severe mortar shelling. One said, "when I say three, we jump out and get out of here." 1,2,3 Only one brother jumped out and they separated for days, not knowing what happened to one another.


Bill Henderson in happy anticipation of arrival.


Bill's son and professional photographer, Chip taking a picture of the island from the plane window. He brought his sons William and Nicholas to be with their grandfather, Bill Henderson. Three generations of Hendersons made the trip.



There was a very long almost breathless moment for me as we circled the island. It was absolutely beautiful. I have thought of this island for many years. Now I am seeing it with my own eyes. It was sobering and a happy moment. I was so lost in the moment that I unconsciously crushed my hat, rumpled the papers on my seat and sat on my video camera, not having much consiciousness of my body position until we were landing.



Bill Henderson and others on our team getting off the plane on the airstrip on Iwo Jima


First we were loaded into a seven ton troop carrier... a five foot climb to get in. Here is my dad being helped in to the truck.

After the first stop, Bill Brown and Bill Henderson were given more plush transportation - Hummers.


Bill Brown's feet on the sands of Iwo Jima. If only John Wayne could see us now.


The Henderson men discussing the battle. From the left, William, Chip, Bill, Nicholas. Bill told me that they were sitting around fifty feet from where he landed on February 19, 1945. Bill talked all day on camera of his thoughts and experiences. He was an absolute delight to hear. Wait till you read his book coming out this year - it will be a treasure from an eyewitness. Everyone should buy this book

The footage of Bill's commentary will be featured in the Vision Forum film, Faith of Our Fathers coming out this Fall...

Bill Brown sitting on that famous black Iwo Jima sand looking at the caves on Suribachi

My dad explaining things to his granddaughter Kelly


Bill Brown near the assault beach talking about his memories of what he saw when he was here sixty years ago.



Here is an example of the many bunkers the Japanese built. Three foot thick concrete walls reinforced with huge rebar. There was a Japanese machine gun still in this enclosure.

Bill Henderson in Hummer.


Here is my dad on the top of Mt. Suribachi at the place where history's most famous photograph was taken. I have always been captivated by his stories of his driving a jeep up Mt Suribachi and looking over the inforno in progress with the millions of tons of mangled equipment littering the beaches, the wrecked vehicles, the smoke and the fire and the absolute devastation that was occurring.

Here is the assault beach. Within 45 minutes of landing, we had nine thousand Marines on this beach. Then the Japanese General Kuribayishi ordered all hell to break loose once we had enough troops on the beach for slaughter. Then our boys received a hail of some of the heaviest, most concentrated withering fire in the history of warfare. Kuribiyashi's boys were either underground in the vast matrix of tunnels or in the tunnels of Suribachi. The offensive positons on Suribachi had ever square yard of real estate covered with firepower. There was no place for our boys to hide.

In the above picture we see the location of Dad's airfield (Airfield 1). It was on the left hand side of the road, running paralell of the beach, on the two green patches in the midst of the brown grass.



This is the other side of the island, where my father landed and dug his foxhole and lived in his tent till he was shot down in Tokyo Bay.


David collected 67 signatures of Iwo Jima Vets on this flag and then flew it on Suribachi in their honor.


Here is my father reading scripture from the same Bible he had with him in that foxhole, sixty years ago.
David Brown and the Phillips Boys having way too much fun.


Here is a bunker on the very top of the mountain overlooking all points around


Marvin Sneed and my dad looking over the places they lived during this historic battle.


Kelly Brown and Rebekah Zes... who were stunning beauties and wonderful companions who made the trip better than ever.

Mount Suribachi. The island is now overgrown with vegetation that was planted after the war. When our troops were there it was scorched earth after two months of bombing.



Peter Bradrick asking Bill Brown questions in the troop truck on the way to the assault beach.

Geoff Botkin, Isaac Botkin, Wesley Strackbein and Peter Bradrick with camera equipment... man did they work as hard as anyone ever has worked.


David Brown handing a camera to a Marine on the transport truck

Jim and Rebekah Zes and John Nathan Chancey on the truck going from point to point on the island


Jack Lucas, one of the three surviving Medal of Honor recipients. He had just turned seventeen when, on the second day of battle, he jumped on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. Then another grenade landed near him. He reached out his hand and pulled it under his body. Only one of the grenades detonated. How many seventeen year old boys do you know who could do something like that? He was in the hospital for many months recovering from the blast. He was on the battle field for less than 24 hours, and wherever we went he was given a standing ovation.


The dusty road heading back to the airstrip for departure after a rich day of remembrance.


Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Justice Phillips, Joshua Phillips and Peter Bradrick punching out some Push Ups on Iwo Jima in honor of the United States Marine Corps. David was the photographer.

We boarded the airplanes as happy with the day as we could be. It was a perfect day. There was reflection. There was joy. There was awe in the fact that we had a privelege that so few have ever had.

How strange it was to be there, struck by the beauty of that little island. It was so peaceful now, and so lovely. I love that island where so much was accomplished.

For me the battle for Iwo Jima is a parable for so many relevant things.

First, it was an island of strategic importance which reminds me that we should spend our lives on strategic efforts.

Second, it was a place where there was an unseen enemy, which reminds me that we also have an unseen enemy, prowling about like a roaring lion seeking to devour us.

Third, it was a place where obedience was required to accomplish the mission, as it is for the christian experience.

Further, the paralells continue... It was a place of terrible casualties, exemplary comradship, loss, privation, and... imperfect soldiers under orders.

the Battle for Iwo Jima is a parable that calls up the images of the Christian faith.

I kept thinking it would be the kind of place I would like to spend a week exploring. Who knows?


Here am I with my eldest daughter Kelly on Mt. Suribachi overlooking the black sands of Iwo Jima. What a joy it was for me to share this moment together. She is a precious daughter who is out there honoring her father and her grandfather and her Father in heaven. This brought more joy to my heart than anything that happened that day.

"Keep The Head and Eyes Moving"

While we were driving down the road in Guam, Doug Phillips was asking my father about some of the issues that he encountered during dogfights. He told us how the fifty caliber machine guns were mounted on the wings; how much ammunition you had to work with; how a pilot took aim; how to best hit the enemy while flying at high speeds; how Japanese Zeros came in and how best to knock them out.

Doug asked, “how did you know if a Zero was behind you”? Dad said, “keep the head and eyes moving.”

I thought, that is strange, I have heard this statement all my life. Every Brown kid knows that when you are learning to drive, dad would say over and over again,

“keep the head and eyes moving.”.

But, I had never heard this phrase in any other context other than driver training.

I said, dad, is that phrase a fighter pilot phrase or did you just say that because you have said it so many times.?

He said, ‘no, it is a fighter pilot phrase. We were to taught to:

“Center the Needle
Center the Ball
Keep the head and eyes moving
First third field full flaps”

It was funny to me to think about how my dad trained us through the years. There were principles that he had for us that came from deep in his background. They were etched in his mind and he gave them over to us to help us in our context.

I had no idea that his phrase was a fighter pilot phrase. But now I like it more than ever just knowing that it came from one of the most intense times of danger he had ever experienced. Keeping the head and eyes moving was a matter of life and death for a fighter pilot. The enemy could come out of nowhere at any time and your life depended upon keeping the head and eyes moving.

We were not fighter pilots, but what he learned in flight school helped him train us to drive automobiles.

Guamanian Irony

Today, as I walk the streets of Guam surrounded by Japanese citizens, I can’t help but be struck by the ironies and contradictions of this story.

Only sixty years ago, Americans and Japanese on Guam were killing one another.

Today, 87% of the people on the island of Guam are tourists from Japan.

Guam is a Mecca for Japanese vacationers and if you are not Japanese, you stick out like a sore thumb. Everywhere you look there are Japanese.

Sixty years ago, this island was a prison camp for the inhabitants.

This horrifying nightmare has given way to wonderful hotels and beaches and shops that cater to the Japanese consumer palate. They were banished from the island, and now they come here for vacations.

The once brutalized the people here, and now they are pampered by them.

Everything I Know about Guam…

Today I realized that everything I knew about Guam, my father told me. My understanding of Guam was simple. In 1945 my father came to Guam in a submarine after getting shot down in Tokyo Bay on May 29, 1945. I knew that it is located in Micronesia in the Marianas Island chain. I knew that it was close to Tinian and Saipan which were strategic spots for the United States Air Force in WWII – other locations my father talked about. Until this week, this is about all I could tell you about Guam, except that I understood where it was located on a map…

It was a wake up call that helped me see a startling fact of human life. There are things that children know, that they only know from their fathers.

Here are four conclusions that I draw from this situation:

First, fathers need to be information machines. This is the spirit of Deuteronomy 6. A father talks of important things while he sits in his house, when he walks by the way, when he lies down and when he rises up.

Second, fathers really need to talk a lot if their children if they would be well educated.

Third, fathers need to repeat stories. The more they are repeated the better they are understood and remembered. Yes, they should repeat them even though their children might say, “ah dad, we’ve heard that one before.”

Fourth, children should listen to their fathers stories and ask questions about them.

The Liberation of Guam

Guam a Microcosm for answering the question, “Why War With Japan”

Guam The Battle for Guam presents for us a microcosm for why we were in this war in the first place – to stop Japanese expansion. The Japanese came to the realization that they did not have the natural resources in their own nation to become the exalted people they believed themselves to be. So they mounted an expansionist tear that would display some of the absolutely worst, immoral, decadent military practices in all of history.

James Bradley records the brutality of the Japanese military as they invaded China. Their techniques were almost too horrible to put in print. James Bradley in his book “Flyboys” documents these brutal atrocities of the Japanese wherever they went for conquest. I put this in here just as a reminder of history as it really was. Yes there are reasons to go to war, and I think that we should be clear about one thing – our boys wanted to stop the atrocities. Lets not sugarcoat the situation. The men in the Japanese army were villians. Yes, we can forgive, but we must always remember the descent into the depths of depravity to which men are capable of plunging.

Mural Depicting the Execution of the Catholic Priest and the Burning of the Church

This war was also about the clash of Japanese paganism and Christian culture. Regarding the Japanese activities in China, Bradley says,

“No one knows for sure, but estimates are that nearly 30 million Chinese died in the Rape of China. They died in military operations for being guerillas, for possessing some food, for being in the way, for being a girl, or just because a bored Japanese soldier wanted to have some fun. Entertainment included rape, dousing people with gasoline and lighting a match... cutting fetuses out of pregnant wombs, and chopping off countless heads”. Bradley p 59

Japan’s official policy was known as the “Three All’s”. (Kill All, Loot All, Burn All). from, (Flyboys, James Bradley, P54)

Mural Depicting the Japanese Invasion of Guam The day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Guam subjecting them to the same rape/murder routine for which they had become famous. Guam became a culture of beatings, confiscations, indoctrination, rationing, executions and concentration camps. All of this was flavored by their brutal mass murders and mass raping and pillaging of the population.

The Japanese imposed a nightmare that begged for war.

Mural Picturing the Subjugation of the Chamorro People of Guam and an Unexpected History Lesson

Today, we went to see a guy who has a collection of WWII military vehicles and got an unexpected history lesson. John Gerber, is a military vehicle and memorabilia collector and a native of Guam. He knows first hand why the United States went to war. His mother became a prisoner of war on Guam when the Japanese invaded on December 8, 1941. The Japanese attacked Guam one hour after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

John Gerber’s mother was captured by the Japanese and became a prisoner of war. John knows about the Japanese military. He knows how she and his family members were treated. Eight of his family members were executed by the Japanese, and those who lived were abused.

What would it take to stop the abuse?

On July 21, 1944, the US Marines landed with 55,000 troops to take the island back and to free the people.

This conflict was not an invasion but a liberation.

The native peoples, the Chamorros were freed. I spoke to a tank operator who served both in Guam and Iwo Jima on D Day, and I asked him what was his most memorable moment during the liberation of Guam. He said,

“what I remember the most, is the looks of happiness on the faces of the women and children walking through the streets after we had freed them.”

How do the Guamanians feel about the Marines? John told us that in the Vietnam war Guam had the highest enlistment rate per capita of any state because they saw how the US Marines liberated them so many years ago.

They had been liberated from cruel rulers.

David Brown Filming on the Beach where the US Marines Came Ashore

What does liberation have to do with anything? First I must make it clear that the christian church is in the business of happiness that can only come from liberation. Those faces on the Chamorran people were unforgettable because of the happiness they revealed.

I remember when I first repented and called upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, I became happier than I ever dreamed I could be. My faith was betrayed by my smile. I could not wipe it off my face. I was free and I knew it. This is how it was for the Chamorro people of Guam.

Liberation and happiness are blood brothers. They are inseparably linked. Jesus Expressed it like this,

The Spirit of he Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty of the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4:18

The Flight To Guam

Guam Blog



Here is the view from our hotel room. Deborah, please come immediately this place was made for us. We are on the Island of Guam after around 25 hours of air travel from LA to Hawaii to Nagoya Japan to Guam.

This island paradise was a household name for me growing up, but I had no idea it was quite like this. My father was taken by submarine here after he was picked up In Tokyo Bay by the submarine Pipefish. By the way, the company that owns some commercial properties I have is called, Pipefish LLC. I always enjoy telling people why the company has this name.

Kelly David and I just spoke with a Marine tank driver who was on Guam on D Day and he told me that when he arrived, there was only one single building left standing on the island. Everything had been destroyed by bombing raids. He said his most memorable memory was seeing the natives liberated, walking down the streets after being released from their prisons. Guam was a liberation of native peoples not an invasion.




To avoid deep vein thrombosis from the twenty plus hours confined to aircraft seats, we did Push Ups in Hawaii.


Kelly is spending her time drawing skethes for her book coming out late this Summer



We flew into Honolulu with this wonderful sight

Why Are We Doing This?

Why Are We Doing This?

We are here to honor fathers and inspire other children to do the same. We know that this will pay big dividends for many generations to come. We have God’s promise on that. (Ephesians 6:1-4)

I am using the following acrostic WHAM to help me remember the key points:

W – War requires important qualities of manhood that need to be understood
H – Honor from sons is required and empowering
A – Asking questions of fathers is important
M – Manual labor is required to get the best stories. Be ready with time and pen and more time for reflection.

Here they are in more detail:

1. War requires many important qualities of manhood that need to be passed on from one generation to the next. Here are a few. Duty in the face of conflicting emotions – this is important for vocation and marriage and all friendships. Honor and Obedience, which is important for success in all areas of life. Courage: Life presents many “dangers toils and snares”, and courage is required for living faithfully before God, particularly as we find that God calls His church to live a different kind of life than is lived by the Canaanites..

2. Fathers should be honored. It is a duty for sons and daughters to honor their fathers and it has tremendous leverage for good for many generations. Scripture is very clear on the fact that God makes promises to children who honor their parents.

Ephesians 6:2 2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."Not only do I want to honor my own father, I want to have an influence on my friends that might have the effect of saying, How will you honor your father?

3. Ask Questions: Children should ask their fathers to tell them the stories of God’s faithfulness toward them. These serve as teaching tools for bringing glory to God.
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you; the elders and they will tell you.” Deut 32:7

4. Manual Labor Required. Children should work to exert energy to collect the stories and glory in God’s faithfulness to their fathers. They should take time to sit at their feet and listen and diligently glean the best lessons. This takes a listening ear, an active pen to record them, time for reflection, and more pens to crystallize the critical messages. We hereby declare that FATHERS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. Yes, everything in our fathes lives is not praiseworthy, but we should just grow up and take the best we can find. As I have said too many times: no one ever got a perfect father. This is just the way it is. Here are some key passages of scripture that should help us to understand more about the importance of fathers speaking up as well as our honoring our fathers and listening to them. Psalm 78 A warning to fathers about the consequences of clamming up and keeping the stories of the faithfulness of God inside and making the same mistakes of their fathers by not telling them the praises of the Lord.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; 6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, 7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; 8 And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Psalm 71:17-18 An example of a man who knows how important it is to communicate with the strength of the Lord to the next generation – and everyone else who might be around.
"17 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. 18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. "

Psalm 44: 1-7: An example of how confidence fills the hearts of children who understand how God has worked in history. "We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days,In days of old: 2 You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. 3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them. 4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob. 5 Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us. 8 In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah"

Seeing Friends in California

During our brief stay in Southern California on the way to Iwo Jima, David and I spent an afternoon with some of my dearest friends on earth. I met Dave Hiskey and Chuck Brewer in High School – Troy High – in Fullerton. We meet each year at Chuck’s place in Laguna Beach for the annual “Old Man Weekend’ for surfing and catching up.

After High School, Dave went on to be an attorney and Chuck the owner of a high tech plastic injection molding company (family business for three generations) and a surfboard company. Missing was Tom Copenhaver who was out of town. Tom is an engineer who runs his own construction company, TBC Contractors. Each of these guys are very gifted and amazing in their own individual ways and I absolutely love being around them.

We dominated a table for over two hours in Starbucks talking about the status of family, business and ministry, missions… and Iwo Jima. It was like a mini retreat. They said things that were helpful for my own journey in life – as always.

Chuck gave my son David a tour of the inner workings of his plastic injection molding Company, C Brewer Company. Chuck and his brother Michael make plastic parts for computers, medical devices and he was popping out thousands of frames for Oakley sunglasses.

Journey of Honor Begins

March 2, 2005

We are leaving Fredericksburg for the long journey to Iwo Jima.

In front of my fathers Fredericksburg home , neighbor Maria waves goodbye.

My aunt and uncle, Charlie and Frances Stenicka and my mother wave goodbye at the airport. While in Fredericksburg, Charlie and Frances fed us famously while graciously receiving innumerable visitors (friends of ours) staying in their home without notice, as needed. thanks so much Uncle Charlie and Aunt Francis. Bye Bye.

My dad gives goodbye hug to his beautiful wife of 58 years.

I give goodbye hug to my wonderful, splendiferous, supermagfantubulous Mother.

“Off we go into the wild blue yonder, climbing high into the sun.” (Words from Army Air Corps song)

Fredericksburg Texas – Iwo Jima Re enactment.

February 19, 2005


The first stop on our trip to Iwo Jima was Fredericksburg Texas and The National Museum for the Pacific War, which also happens to be where my parents live. There is an amazing story about God’s providence in their living there, but that will have to come later. My parents are docents at the museum. The museum organized a giant Iwo Jima Commemoration including a parade and a re enactment of the battle for Mt. Suribachi, the five hundred foot tall hill that overlooked the island.

Kelly and my mother at the parade. My sweet wonderful mother housed and fed at any given time 30-40 WWII pilots, Vietnam vets, Film crews, a host of friends and a herd of relatives. She gets the “Sarah Award” as the hostess extrodinaire.


During the parade Deborah and I sat next to Vernon Galle, from the USS President Jackson which took the Third and Fifth Marine Divisions off Iwo Jima after the battle. Bill Henderson tells the story of how the Marines were so weak that they could not get themselves into the ships after the battle, so the Navy men carried them to safety and then cared for them on the way back to recovery. Vernon was one of those men who carried them in his arms. He said that he and his comrades would go through the food line with two trays, the extra one for a Marine who could not get up.

Dad and Mom on the bus on the way to the re enactment

Re enactment of the battle for Iwo Jima

Here is a shot of my family watching the re enactment with my sister Carol and her husband Fred and their daughter Chritina, My sister JoAnn, My Uncle Tom and his wife Mary, My aunt Francis' grandson Nick, Maria a Fredericksburg Neighbor, the most wonderful friends in the world, Howard and Sandy from Arizona and of course… Dad and Arthur Burry, my dad’s best friend on Iwo. Blair and Claudia are somewhere, but not in this picture.

General Jim VandeHey with my daughter Claudia. This retired Army Air Corps General stopped by my dads house and we had a great time talking Iwo Jima. I said to Claudia, “Young lady you are shaking the hand of a man who was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and then went on to Iwo Jima with your grandfather.” She heard lots of his stories at my dad’s dining room table that afternoon... What a way to learn about history He was CO of the 78th, 47th and the 45th Fighter Squadrons. My dad was in the 45th.



Arthur Burry, my dad’s best friend from Iwo came. For me, getting to know Burry was the highlight of our time in Fredericksburg.

The Battle For Iwo Jima

The Battle for Iwo Jima
The experience on Iwo Jima was so horrible that most of these men were not able to talk about it for over fifty years. But now, even though 75% of them have already died, there are a few who are telling their stories. My father is one of them. Raleigh Businessman, pastor and home schooling grandfather, Bill Henderson is another.

The Most Famous WWII Photo was shot there.


It was an assault of epic proportions. There were seventy eight thousand US troops and 22K Japanese on this tiny island, with 850 US ships off shore. This “Sulphur Island’ hosted some of the most brutal killing fields in Marine history.


As our men came ashore, the Japanese had nearly every square yard of the island in the sights of its firepower. Our soldiers were slaughtered on the beach on the first day of battle. During the the 36 days of battle, there were 2/3 casualties. Heroism ran high. Eighty Medals of Honor were given to the Marine Corps in WWII, Twenty seven of them from Iwo.

Jack Lucas was the youngest person since the Civil War to receive the award. He just turned seventeen when he dove on a grenade, then saw another land close by so he pulled it under him. Only one grenade detonated, but he saved the lives of his comrades. Jack was born in North Carolina and currently is a North Carolina resident.


Medal of Honor Recipient, Woody Williams. told us that he repented of his sins in 1962 and now preaches at his church and does the work of a pastor in his church in West Virginia.


Iwo Jima was the bloodiest battle in Marine history. One hundred thousand men were in mortal combat on a tiny eight square mile volcanic island, and our troops hardly ever saw the enemy because they were underground in a vast matrix of tunnels that crisscrossed the island. The enemy was everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. They would pop up in front of you, and then re appear behind you in another bunker

We are going to Iwo Jima to honor our fathers. And we are going to make a way for the stories of their sacrifice and the providence of God to be made known in the coming generations.