Station HYPO

`M’ Branchers’ spirit and pride seen in BEQ

The “M” branchers have spirit and pride. If you don’t believe it take a few minutes and have a look at the third deck, east wing of BEQ 1082.

By Thomas W. Butler

Crew members at Fleet Radio Unit Pacific FRU­PAC-Iwo Jima looked for medical attention only as a last resort during the spring of 1945. For serious mat­ters like removing an arm or a leg, there were Navy and Marine Corps surgeons who would do the job at the drop of a hat. Lord knows, they had a lot of practice. Amputations were a frequent result of the combat wounds received by USMC/USN personnel during the battle for Iwo.

By Thomas W. Butler

Among the more colorful characters who made FRUPAC-Iwo Jima a memorable duty post was a whitehat Seaman first class named “T.T”. I omit his last name for reasons which will become evident as this story unfolds.

By Thomas W. Butler

Iwo Jima is a volcanic island and, as such, is subject to all sorts of naturally induced seismic events. However, on one occasion during the summer of 1945 our part of the island experienced a ground shaking event which turned out to be purely man-made.

By Thomas W. Butler

By the summer of 1945, even before Okinawa had been taken, all of us at Fleet Radio Unit Pacific, FRUPAC – Iwo Jima were beginning to hope the end of the war might not be too far off. Logically, it had to be over soon…but no one knew whether logic was going to outweigh emotion. It was obvious to us the Japanese were in a “no win” position and were taking a terrible pounding. However, we also knew we were then standing on a barren, unattractive piece of real estate only four and one half miles long by two miles wide which approximately 25,000 Japanese mili­tary men had died to retain as part of their empire! How many of their countrymen would be equally will­ing to fight and die to defend the home islands of Japan? Hundreds of thousands? A million? Uncom­fortable thoughts, I assure you.