My Marine son had a chance to visit a few days ago and sent me some of his photos:

At the top of the enscarpment. At the trees is the ridge.




Overlooking the Maeda Escarpment (Hacksaw Ridge).


Some of the Urasoe Castle ruins.

Japanese cave emplacement.



Other miscellaneous I'm not sure how to caption.

A couple more of the Castle

Some brave men fought there for sure.
Thank your son for his service as well as you and your family

https://allthatsinteresting.com/desmond-doss

Nice, thanks for sharing.

Incredible..

Thats awesome.
Thanks to you and your son

Covid still real bad outside over there?

Please tell your son thanks.

Thanks for the kind words.


He hasn't said anything about that. I know when he was deployed to Okinawa last year, the quarantines were very long, especially for the pets. He and his wife took his German Shepherd and cat with them and the quarantine for the animals was 6 months, way longer than it was for people.

Most of Eastern Asia has an etiquette about wearing masks in public when you have a cold or cough. Very common long before Covid.

It amazed me when I went there how easy it was for me
To walk 100 yards in a short time and they fought and fought just to cover that ground. Definitely thankful for everyone that fought over there.

10Glocks, great pics. Thanks for sharing.

My son spent 4 years there and was able to tour Okinawa as well as Iwo Jima. I have a bag of black sand from Iwo.

PS….Tell your son a BIG THANKS from me and mine. That goes for the young man’s mom and dad as well!

I will, Aces, thanks. He's sent me all kinds of stuff over the last few years. A lava rock from the summit of Mt. Fuji, and some other things. He hasn't been to Iwo Jima yet. I understand even Marines need special permission to go. That's on his list if it is possible.

That's one place I regret not visiting when I was stationed in Oki back in the 90s. Thanks for sharing the great pictures!

My son and a bunch of other young Marines were shipped to Iwo for a day or 2 and they got the USMC introduction to the outstanding reputation of those brave BRAVE Marines whose shadow they are operating under. As a history buff I thought that at 44 years old (at the time) I’d enlist just for that trip alone….then I realized I’d likely be semi-paralyzed after the first week, my back would be toast and my arms wouldn’t reach above my belt since both shoulders were destroyed. I’ll live vicariously through my oldest.

Thanks for a great thread. 👍