At their final monthly meal together, a salute for the few, the proud of Iwo Jima

[Omaha Steve]

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http://www.omaha.com/columnists/kelly/kelly-at-their-final-monthly-meal-together-a-salute-for/article_a1ca7d8c-f194-5609-98b5-89f19be4fda6.html

By Michael Kelly

They never raised a flag on Mount Suribachi, but three Marine veterans of Iwo Jima raised glasses in a champagne toast to fallen comrades — at a final monthly meal.

On Thursday evening at the Bohemian Cafe, 90-year-old Duane Tunnyhill toasted “our brothers,” those who died in the war and those who survived but have since departed. Iwo vets Joseph “Pep” Vocelka, 91, and Leroy Hanson, 92, joined him.

“We’re dwindling down,” Hanson said. Vocelka said that “it’s been a lot of years.”

Tunnyhill dates the monthly gatherings of Iwo Jima survivors to 1976, the time of a 5th Marine Division reunion in Omaha. Local Iwo vets, regardless of their military division, since have met for lunch at various restaurants.

FULL story at link.

[tonyt53]

1. I wish my dad was still around. He passed away in 1981. His feet never healed completely.

He was in the first US Marine landing on Guadalcanal and then Iwo Jima was his last. He was wounded while clearing hidden Japanese while working their way up Suribachi. Spent the rest of the war in Australia and didn't get to come home until six months after the war ended. His dad died before he made it back home. Dad was in the 3rd marines when he landed on Guadalcanal, but after a short time in Australia recovering from a wound from that landing, he was placed into the 5th Marines. The absolute hell those guys went through has been forgotten by so many. Dad never talked about it much, but he was proud to have been a Marine.

Thank you for that picture and article.

[douglas9]

3. Iwo Jima Association of America

http://www.iwojimaassociation.org/

[Aristus]

2. Salute!