It’s Your Turn Now
BY ERIC MARTIN
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, almost destroying the United States Navy, they fulfilled the prediction of Admiral Yamamoto—that they would wake a sleeping giant. Led by a warrior president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the American people rallied to the flag in the millions, and they took up arms against a ruthless tyrant.
In the war that followed in the Pacific Theatre, the fighting would claim the lives of over 160,000 young soldiers and wound over 253,000. Some war correspondents wrote that the bloodiest battle was for the island of Iwo Jima in March 1945. We have seen the image of the brave Marines, raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi, the highest point of the island. That image was a rallying cry to the free world to resist and conquer evil. But it took three days to take Suribachi, three days in which the courage and dedication of young Americans were stretched to the breaking point.
But they didn’t break. Over 6,000 lives were lost in the fighting and over 20,000 were wounded. The brutality and carnage reduced tough Marines to tears, but they didn’t break. They fought on until a ruthless enemy with little regard for life was totally defeated. They were fighting, as General Patton once said, for what they had left behind—their families, loved ones, and communities, which gave them the values of America and the religious mentors who inspired them with Judeo-Christian beliefs. They were fighting for the rule of law, for common decency, for tolerance and compassion, for American values—very real values. For if they weren’t, they wouldn’t have fought. “America the Beautiful,” America, crowned with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. These brave young men fought for the most precious achievement of mankind in the quest for fair and just governance.
And so they fought until they were totally exhausted, like the men you see in the photos that inspired this article. Medical records show that over 20% of casualties were from battle fatigue. These Marines, with an average age of 22, gave everything until they had nothing left to give. At Iwo Jima, they literally died for the flag of the United States of America, and they raised it high for their comrades, for America, and for all time to come.
These men of valor gave us the rights and liberties embodied in the Constitution of the United States, and their sacrifice must never be forgotten and must never be erased by those who want to destroy America. We are now assaulted by barbarians who brazenly burn the American flag, burn homes and businesses, assault innocent people, and desecrate synagogues and churches. All true Americans know that the traitors behind these outrages have to be confronted and eradicated. There is no place for these reprobates in the “Land of the Free” and the “Home of the Brave”! They are enemies who will wreck our nation if we let them. Our leaders appear to have abandoned the Flag of the United States, and so it is the patriotic duty of Americans to lift it up and raise it high. Our duty is to honor the heroes of Iwo Jima. Our clear duty is to fight! So raise the flag! It’s your turn now.
