I’m going to reprint his words for us to contemplate on this sorrowful day. This is an iOTW veteran’s day tradition.
Tammy and iOTWreport invites everyone to enjoy this speech by WWII veteran, marine, Marshall E. Harris.
Mr. Harris resides, happily, in Texas.
MEMORIAL DAY
May 31st, 2010
VETERAN’S MEMORIAL PARK, RICHFIELD, MN
SPEECH GIVEN BY MARSHALL E. HARRIS, WWII MARINE WHO WITNESSED THE FLAG RAISING ON IWO JIMA
Today, the last Monday in May—Memorial Day—is a time for us to honor those who fought, bled and died in the service to our nation. It also is a time to rejoice in those who still live and remember our fallen comrades!! And it is a day to mark the graves and remember veterans of the past who are no longer with us.
So ladies and gentlemen, today let’s remember those thousands of men and women of the military over the last 234 years, have paid the price to strengthen the ramparts that protect freedom for all America.
With humble admiration, respect, and reverence, patriotic Americans everywhere will honor their memory—the memory of those who fought and died to keep our nation free of tyranny.
All veterans who have been in harms way will reflect on the loss of comrades in arms, and renew the pledge to keep alive the memory of departed comrades.
On this day each year we all remember fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, sons and daughters, relatives or friends who were lost at sea or returned home in caskets covered with the American Flag.
My memory of armed conflict goes back 66 years to Saipan, the Tinian and Iwo Jima. Now, at 85, the pledge to keep the memory alive of those that paid the final price has become a pivotal point in almost all I do and say!!! There is a flag pole in my front yard and during the warm summer months, usually at the break of dawn, I wander out into the yard and look up at those stars and stripes waving in the breeze (and yes, there is also a United States Marine Flag below), I stop, pause and just for a fleeting moment I’m on Saipan, Tinian or
Iwo Jima and the names flash by–Bob, Lewis, Caldwell, McDaniel, Bistline, Evans, Oftidal, Lt. Michaels, Major Bevans—and then I’m back.
Can’t help it, that’s just the way it is.
This is why memorial day, flag day Veteran’s Day, the Fourth of July are so important to our nation—a time to reflect on our heroes of the past.
Perhaps before we get too far along we should go back about 147 years to a time when America was in its darkest hours, a
most painful time in American history—The Civil War—or, as most folks in the South prefer to call it, “the war between the States”.
A heart-warming story of how Memorial Day, as we know it, might have started, on the site of a bloody battle on the outskirt of Columbus, Mississippi 1863.
A group of women walked among the fresh graves. They carried wildflowers to lay on the graves of their Confederate soldiers who were buried there. As they moved from one grave to another, they noticed another group of graves off to one side. These Graves were clearly the graves of Union soldiers who had died in the same battle on the same field of battle. With little hesitation and very little discussion they began to lay their flowers on those graves as well. The compassion of those Southern ladies for those who died fighting against their husbands, their fathers and their own sons gave a clear message that in DEATH, all are equal!!
This small gesture was passed on by word of mouth. Union and Confederate soldiers alike were touched by this simple act of honor, and the healing of a nation slowly began to take place!
Just a few years later a union veterans organization called the Grand Old Army of the Republic, decided to designate a special day to honor the fallen from both sides.
The following order was issued:
“The 30th day of May, 1868 and each year hereafter is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of
comrades who died on the field of battled during that terrible conflict, whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance”.
17th President, Andrew Johnson, who followed Lincolns Presidency, issued the order. Present day, instead of the 30th of May it is the last Monday in May.
So no in the present day, on this last Monday in May, the cemeteries in cities, towns villages, and small country hamlets will be dotted with small flags, to show that a Veteran of past wars is buried there.
The sounds of rifle salutes will pierce the silence, and in our Nation’s Capitol, a 21-gun salute to the departed Veterans of all wars will fill the air with plumes of smoke, and a fighter squadron of military jets, in missing man formation, will roar through the skies over those green rolling hills of Arlington National Cemetery!!
And in the quiet silence of those thousands in attendance, a wreath will be laid on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then, at a certain moment, when all is quiet, the haunting sound of taps will break the silence, and echo in our hearts and minds the unmistakable reminder of the sacrifices our Nation’s sons and daughters of the Armed Forces have made for devotion to duty—love of their country—the preservation and protection of freedom throughout our nation and the world!
He very freedoms we enjoy on a daily basis were bought and paid for with their lives.
When our forefathers, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, The Articles and amendments, knew that the cause of freedom is the cause of God, and that personal liberty is the paramount essential to human dignity and human happiness. Their writings embodied freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want,
freedom from fear, freedom of assembly. Those freedoms propelled our nation to greatness and served as a guiding light for democracy for 234 years. On this special day each year, we thank God for young men and women who will come forth and protect those freedoms.
Our forefathers gave us the words, then we ask???
Who paid the price of freedom???
It was an American soldier in World War I as he went over the top of a trench in France and was shot and killed.
It was a sailor lost at sea when his ship was torpedoed.
A Marine caught in a cross fire in a firefight in Vietnam who came home to his Mom and Dad in a coffin, covered with the American flag.
Who gave us the freedom to worship in our own way?
It was the fighter pilot who went down in flames.
A sailor who died as a kamikaze suicide plane slammed into his ship off Okinawa.
Or a soldier who took a bullet on Normandy Beach, June 6, 1944!
They all fought, bled, and died so that the words our forefathers put in the constitution would remain unaltered through time!
No victory is without its unsung heroes. And in 234 years, our Nation has given up 662,000 of our military defending that constitution and our freedoms—truly unsung heroes!!
17 million men and women served in the Second World War, in harms way, all over the world. Our Nation gave up 408,000 killed in action and 115,000 in non-hostile deaths. Additionally, 671,846 wounded came home to fill hospitals in America.
Serving in the Marine Corps in the capture of Saipan, Tinian and that hellish battle on Iwo Jima, I was one of the lucky ones who survived, with nothing
more than a scar on my left arm, and a right leg that makes me walk a little awkward. Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima were just THREE of hundreds of battles that took place all over the world. I speak mostly of those three Islands because of lost buddies, and thousands unknown, whose names will never be forgotten, as comrades in arms.
They cannot speak for themselves. I feel in my heart and soul that the words spoken here would be echoed by those thousand who paid the price of freedom during WW2 and the 36,568 who took their last breath in Korea, the 58,204 men and women of the armed services that came home to their families from Vietnam, in coffins, covered with the American flag, and the thousands of our military who died in the current conflict, the war against terror.
The freedoms we are talking about today are so deeply embedded in the moral fabric of our Nation that we, as a Nation of free people,
will suffer any hardship—
make any sacrifices—
pay any price—
endure any pain—
and die in battle, if necessary to stay FREE.
Throughout our 234 years of history, no issue has had a more positive effect on our well being than our National heritage—our freedoms.
And throughout our history, no issue has cost more in military lives, rained havoc on our financial stability, incited and inflamed our citizenry more, than the threat of losing that heritage—our freedoms!!
We have always been a Nation of dignity, morality and faith in our government, generous and friendly to our neighbors, and those across both oceans.
But when our freedoms are threatened either on the domestic front or from enemies abroad, things change overnight!! And our Nation pulls out all stops to defend and keep our freedoms intact.
Five days into the battle for Iwo Jima, casualties had been unbelievably high, progress had been slow, and Iwo Jima was taken one hundred yards at a time. A time we all knew we were in real trouble.
Then, on the way back to our command post for more ammunition and fuel for our tank, there was a small flag being raised on top of Surabachi.
Five guys from 2nd BN 28th Marines—5th Marine Division.
WOW, the little flag that gave us all a shot in the arm a reason to fight on! Chuck Lindberg, whose image stands out on this memorial for all Veterans, was one of the Marines who raised the first flag.
That was the flag that gave us all a shot in the arm, a reason to go on amidst the slaughter that was taking place all around us. Marines and sailors and CB’s cheered, ships whistles all around the island sounded, and in the middle of “hell on earth” there was hope!!
It was the first American flag to be raised on Japanese soil in World War II!! The killing went on for 30 more days and in the end, all but 213 of the 23,000 enemy troops had been destroyed.
Military victory, I suppose you could say.
Victory, yes, but glorious victory, not.
There was no glory in that victory!!
They would not know that their sacrifice substantially shortened the war. They would not know that their sacrifices saved over 25, 000 airmen from crashing into the cold North Pacific by making emergency landings on Iwo Jima, that tiny volcanic island they fought, bled and died for.
They would not know that their contribution in taking Iwo Jima cleared the skies of enemy aircraft so that the Enola Gay and the Boxcar, the two B-29’a
could safely reach Japan and return after dropping their nuclear bombs, bringing Japan to their knees and abruptly ended the war!!
And they would not know that invading Japan with millions of our military would no longer be necessary, saving millions of God’s children on both sides.
But, ladies and gentlemen, WE KNOW.
Yes, we know.
As their sacrifices were joined with the 622,000 American military who gave their lives during the last 234 years, fighting for the oppressed millions of the world and protecting America’s lasting legacy—our FREEDOMS.
In closing, I want to relate the charge given to all as the hostilities wound down on Iwo Jima.
We went over to where the graves division had erected a white picket fence enclosing those thousands of white crosses marking the location of those temporary graves of those killed in action. In body bags, sealed in a wooden coffin, lying in wait for a time after the war when they would all be brought home to their families and loved ones.
They came from all corners of America—Hispanic, Jewish, Italian, Indian, colored, and white, rich and poor.
Together, as one unit, they fought to make a difference.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the purest and highest form of democracy.
Hear the word of our Chaplin as we stood there at attention.
He said,
“Any man among us, the living, the survivors of this carnage, this massacre, this unthinkable display of death and destruction, who fails to understand our sacred obligation and duty to keep their memory alive will thereby betray those who lie here dead”.
Then added these words:
“Whoever lifts a hand against his brother in hate, makes of their bloody sacrifices, an empty, hollow mockery”.
Words that will echo in our minds until we die.
What I just related to you was only taking place on a tiny dot in the Pacific as the battle wound down. The same honor and respect was taking place in battle areas all over Europe, where Americans had given it all for the freedom of the world.
Today is the day for remembering respect and honor.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening, and May God Bless America!!!
RIP, sir. Thank you for your tremendous service and patriotism.
My uncle fought alongside you at Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo as a 20 year old medic. Lost him in 1998.
Well-deserved fair winds and following seas henceforth.
“…Whoever lifts a hand against his brother in hate, makes of their bloody sacrifices, an empty, hollow mockery”…
Words that would best be remembered and heeded today by those who seek to rule rather than govern.
RIP brave warrior and patriot.
Have read this speech of his for many years here.
“Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
Semper Fi Mr. Harris…Godspeed!
RIP Mr. Harris. God Bless America and all of our long time heroes!
Thank you, Mr. Harris for your noble and stirring words. May you have fair winds and calm seas on your final journey. Rest in Peace, Sir.
Breathe deep…
Thanks for posting that amazing speech from a Patriot.
The causality rate at Iwo Jima was about 750 Marines PER DAY, 110k marines fought for 36 long days, TWENTY SIX thousand gone.
Rest in Peace Marine.
Rest in peace, Mr. Harris. Know that you and your fellow patriots who secured our freedom are remembered by us patriots that remain. God has blessed you.
May the peace of Christ be with you and your loved ones. Would love to see you finally getting together with your heroic war buddies. Oh, and all your old doggies too, of course. Don’t worry, God will find other dogs. It all works out. God’s a good guy. He understands.
R.I.P. & Semper Fi, Rifleman
May he rest in the Arms of our Loving God. Thank you Sir.
Iwo Jima is a dam volcanic rock of an island that we had to secure to keep going.
Imagine landing on a beach with fine particle blackened sand, then trying to dig into that igneous ‘rock’ for cover??? The were completely open to the enemy from above. But they won.
RIP Mr Harris, you served us, your self (to get out alive) and your family as well with your legacy.
Another warrior is taken off the battlefield,
And our strength is lessened by the loss.
Had he been lost on one of those long-ago and far away battlefields, he would have expected his brothers in arms to continue, to close ranks, and to honor his memory by first securing the victory he started to win for us.
And so we must.
But our hearts are daunted at the prospect in ways his comrades would not be.
Before, he was a warfighter surrounded by warfighters, men who lived, trained, fought, and bled as he. They were trained to act as a unit, and to win as a unit, and with an army of such heroes, the loss of one would only inspire the others to greater effort, to avenge his loss even as they lived it.
But what are WE to do?
OUR loss is greater because we have lost more. We have lost not only a warrior, but we have lost decades of his wisdom, his voice as the conscious of the Nation, his memories of the honorable struggle against the tyranny of yesterday, and his warnings of the tyranny of today.
Our loss is greater because we have no one of his years to step over his body, grab his dog tags, and press the fight. No one 9f his experience to close ranks. No one of his long accumulated valor to seal the breach.
No one who lived in that world of total sacrifice and total commitment to total victory against tyranny to tell us how it’s done.
We have his words, and that’s a comfort, but only the warrior that lived them can breathe the fire into those words that they deserve. We have his words, but without his voice behind them, I am not sure that many can understand them. We have his words, but with the loss of a leader like him, we have lost a force to act on them.
And we are diminished by the loss.
But this is not a man who would want us to bury his Nation even as we bury him, to contemplate his death instead of fight for what he lived for, to moisten the ground with our tears to make burying ourselves beside him that much easier.
This man deserves out honor, commands our respect, and is worthy of our mourning, but we would honor him best by taking up his standard and carying on his fight. We have none his equal, but warriors are born of necessity, and perhaps fighting for his memory will spark us to greater deeds. Its what he would do, and what his comrades would do, and we should do no less.
He undertood his sacred obligation and duty to keep their memory alive.
He did his duty. And the Lord Himself has relieved him of it.
Now his banner is passed to us.
Another warrior is taken off the battlefield,
But it is no shame to him.
He is at the Lord’s side now, receiving his reward, his labors justly over, his final victory won.
The best way to remember him is to continue as he says to go on as best we can, “fighting for the oppressed millions of the world and protecting America’s lasting legacy—our FREEDOMS.”
Continuing the present stuggle against tyranny.
He did it for the better part of a century.
We owe his memory no less.
Although this man IS a Marine, and he may just have gone to his final posting, as the hymn he lived by states.
“If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.”
I am not a Marine, so I don’t feel qualifed to close with that well-known Marine motto of ‘Semper Fi’. But as a civilian who lived under his protection, I can honor the fact that he was, indeed, always faithful to the end.
Godspeed, Marshall Harris. May the Lord comfort your family even as he musters you in at your posting in glory.
Another warrior is taken off ONE battlefield, but our enemy had best not rejoice.
For his passing may inspire legions into the fight against them, and against the TRUE enemy, the enemy at the root of ALL tyranny, past, present, and future…
“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”
Ephesians 6:10-12
…no, our enemy best not rejoice.
For the Lord has added a new warror to His heavenly host.
God Bless,
SNS
@Sns – God bless YOU, and your family, for what you say and HOW you say it.
Sometimes its like Michael the Archangel talking or something??
Heaven opens its gates to another warrior today. The greatest generation. God Almighty will hand you the sword of righteousness because warriors are born to fight Satan on earth and in heaven.
SF ol Jarhead
I know the feeling.
I got out with scars on:face, neck and chest.But I got out. (52 years ago I was sur God kept me alive for a purées. If He did he forgot,).
As my clan has said for decades FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
I knew an Iwo vet 25 years ago. A no nonsense Rony loving Bush bashing American! “Skinny as a rail”. I left that gym 20 years ago have no idea if he lives.
SF
“I got out with scars on:face, neck and chest.But I got out. (52 years ago I was sur God kept me alive for a purées. If He did he forgot,).”
Thank you for your service and for the blood you’ve shed for this Country, Marine. We can never repay the sacrifices you’ve made for this Nation or the way that the Democrats insulted your generation in particular even as they sabotaged your ability to win for their own selfish political ends, we can only honor you here and now and strive to see that the next generation is given a Country, an ideal, a people still worth fighting for, who will not repeat the mistakes of the past.
As to your second statement, God DID spare you for a purpose, but I’m afraid I must disagree with the conclusion as God n
NEVER forgets.
I regret that I do not know you, Sir, so I cannot speak to that purpose, but you may be able to examine your life anew and see it.
A man in your position likely saved lives on the battlefield through his actions. Perhaps that’s part of it.
A man such as yourself, who identifies still as a Marine, and will until he dies, likely has helped fellow Marines after service, too, maybe by showing them the ropes back to civilian life, perhaps by talking a traumitized Marine out of suicide, possibly by simply uplifting them with your stories and your very survival. That may be part of your purpose.
A man such as you probably would have a loving family, whom you raised by your sweat, educated with your wisdom, and strengthened with your heart. Could be part of it too.
I suspect you’ve had a civilian job or two, at which your Marine ethos allowed you to shine and lead others. I have and do personally work for Marines, and they are truly leaders of men. Maybe that’s part of His purpose for you, too.
We here at iOTW have been inspired by your postings, awed by your service, given a glimpse into the hard life of a serviceman through your concise drscriptions. You are a light to us, a window into a world you have been wounded severely in that most of US may be spared that experience, to grow fat and uninjured behind the ceaseless vigilance of yourself and others. This, too, could be part of the Lord’s purpose for you.
And remember, your race is NOT run. You may yet have a great purpose He has you reserved for, that He will call upon you to fulfill when the time is right, that He KNOWS only YOU are equal to. You may yet again be called upon to be a leader of Men and save this Nation from itself, and your wisdom of the years leavens your experiece as a warrior to consider strategies that others may not even be able to DREAM of. That may be it.
I do not know how it is with your soul, and it is none of my business besides as that is between you and the Lord, but perhaps you still, as I do, struggle with issues that may separate you from Him at the end, and He is granting you precious time to heal THOSE wounds and come to Him before the end, that when you lay your trophies down at last, as all men must, you may be assured that you will stand at his side in peace and healing at last, after a long and painful life.
And THAT, Marine, is the most crucial battle of ALL.
…we never know for what the Lord intends us, or when. I did not live YOUR life and not one as dangerous as YOURS, but I have had moments where I have been spared Death by no other reason than the Lords will, for His purposes alone. I did not know Him when I was a firefighter, dod not give Him the glory, and did not even at the time recognize His hand, but still he saved me time and again, sometimes from circumstances that should have killed me as they have so many of MY comrades, sometimes from people SPECIFICALLY trying to kill ME, as I’m sure you are MUCH more familiar with than I, but for which I was not as well-equipped as you.
But he saved me just the same.
Perhaps He knew I would take a wife, add a son, raise a family, take care of many relatives in need, be a hub in a workplace and a profession I didn’t even plan to work in at the time. All of that has come to pass, none of that I couls have imagined at tge time.
Perhaps He knew I would, as I did, come to Him in time.
So he GAVE me that time. ME, a sinner, he gave that precious gift to, unasked, without gratitude, without even acknowledgement.
Because He KNEW, what I didn’t.
HIS purpose for ME.
And He did NOT forget.
The Lord has put in in position to save lives many times, even AFTER I left the formal service of it, with the tools to get the job done. In no way, now that I know Him, do I put that down as ‘coincidence’. He used me, a weak vessel, for His purpose according to His plan, and when I look back I can see how everything I did in life, through no plan of MINE, works TOGETHER to what I need to do NOW.
And in THAT, I can see the Lord’s hand.
We never know who we touch in life, or who we will touch. You may have helped many in the service and out, at the VA or the veterans’ hall, on the job or at your home, just being who you are.
You may unknowingly be an inspiration to many.
I know you are an inspiration to ME.
God Bless,
SNS
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5
an ol exajrhd
MAY 11, 2020 AT 7:24 AM
The above is for you, sorry I left it off the top.
God Bless,
SNS
ghost of brig gen j glover MAY 11, 2020 AT 2:14 AM
“@Sns – God bless YOU, and your family…”
I thank you for your kind words and especially for calling a blessing for my family for we need it always, but anything good you may see in me is my Lord using me, so whatever praise my words may be worthy of belongs to Him, not me.
To God be the Glory,
To serve Him as He sees fit is enough for me.
May the Lord bless you and yours,
SNS
RIP Marine. God bless you, your family, friends (esp. Tammy) and loved ones.
@Fur – I have loved reading this speech every year and I hope the tradition continues.
Marhall Harris was a close friend of mine, and I am devastated by his passing. Thankfully, I know that he lived his live loving God, Country and family. I spoke with his daughter last night, and we talked about all of the amazing things he had accomplished in his life and the way he raised his children. I heard all of the stories firsthand about Iwo Jima, Saipan, and the other battles. He told me that he’d never told either of his wives(whom sadly both died of cancer) about the horrors of war. He told me. We both cried together.
I loved this man, and affectionately called him my secret boyfriend. He loved it. We were from a different generation, but we both share a love for this country and a love for those who preserve our freedom.
I will never meet another man like him. I hope that readers of this site have their own Marshal Harris, and will cherish men of this character, honor and integrity.
BTW, he had a framed photo of Sara Palin hung in his garage in 2012. I loved it! He said to me, “Damn it, Tam, if these socialists take over this country, we are done for! I didn’t fight to save our country and the rest of this world for this.”
Keep fighting, everyone. For our constitution and our freedoms. EVERY DAMN DAY.
I mourn for my dear friend, but I know with no question that he is in the hand of God right now.
May he rest in peace. God bless his family.
Thank you for the service.
I’m very sorry to hear this. RIP, Mr. Harris. 💜 💜