Parsippany Vet remembers Iwo Jima on 70th anniversary

Jack Gartenberg was 18 years old when he was wounded by shrapnel on Charlie Dog Ridge on the island of Iwo Jima.

Today is 70th anniversary of the start of the battle and Gartenberg remembers it vividly.

Now 88 and living in Parsippany, Gartenberg went from being a teenage engineering student at City College of New York to the Marine Corps to Iwo Jima in just eight months.

Gartenberg was assigned to the 4th Marine Division in November of 1944 and went to Maui for training.

"New Year's Day we boarded a ship to travel to the Pacific," Gartenberg said. "Didn't know where we were headed for."

All the Marines knew is they were heading north, and the U.S. strategy was to get close to Japan one island at a time. Iwo Jima was a crucial asset for the U.S. because it was 700 miles from the Japanese mainland, providing a location for damaged planes to land.

"Iwo Jima, at the time, you couldn't find on most maps," Gartenberg said. "It was so small and insignificant."

The Marines intercepted radio broadcasts on the way over and found out the Japanese knew they were coming.

"They said they had a fortress that could not be taken in 100 years and we would die," Gartenberg said. "We were hoping they were wrong."

As the battle began on Feb. 19, 1945, Gartenberg's first assignment was guarding Japanese prisoners being transferred to the U.S.S. Indianapolis for interrogation.

"In the meantime the invasion took place," Gartenberg said. "There was not much the Japanese sailors could add at that point."

As the U.S. forces suffered heavy casualties, those on ships like Gartenberg were directed onto the island. He was initially assigned to a machine gun squad, attempting to advance inward on the island toward the airfields that were the reason for the invasion. Gartenberg's 4th Division charged right, while the 3rd and 5th charged up the center and to the left, respectively.

"One of the hills I remember, we hit it two or three times and had to fall back each time," Gartenberg said. "But we kept trying and were finally able to take it over."

After two days, Gartenberg joined a demolition crew assigned to run up to caves and tunnels and throw plastic explosives to seal the openings.

"With the caves and tunnels, you couldn't see the enemy soldiers," Gartenberg said. "Just intense firing."

Gartenberg remembers seeing Marines take Mount Suribachi and planting an American flag atop the hill for other Marines to see.

"When the flag raised it sounded like Times Square on New Year's Eve," Gartenberg said.

A second flag raised three hours later by six Marines was captured on film and ended up being the iconic image of the War in the Pacific.

"The most notable event of World War II," Gartenberg said. "That photo was in every U.S. paper while we were still there fighting, I learned later."

Gartenberg's division advanced during the day, and dug foxholes through the volcanic ash that blanketed the island to hide in at night.

"It was one hour on watch and one hour of sleep," Gartenberg said. "But there was not much sleep with the concern of the Japanese jumping into your foxhole, which happened many times."

Gartenberg said during the days he wasn't scared because he was too focused to think about it.

"I was heavily concentrated on what I had to do," Gartenberg said. "During the day I was so engrossed in my job that I didn't think about fear. But at night, when it was so dark you couldn't see anything in front of you, then I was concerned. I was fearful at night."

Still, more alarming to Gartenberg and his fellow Marines was that the volcanic ash regularly jammed their artillery, leaving them defenseless.

"We were not just concerned about the enemy," he said, "But concerned about our own weapons."

The difference between Pacific and European Theater in World War II, Gartenberg said, was the mindset of the enemy.

"We fought to live, but in the Pacific, they fought to die," he said. "Some of the fellas I know personally were hit. At least 25 I know were killed in action and at least three times that many were wounded."

Gartenberg was wounded in a fight for Charlie Dog Ridge on his ninth day on Iwo Jima.

"It was March 4th, I was hit by a mortar shell along with half a dozen others. Three or four were killed close by," Gartenberg said. "I was evacuated from the island and spent a month recovering in the hospital. I spent my 19th birthday in there. Then I returned back to the 4th Marine Division to resume training for the invasion of Japan."

The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, while Gartenberg was back in Maui training to invade Japan.

The invasion was canceled after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and he was discharged in May 1946, returning to City College and graduating in 1950.

"It wasn't easy getting back. You're used to one kind of life and have to forget that and focus on college," Gartenberg said. "It's difficult to acclimate after war. It took quite a while."

Gartenberg pursued a career in mechanical and nuclear engineering, designing power plants until regulations from the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 stopped production of such buildings.

Gartenberg is currently the president of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 246 of Morris County.

"We have about 150 members," he said. "Hopefully there won't be too many more."

Gartenberg is also a member of the Marine Corp League, and regularly speaks about World War II in the Pacific. He has thought about the impact of the Battle of Iwo Jima for the past seven decades.

"After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the objective was the invasion of Japan," Gartenberg said. "To do that there were islands that were necessary to take. But some we would later learn did not have to be invaded."

A total of 6,821 Marines were killed in just one month of fighting, the most in the Corps' history. There were more than 20,000 American casualties of the five-week battle, adding to a total of more than 400,000 for all of World War II. About 20,000 Japanese soldiers were on the island and almost all were killed or committed suicide. Only 216 surrendered during the battle while others hid out with some remaining hidden for years, even after the war was over.

"We were told the island would take 10 days to capture and it actually took five weeks. We didn't expect the resistance that was there," Gartenberg said.

"The tremendous casualties we suffered were overwhelming, but when you look back, the island saved as many airmen as the Marines we lost on it. So in that sense you can say it was one-for-one. If not for Iwo Jima, they wouldn't have made it back."

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com