16-074 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

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[boltaction]

Sobering to think of how many of those young men in that photo never made it off that barren little island..... I remember reading an account of Iwo Jima and one of the survivors was commenting about the numbers of killed, wounded and MIA. He said what was hardest to think of was his friends who were MIA, and he made the point that Iwo was a small island, with nowhere to go. The only way one could be "MIA" was by having a mortar shell or mine explode so close there was nothing left to find but red vapour and bits of fabric. It is the same in all theatres of war of course but MIA in France in WWI could also mean being buried in the mud, so at least there was a hope of finding a body at some point....

Ed