Buckner Jr.’s Comments on Iwo Jima & Gettysburg
While producing my most recent book, on Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., I came across several interesting references to the Civil War, in which his father was a Confederate Lieutenant General.
One of the more interesting is his assessment of Iwo Jima, which he included in a letter to his wife Adele written just after the island was declared secure in March 1945. He wrote:
Iwo Jima is an example of how heavily a small island can be fortified. The Marines had a tough time there because every inch of the island was defended by solid rock and concrete emplacements. The Marines did a good job in taking it and its capture compensates for the heavy losses. In actual numbers the Marine casualties equal those of Lee at Gettysburg. This will give you some idea of how heavy the fighting was.
Buckner had his own debacle at Okinawa . He didn’t fight at to Jima. Buckner was army.
A profound observation. Thanks for posting!
Looking forward to reading your book, Chris. The Buckner saga captured my attention after reading Stickles’ 1940 biography of Buckner Senior. Buckner IV, at last report, is still with us, speaking at CW Roundtables.
LTG Buckner was right about the casualties … 7,000 killed and 20,000 wounded — mostly marines — on Iwo Jima in 5 weeks of combat … and all on an 11 square mile island … hard to imagine.