Iowa veterans are marking today as the 65th anniversary of one World War Two’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific. Events tonight and through the weekend in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area will honor veterans of the Iwo Jima assault from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
Yvonne Williams is executive director of the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska, which is hosting the events. Williams says, “We have a social hour at 6 o’clock and people will have the chance to go in the B-29 which we all know dropped the bomb that finally ended the war.”
Nearly 7,000 Allies were killed in the battle and more than 21,000 Japanese. The battle of Iwo Jima is often associated with a photograph — now a statue in Washington D.C. — depicting a group of Marines raising the American flag on the rocky island.
Williams says a half-dozen members of the Marine unit that hoisted that flag will attend the events near Omaha. She says, “The six Marine veterans from the flag-raising unit will hold a question and answer session.”
There’s a dinner tonight with those Marines and the Q-and-A and autograph sessions are Saturday morning. For information, visit: www.strategicairandspace.com