Iwo Jima Cemetery

Iwo Jima Cemetery

Hello,

Don’t forget Friday night, October 20th will be the opening of “Flags of Our Fathers” at a theater near you. For those of you in Oxford, MS I don’t know for sure if it will be at the MALCO Cinema or the new ScreenWorks Cinema. I will send another email after I find out Monday. In Oxford we will have 2 Iwo Jima Veterans, Mr.. Paul Sharrer from Oxford for sure and one possible from Pontotoc. I don’t want to give out his name until I am sure he is going to participate. You should see a couple of announcements in the Oxford Eagle about this event later in the week. We will honor these heroes along with the rest of our World War II heroes prior to the movie beginning. The attached picture was provided by Paul Sharrer and it shows the cemetery at Iwo Jima prior to it’s completion. Marines of the 4th MarDiv are buried on the left and Marines of the 3rd MarDiv are buried on the right. It is a sober reminder of the sacrifice our fellow Marines made for all of us. I hope you will plan on attending this movie wherever you are. It would be outstanding if Marines and veterans from across our country would plan on attending this monumental event. This motion picture will be a blockbuster event at a time when our enemies perceive us to be weak. If you and all of our veterans can make a show of force in attending this movie, wearing your hats, uniforms and pins, we can show everyone around the world that we support our Corps, Country and fellow Veterans. Please pass this email to as many as you can and I hope to read a headline the next week that reads something like this: “Veterans from across the United States attend the opening of Flags of Our Fathers in a show of support for our troops, veterans and Country.”

Semper Fidelis
Gene Hays
Oxford, MS