MEMORIES OF IWO JIMA
Joe Rodriguez was reportedly born September 11, 1925 in Buda, Texas, and spent his youth in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Historical records report that during World War II he was in the Marine Corp assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, which became nationally known as the company that raised the two U.S. flags on February 23, 1945 atop the summit of Mount Suribachi during the battle for Iwo Jima. Rodriguez’s immediately superior was SGT Michael Strank, one of the Marines identified in the iconic picture of the raising of the second flag.
On March 1, 1945, Rodriguez was with SGT Strank and several other members of his company in a crater during continued battle with the Japanese when a shell exploded over them, seriously injuring Rodriguez and killing several of his companions, including SGT Strank. Rodriguez was knocked unconscious by the explosion and reported that upon regaining consciousness he found SGT Strank dead and on top of him. Rodriguez received severe injuries to his head and legs and spent months recovering in naval hospitals before being discharged with the rank of SSGT and returning to his home in Ann Arbor where he became a construction worker, high school wrestling coach, and counselor of young people.
On November 11, 1979, the Ann Arbor News printed the following article concerning SSGT Rodriguez’s recollections of the battle of Iwo Jima:
“I remember just after we hit the beach at Iwo, we were really pinned down by Jap fire. We were in the second wave and the Japs let the first wave land without much fire but when we landed they opened up on both of us. They were up on terraces and shooting right down on us. SGT Michael Strank told me, ‘Joe, they’re going to find us with those mortars. We’ve got to run out of here. We’ve got to get these guys out of here.’ He told me he’d run first, about 30 yards to a ditch. ‘When I get there, I’ll signal and then you come. Then everybody else come running, one by one.’ He ran to the ditch and then signaled me to come on. At first I kind of ducked my head, acting like I didn’t see him. But then I’m yellow. And the guys in the platoon were so young. I couldn’t let them know I was scared. I said to the kid behind me, ‘I’m moving up with the sergeant. When I get there, I’ll signal, then you come. Then the guy next to you, right down the line.’ Well I ran to the ditch and SGT Strank looked at me and said, ‘What took you so long? What was the matter?’ Boy I wanted so badly to tell him just how scared I was. But that’s the whole thing, the secret. Everybody thinks of how they think about you. You don’t want to look bad in the eyes of your buddies. You don’t want them to know you’re scared. I guess everybody’s scared. Maybe that’s what keeps you motivated. That and the training.”
SSGT Joe Rodriguez died on February 23, 2003, and is buried at Saint Thomas Catholic Cemetery in Ann Arbor.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
