Larry Linderman
At its February meeting, 99 Roundtable members watched in awe as SaddleBrooke resident Steve White related his uncle Nick’s experiences in the Battle of Iwo Jima from February through March of 1945. I’m sure not a single person in the audience wasn’t moved as Steve slowly and deliberately went over the battle from its planning, the initial surprise that there was no resistance, to the Marines’ initial landings, to the difficulties encountered in getting off the beaches, and to the fury with which the Japanese defenders fought to defend what they regarded as their homeland. Much of his talk centered on his uncle Nick’s letters to home. It was obvious that, to Steve, the battle was personal.
Iwo Jima was the costliest battle in the Pacific War to that date and the highest casualty rate the Marine Corps experienced since its founding in 1776. Almost 7,000 Marines gave their all, and another 19,000 were wounded. Virtually all of the 20,000 defenders were killed, either by their own hand or in battle. Our members were blown away by Steve’s gripping narrative.
This season the Roundtable has been blessed with wonderful speakers. We began the season in October with a remarkable lecture by Professor Price Fishback, Regent Professor of the University of Arizona, who laid out the true costs of World War II and summed it up with a quote from a song you’ll all remember: “War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!”
In November we were once again educated by another SaddleBrooke treasure, Bruce Rogers. A nuclear engineer, Bruce took a difficult subject and gave it life. He spoke on the road to plutonium, especially as it related to the temporary city of Hanford, Ore. This was Bruce’s second appearance before the Roundtable. He previously spoke on the building of liberty ships.
January brought back Mark Schwartz, a man with already impressive educational and work experience, who has a newly minted B.A. degree in World War studies from Arizona State University. He has spoken many times to the Roundtable, this time on what thought processes our enemies went through that led to bad outcomes for them and good ones for the Allies.
The SaddleBrooke World War II Roundtable meets once a month from October to May except for the month of December. Watch the SaddleBrooke newspapers for more information or join our mailing list by emailing [email protected].