Men relive experiences overseas and in battle
By Jessica Thy Nguyen Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – William Macaskill, a World War II Purple Heart recipient, mentioned the diversity of those who fought in the war, which was representative of the few veterans who attended Saturday’s Wartime Memories program. And, the stories they shared at the Gilroy Community Library described a collective experience of the war.
Now in his 80s, Macaskill was 19 when he landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in February 1945, as part of the initial wave of Marines.
“It was covered with volcanic ash,” Macaskill said. “As you tried to crawl through the ash you’d just sink in.”
The battle over Iwo Jima’s 7.5-square-mile of land lasted 36 days and involved 75,000 Marines and 22,000 Japanese troops.
Macaskill described his experience crawling through the island and battling enemies hidden in bunkers and underground caves.
“All of a sudden the sky would light up with all those shells,” he said. “You’d look up and you’d see a body crawling towards you, and you were frightened because you knew the next thing would probably be a grenade tossed your way.”
Without really understanding why they were fighting on an island more than 650 miles from the Japanese mainland, the Marines eventually triumphed March 26, 1945.
Macaskill was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained from enemy shrapnel. Audience members asked how he handled going into battle against an enemy he never set eyes on. “You just do it, and of course when you’re younger you’re invincible.”
After returning from battle, Macaskill said he remembered how tight lipped the combatants were with their families about the events on Iwo Jima. The sharing of wartime experiences has been a phenomena only in the last decade, he said.
Along with his story, he brought newspaper clippings and documentation during combat, including a newspaper from the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
As Macaskill spoke, collective responses were made from the audience in awe of his experiences.
He said it was important for him to share his memories with others because of something he learned from an older gentleman at the age of 15.
“I was asked to accompany the oldest living Civil War veteran to the [soldiers] graves,” Macaskill said. “I talked to this gentleman who gave me some wonderful advice: ‘Keep the knowledge of what happened in our country alive.’ ”
Since he’d been in battle, Macaskill said he visited high schools and followed those exact words.
Chief Master Sgt. Doroteo John Valezuela, shared his battle experiences as well. Valezuela, only 17 when he joined the Coast Guard, participated in eight assault landings.
As he passed around his pictures and letters from the war, there was one in particular which caught the most interest among the audience. It was a commendation letter signed by President Harry S. Truman, which recognized Valezuela for his courageous efforts and called him “one of the finest in the Armed Forces.”
Valezuela said the most devastating battle experience for him was at Leyte in the Philippines, where Japan deployed their first kamikaze aircrafts.
After his final battle in Luzon, which also took place in the Philippines, Valezuela asked to be transferred to the Air Force from where he eventually retired.
The highest ranking veteran at the event, Lt. Cmdr. Cornelius Neil Haggerty, was the only veteran there who was married during the time of his combat. His wife accompanied him throughout his career, living on different bases and meeting the wives of his fellow pilots.
Haggerty spoke of an incident where he and his wife invited five other pilots to dinner, and only three showed up. He said his wife immediately asked him where they were. ”
Haggerty said he wanted to share the story about his wife because his children never knew the extent of what she’d endured during his military career.
“A lot of the wives had to live through a lot during the war,” he said. “It was hardest for those who stayed.”
