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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 25, 2006 Iwo Jima survivor Murph Rosenstein, shown in the den of his Medford home, bears scars from his experience in World War II. His memories of the battle for the Japanese island remain vivid. (Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli) The Real Iwo Jima Medford veteran recounts the horrors of WWII battle captured on film this year By Paul Fattig Mail Tribune Murph Rosenstein has no desire to see the just-released film about the World War II battle on Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood. He has nothing against the director or the flick. In fact, he understands the reviews of "Letters From Iwo Jima" indicate the movie from the Japanese perspective is well done. "But I already have a tough time with it — I'm a very bad sleeper, always have been in my adult life," explained the Medford resident, a former Marine who was wounded on the island during the ferocious island-hopping campaign in World War II. The movie is a companion to Eastwood's earlier released "Flags of Our Fathers," which focused on the Marines who raised the stars and stripes on Mount Suribachi. Nearly 26,000 U.S. Marines were wounded and some 7,000 killed on Iwo Jima after the Corps invaded it on Feb. 19, 1945. Before the battle, the small island with two airstrips had been a relatively unknown part of the Japanese homeland. Advertisement "The reason we needed to take Iwo was that we needed its two air strips," said the retired businessman who served with the 4th Marine Division. "So many bombers and their crews were getting shot down because we didn't have fighter escorts for them." The smaller fighters couldn't fly as far as the longer-range bombers, making it necessary for the Allies to obtain air bases closer to target areas, he noted. "It was only a 21„2-mile wide by 4-mile long island," he said. "But it was very important." In the Medford home he shares with Glenda, his wife of 41 years, is a study where he has hung memorabilia and photographs of the war. One photograph shows a smiling Private Rosenstein straight out of boot camp. Next to it is a photograph of a somber private first class immediately after Saipan in September of 1944. "I aged," he observed. One photograph he has is of a Marine on the beach of Iwo Jima, a bayonet fixed to his M-1 rifle. At first glance, it appears as if he is about to complete his assault. But a closer look reveals a bullet hole through the helmet of the dead Marine. Rosenstein, 82, would serve on Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. Although he wasn't on the initial landing of Saipan, he saw grim sights on the island. "The Japanese military had told the civilians on Saipan that we were savages, cannibalistic," he said. "They said we would eat the children." As a result, after warfare caused civilians to retreat to the top of a 200-foot cliff on the end of the island, the parents threw their children over onto the rocks before jumping themselves, he said. "We witnessed that from a distance," he said of the emotionally painful experience. Iwo Jima had horrors of its own. The Marines had to breathe in the repugnant smell of sulphur bubbling up from the volcanic island as well as the stench of more than 2,000 comrades-in-arms laid out on the beach and covered with ponchos. "We didn't have time to bury them," he said. "There were Japanese snipers crawling under the ponchos and using them as cover. Every morning at daybreak, two or three guys went around with BARs (Browning automatic rifles) and shot the bodies to get the snipers." The volcanic ash also made it impossible to dig a foxhole because the sides would collapse, he said. "So we couldn't dig in," he said. "My memory is of body parts. Body parts were just flying around. You figured you were next. "I remember one time during a real bad barrage that I looked up and said, 'Mom, if you can help me, help me now,' " he said. "Anybody who said they weren't scared is lying." Rosenstein arrived on the seventh wave of the invasion. "They (Japanese) let that many in before they opened fire," he said. "They were trying to trap us on the beach." The Japanese forces made their main defense in natural caves on the island, making it nearly impossible for American bombing to have any affect. "They even had a hospital and a mess hall in the caves," he said. Rosenstein was wounded attacking one of those caves. "There was a guy carrying a flamethrower and another guy carrying a BAR," he said of that day, noting he was carrying a rifle. "There was an explosion. A gas tank in the cave went off. There were also grenades exploding. Everybody got hit." In addition to being severely burned, Rosenstein was struck just over the left eye by grenade fragments, nearly taking out his eye. He was out of action. After being taken to a hospital ship, he was transferred to Guam where he spent another six weeks in the hospital. His mother back in Bethlehem, Penn., received the following telegram from the Corps on April 7, 1945. "My dear Mrs. Rosenstein," it began. "A report has just been received that your son, Private First Class Abe Rosenstein, USMC, sustained burns of the leg in action against the enemy on 26 Feb., 1945 at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. "The report further states he was removed for medical treatment," it added. "His condition is reported to be favorable." Rosenstein, who officially changed his first name to "Murph" because that's what his Irish Catholic boyhood chums had dubbed him, didn't receive his Purple Heart medal earned during the battle until 2002. He credits the tenacity of the staff at the Jackson County Veterans Office for obtaining it. Like many other veterans, he collected souvenirs from the war. "One Japanese sergeant I got to first had a scrapbook that included pictures of his family," he said. "That made me very sad. There were kids in there. He also had newspaper clippings of the war from Japanese newspapers." In addition, there is also an unusual cartoon featuring a caricature of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The four-frame cartoon concludes with FDR hiding under his desk as the Japanese advance. But the WWII combat veteran, who follows closely the mounting war dead in Iraq, will tell you there is nothing humorous about war. "I'll be very honest with you — I do a lot of crying for those guys dying in Iraq," he said. "I'm not ashamed of it. "I don't think the whole country of Iraq is worth the life of one of our service men," he added, noting no Iraqis were involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Afghanistan, I can understand that," he continued. "We should have gone in there and finished that job completely." Back in his study is a photograph of three laughing Marines, and he's one of them. They were on liberty in Honolulu after Saipan, celebrating life, he explained. "That's me on the left," he said. "The other two are Craig — I don't remember his last name right now — and Jimmy Edwards. They were both killed on Iwo." Rosenstein was discharged as a corporal on Feb. 19, 1946, a year to the day after the Iwo Jima assault began. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or at [email protected] Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com