25th Marine Regiment的动态

D+2 80 years ago today at 0500, an enemy force of 100 Japanese #infantry assaulted 1st Battalion 25th Marines’ position on the regiment’s left flank and was promptly repelled. As the sun rose over the island of #IwoJima, friendly #artillery and close air support bombarded the battle space ahead of the day’s resumed attacks. The #USMarines of the Regiment pressed the assault amidst heavy and accurate enemy fires, incurring heavy casualties as a result. Among them was 1st Battalion’s commander, LtCol Hollis U Mustain, who fell while directing his Marines in a daring and heroic attack against the strategic amphitheater. LtCol Mustain would later be awarded the military’s second highest honor – the #NavyCross – for his leadership during the opening days of the battle. When a platoon of Company A, 1st Battalion 25th Marines was held up by a barrage of Japanese grenades northeast of Airfield Number One, the acting platoon sergeant, Sergeant Ross F Gray, proceeded alone on a one-man reconnaissance. Discovering a heavily mined area between his platoon and the enemy’s fortifications, Sgt Gray came under a hail of enemy small arms fire. Undeterred, he single-handedly cleared a path through the minefield and, after returning to his platoon and informing his leadership of the situation, he volunteered to initiate an attack under the covering fire of three of his #Marines. Carrying nothing but a satchel charge, Sgt Gray crept through the minefield to an enemy emplacement and used it to seal the entrance, immediately drawing enemy machine gun fire in the process. Sgt Gray crawled back and forth between the enemy’s fortifications and his platoon, throwing charge after charge into the enemy’s positions. By the end of his attack, Sgt Gray had destroyed 6 Japanese emplacements, killing more than 25 enemy soldiers and destroying a quantity of enemy ordnance. For these actions, Sgt Gray would later be awarded the nation’s highest honor – the #MedalofHonor. A gap formed between the 1st and 2nd Battalions, but was quickly plugged by what remained of the decimated 3d Battalion 25th Marines. As a cold drizzle began to fall, the Regiment was ordered to dig in for the night to allow the unit to consolidate. #UncommonValor #SemperFidelis 4th Marine Division Official United States Marine Corps photos