Description

Vol. 2 No. 18

Cover: The face of the combat soldier on this weeks cover photograph tells a story that no reporter could write. Bearded, staring and exhausted, it is the face of a man who has just been taken out of the front lines during the height of the bloody battle for Iwo Jima. This man and thousands like him made a landing, clawed their way through black volcanic sand to capture Mount Suribachi. Then they turned north and fought a 26-day campaign that will rank among the bloodiest ever fought. Complete destruction of the Jap force came only at the price of 45 percent casualties in dead and wounded among the attackers. These men won a key airbase which will bring the destruction of Japan months closer. Cpl Lyle D. Strain took the photo.

Articles Inside:

Iwo Airbase Marines and Japs alike knocked off to watch the first squadron of long-range fighters landing on battered Motoyama strip. And both sides knew what it meant. Bloody Iwo Jima was captured for one reason, to give us an air base closer to Tokyo. With its first complement of fighters, the base comes into its own. By Cpl. Bud Nelson and photos by Cpl. Lyle D. Strain

The Lost Superfort – A patrol landed on this remote island, fought through thick jungle to reach a crashed B-29. By Cpl. Richard L. Dugan and photos by Pvt. John Modzelewski

The Big Yellow Raft – The injured blister gunner was babbling and sharks circled the eight survivors of a B-29 ditching. Caught in a current, they were drifting hell-bent for Formosa at 100 knots a day. By S/Sgt Bob Speer

Guam Today – Named as an important American forward base, Guam is booming in a military way. Despite this her natives have reverted to an older way of life, look to the ways of peace. Photos by Pfc. Diego deArteaga

Editorial – San Francisco Conference

Forward Echelon Photos by Cpl. Lyle D. Strain and S/Sgt. W. B. Seefoldt

Troop Carrier College Photos by S/Sgt. W. B. Seefoldt

One damned island after another. By Cpl. Bud Nelson

Hawaii Sports Front

Servicemen in Sports

Sports Edited by Zander Hollander

File 13 By Sgt. Roger Angell

Male Call “Personnel Officer, Female, Civilian, Hep” by Milton Caniff

Offshore Crash ( B-29 at Saipan ) Photos by S/Sgt. Ed Kamper

Brief pinup – We don’t know why 20th Century-Fox should send us a picture of Lynn Bari on a tiger, unless they are making a picture from the famous short story, “The Lady or the Tiger.” That was about a gal whose best boyfriend was tossed into an arena in front of two doors. She had the choice of opening one door and letting out a beautiful dish who would marry the B.F., or a fierce tiger who would make hamburger out of him. If this illustrates the Hollywood Version, it is a cinch to see who wins. The lady, Lynn Bari, is in good condition, and the tiger ( played in the film by Lionel Barrymore ) is deader than $700. As we see it this will be a spectacle film, with 1000, count ’em, 1000 dancing girls in technicolor – a smasheroo. We can hardly wait.