February 19 is a date I always remember -- the anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima. It is hard to believe that it has been 65 years since the battle began. I was a radarman serving on the USS Pickens, APA 190, an amphibious assault vessel. Iwo is a small volcanic island that was defended by only about 20,000 Japanese but it was traversed by tunnels that protected the Japs. Iwo was important because of its airport and radar station. They detected our bombers on the way to bomb Tokyo and shot down our damaged planes returning to Saipan and Tinian. We joned other ships in landing marines who faced fierce opposition even at the beginning. Our ship served as an auxiliary hospital ship and our boats returned from the first landing with wounded marines.
Navy men went with the marines as beach parties to provide communications and direct the landing of tanks and other equipment. I asked to be assigned to a beach party but was of course denied ( to my relief). During landings I manned a phone at a debarkation station so was on the main deck and saw the American flag raised, lowered, and raised again, which was when Joe
Rosenthal shot his famous picture.
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Dear Roy, my father was on the USS Pickens. I apologies if I already sent you a message. It is late, I am tiered. I would sure like it if I could talk to you, email with you about the USS Pickens. I am looking for any crew photos or pictures.
ReplyDeleteRon Steinbecker
314-599-6060
ronsteinbecker@att.net
PS – My father was Warren Steinbecker, He always said he was a store keeper on the ship
Dear Roy – Our home burned down and we lost all photos of my dad, all his medals and uniform. I remember one picture he had that he said was a tradition that sailors did when they crossed the Ecuador. I seen a bunch of sailors in their under ware, need I say more? We have a shell left in my brothers possession that has some kind of script on it. My brother and I are not talking for now, but I have sent my sister to covertly write down what is on it. I always presumed that it was given to him upon exiting the navy after the war. Unfortunately my father and I did not talk much about the war. He would just speak in short one line sentence when asked and he would move on, change the subject. He died in 2000 and like most children must feel – wish we had talked more. He was not a huger or an. I love you kind of guy. I feel a great need to find out more about his time during the war, as I am just getting into this genealogy stuff.
ReplyDeleteRon Steinbecker (Warren Steinbecker)
314-599-6060
ronsteinbecker@att.net