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| Still paying their respects after 65 years |
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| News | |||
| Written by Brian McCauley | |||
| Wednesday, 03 March 2010 09:00 | |||
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Herb Fickel of Paola slowly walks through Leavenworth National Cemetery on Feb. 20 surrounded by countless white grave markers of American soldiers. A brisk wintry chill sweeps across the 128-acre site, but Fickel and his friends, Jerry Ingram and Dick Graff, are not deterred.  Eventually, the three aging soldiers stop in front of a special memorial for members of the 4th Marine Division. Etched in the stone are the words “Dedicated to the memory of those who served with the Fourth Marine Division. WWII 1943-1945. When uncommon valor was a common virtue.” As they pay their respects to their fallen comrades, Fickel’s thoughts drift to the past. Although he has visited the memorial several times before, this time was different. This time marks an anniversary of one of the most pivotal battles in World War II, and one of the most emotionally and physically intense periods of Fickel’s life. It was Feb. 19, 65 years ago, when marines from the 4th Division first set foot on Iwo Jima to kick off an invasion that was supposed to be over in a week. As it turned out, the battle for the small island lasted a month, with heavy casualties experienced by both the Americans and Japanese. Fickel sees more than just stone and earth when he looks at the graves scattered throughout the cemetery, he sees the faces of his fallen friends and fellow soldiers. They’re faces Fickel knows he will never forget, but he is worried that as time passes, many younger Americans are beginning to forget the sacrifice those soldiers made. “I’m not doing this for my story,” Fickel said last week as he flipped through pictures of himself and fellow soldiers at the cemetery. “I am doing it for the guys we left there — and we left a lot of them.” A hero’s story Today, Fickel spends his days relaxing with his wife, Terry Ann, at Vintage Park in Paola. But for those who are willing to listen, Fickel is always ready to drop what he is doing and recount his war stories with the detail and emotion that could never be captured in a history book. He’ll talk about how his feet sank into the thick volcanic ash of Iwo Jima. How the Japanese soldiers would defend their territory to the death. And how he saw fellow soldiers gunned down in battle, while others cried out after being injured. He’ll talk about fellow veteran Ingram and how he lied about his age so he could enlist when he was 15. By the age of 16, he was a tank commander. He’ll even talk about the time he was hit by a piece of shrapnel while he was digging a foxhole into the volcanic ash, although he never reported it. “I wish I would have kept the shrapnel, but all I could think about was digging that hole deeper,” Fickel said. With the simple assistance of a pen and paper, Fickel will draw the basic pork chop design of the five-mile island and point out key landmarks, such as Mount Surabachi. Most of the Japanese fought to the death, with only a couple hundred of the more than 18,000 soldiers being taken prisoner, but American forces eventually took control of the island and used it for staging future air attacks on the Japanese mainland. “Marvin Clark (Paola businessman) landed twice in Iwo Jima, once when he lost an engine,” Fickel said. “He told me, ‘Thanks for helping take Iwo, it probably saved my life.’” A Lasting legacy Fickel knows that as America focuses on the current war, and World War II stretches further into the past, it’s becoming harder and harder to hear a story like his — straight from the soldier himself. Looking at photos of himself, Ingram and Graff taken at Leavenworth National Cemetery eight years ago, he compares them to the recent photos taken at the cemetery during the 65th anniversary. “That may have been our last trip there,” he said. Fickel knows that World War II veterans are becoming fewer and farther between. Fickel, Ingram and Graff all belong to the 4th Marine Division Association Heartland of America Chapter 39, a group of veterans from the Kansas City area. Fickel has seen the group’s membership dwindle from 25 or 30 to about five or six, and he wants to ensure that their stories don’t die with them. Part of that is ensured with the continuing existence of the 4th Marine Division and its new generation of American heroes. Some of those soldiers, members of the division’s 24th regiment, traveled from Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in Kansas City, Mo., to accompany Fickel and his fellow retired soldiers Feb. 20 at Leavenworth National Cemetery. Fickel’s own grandson, Derrick Fickel, is doing his part to continue his grandfather’s patriotic legacy. Derrick recently was given the rank of sergeant major, and he is set to be stationed in New Orleans this summer putting his advanced computer skills to work for the military. As for Fickel, he has enough war memorabilia and vivid memories to ensure those around him will not soon forget what he and his fellow soldiers did 65 years ago. And thanks to a VHS videotape recording that a few high school students made of Fickel telling his war story about eight years ago, future generations may get to hear the same piece of history straight from the mouth of an American hero. One thing’s for sure, anyone who wishes to hear Fickel’s story now, needs only pull up a chair and ask him. “I don’t want to be forgotten,” he said.
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