The Importance of Memorial Day #338 By Hank Silverberg On February 19, 1945, more than 70,000 Marines stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima and fought a 36 day battle--one of the most crucial battles in the Pacific theatre of World War Two. My father, just 11 days after his 19th birthday, was one of those Marines. (Iwo Jima flag raising, Public Domain) On the second day a mortar round landed in the fox hole where he and members of his platoon had taken cover. Dad was wounded in the chest. His comrades were all killed. It was his third beach landing of that war, which he survived. He rarely talked about it when I was growing up. He died at age 78 after decades of a disability related to that wound. I often think about Dad on Memorial Day, even though the holiday is really dedicated to those who died in combat in all our nation's w...