Iwo Jima, a Pennsylvania Story
(T. Gum, Site Admin., Pennsylvania Military Museum)
Operation Detachment is the official name of the Battle of Iwo Jima, in 1945. During this period of time, US forces captured the Marshal Islands along with the Marianas Islands, and the island of Truk Atoll was devastated by the many bombing raids, forcing the Imperial Japanese Army to reinforce areas to thereby counter the American Offensive.
The goal of Operation Detachment was to capture the island of Iwo Jima, including the three airfields. Further, the operation had two key objectives; establish a staging area for further attacks on the Japanese islands, and to destroy the ends, ways, and means that provided strategic capabilities of Japanese interceptor planes.
From the perspective of many Marines, including Mr. Samuel Holubec of Bellefonte, PA, the battle for the island would be hard-fought, a clear distinction from the peaceful hills of Centre County.
Holubec enlisted in the United States Marines in March of 1944, as part of Company B, Signal Corps Battalion, HQ Troops but would find himself attached to 3rd Battalion, 13th Artillery Regiment, V Amphibious Group (5th Marine Division) during the battle.
The adjacent artifacts are part of the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania Military Museum, donated by Mr. Holubec after the War. Worth noting, in its entirety, the collection allows us to follow him from enlistment, through the battle and returning home – including his bus tickets from the final trip home. Also part of the collection is his personal photographs.
Holubec arrived on Iwo Jima aboard LST #782, as part of the 5th Marines. Over the course of the subsequent weeks, Holubec and his brothers-in-arms would fight tenaciously for control of the island.
In the end, there were 26,040 US casualties, including 6,821 troopers killed in action. Years later, the battle of Iwo Jima would play a significant role in studies of strategic objectives, use of manpower and assets, and lead many to wonder… was it worth it?