Historical tours bring veterans, historians to Iwo Jima

Cpl. Jim Goodrich was wounded by machine gun fire before he could make to it to the top of Mount Suribachi with the rest of his 5th Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
But 64 years later, Goodrich hopes to stand on top of the historic battle site when he travels there this week as part of the annual trip, which is organized by Military Historical Tours.
"I was mostly on my stomach then. I'd like Japan tours to stand up and look around there," Goodrich said while having lunch at Jeff's Pirates Cove yesterday. A group of about a dozen Iwo Jima veterans, as well as their family, friends and some historians, will depart on a day trip to Iwo Jima tomorrow and Thursday. Guam is the gathering place for the annual tour. Yesterday, they visited various sites around the island.
Mount Suribachi is where Marines and a Navy corpsman raised a large U.S. flag on Feb. 23, 1945 -- a few days into the bloody, monthlong battle. The flag-raising was the subject of a prize-winning photo that was the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in the nation's capital.
Goodrich said he never thought about returning to Iwo Jima or to Guam, where he was transported after being shot in 1945. He stayed on Guam for about 13 days before he was stabilized and sent to Hawaii for further treatment, he said.
But Goodrich made plans after his doctor said he would accompany him if Goodrich decided to go. The Marine veteran also said the trip was a good and rare opportunity for him and his grandson, who is a history teacher, to visit Iwo Jima.