Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:38 | When John Huffhines hit the beach at Iwo Jima, it was just about the time the Japanese defenders unleashed their heavy artillery. They had been waiting for the beach to get crowded and, in the hellish barrage, he buried his face in the sand and knew it was the end of the world. Then he shook it off and rose up.
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He wanted to be a Marine Raider but he was six feet four inches tall and they told him he would get his head shot off. So John Huffhines went to telephone lineman's school where he learned to keep combat units connected. Soon he was camped on a lava field in Hawaii.
Lineman John Huffhines kept the telephone lines operational on Iwo Jima even as bullets flew all around and shells were landing. He had to remain alert because you never knew when one of the enemy would spring up from a hole. It was a long, dirty month of battle.
Marine John Huffhines had a friend from New York City who had never driven a car, so he suggested he look for one with the keys in it and go for it. He was joking but his friend took it seriously. Back on Hawaii after a nightmarish month on Iwo Jima, the unit began training for the assault on Japan.
