Surviving Veterans of Iwo Jima Return to the Island After 70 Years

Transcript

Event Date(s): 03/21/2015 | Event Location(s): Iwo Jima | Description: EXT DAY MS: Members of the military wheel two Marines (and World War II veterans) in wheelchairs on the tarmac. CLIP: World War II footage of Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima. STILL: Black and white photo of Iwo Jima veteran John Lauriello and a Japanese soldier. EXT DAY MS: In an interview Lauriello says, “Anybody that survives is damn lucky. There’s no other explanation for it surviving that thing.” STILL: B&W photo of Marines on the island. EXT DAY IWO JIMA MS: NBC News Correspondent Harry Smith, walking on the beach, reports on-camera. CLIP: World War II footage of cannons being fired, of fireballs on the hillside, of fighter planes in flight, of smoke rising during the air strike, of soldiers firing rocket launchers and of Marines on landing crafts and of Marines crawling on the ground. EXT DAY MS: In an interview with Smith, Navy Corpsman Leo Tuck says, “We actually thought it was going to be a piece of cake and it didn’t turn out to be that way.” CLIP: World War II footage of soldiers running and explosions, of Marines assisting a wounded Marine, of medics carrying a Marine on a stretcher, of a medic rolling a wounded Marine onto a stretcher, of Marines firing their weapons and of a Marine launching a grenade. EXT DAY AERIAL: Mount Suribachi seen on the island. STILL: Joe Rosenthal photo of Marines raising the American flag. EXT DAY MS: Low-angle shot of a man (in military uniform) raising the American flag. MS: A member of the military presents a World War II veteran with a folded American flag. MS: A Marine folds an American flag as man looks on. CU: An American flag being folded seen. MS: Veteran Wood Williams, in an interview with Smith, says, “If we had never raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, you probably would have never heard of Iwo Jima.” GFX: Insert B&W photo of Williams. STILL: B&W photo of President Harry Truman and Williams. CLIP: World War II footage of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima. EXT DAY MS: Williams says, “It not only lifted our spirits here on this rock, it lifted the spirits of America. It’s just whoo.” CLIP: World War II footage of rockets being launched and of Marines walking. GFX: Insert then-Lieutenant General Lawrence Snowden. STILL: B&W photo of Snowden talking on the radio. INT MS: Snowden, looking out of the plane’s window, wipes away a tear. EXT DAY AERIAL: Iwo Jima and body of water seen. EXT DAY MS: In an interview Snowden says, “I don't want to tell you I cried. Nothing wrong with the real man crying real tears. And I did. But those kinds of things I don’t care how many years go by, seventy, if it’s a hundred and six, I can’t wipe out memories like that.” EXT DAY MS: Marines and World War II veterans ride an all-terrain-vehicle. MS: Panning shot from one World War II veteran to another veteran seated in the front seat. MS: Marine kneeling in front of a World War II veteran seen. CLIP: World War II footage of Marines, in front of the raised American flag, waving on Mount Suribachi. VO: Smith signs off from Iow Jima.