Finally I gave him my bolo knife and told him that only after he had shot the carbine and stuck the enemy with the bolo could he wake me. When it was his turn, he woke me up every time he heard land crabs. I took the first watch and let Red sleep. Trying to move that sand was like digging flour. My partner Red and I were to share a foxhole. There was a 30-degree slope up from the beach I barely made it to the top of that volcanic sand. It was getting dark when I got to shore, close to Mount Suribachi.
Once that was ready we moved out-trucks, more Cats, and my Northwest 25 crane. A Caterpillar bulldozer went first, to build a dirt ramp. We started our engines, the LST opened its bow doors, and the ramp dropped. ON D+2 WE WERE JUST OFF THE SOUTH END OF THE ISLAND, in a Landing Ship, Tank. A Seabee on Iwo Jima: They Also Served Who Drove Cranes and Cats | HistoryNet Close
