By Bud Shortridge

I'm sure most of you remember hearing about the "Invasion of Iwo Jima", but can you just imagine the amount of supplies that had to be transported nearly 4,000 mile to support such a movement of a huge fighting force to get the job completed.

Admiral Nimitz assembled a "bull pen" of rooms and stocked the rooms with the experts from every facet of Nneeds" to move a fighting force, supply that fighting force n such a way that victory was certain.

So, in these rooms were Navy men, Marines, and a scattered few from the Army; cryptographers and intelligence officers, communications men, experts in weaponry and logistics, doctors making plans to treat the wounded, other people to see that the dead were collected and buried, clergy and finance officers, censors and public relations men ----- all with the special backgrounds and skills to run and supply a giant, cumbersome military machine.

How well their work was done could mean victory or disaster before the first shot was fired across the beaches. So the planners had begun to determine the needs of battle: thousands of men, countless numbers of tanks and bulldozers, mountains of artillery shells and millions of rounds of rifle and machine gun ammunition, enough food and supplies to fill the larder of a medium-sized city in the states. And, an armada of ship to carry the cargoes and deliver them to the target on schedule.

Seventy-three mass-produced Liberty and Victory transports would haul the troops and combat necessities. Each ship would have rations for sixty days, 6,000 five-gallon cans of water, gasoline for twenty-five days for all vehicles, 5,263 pounds of grease, ammunition for all assault troops and weapons aboard, bandages and medicine for thirty days, maintenance materials for all weapons and vehicles, spare parts for communication equipment, and thirty days of general supplies for all troops.

The transported weight for each Marine was 1,322 pounds, and every item was needed. Paper and pencils. Blood plasma and bandages. Matches and maps. Bullets and batteries. Holy water and white crosses. Splints and shoelaces. Spark plugs and smoke pots. Dog food and garbage cans. Welding rods and asphalt-making machines. Flashlights and flares and fingerprint ink. Carbon paper and house paint. Blankets and light bulbs. Toilet paper and socks. Duplication machines and movie projectors. The Fifth Division would carry 100,000,000 cigarettes and enough food to feed the population of Atlanta, Georgia for a month.

Yep!!!!..........that is one "heck" of alot of "stuff".....but the Liberty's & Victory's got the boys there....and we stocked them good.

Just thought You'all would find the above somewhat interesting.

Hey....if you got a comment...never hesitate to give me a "shout".