Roy Gerken remembers
the terrible fighting -- the staccato of the machine guns that he thinks so
damaged his hearing that he is almost deaf today.
But there are other
things the Hollywood resident could tell about Iwo Jima, an island that was the
site of some of the bloodiest battles in World War II's Pacific
theater.
He could talk about how the Marines in his unit would cook their
canned rations by burying them in soil so naturally charged with sulfuric acid,
it heated the food through the metal. He could mention the vicious black flies
that had bred unchecked, as they were sacred to the Japanese.
"They had
made no attempt to get rid of those varmints," said Gerken, 85, who served as a
machine gunner in the 3rd Marine Division. "We finally flew over and sprayed
diesel fuel, trying to kill some of those doggone flies."
These are the
types of tales Larry Cappetto wants to hear.
An independent filmmaker
from Grand Junction, Colo., he will be in Palm Beach County in mid-January to
record the oral histories of veterans who served on Iwo Jima.
In the
past two years, Cappetto has produced two tapes on the D-Day invasion. He sells
them on his Web site.
But he says his real goal is to get his work onto
public television or cable networks such as the History Channel, or distributed
as educational videos.
"I'm looking to get enough stories that I can do
justice to history," Cappetto, 47, said. "These people are my role models and my
heroes. ... I think what has meant the most to them is that someone has taken
the time to care and listen to them."
It's the first Florida visit for
Cappetto, who has filmed almost 100 veterans in several states. At one point
there were 65,000 Marines on Iwo Jima, an island one-third the size of
Manhattan. Some survivors, he figures, must be living in South Florida, home to
one of the nation's largest World War II veteran populations.
Although
Cappetto's is a for-profit venture, no money is exchanged between him and his
subjects. He reaches most of his participants through media coverage or articles
in veteran organizations' newsletters.
Cappetto interviewed Larry Meier,
a career Air Force officer who was in the Army during D-Day, while Meier was
visiting family in Colorado.
"His stuff is strictly professional," said
Meier, who lives in central Florida. "He doesn't ask you to talk about what you
don't want to divulge. He just wants to know what it was like to be there."
There are numerous ongoing World War II oral history projects, as
veterans are dying at a rate of 1,500 a day.
Anneliesa Behrend of the
Veterans History Project, an effort by the Library of Congress to collect
stories from veterans of all wars, knows of others such as Cappetto who are
selling videos. But Behrend hasn't heard of any problems or scams.
Cappetto describes his work as a "labor of love," inspired by an uncle
who served in World War II and his father, a Korean War veteran.
If
Gerken goes before Cappetto's camera, it will be the only time the veteran has
recorded his memories.
"There are a few things I would be happy to pass
on," said Gerken, who has attended 43 division reunions. "I think that some of
the history our children should be getting in school is being
overlooked."
Diane Lade can be reached at dlade@sun-sentinel.com or
561-243-6618.
