WARHAWK
WARHAWK AIR MUSEUM...ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY
THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA
BEGAN...NYSSA HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS GOT
TO MEET...AND THANK...A
WORLD WAR II VETERAN
AND HERO.
HIS NAME IS ERNIE
FERGUSON.
AND HE SO WANTED TO
JOIN THE FIGHT IN WORLD
WAR 2...HE TRIED TO SIGN
UP FOR THE MARINE CORP
AT THE AGE OF 16.
THEY MADE HIM
WAIT...BUT ONLY ABOUT A
YEAR AND A HALF.
ERNIE WAITED A LOT
LONGER THAN
THAT...MORE THAN SEVEN
DECADES...TO RETURN TO
THE PLACE THAT IS
CONSIDERED ONE OF THE
BLOODIEST AMPHIBIOUS
ASSAULTS IN OUR
MILITARY HISTORY.
THE BATTLE OF PELELIU
SAW 40-PERCENT OF THE
MARINES AND SOLDIERS
EITHER KILLED OR
INJURED.
ERNIE THOUGHT HE'D
SEEN ENOUGH OF THE
PLACE THE MONTH OR SO
HE SPENT THERE IN 1944.
BUT HE WAS WRONG.
A LOT HAS BEEN SAID
ABOUT THE INTRINSIC
VALUE OF A PHOTOGRAPH.
BUT
BUT SOMETIMES A PICTURE CARRIES MORE
WEIGHT
WEIGHT THAN ANY AMOUNT OF WORDS. SERGEANT ERNIE
FERGUSON WILL BE 96
YEARS OLD THIS
NOVEMBER.
BUT WAY BACK IN
1942...ERNIE JOINED THE
MARINES...AS SOON AS HE
TURNED 18.
"I LIKE THE UNIFORM
HAHA."
"AND I LIKED THEIR
SPIRIT."
HE WANTED TO GO
WHERE THE ACTION
WAS...SO THEY SENT HIM
67-HUNDRED MILES
ACROSS THE
PACIFIC...WHERE ON
SEPTEMBER 15, 1944...THE
FIRST MARINE DIVISION
HIT THE SHORE OF
PELELIU...A TINY TWO-BY-
SIX-MILE LINK IN THE
PALAU ISLAND CHAIN.
"PELELIEU I WAS IN THE
FIRST WAVE."
ERNIE...PART OF COMPANY
B, FIRST BATTALION, FIFTH
REGIMENT...REMEMBERS
LANDING ON ORANGE
BEACH...BUT HIS FEELINGS,
HE DIDN'T COMMITT TO
MEMORY.
"I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO
FEEL ANY EMOTIONS."
"I KEEP TELLING MYSELF I
WAS TOO DUMB TO BE
SCARED...I DON'T
RECOLLECT BEING SCARED
I MUST HAVE BEEN."
"BUT YOU DON'T HAVE
TIME TO BE SCARED THEY
GIVE YOU WHERE THEY
WANT YOU TO BE AT
WHAT DATE AND THERE'S
WHERE YOU HEAD."
HE WAS SUPPOSED TO
HEAD TO THE
AIRSTRIP...THE PRIMARY
PURPOSE OF WHAT IS
NOW SEEN AS A
QUESTIONABLE MILITARY
AQUISITION.
THE JAPANESE WERE NOT
GOING TO GIVE IT UP
EASILY.
"I EMPTIED MY RIFLE,
STEPPED BACK, WHERE I
COULD RELOAD, AND THE
MAN BEHIND ME STEPPED
UP AND MACHINE GUN
CAUGHT HIM."
NEARLY 10-THOUSAND
AMERICANS WERE KILLED
OR INJURED IN
OPERATION STALEMATE 2...
"SUPPOSED TO BE A
THREE DAY BATTLE AND I
WAS THERE ABOUT A
MONTH."
BY DAY TWO...ERNIE
REMEMBERS REACHING
HIS OBJECTIVE.
"UH I WAS THE FIRST ONE
TO THE AIRPORT."
"I FELT KIND OF LONELY
BY MYSELF DODGING
MACHINE GUN BULLETS
AND CROSSING THAT
AIRPORT."
IT WAS ONLY AFTER IT
WAS OVER THAT ERNIE
REALIZED THE COST OF
PELELIU...BUT IT DIDN'T
DIMINISH HIS
DETERMINATION TO FIGHT
FOR HIS COUNTRY
"I
"I MAY
"I MAY GET A LITTLE EMOTIONAL SOMETIMES, BRINGING THIS BACK
BUT...WE WAS EITHER
GOING TO WIN OR WE
WASN'T COMING BACK."
WHICH BRINGS US BACK
TO THIS PICTURE...TAKEN
LAST MONTH...IN PELELIU.
THAT'S ERNIE...BACK ON
ORANGE BEACH...FOR THE
FIRST TIME...SINCE THE
LAST TIME.
"I WANTED TO DO IT, IT
WAS A DREAM COME TRUE
TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT."
ERNIE SAYS HE WASN'T
EXACTLY FLOODED WITH
MEMORIES GOING BACK...
"FOR 75 YEARS I TRIED TO
FORGET."
BUT THOSE
EMOTIONS...THAT HE
NEGLECTED LAST
TIME...THIS
TIME...WALKING ACROSS
THAT AIRSTRIP
AGAIN...THEY WEREN'T SO
EASY TO IGNORE.
"IT WSA SOMETHING ELSE
TO REALIZE I MOVED
AWFUL SLOW THIS LAST
TIME FIRST TIME I WAS
THERE I WAS MOVING A
LITTLE FASTER."
AND THIS TIME INSTEAD
OF HIS BROTHERS IN
ARMS...HE BROUGHT
ALONG HIS SON, DAN.
"I'LL NEVER FORGET IT."
"I GOT TO GO BACK WALK
IN THE SAME SAND AT
ORANGE BEACH THE SAME
SAND MY DAD MADE AN
ASSAULT ON I GOT TO GO
BACK WALK THAT SAME
AIRSTRIP THAT THEY
ASSAULTED."
"I GOT TO DO THAT WITH
MY 95 YEAR OLD
DAD...WHO GETS TO DO
THAT?"
PICTURES CAN BRING
BACK A LOT OF
MEMORIES...BUT
SOMETIMES ACTUALLY
GOING BACK...CAN
GOING BACK...CAN
RESURRECT
RESURRECT A LOT MORE. "TO BE ABLE TO PAY MY RESPECTS TO THOSE THAT
DIDN'T MAKE IT, THAT
PAID THE EXTREME
SACRIFICE, WAS A VERY
HUMBLING EXPERIENCE."
"I WOULDN'T TAKE FOR
THAT EXPERIENCE OF
GOING BACK A SECOND
TIME IN FACT I WON'T
TAKE FOR MY EXPERIENCE
IN THE MARINE CORP I'D
HATE TO HAVE TO LIVE IT
AGAIN BUT I WOULDN'T
TAKE FOR WHAT THEY
INSTILLED IN ME."
ONCE
ONCE A
ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE...95 AND STILL GETTING AROUND PRETTY
WELL.
IN FACT, THE HARDEST
PART OF THE TRIP FOR
ERNIE WAS THE 24 HOUR
FLIGHT TO GET THERE.
IN SPITE OF ALL HIS
MILITARY
EXPERIENCES...ERNIE SAID
THE TOUGHEST THING
HE'S EVER HAD TO DO
WAS TAKE HIS SON TO THE
BUS STATION...BECAUSE
DAN WAS GOING TO BE A
HELICOPTER PILOT
DURING THE VIETNAM
WAR.