World War II veteran Jim Bernardo is interviewed by Colorado filmmaker Larry Cappetto for a documentary on Iwo Jima. Bernardo is one of twelve veterans in the area whom Cappetto has interviewed this week.
The Enquirer/ Sarah Conard
Vet shares pride, horror
Battle of Iwo Jima memories filmed
World War II veteran Jim Bernardo is interviewed by Colorado filmmaker Larry Cappetto for a documentary on Iwo Jima. Bernardo is one of twelve veterans in the area whom Cappetto has interviewed this week. The Enquirer/ Sarah Conard |
HEBRON - A bright light catches a gleam in Jim Bernado's blue eyes as he remembers seeing the American flag raised over Iwo Jima on the morning of Feb. 23, 1945.
"I just looked up and I saw it," said Bernado, 79, tears brimming in his eyes. "It was a great feeling."
It marked the first time the flag had flown over traditionally Japanese territory and marked a turning point in World War II. The event was captured in a famous news photograph that inspired the United States Marine Memorial.
Bernado gave his account of the invasion Friday to filmmaker Larry Cappetto, who set up lights and a camera in the Hebron living room of the Marine veteran's son, Rob Bernado.
The Colorado filmmaker interviewed 12 area veterans of that battle in three days for his documentary series, "Lest They Be Forgotten," and he's interviewed almost 100 World War II veterans in the last two years.
"My hope is to come back here and do a second round of interviews," said Cappetto, 47, who has traveled to France three times to complete the series' first two volumes, which cover the 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy.
Cappetto said he began recording interviews with World War II veterans as a way to honor their service. The project quickly grew in scope as servicemen and their families contacted him through his Web site and asked to participate.
"This really has become a labor of love," Cappetto said.
Like the other men he's interviewed, Cappetto asks Bernado to recall the details of the night before the invasion, and the Corbin, Ky., man tells of a sleepless night and an early wake-up call.
"They served us a steak-and-egg breakfast, but I didn't partake of that - I didn't feel like eating," said Bernado, who had fought in two other invasions.
He served as a telephone field lineman, and Bernado remembered getting seasick on the approach.
"I'd almost rather hit the beach than stay on the boat," Bernado said. "The combination of the waves, the motion and the smell of the diesel (fuel) got to me."
Bernado told Cappetto that, once on the beach, he suffered from uncontrollable tremors.
"I would get the shakes so bad I could hardly control it," he said.
Almost 7,000 Americans - nearly one-third of the Marines who took part in the battle - were killed, but the victory allowed American B-29 bombing raids of Japan and cut kamikaze attacks on U.S. ships.
"I saw carnage and chaos and nothing standing," he said.
But, when asked, Bernado nods and says the sacrifice was necessary.
"We needed it desperately, and it was worth the price," he said.
"We captured an island that was beneficial to the whole operation."
To participate in the film, contact Larry Cappetto at (970) 254-9262 or visit http://www.veteranshistory.org