It’s February 19th, 1945. Iwo Jima. Nestled among craggy volcanic cliffs heavily armed Japanese soldiers in pillboxes see the approaching invasion force. In the distance, crammed like matchsticks into amphibious landing craft men from the 5th Marine Division lurch towards the beachhead and their fates under the drone of diesel engines. Among those in the first wave is 23-year-old Corporal Tony Stein from Dayton Ohio. As the slow moving boats come ominously into range the defenders open up with small arms, mortars and heavy machine guns. There’s a slap and the whistle of bullets as rounds and shrapnel hit frothy sea and tear through the boats’ thin hulls and into the Marines inside. Slamming onto the beach, their ramps drop with mighty crashes and the men scramble out and through the surf desperately trying to find some protection on shore. Stein starts forward and knows he has to act if he and his comrades are to survive the day. He deliberately tries to draw fire from the Japanese in an attempt to get their attention away from his comrades and also to get an idea of where the deadliest fire is coming from. With Macgyver-like ingenuity Stein and his cohorts are well-known for turning salvaged aircraft machine guns into buzzsaw-like personal infantry weapons aptly nicknamed “stingers.” They were fabricated from an M1 Garand stock, the sight and bipod of a BAR and a salvaged aircraft machine gun. Lastly, a carry handle from a Browning 1919 A6 was added to allow the men to fire it from the hip. Featuring blistering rates of fire exceeding 1,200 rounds per minute they’re lethal machines unlike anything the Japanese on Iwo Jima have ever seen. Leaping up and charging headlong towards a nearby pillbox Stein and his belching stinger have the enemy flustered and ducking for cover. Just a few meters away, he squeezes off the last few rounds through the narrow slit silencing the enemy soldiers inside. The stingers are an incredibly effective weapon but have two fundamental problems. First they burn through ammo at an alarming rate leaving the firer exposed and second their barrels can become so hot with the rapid fire that they actually warp. Out of ammo Stein turns and runs back down the beach to reload miraculously stopping along the way to retrieve a wounded soldier and drag him to safety. Then when he’s rearmed he takes off towards yet another Japanese position again exhausting his ammunition in mere seconds taking out the enemy soldiers and assisting a second wounded comrade on his way back down the beach. But this time before making it to safety there's an incoming shot. Stein is stunned as his stinger takes a direct hit and flies from his hands. With determination Stein retrieves it and continues on. Now sweating and dangerously close to overheating himself he jettisons his helmet and boots and grabs more ammo and storms another pillbox, then another, and then another retrieving stricken Marines each time while his fellow men look on in disbelief. In all Stein makes eight solo assaults often getting to within just a few feet of the pillboxes while all the while under withering fire. As the Marines later go on to storm the peak of the island’s dormant volcano, Mount Suribachi Stein is in the thick of it when a well-placed mortar round explodes near him sending hot shrapnel cutting into his shoulder. The now famous photograph of the American soldiers raising the flag over Iwo Jima is taken as Stein is recovering in a nearby hospital ship. In hospital Stein gets the word that again his beloved Marines are taking heavy losses in their quest to take a hill. Hill 362A is where isolated units of determined Japanese are still holed up in caves and bunkers and surrender isn’t an option. Against doctor’s orders he leaves the comfort of his infirmary bed and reunites with his unit and Stein leads a 19-man patrol against a Japanese machine gun nest which is holding up the advance of his entire company. Almost at the top the gutsy kid from the American Heartland takes a fatal shot from a distant sniper and drops on the spot. His selfless and brazen service earned him multiple honors including a Purple Heart and the nation's highest award - the Medal of Honor which was accepted by his proud but tearful mother and his young widow. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to the channel and please watch more videos of ours! Thank you!
can you do some more plane vids? i liked those! have a great day!