My father's name is Malcolm James "buck" Keep from Memphis, Tennessee. The local "Forever Young" organization here in Memphis is wanting to take him (and me) on a tour of Guam and special ceremony that is to be held in March at Iwo. My father was with the 2nd Armored Amph.. he along with his constant companion, Charles Ciulla, were driver and radio operator respectively. Although the two of them were basically recon Marines, they were constantly reassigned always together to different units, from Guam, to Saipian, and finally both of them surviving Iwo. Charles I understand died a number of years ago, but my father, thou in poor health, has very good mental faculties and remembers so much about the war, and especially how horribly Iwo was. I am attempting to find Charles Ciulla's son, who still lives in Mass. the forever young people want to invite him for the trip also... I'm sure he would love to hear stories about his father and his exploits during the war.. both of these men saw extreme combats in all the theaters, and were called "rain walkers" by the new troops.. they managed to survive all these invasion without a physical scratch.. My father, of course, has began to talk more about the war then he ever did in his life.. and his stories would make a Clint Eastwood movie.. as a matter of fact, the book: "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley features a photo of him (unbeknownst to the author) of my father assisting a wounded officer down to the beach on Iwo.. It's featured at the beginning of chapter 8 if anybody wants to look it up.. Both Charlie and my father lost their amph on the first day and basically finished the campaign hunting down Japaneses in their tunnels.. experiences that were horrifying to say the least.. he always said he would have never made it through the war without his buddy Charlie Ciulla. I wish to find his son.
My father's name is Malcolm James "buck" Keep from Memphis, Tennessee. The local "Forever Young" organization here in Memphis is wanting to take him (and me) on a tour of Guam and special ceremony that is to be held in March at Iwo. My father was with the 2nd Armored Amph.. he along with his constant companion, Charles Ciulla, were driver and radio operator respectively. Although the two of them were basically recon Marines, they were constantly reassigned always together to different units, from Guam, to Saipian, and finally both of them surviving Iwo. Charles I understand died a number of years ago, but my father, thou in poor health, has very good mental faculties and remembers so much about the war, and especially how horribly Iwo was. I am attempting to find Charles Ciulla's son, who still lives in Mass. the forever young people want to invite him for the trip also... I'm sure he would love to hear stories about his father and his exploits during the war.. both of these men saw extreme combats in all the theaters, and were called "rain walkers" by the new troops.. they managed to survive all these invasion without a physical scratch.. My father, of course, has began to talk more about the war then he ever did in his life.. and his stories would make a Clint Eastwood movie.. as a matter of fact, the book: "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley features a photo of him (unbeknownst to the author) of my father assisting a wounded officer down to the beach on Iwo.. It's featured at the beginning of chapter 8 if anybody wants to look it up.. Both Charlie and my father lost their amph on the first day and basically finished the campaign hunting down Japaneses in their tunnels.. experiences that were horrifying to say the least.. he always said he would have never made it through the war without his buddy Charlie Ciulla. I wish to find his son.
Mickey - I enjoyed talking to you by phone and look forward to hearing to hearing more of your dad's stories concerning his experiences with the 2nd Armored Amphibian Battalion and other Marine units during the war. Reed Fawell
My Father was Louis P. Tapio (LVT Driver Company C 2d Armored Amphiboius Battalion) that was mentioned in the boxing article that took place on Saipan. He was an Oglala Sioux Indian & lied about his age & joined the Marines with his buddy Clement Crazy Thunder, right off the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.They were both 17 yrs old. His unit was in Saipan and joined the Spearhead when the invasion force stopped there on the way to Iwo Jima. He was in the 1st wave to land on Beach Green with Lt Vanderkolk. I remember him talking about Jerry Brooks, John Crawley and some of those other guys mentioned in the boxing article. He turned 19 on March 8th and sadly, his buddy Clement that joined when he did, was KIA on Iwo. I have some pics that I would like to post, I just have to figure out how to attach them to this post. It was 70 years ago today that our brave forces went ashore and I always wonder what the heck was going through all those boys minds as they approached the beach. I can only imagine. I would love to hear from any relatives of any of these men to share a story or pictures of their time in the Corps. Thanks & Semper Fi robert.tapio@boystown.org
Thank you Robert for your post. I'd be happy to post the photos you mentioned. Just send them to my e-mail address reedfawell@yahoo.com. Once I hear back from you I'll e-mail back some names and phone numbers of those who quite likely knew your dad. Best Reed Fawell 3rd
I'm over 60 years old and never knew my uncle John W. Mahan, my father's younger brother. I always knew he died in WWII and thought he had been a pilot. This past Memorial Day, I got to wondering what his story was and how he died. I searched and searched until I found your website and yelled to my husband, "I found it!". Though there were just a few lines in the Saipan page about John Mahan, it provided a wealth of information for me. I quickly shared the information with my cousins and one of them actually had his dog tags and bronze star, so she shared pictures of that. None of the family knew the details provided here, so we are extremely thankful for the men who told the story of Saipan and for recounting details like those of Uncle John that may have been small in words, but HUGE to family members. I also have a much greater appreciation of all of those who fought at Saipan and for their contributions to our freedom! Thank you again for helping me find the story of John Mahan.
Thank you so much for your post and e-mail with photos of John Mahan and his dog talks. Yes, they are all heroes, I am thrilled to learn of the wonderful results on your good work on Memorial Day. The photos will be posted next week on my return home. Reed Fawell
Hello, My name is Jeff Stern and I have been working on documenting my Dad's war experiences. His name was Jack Albert Stern and was a driver of an LVTA with the Second Armored on Iwo Jima. He landed on Blue Beach I which I believe was Company A. Is there anyone out there that might have any info about Dad on Iwo and also the movements of Second Armored Amphibian Battalion after Iwo to the end of the war. God bless those men of the greatest generation.
Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 01:35PM
Reader Comments (35)
Will do, Weldon, and I'll post information here and by e-mail.
My father's name is Malcolm James "buck" Keep from Memphis, Tennessee. The local "Forever Young" organization here in Memphis is wanting to take him (and me) on a tour of Guam and special ceremony that is to be held in March at Iwo. My father was with the 2nd Armored Amph.. he along with his constant companion, Charles Ciulla, were driver and radio operator respectively. Although the two of them were basically recon Marines, they were constantly reassigned always together to different units, from Guam, to Saipian, and finally both of them surviving Iwo. Charles I understand died a number of years ago, but my father, thou in poor health, has very good mental faculties and remembers so much about the war, and especially how horribly Iwo was. I am attempting to find Charles Ciulla's son, who still lives in Mass. the forever young people want to invite him for the trip also... I'm sure he would love to hear stories about his father and his exploits during the war.. both of these men saw extreme combats in all the theaters, and were called "rain walkers" by the new troops.. they managed to survive all these invasion without a physical scratch.. My father, of course, has began to talk more about the war then he ever did in his life.. and his stories would make a Clint Eastwood movie.. as a matter of fact, the book: "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley features a photo of him (unbeknownst to the author) of my father assisting a wounded officer down to the beach on Iwo.. It's featured at the beginning of chapter 8 if anybody wants to look it up.. Both Charlie and my father lost their amph on the first day and basically finished the campaign hunting down Japaneses in their tunnels.. experiences that were horrifying to say the least.. he always said he would have never made it through the war without his buddy Charlie Ciulla. I wish to find his son.
My father's name is Malcolm James "buck" Keep from Memphis, Tennessee. The local "Forever Young" organization here in Memphis is wanting to take him (and me) on a tour of Guam and special ceremony that is to be held in March at Iwo. My father was with the 2nd Armored Amph.. he along with his constant companion, Charles Ciulla, were driver and radio operator respectively. Although the two of them were basically recon Marines, they were constantly reassigned always together to different units, from Guam, to Saipian, and finally both of them surviving Iwo. Charles I understand died a number of years ago, but my father, thou in poor health, has very good mental faculties and remembers so much about the war, and especially how horribly Iwo was. I am attempting to find Charles Ciulla's son, who still lives in Mass. the forever young people want to invite him for the trip also... I'm sure he would love to hear stories about his father and his exploits during the war.. both of these men saw extreme combats in all the theaters, and were called "rain walkers" by the new troops.. they managed to survive all these invasion without a physical scratch.. My father, of course, has began to talk more about the war then he ever did in his life.. and his stories would make a Clint Eastwood movie.. as a matter of fact, the book: "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley features a photo of him (unbeknownst to the author) of my father assisting a wounded officer down to the beach on Iwo.. It's featured at the beginning of chapter 8 if anybody wants to look it up.. Both Charlie and my father lost their amph on the first day and basically finished the campaign hunting down Japaneses in their tunnels.. experiences that were horrifying to say the least.. he always said he would have never made it through the war without his buddy Charlie Ciulla. I wish to find his son.
Mickey - I enjoyed talking to you by phone and look forward to hearing to hearing more of your dad's stories concerning his experiences with the 2nd Armored Amphibian Battalion and other Marine units during the war. Reed Fawell
My Father was Louis P. Tapio (LVT Driver Company C 2d Armored Amphiboius Battalion) that was mentioned in the boxing article that took place on Saipan. He was an Oglala Sioux Indian & lied about his age & joined the Marines with his buddy Clement Crazy Thunder, right off the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.They were both 17 yrs old. His unit was in Saipan and joined the Spearhead when the invasion force stopped there on the way to Iwo Jima. He was in the 1st wave to land on Beach Green with Lt Vanderkolk. I remember him talking about Jerry Brooks, John Crawley and some of those other guys mentioned in the boxing article. He turned 19 on March 8th and sadly, his buddy Clement that joined when he did, was KIA on Iwo. I have some pics that I would like to post, I just have to figure out how to attach them to this post.
It was 70 years ago today that our brave forces went ashore and I always wonder what the heck was going through all those boys minds as they approached the beach. I can only imagine. I would love to hear from any relatives of any of these men to share a story or pictures of their time in the Corps.
Thanks & Semper Fi
robert.tapio@boystown.org
Thank you Robert for your post. I'd be happy to post the photos you mentioned. Just send them to my e-mail address reedfawell@yahoo.com. Once I hear back from you I'll e-mail back some names and phone numbers of those who quite likely knew your dad. Best Reed Fawell 3rd
I'm over 60 years old and never knew my uncle John W. Mahan, my father's younger brother. I always knew he died in WWII and thought he had been a pilot. This past Memorial Day, I got to wondering what his story was and how he died. I searched and searched until I found your website and yelled to my husband, "I found it!". Though there were just a few lines in the Saipan page about John Mahan, it provided a wealth of information for me. I quickly shared the information with my cousins and one of them actually had his dog tags and bronze star, so she shared pictures of that. None of the family knew the details provided here, so we are extremely thankful for the men who told the story of Saipan and for recounting details like those of Uncle John that may have been small in words, but HUGE to family members. I also have a much greater appreciation of all of those who fought at Saipan and for their contributions to our freedom! Thank you again for helping me find the story of John Mahan.
Colleen -
Thank you so much for your post and e-mail with photos of John Mahan and his dog talks. Yes, they are all heroes, I am thrilled to learn of the wonderful results on your good work on Memorial Day. The photos will be posted next week on my return home. Reed Fawell
Colleen -
All three photos of your Uncle Sgt. John Mahan are are now posted within the Saipan section of the Website. Reed Fawell
Hello, My name is Jeff Stern and I have been working on documenting my Dad's war experiences. His name was Jack Albert Stern and was a driver of an LVTA with the Second Armored on Iwo Jima. He landed on Blue Beach I which I believe was Company A. Is there anyone out there that might have any info about Dad on Iwo and also the movements of Second Armored Amphibian
Battalion after Iwo to the end of the war. God bless those men of the greatest generation.