Homer W. "Wally" Lucas passed away on Sept. 13th, 2006 at the age of 80  

Wally was a member of the Will Rogers High School Class of 1942. As a US Marine, serving on the USS Salt lake City, he witnessed the raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi at Iwo Jima from the ship's telescope. After returning from the war, Wally utilized the GI bill to obtain a BS degree at the University of Tulsa in business, marrying Betty Lou on Mar. 25th, 1948, and starting his 38 year career at what is now BP Amoco, by working in the mailroom and ending up as a Supervisor-Data Processing. He is survived by his wife, Betty Lou, dau. and son in law, Pattie and Charles, three grandchildren and two sisters. He was preceded in death by one daughter.

I was a Marine and I was at Iwo Jima, but instead of hitting the beach, I was a "seagoing" Marine. Which is to say I was part of a 50-man detachment stationed aboard a heavy cruiser named the Salt Lake City. Our ship's duty there was to deliver bombardments to shore installations as called for by the three Marine infantry divisions that were storming the island. The casualties were so severe and the evacuation facilities so overwhelmed that as a result, while we were on one side of a supply ship replenishing our ammunition, small boats would come up to the other side to unload the wounded and maimed that the hospital ships couldn't handle.

Of my boot camp platoon, 47 went to the Fifth Division of the Fleet Marine Force (the Marine equivalent of infantry), which hit Iwo Jima; three of us went to Sea School to be assigned to Navy ships, so I had, and still have, great respect and sadness for those who gave their all on the Black Sands of Iwo Jima.

On the third day, using the ship's telescope on the signal bridge, we could see the flag placed on the summit of Mount Suribachi. If you have seen a motion picture of it being placed there, I can tell you it is a reenactment; the original is an award winning still photograph that was the inspiration for the movie version.

Our ship was on continuous active duty in the Pacific for 18 months without a break (except for being put ashore on small atolls periodically with three cans of beer apiece), and we covered many bombardments, including star-shell firing on Okinawa to help prevent enemy nighttime infiltration. We experienced Japan's heavy kamikaze attacks while there, but Okinawa is another story.

H. W. "Wally" Lucas Pfc, USMCR