Almost 78 years after his platoon stormed Iwo Jima, Topekan Jim Freel proud of his generation

It’s strange that just a few hours of one day, nearly 80 years ago, would loom so largely over a person’s life. But for Topekan Jim Freel, those few hours were life changing, and world impacting.

There aren’t many left from what Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation,” the Americans who survived the Great Depression and helped lead the Allies to victory in World War II. Just shy of his 100th birthday, Freel is still telling the stories of that generation.

At 22 years old, Freel was among the first of 70,000 U.S. Marines who invaded the Pacific Island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945.

“Shortly before Christmas of 1944, they put us on ships,” Freel said. “We knew we were going to combat, but we had no idea where we were going. Nobody did. They didn’t tell you anything.

“The day we landed, they dropped us about five miles from the island. They put us on what we called ‘amtracs’ (Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked). They looked like floating tanks. They grinded into shore, and it took a long time to get five miles in that little boat.”

Anticipated four-day operation turned into 36-day battle

Located about 750 miles southeast of Japan, Iwo Jima had three airstrips that were used by the Japanese to thwart attackers. The island, barely eight miles in total area, was defended by 21,000 Japanese soldiers. The U.S. determined the island needed to be taken.

The U.S. Navy had been blasting the island from the air for three days prior to the invasion, and the bombardment continued even as the Marines landed. Despite the air cover, a brutal fight with Japanese soldiers ensued, with nearly 7,000 Americans dying on the island.

“What we were told was that it would take at most about a four-day ‘moperation’ to secure the island. But it wasn’t four days. It was 36 days,” Freel said. “They were in tunnels and caves and bunkers and foxholes and everything else. That volcanic ash that covered the island wouldn’t allow you to drive a vehicle onto the beach.”

Freel and the rest of the 5th Marine Division made landfall under fire from the Japanese. They made their way inland on foot, engaging in furious combat with the island’s occupiers.

“I could see the Japanese soldiers. We were shooting at them as we went inland,” Freel said. “I made it about a mile and a half, and then I was struck by mortar shrapnel. It felt kind of like a sting on the back of my neck. I put my hand back there and came back with a handful of blood. I reached back up to make sure my head was still there. It was.

“A medic came over and put a bandage on it. He put a tag on me and sent me back because they weren’t too sure how close it was to my spine. I was still conscious the whole time. I could walk. I walked back to the medical center on the island, where I waited to be taken to a hospital ship. From the hospital ship, you could watch the Navy shells hitting the island.”

Freel was eventually transported to Corvallis, Ore., where he spent more than a month being treated for his injury. But he still carries a souvenir from his hours on Iwo Jima.

“The only reason they didn’t take the shrapnel out was that they didn’t have the medical capabilities they have now,” Freel said. “It lodged in my neck, pretty close to the spine. They would probably take it out now.”

Following his release from the hospital in April 1945, Freel hitchhiked from Oregon to Topeka for a 30-day leave.

“My parents didn’t know I was coming. My mother almost fainted,” Freel said. “They told parents when soldiers were injured but not to what extent.”

Jim Freel joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor bombing

Freel was raised in the Oakland area of Topeka, the oldest child of laborers. He recalls the challenges of the drought of the 1920s, which was followed by the Great Depression. After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Marines in 1943.

“My brother and I were listening to the 'Dinah Shore Show' on the radio on Sunday night when they interrupted the show to announce Pearl Harbor,” Freel said. “None of us had ever heard of Pearl Harbor. I enlisted in the Marines because I didn’t want to get drafted by the Army.”

Freel’s first impression of the Marines was misleading.

“They sent me to Kansas City, put me on a train and shipped me to San Diego,” he recalled. “I got to go first class on the train. I thought ‘Man, this Marine Corps is a good deal.’ I got off that train in San Diego, and from then on, it was a different attitude.”

Prior to the invasion of Iwo Jima, Freel trained as a Marine paratrooper, a short-lived program that was disbanded during the war. He took six training jumps in San Diego but had no opportunity to use the skill in the Pacific Theater.

Younger brother served four years in Pacific Theater, dying in last battle

Absent from the Topeka reunion during Freel’s convalescence was his younger brother Billy Bob, who preceded him in joining the Marines. Freel said Billy Bob was a rambunctious teenager who benefited from the discipline of the military. Billy Bob saw action in numerous battles in the Pacific.

During the war, the brothers saw each other just once, for a few hours in San Diego.

“He was at Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and was killed at Okinawa (on May 7, 1945), the last battle of the war of the Pacific. He was involved in the first invasion and killed in the last,” Freel said of his brother. “He enlisted at 17 and he was killed just four days after his 21st birthday.”

After recovering from his wounds, the eldest Freel returned to the Marine base in San Diego but saw no more combat. With two more years to serve, he was assigned to work in the Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire. He said he might have considered a career in the Marine Corps, but the work in the prison didn’t appeal to him.

He decided to return to Kansas and find a new career.

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Jim Freel came home, serving 26 years in Topeka Police Department

Freel’s commitment to the military ended in 1947, but not his commitment to public service. He joined the Topeka Police Department. He spent the last of his 26 years on the force as chief of police from 1973 to 1975.

“I had a great career,” Freel said. “I started out as a traffic patrolman and worked my way up to chief. I held nearly every position you could over those years.

“Chief wasn’t the happiest of the experience. It’s lonely at the top. I can verify that.”

Freel retired from the police department to take a job as a special agent in the U.S. Department of Labor. From 1978 to 1997, he worked in the agency’s Organized Crime and Racketeering section in San Francisco.

In all, Freel served his country for more than 50 years.

“I’m proud of this country. I’m not a hero, but I am a patriot,” Freel said. “I’d like to think that I’ve changed the world in some small ways, but I’m not sure that I have. There are some great parts of this country, but a lot of improvements that can still be made.”

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Jim Freel attended 75th anniversary of Iwo Jima in Washington, D.C.

Freel attended the 75th anniversary of the Iwo Jima invasion, held in Washington, D.C., in 2020. His home is decorated with reminders of his time in the Marines. It’s an experience that can be painful to recall, but one he never will forget.

“I lost a lot of good buddies on Iwo. Some of them I saw get wounded, killed,” Freel said. “I’m so proud that I was able to be a part of that generation.

“My feeling toward any veteran is that you made a sacrifice for the preservation of this country and the freedom that we all enjoy. I don’t think you’ll find too many veterans who wouldn’t go again if they needed to.”

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka WWII veteran Jim Freel recalls storming Iwo Jima