Oklahoma vet James Goodrich will revisit Iwo Jima

ENID — How many people can say they witnessed the raising of the American flag atop Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi? James Goodrich can.

"I was about 2,000 yards away, and someone said, ‘Hey, there’s something going on over there (on Mount Suribachi),’” Goodrich recalled. "Mount Suribachi was the highest point on the island. So I lifted my binoculars and saw them raising a small American flag. A few moments passed, and again someone said, ‘Hey, they’re doing something else over there.’ I looked again and saw them raising a large flag this time.

"Usually, they raise the flag after we’ve taken a place. Up until then, we had no idea how things were going. We didn’t know if we were winning, losing, or what. So seeing that flag was a great morale boost.”