Reginald Crews, Tournament Angler

This past Sunday I was on my way into Wal-Mart when I saw a gentleman sitting in a chair in front of the store. He was accepting donations to help with the cost of transportation to take veterans to the VA hospital. I looked at his hat and it read "IWO JIMA SURVIVOR". That automatically stirred my interest. I love military history, especially World War II history. Watching old war movies is what helped influence me to enlist in the Army my junior year in high school through the delayed entry program. I shook the gentleman's hand and told him "Thank you for your service.", to which he replied, "Glad to serve." I left after that because I was already late for choir rehearsal.

As soon as choir rehearsal was over I rushed back over to Wal-Mart, hoping that he was going to be there and he was. I parked my truck and walked over to talk with him. He told me that his name was Truett Wood and that he was originally from northern Georgia. Instead of asking him the typical questions that he probably gets like: "Did you see any action?", "Did you shoot anyone?", or "Did you see them raise the flag on Iwo Jima?" I asked him, "Other than obviously leaving Iwo Jima, what was the best thing that happened to you on Iwo Jima?" Mr. Wood took a moment and then went on to explain to me how when they were attempting to land on Iwo Jima, how fierce the gunfire was that being rained upon them. He went on to say that once they landed on Iwo Jima it was kill or be killed. Finally he said "I guess the best memory that I have is that I survived. I lost a lot of friends but God must have had a purpose in me living." That was a good enough answer for me.

Mr. Wood also told me that he would be celebrating his 86th birthday in a few weeks. He explained that he was proud to have been in the Navy and serve with the Marines. He asked if I had served and I told him that I served in the Army. He laughed and told me that he was sorry for my luck. We exchanged a few Army vs. Marines verbal jabs but in the end we came to a common ground....we were both better than the Air Force and Coast Guard.

To read more about Mr. Wood click on the photo below to read an article from The Augusta Chronicle.