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Sgt Edson Franklin Bellis
to remember
Marine Maj Frank Eugene Seabeck.
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Contact Info
Home Town Rockville
Last Address Seattle, WA
Date of Passing Feb 12, 2012
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Frank Eugene SEABECK Retired United States Marine Corps Major Frank E. Seabeck passed away February 12, 2012. Frank son of John and Mary Seabeck was born on June 5 1917 in Sherman County, Rockville Nebraska. He came to Washington State in 1935 and graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1942. During World War 2 Frank served bravely in the Pacific Theater with the United States Marine Corps. He hit the beach on Iwo Jima on the 19th of February 1945 and walked off the island on the 26th of March. He also served in Korea and spent time in Japan, Cuba, and Chile. His military honors include the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon military retirement Frank was employed by the University of Washington working in community development. He guided and helped many communities statewide. The Bavarian themed village of Leavenworth was one of his many successful projects. He retired from the University of Washington after many years working at the undergraduate library. Frank enjoyed numerous hobbies and interests, including pheasant hunting, fishing, rock hounding, hiking, gardening, and traveling with family and friends. In later years he particularly enjoyed trips to Hawaii with his long time partner Jane Aslanian as well as many years at his winter home in Sun City West, AZ. In 1951 Frank was married to Marie Combs at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church on Bainbridge Island Winslow Wa. Together they raised 6 children: Patrick (dec.), Kevin (Leslie), Mary (Robert), Michael, Joseph, all of Seattle, and John (Kate) of La Connor, Wa. Also survived by grandson Nolan Li of Seattle.
Western Pacific Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of Iwo Jima
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
March / 1945
Description The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields (including South Field and Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.
After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. However, Navy SEABEES rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s.
The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels. The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.
Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as complete control of air power — coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement — permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.
The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, both of which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. Rosenthal's photograph promptly became an indelible icon — of that battle, of that war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps itself — and has been widely reproduced.