"Something Else Happened on Mount Suribachi"

The flag raising and the Mass encouraged the Marines to keep up the fight in a sublime combination of patriotic bravery and religious fervor...


Father Suver, SJ:

"You get it up there and I'll say Mass under it."



Adapted from Michael Gorre's commentary in TFP publication, CRUSADE. July / August 2008. In turn, the author cites his source thusly: "Adapted from Donald F. Crosby, S.J.'s Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II (Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas, 1997)."



"The bitter fighting for control of Iwo Jima in World War II occasioned many heroic deeds.

"In fact, the United States Marines earned twenty - three Medals of Honor there.

"However, one of these heroic deeds stands out by its profoundly Catholic bravery.

"It was the night before the invasion, and many Marines received the sacraments from the nineteen Catholic chaplains who were to accompany them to Iwo Jima.

Some Marines visited Father Charles Suver, a Jesuit chaplain, in his cabin to talk and lift their spirits from the tension.

"At a certain moment, a young officer suggested that if he carried an American flag from one of the landing craft, someone could raise it on the summit of Iwo Jima's volcano, Mount Suribachi.

"A lieutenant immediately replied, O.K., you get it and I'll get it up there!

"Taken up with holy daring, Father Suver added, You get it up there and I'll say Mass under it.

"Five days of bloody fighting passed.

"Father Suver was working at an aid station with [his helper] Mr. Fisk when he noticed four Marines cautiously scaling Mount Suribachi.

"Summoning Mr. Fisk to grab his Mass kit, they dashed for the volcano.

"As they climbed up its side, they suddenly saw Old Glory raised upon the summit.

"Father Suver reached the top and, with the commanding officer's approval, prepared to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Latin.

"Two empty gas drums with a board laid on top were all they could find to serve for an altar.

"To shield the priest and the sacred vessels, two Marines held up a poncho against the fierce wind.

"The caves were so close that Father Suver could hear the Japanese in the cave talking as he offered the Mass.

"Because of this, the twenty or so Marines attending Mass held their guns at the ready.

"Providentially, the Japanese did not attack and Father Suver completed the historic first Mass on all of Iwo Jima...."

Good story, huh??!! :)