March 22, 2024 • 12 mins
Marine Corps. veteran Riechman, a Purple Heart recipient for injuries sustained at Iwo Jima, lives in Palm Beach County and shares stories of his time serving the U.S.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm Ford, wj n O dot com and the Florida
News Network. And on the linewith me is the birthday Boy, Marine
Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient,Bob Richmond, a Palm Beach County resident.
He celebrated his one hundredth birthday,I believe, on Tuesday, the
nineteenth of March, and we aregoing to chat with him. Thank you
(00:21):
for joining me. I can callyou Bob, Yes, there there only
can all right. Now, youserved from nineteen forty three to forty six,
and you saw some pretty big,big battles. Talk about that if
you will. Well. I gotthe Marine Corps the first port of forty
(00:47):
forty forty three, and I wentto boot camp and on to parade school,
and from there I went to Australia. From Australia went to New Caledonia
up to the Solomon Islands and therewhere I spent possibly a year. And
(01:11):
that's when we were trying to takethose islands over and established some airstrips there
for our planes to land on,and I did see a lot of acts
in there. For my first tourof duty in the South Pacific, I
(01:33):
was on the island of Guadalcanal andI on the island of Moving Bill And
from then I went back to theUnited States and we we re established a
fifth division. So that was myfirst tour. And if you're black,
(01:57):
would want me to go on fromthere? And my well, yeah,
no, no, you're doing well. I was. I was going to
say, uh, and I shouldhave set this up better. You know,
World War two. Of course we'relooking at those those years and uh
you you ended up Ultimately, Iguess your your your third uh tour or
(02:17):
your second tour. I guess that'smy second tour. Well, my second
tour was they we went to Hawaiion my second tour and that was quite
quite I enjoyed myself there, butI didn't realize we were being getting prepared
to go to an island Kobe eoo Jima, and that turned out to
(02:38):
be quite an affair. It was. It was thirty five days of constant
fighting. This was the first battlethat that anyone fought in the World War
two where we had more casualties thanthe enemy. We lost more men than
(03:00):
the enemy did, but we dideventually, after thirty five days, take
over the island. And that wasI think the story that I would like
to tell is that that I celebratedmy well, I didn't celebrate, but
(03:20):
I had my twenty first, mytwenty first birthday on the island, hoping
from day to day that I wouldmake it from it, would make it
through this campaign, and eventually,as you can hear me babble here,
that I didn't make it. Butwhen my ondred birthday came and I had
(03:42):
an opportunity to be with many manyother marines and generals and flyovers and fans
and beautiful food that we had onmy hundredth birthday, I tried to explain
it to all of them. Actually, I promised myself in a Foxhoul on
(04:02):
Evil Feva on the nineteenth of Marchseventy nine years ago that I would celebrate
my twenty first birthday someday, Andon the twenty ninth of this year,
that's what I did. And Iam one very very happy man to have
done that. And I had helpthem so many people that surrounded me,
(04:29):
and I had friends, relatives fromall over the country of ours in Texas,
Alabama, Tennessee. They all come, and no person could be happier
than I are more proud than Ican be, and I do really appreciate
you give me the feums to asI say, stabble it all, Bob
(04:53):
about my story. I don't Idon't want to bring things down because we're
having a fun conversation here, youknow, as fun as you can.
I mean, we went through someyou know, some hell to you know,
obviously service. But I did wantto ask. I know, obviously
you purple Heart recipient. So youwere wounded. I guess you were wounded
in em Yes, that would you? Would you talk about that for a
(05:15):
minute. Well, I think itwas about the fifth day that we were
on the island. I was wewere taking the bridge and there was an
explosion and I did get a lotof shrapnel in my left leg and into
my DCAM. Now these pieces ofwe're very small pieces of shrapnel. And
(05:35):
when I was taken to the thehospital boat that was more right there on
the shoreline, I wasn't wounded seriousenough to be taken on the hospital ship
that was out in the bay,so they took care of my wounds and
(06:00):
sent me back to my unit thatwas about to fifty And that was when
I did when I was involved withthe raising of the flags at that time.
Now, I know there was astory you shared at at some point
about being in your your bed andyou looked out the flag was raised,
(06:24):
and then you looked out my friend'sflag was gone. Right, well,
if we would like to hear it. The day the day I lost I
guess my closest friend when that shellhit and entered me and him and killed
two of my best friends with thatone with that one shell. And when
(06:46):
I was carried off to the hostilledboat, these wounds attended to. They
allowed me to stay there overnight andget get a good night's sleep. That
next uh when we had when Iwhen we went there, there was a
flag flying on Mount Sierubatshi. Thatmorning. When I got dressed, I
(07:10):
was going to find my go backto my unit, I looked up and
the flag was gone, and thatthat made me feel me bad. My
god, I thought we had keptyou know, we have captured the mountain
and uh we were well on ourway to uh take care of this situation
(07:33):
here at mounts mout Serbatzhi on EvilJima. And then I found I looked
and the flag was gone, andoh my god, the Japanese have taken
over again, and that that kindof got me old shook up. But
eventually that day the second flag cameup and uh again, and now I'm
(07:59):
happy anyway, you can tell I'mkind of babbling here, but yeah,
I did feel I do feel honoredat at my age now, and I
look back and I guess there's nothingmany of us lift to see that they
witnessed two flags that meant an awfulto a lot of people. If they
(08:24):
if they fell, if they felledthe World War two, what would happened?
Bob. We're going to wrap up, but I before we do,
I just have one more, youknow question for you. You know,
there were approximately seventy thousand US Marineswho took part in the battle at Iwo
Jima, and we lost about seventhousand of them. So yeah, but
(08:48):
ten percent of your of your yourbrothers were you know, were lost.
What do you attribute to still beinghere with us today. I've asked that
a lot. Actually, it's allgenes. You know, I left the
very I lived a very very nicelife. But I had my share of
(09:13):
foods and my my unsure of youknow, my cocktail. Uh, and
of course I weigh only fifty poundsmore than I should. But it's all
in genes, I think. Andthe thing that your mind, your mind
is your mind is the greatest thing. You should keep your mind healthy and
(09:37):
then you live. Well. Doyou attribute that to making it through Ewgima
specifically? No. I contribute makingthis through. Making it through those valids
was my training, my Marine courttraining. You know, they they make
(10:00):
you believe that. You know you'reyou're going to do it. You know
you're a Mariner, You're going todo it. And the one thing I
can say about the I didn't seeI didn't see fear in anyone's eyes.
And in those those thirty five days, there was no fear, no fear
of dying. It was just onefor all and all for one. Simplify
(10:24):
that. It just seemed like,uh, it wasn't. It was nothing
personal. It was a combination ofof of a bunch of young men uh
uh uh look enjoying each other anduh respecting each other and just fighting.
(10:46):
And we I knew if we well, there I go again. Yeah you're
fine. It's just uh just beingtogether and do what we were taught and
we would make it through and wellback. Ninety percent of us did so.
(11:09):
Yeah, well, thank thank Godfor that. Well again, I
appreciate you taking the time to shareyour stories with us and once again Marine
Corps veteran private first class. I'msaying it right, Bob Richmond, one
hundred years old this week. Thankyou for thank you for joining me here,
(11:31):
and thank you for your service.More importantly, well, you know,
and actually, like I said,I'm really celebrating at twenty seventh birthday.
Go. That's the when I promisedmyself when I was in that fatool
on ewoll you know that I wouldcelebrate it. And that's what I did
the other day, the nineteenth ofMarch. And I'm want to thank you
(11:54):
for your time. You know,I do appreciate your interest. And uh,
I'll talk to you again and whatmaybe in ten years, all right,
well, I look forward to I'mgonna I'm gonna hold you to that,
Bob, I am and I definitelywill be here
Hey, Joel Malcolm Ford, wj n O dot com and the Florida
News Network. And on the linewith me is the birthday Boy, Marine
Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient,Bob Richmond, a Palm Beach County resident.
He celebrated his one hundredth birthday,I believe, on Tuesday, the
nineteenth of March, and we aregoing to chat with him. Thank you
(00:21):
for joining me. I can callyou Bob, Yes, there there only
can all right. Now, youserved from nineteen forty three to forty six,
and you saw some pretty big,big battles. Talk about that if
you will. Well. I gotthe Marine Corps the first port of forty
(00:47):
forty forty three, and I wentto boot camp and on to parade school,
and from there I went to Australia. From Australia went to New Caledonia
up to the Solomon Islands and therewhere I spent possibly a year. And
(01:11):
that's when we were trying to takethose islands over and established some airstrips there
for our planes to land on,and I did see a lot of acts
in there. For my first tourof duty in the South Pacific, I
(01:33):
was on the island of Guadalcanal andI on the island of Moving Bill And
from then I went back to theUnited States and we we re established a
fifth division. So that was myfirst tour. And if you're black,
(01:57):
would want me to go on fromthere? And my well, yeah,
no, no, you're doing well. I was. I was going to
say, uh, and I shouldhave set this up better. You know,
World War two. Of course we'relooking at those those years and uh
you you ended up Ultimately, Iguess your your your third uh tour or
(02:17):
your second tour. I guess that'smy second tour. Well, my second
tour was they we went to Hawaiion my second tour and that was quite
quite I enjoyed myself there, butI didn't realize we were being getting prepared
to go to an island Kobe eoo Jima, and that turned out to
(02:38):
be quite an affair. It was. It was thirty five days of constant
fighting. This was the first battlethat that anyone fought in the World War
two where we had more casualties thanthe enemy. We lost more men than
(03:00):
the enemy did, but we dideventually, after thirty five days, take
over the island. And that wasI think the story that I would like
to tell is that that I celebratedmy well, I didn't celebrate, but
(03:20):
I had my twenty first, mytwenty first birthday on the island, hoping
from day to day that I wouldmake it from it, would make it
through this campaign, and eventually,as you can hear me babble here,
that I didn't make it. Butwhen my ondred birthday came and I had
(03:42):
an opportunity to be with many manyother marines and generals and flyovers and fans
and beautiful food that we had onmy hundredth birthday, I tried to explain
it to all of them. Actually, I promised myself in a Foxhoul on
(04:02):
Evil Feva on the nineteenth of Marchseventy nine years ago that I would celebrate
my twenty first birthday someday, Andon the twenty ninth of this year,
that's what I did. And Iam one very very happy man to have
done that. And I had helpthem so many people that surrounded me,
(04:29):
and I had friends, relatives fromall over the country of ours in Texas,
Alabama, Tennessee. They all come, and no person could be happier
than I are more proud than Ican be, and I do really appreciate
you give me the feums to asI say, stabble it all, Bob
(04:53):
about my story. I don't Idon't want to bring things down because we're
having a fun conversation here, youknow, as fun as you can.
I mean, we went through someyou know, some hell to you know,
obviously service. But I did wantto ask. I know, obviously
you purple Heart recipient. So youwere wounded. I guess you were wounded
in em Yes, that would you? Would you talk about that for a
(05:15):
minute. Well, I think itwas about the fifth day that we were
on the island. I was wewere taking the bridge and there was an
explosion and I did get a lotof shrapnel in my left leg and into
my DCAM. Now these pieces ofwe're very small pieces of shrapnel. And
(05:35):
when I was taken to the thehospital boat that was more right there on
the shoreline, I wasn't wounded seriousenough to be taken on the hospital ship
that was out in the bay,so they took care of my wounds and
(06:00):
sent me back to my unit thatwas about to fifty And that was when
I did when I was involved withthe raising of the flags at that time.
Now, I know there was astory you shared at at some point
about being in your your bed andyou looked out the flag was raised,
(06:24):
and then you looked out my friend'sflag was gone. Right, well,
if we would like to hear it. The day the day I lost I
guess my closest friend when that shellhit and entered me and him and killed
two of my best friends with thatone with that one shell. And when
(06:46):
I was carried off to the hostilledboat, these wounds attended to. They
allowed me to stay there overnight andget get a good night's sleep. That
next uh when we had when Iwhen we went there, there was a
flag flying on Mount Sierubatshi. Thatmorning. When I got dressed, I
(07:10):
was going to find my go backto my unit, I looked up and
the flag was gone, and thatthat made me feel me bad. My
god, I thought we had keptyou know, we have captured the mountain
and uh we were well on ourway to uh take care of this situation
(07:33):
here at mounts mout Serbatzhi on EvilJima. And then I found I looked
and the flag was gone, andoh my god, the Japanese have taken
over again, and that that kindof got me old shook up. But
eventually that day the second flag cameup and uh again, and now I'm
(07:59):
happy anyway, you can tell I'mkind of babbling here, but yeah,
I did feel I do feel honoredat at my age now, and I
look back and I guess there's nothingmany of us lift to see that they
witnessed two flags that meant an awfulto a lot of people. If they
(08:24):
if they fell, if they felledthe World War two, what would happened?
Bob. We're going to wrap up, but I before we do,
I just have one more, youknow question for you. You know,
there were approximately seventy thousand US Marineswho took part in the battle at Iwo
Jima, and we lost about seventhousand of them. So yeah, but
(08:48):
ten percent of your of your yourbrothers were you know, were lost.
What do you attribute to still beinghere with us today. I've asked that
a lot. Actually, it's allgenes. You know, I left the
very I lived a very very nicelife. But I had my share of
(09:13):
foods and my my unsure of youknow, my cocktail. Uh, and
of course I weigh only fifty poundsmore than I should. But it's all
in genes, I think. Andthe thing that your mind, your mind
is your mind is the greatest thing. You should keep your mind healthy and
(09:37):
then you live. Well. Doyou attribute that to making it through Ewgima
specifically? No. I contribute makingthis through. Making it through those valids
was my training, my Marine courttraining. You know, they they make
(10:00):
you believe that. You know you'reyou're going to do it. You know
you're a Mariner, You're going todo it. And the one thing I
can say about the I didn't seeI didn't see fear in anyone's eyes.
And in those those thirty five days, there was no fear, no fear
of dying. It was just onefor all and all for one. Simplify
(10:24):
that. It just seemed like,uh, it wasn't. It was nothing
personal. It was a combination ofof of a bunch of young men uh
uh uh look enjoying each other anduh respecting each other and just fighting.
(10:46):
And we I knew if we well, there I go again. Yeah you're
fine. It's just uh just beingtogether and do what we were taught and
we would make it through and wellback. Ninety percent of us did so.
(11:09):
Yeah, well, thank thank Godfor that. Well again, I
appreciate you taking the time to shareyour stories with us and once again Marine
Corps veteran private first class. I'msaying it right, Bob Richmond, one
hundred years old this week. Thankyou for thank you for joining me here,
(11:31):
and thank you for your service.More importantly, well, you know,
and actually, like I said,I'm really celebrating at twenty seventh birthday.
Go. That's the when I promisedmyself when I was in that fatool
on ewoll you know that I wouldcelebrate it. And that's what I did
the other day, the nineteenth ofMarch. And I'm want to thank you
(11:54):
for your time. You know,I do appreciate your interest. And uh,
I'll talk to you again and whatmaybe in ten years, all right,
well, I look forward to I'mgonna I'm gonna hold you to that,
Bob, I am and I definitelywill be here
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