PHM2 Charles Cram, U.S. Navy Corpsman, World War II, Iwo Jima

Charles Cram was 15 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Before he was old enough to join the military, he worked as a messenger and received word of an alleged Japanese attack on the west coast of the U.S. When he was 17, Cram joined the service. After boot camp he was assigned to corpsman training. Before long he was off to the Pacific and would see his first combat as an 18-year-old corpsman on Iwo Jima.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Cram tells about his corpsman training, intense simulated invasions on the coast of California, and landing at Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945.

Cram details the ebb and flow of combat, determining when he thought it was safe to give aid to the wounded, fighting a virtually invisible enemy as the Japanese attacked from caves on the island, joining the fight with the Marines, and how he was injured and evacuated during the fight.

February 2025 marks 80 years since the Battle of Iwo Jima. Don't miss the first-hand accounts of the heroes who were there.