Previous Weight Loss (November 28, 2016-March 5, 2018): 34.4 pounds
Weight Loss (March 5-April 2, 2018): 1.4 pounds
Total Weight Loss (November 28, 2016-April 2, 2018): 35.8 pounds
I’m feeling triumphant today, and not necessarily because of making slow, steady progress toward my fitness goals. As those of you who follow my columns know, for the last two weeks I’ve been touring sites connected to World War II in the Pacific. The photo above is of me, standing atop Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, the site of bloody fighting between the U.S. Marines and the Japanese Imperial Army in February and March of 1945. Suribachi was made famous in the iconic photograph of U.S. marines raising the American flag at its summit.
On March 24, my tour group had the privilege of attending the Reunion of Honor on Iwo Jima. Three Iwo Jima veterans (including Congressional Medal of Honor winner Hershel “Woody” Williams), now in their nineties, were able to make the difficult journey to the annual ceremony.
We flew on chartered planes from Guam to Iwo. It was a long but unforgettable day. Afterwards, we flew back to Guam, where the local fire department honored the men by spraying the planes with fire hoses as we taxied down the tarmac. Then our tour buses received escorts back to our hotel thanks to the Guam Police Department and the local Harley Davidson Club. It was a great honor to be part of the entourage celebrating the courage of those brave marines.
What those heroic men did in February and March of 1945 is truly inspirational. They accomplished the impossible, which makes my far less significant struggle to lose weight seem not as out of reach as I might often imagine.I don’t want to be overly simplistic or melodramatic, but human beings are strong and resilient when they need to be.
Before I left Colorado, one of my colleagues told me that if I merely maintained my weight in March, I should consider it a victory. After all, most people gain weight when they travel or are on vacation. It’s true that I tend to pick up five to ten pounds when I’m eating away from home. I feel really happy that I was actually able to lose weight in March, even if the loss is small.
I might have gained weight had my friends and I not done so much walking. The day before the tour began, my traveling buddies and I walked all over Waikiki in Hawaii. I logged almost ten miles that day. The day we went to Iwo Jima, I walked nearly seven miles. All that extra activity served to increase my metabolism.
One of our tour guides told us that more people have climbed Mt. Everest than have scaled Mt. Suribachi. Granted, it’s harder to gain access to Suribachi because the island of Iwo Jima is now a Japanese military installation. In addition, the mountain’s elevation is only 554 feet at its summit. It was also easier for us because we were able to walk to the top on a paved road. That said, it was not a cake walk either. We had to hike a couple of miles from the honors ceremony even to begin our ascent. Some in our group didn’t even attempt the climb. Although the trek was a challenge, I was happy that I made the effort. The adventure was made even more enjoyable because I was with my band of traveling brothers and sister, Clyde, Phil, Rick, and Peggy.
During my journey, I thought about the U.S. marines who fought and died there and the Japanese defenders dug in to the intricate network of underground caves in the mountain. I marvel that seventy-three years ago, young American men did not flinch at the prospect of almost certain death as they assaulted the Japanese embedded (and now entombed) within Suribachi. Their bravery is still awe inspiring to me.
I’ll have more to say about Iwo Jima in other columns this month. As I stood on this sacred battlefield, I thought about how countries honor their war heroes–and their war dead. While I enjoyed my day on Mt. Suribachi, I tried to remember the terrible price paid for American victory on that remote Pacific island.
Next Update: May 7
