This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!

Please forgive the duplicate submission: I got a phone call and hit publish before I realized it adn had not proofed my comments.
Regis Schilken,

I recently read your review of Jack Lucas' memoir, The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima, and was impressed with most of what you have written about one of the many true heroes of the battle of Iwo Jima who gave so much in that battle. Jack Lucas epitomizes the Marine spirit -- and he is a Marine, not a soldier as you refer to him in a couple of places -- with his actions on Iwo Jima. And he certainly is living proof of how his actions in combat affects those brave Marines (and soldiers, sailors and airmen) who have sacrificed so much and affecting them and their families for the rest of their lives for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

So I applaud you for your understanding of Jack Lucas and men like him.

I do take issue with the last two graphs of your review. I've read the book, too, and have no recall of reading about Jack "even punching out a man in a hospital." And Jack, a fellow Marine I first met on the 60th anniversary "Reunion of Honor" on Iwo Jima in 2005, told me that that was not the case. He did say that "I made my way through a fence hole and got in a fight at a bar with one arm in a sling during my last month in the hospital." Not a large discrepancy, perhaps, But as a writer and journalist myself, I find inaccuracies like that, particularly one that supports your perspective of Jack, unacceptable. As an editor, I would merely have changed it and spoken to the reviewer about being more careful with his/her writing; as a teacher of journalism, I would have done the same but given the writer a poor grade.

I don't think it's quite accurate, either, that Jack "punched out those who disagreed with him." To be sure, Jack is "a real tough guy," even in the twilight of his life when he's on oxygen much of the time as a result of his injuries more than 60 years ago. I do agree that he is "afraid of no one" -- being afraid has the connotation, I would submit, of being unable to react in a situation where there is fear in a situation such as Jack and thousands of others have found themselves in while fighting for our freedoms.

I think Jack and other Marines or anyone in combat have fear. But most aren't afraid. And they do their job, many like Jack Lucas, do their jobs above and beyond what is expected of them.

Perhaps you're aware that there were many young men who skirted "military protocol" during World War II and joined the military to "kill Japanese" after their cowardly attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into the war that my friend, the late Willie Morris, called "one of the memorable events of mankind, more catastrophic perhaps than anything in the history of the human race." Thank God that Jack Lucas and men and women like him joined the fight so we can still live free.

I agree that Jack's story was "fascinating." It does, however, say a great deal about you and your personality that Jack's fascinating story "Left (you) cold -- making for a courageous hero (you) respect but have no desire to meet. Meeting such a man and simply shaking his hand and telling him thanks for his service was an honor for me when I met him on the Iwo Jima trip in '05. I'd heard of Jack Lucas as far back as I can remember and had always hoped to meet him. And I grew up with a man (a neighbor) who was in A/1/28 (a company which had two Medal of Honor recipients, one of who died on Iwo Jima and the other who tragically killed himself, his wife and a neighbor in his driveway years later) on Iwo Jima. And I served with others in the Marine Corps who had fought throughout the Pacific campaign.

As for not hating the Japanese people when it "was the Japanese leaders and military responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor," it's easy for you and me to say that when we weren't there on the receiving end of the Japanese cruelty and seeing our comrades die. It's quite another thing to have been on the receiving end and having seen so much of how it affected others. Personally, I don't hate the Japanese people, either, but I can understand where Jack is coming from. There is an old Indian saying about not criticizing another man until you've "walked a mile in his moccasins." I can hope that Jack and others can overcome their hatred, but I can understand it and never criticize their feelings in that regard.

'Nough sed, I'm sure. I just wanted to share these thoughts with you and let you know that Jack Lucas is, in my opinion, a good and nice man, one I'd want to my right, to my left or to cover my back in a tight situation. With your personality, I'm not quite sure if I'd want you anywhere when push came to shove.

Respectfully,

Ray Elliott