Here are Matt and Janet at a stop where we visit the Fourth Marine Division Memorial Park in Haiku, Maui.
The “Fighting Fourth” lived at Camp Maui during World War II. Located near Haiku on the slopes of Haleakalā, Camp Maui was a training and rest area for over 20,000 Marines and sailors from 1944 to 1945 as they prepared for and recovered from important operations on Roi Namur, Tinian, Saipan and most famously, Iwo Jima. In these four operations, the Division suffered a total of 17,722 battle casualties, with 3,298 killed or died of wounds and 14,424 wounded.
It is sobering to visit the park today, where families celebrate birthdays under its pavilions, and children romp and squeal as they explore the play spaces. Eighty years earlier, on the same ground, Marines and Sailors living there, anticipated combat operations, trained hard, wrote letters home, and did their best to prepare for an uncertain future.
