Seventy-five years ago, the battle of Iwo Jima was raging. In order to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese mainland, the Americans began the assault on the island on Feb. 19, 1945. After 36 days of fighting, the Americans secured the island at the cost of 26,000 casualties, including over 6,800 dead.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, less than 500,000 WWII veterans are still alive, and time is running out to honor these American heroes. Donnie Edwards is a retired NFL football player with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers who has spent the last 22 years giving back to the military through his Best Defense Foundation.
What began as a simple conversation during a chance meeting with a WWII veteran has turned into his life mission. Inspired by stories from his grandfather who survived the attack at Pearl Harbor, Edwards has worked tirelessly to once again take WWII veterans back to the battlefields where they served.
“The Best Defense Foundation enables veterans, at no expense to them, to return to those places where they lived and fought, to pay their respects at the graves of their fallen brothers, and to gain healing and closure,” the organization stated in a press release.
From its beginning in 2018, the Best Defense Foundation has returned over 40 veterans to the WWII battlefields of Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Iwo Jima, Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. They include veterans like Fred Harvey and Rondo Scharfe, Iwo Jima survivors; Russell Pickett and Jerry Deitch, D-Day survivors who landed on Omaha and Utah beaches; and Brad Freeman, member of the famed Easy Company in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under the 101st Airborne Division, known for their exploits in the bestseller “Band of Brothers” by Stephen E. Ambrose.
In Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the battle of D-Day, the highlight of the program was at the commemoration ceremony of D-Day at the Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery where President Donald Trump honored Russell Pickett. “Today, believe it or not, he has returned, once more, to these shores, to be with his comrades,” Trump said in his speech.
Pickett’s one wish was to visit the spot where he was wounded on the morning of June 6, 1944 and had not seen in 75 years. After finding the pillbox that was his objective, he remarked, “Y’all have done something I would have thought impossible. If you would’ve told me what you were going to do, I would have said they can’t do it. My only regret is that I was unable to save more of my comrades after being wounded.”
Tom Rice, member of the 101st Airborne division, spoke these words at a 74th anniversary commemoration ceremony in the Netherlands: “When they came, they brought a bill of wrongs. They scorched the earth beyond recognition. When we came, we brought guns, hand grenades, rifles, and artillery. We came, we fight, and we acted. We brought a bill of rights. Of life, liberty, and property. We will come again if necessary. We all have our definitions of peace. May they reign in your heart and burst forth forever.”
“When the veterans visit a school on a Best Defense Foundation program and look into the grateful eyes of the next generation, they all leave encouraged that their sacrifice has not been in vain. Each generation has unique challenges and today we can be encouraged by looking back in history at other troubled times to gleam wisdom, truth, and hope from the example of such heroes as the men and women of WWII,” the group stated.
If you know of any WWII veterans who would be interested in applying for a Battlefield Return Program, please visit the website at www.bestdefensefoundation.org and follow the Foundation on Facebook or Instagram.
The American Volunteers have been contacted by the organization. If any Dent County WWII veterans would like to go contact 573-729-1394.
