A hero's salute - Family gives thanks for valor of WWII soldier
By Tamara Mecham, Guest ContributorShare:  
January 4, 2010 — Growing up in the 1950s, I remember my father telling us stories that rivaled the tales of Walt Disney.
Since I had a great love for horses there were plenty of stories about wild horses and boxed canyons, but what I loved the most were the real stories - stories from my father's life, growing up during the Great Depression, being on his mission and surviving World War II. He told us how the Holy Ghost had led him so he could return home safely and marry his sweetheart, Wanda, and have four wonderful children.
There were so many experiences that my father had while serving in Company K, 3rd BN,
4th Marine Division during WWII. Once he was in a foxhole with his binoculars resting at ground level while he was looking through them. The Spirit whispered "duck down" and he instantly obeyed. Just as he did, a bullet went right through the center of the binoculars. It would have certainly killed him.
Another time he was sitting in a foxhole and an enemy grenade landed between his legs. He was blown out of the foxhole. Though he was burned badly he crawled back to find all of his companions dead.
Of all the stories, the one we loved to hear the most was how "little Jimmy Fisher saved his life."
Eugene Jens Gibbs with Jimmy Fisher in Hawaii before shipping out to Iwo Jima 1944. Contributed Photo.
My father was older than most of the men in his division. He went on his mission to the Southern states when he was 21 years old. He was home only a week when he received his letter from the government telling him he was drafted into the war at the age of 23, older than most recruits.
Jimmy Fisher was 18 when they met and went through their training. They developed a strong friendship. Both were Eagle Scouts and shared other interests that made their bond stronger. My father was a chaplain leader at the time so even though Jimmy wasn't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he would go with him to meetings.
They fought together on Rio-Namur, Sai Pan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. After each battle they would go back to Hawaii and get new recruits to replace those who had fallen. They would also heal and prepare for their next mission.
Iwo Jima was a terrible battle with many Marines killed before they were able to advance to the beach. After several days of intense fighting, my father was shot by a sniper. He was in the process of throwing a grenade when the bullet entered his throat and exited through the back of his shoulder. The force spun him around and he recalled his shoulder feeling like it had been hit with a baseball bat. He never knew what happened to the grenade in his hand. His men used everything they had to stop the bleeding, but his flowing blood was choking him. Finally Jimmy, stuck his little finger in the gap in his neck and kept it there until the blood clotted, at least a half an hour or longer.
When the medics finally came to carry him back to the truck, Jimmy and my Dad said their goodbyes, hoping they would be able to see each other again. While he was being carried off the battlefield, both medics carrying the stretcher were shot and killed. After sometime, two other medics were able to come and pick him up. As they were running to safety one of these medics was also shot and killed. The surviving medic ran as fast as he could, dragging the stretcher and my father to safety.
They loaded him into a truck holding three stretchers stacked vertically. He was put in the middle position. As the medics were securing him in the truck, gunfire raked the vehicle, killing the wounded soldier in the position above him. He was finally put on a hospital ship and made his way back to Hawaii.
While he was in the hospital his whole company received a military commendation for their bravery on Iwo Jima. It was then that my father learned for the first time that all but three men from Company K were killed on Iwo Jima and those three that survived had been carried out on stretchers. Jimmy Fisher was not among the survivors. It was a very difficult time for him to realize that all of his friends had been killed. These men whom he had worked with, trained with and fought beside were dead. They had forged bonds that only those in battle can understand. My father was devastated.
After months of recuperation Dad was finally able to go home. He married my mother and put his broken life back together. They communicated with Jimmy's family for a while, but as time went on they lost contact with them. When my older brother was born, he was named after Jimmy to honor the boy who saved my dad's life. My brother's first child was a girl, but they named her Jamie to continue this honor.
Just a few years ago, Jamie asked her grandparents if someone had ever done the temple work for Jimmy. As far as they knew it had not been. The only thing my father remembered was that Jimmy was from "back east."
I started going through the 1930 census looking for a "Jimmy Fisher". I had narrowed my search down to half-a-dozen families that could be his. But I was blessed even more when Ancestry.com came out with their military database. I was able to put in Jimmy's name and find his death date.
All along my family thought that Jimmy was buried on Iwo Jima with so many of our fallen soldiers. We found out that his body had been sent to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. We were able to find his records and see where he was buried. It just happened that same year (2007) my Mom and Dad were going back to Washington to be honored with Hero Flight, a special program that was organized to honor our WWII veterans. There was a special wreath-laying ceremony at the WWII Memorial, and many other activities. But the one that meant the most to my father was being able to find Jimmy's grave and give him a final salute after 63 years.
Eugene Jens Gibbs at Jimmy Fisher grave in Arlington cemetery 2008. Photo by Tamara Mecham.
While this was going on with my parents, I was busy searching for any of Jimmy's surviving family members. We found out that he had one sister who had already passed away, along with both of Jimmy's parents. From obituaries we were able to find some cousins who were still living. So we sent off letters in hopes of making a connection. A few weeks later I received a phone call from one of Jimmy's much younger cousins.
He was very excited to hear dad's story and to find out more about his cousin. He had an aunt who wanted to talk with us. Her husband was a brother to Jimmy's dad and had passed away a few years ago. She also called me and we had a wonderful talk. One of the cousins lived near Jamie back east and they were able to meet and spend some time together. It was like a family being reunited, a wonderful experience for everyone.
Later, Jimmy's aunt, her son and daughter-in-law came to visit my parents in Utah. Everyone wanted to talk with my dad and find out what Jimmy was like and some of his experiences. They were able to meet with my parents and also the rest of my family, including my brother Jim who was named in his honor. There was such a spirit of peace and friendship during this time.
Our youngest son was home preparing for his mission to Finland, so he was able to go to the Spokane Temple with me and complete the baptisms for the men in the Fisher family. There was also a youth group at the temple, so they baptized the women of his family. I had the wonderful experience of being confirmed for these women and my son Jared did the same for the men. Then we were able to do the initiatory work for them. There was such a strong spirit while we were doing this work. It was such an honor to do this for the man and his family who made it possible for all of our family to be alive.
When we took our son down to Utah to say goodbye to his grandparents and aunts and uncles we were all able to go to the Ogden Temple where each family member took a name through for these wonderful people who we were getting to know through our research. My dad took Jimmy's name and my mom took Jimmy's mother. Once again that wonderful feeling of peace was present.
Final Salute to James C. Fisher. Photo by Tamara Mecham.
Then with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins gathered in the temple we were able to have this family sealed for time and all eternity. We could tell that some of the family had been waiting for a long time to have their work done. As we all watched my dad sealing Jimmy to his parents we all had a strong feeling that we were finally able to give something back to "little Jimmy Fisher" who had saved my father's life. Now, my father had just saved Jimmy's. We all look forward to the day when we will be able to see my dad and Jimmy embrace each other once again as two friends who saved each other.
Tamara Mecham is a member of the Ponderosa Ward in the Spokane East Stake.
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