Iwo Jima survivor from Waterloo turns 100
Dave Greene was in the Fifth Marine Division in World War II; one part of a family legacy of community service carried on by late grandson
WATERLOO— Eighty years ago, David Greene didn’t know if he’d live to see his 20th birthday.
A shell blast buried him alive in the black volcanic sand on the island of Iwo Jima.
He not only dug his way out and survived the battle, he just turned 100.
Greene, who served with the 5th Marine Division at the Battle of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945, had a birthday celebration with family and friends recently at Waterloo’s Friendship Village retirement community, where he’s lived many years.
“February 19, 1945. They let us off on the beach at nine o’clock in the morning,” Greene said. He was far down the beach from the dormant volcano Mount Suribachi when, on the morning of Feb. 23, “all the ships started tooting their horns,” he said. He looked up and saw his fellow Marines raising an American flag atop Suribachi.
A second flag raising with a larger flag occurred that afternoon, which Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shot. It became an iconic symbol of the war, earned Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize and became the model for the statue that is the large Marine Corps Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
But “The fight wasn’t over,” Greene, a radio operator, said. He and a buddy were caught in the shell blast that buried both of them alive. Greene’s helmet had shaken loose and was covering his face. It provided an air pocket to keep him from suffocating as he and his buddy dug each other out.
The battle would last another month. The Americans secured the island March 26. Dave would spend his 20th birthday on Iwo Jima. More than 6,800 of his comrades and 18,000 Japanese never saw another.
David and his wife of 71 years, Marian, who passed away in 2021, hosted a number of Japanese foreign exchange students and on a trip to Japan were able to return the ancestral battle flag of a Japanese soldier who had fallen at Iwo Jima to his family.
David and Marian wed in 1947. He worked as an engineer for the city of Waterloo while still earning his degree through correspondence courses.
He was then recruited by Jens Olesen & Sons Co., which later became Prairie Construction. He spent 36 years at the company before retiring.
Greene gave a number of talks on his service and experiences at Iwo Jima, as well as his thoughts on peace and reconciliation with one-time enemies.
In 2012 Greene returned to Iwo Jima and also saw the Pacific battleground islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian, with a handful of fellow World War II veterans and students from Ohio State University, courtesy of the Greatest Generations Foundation, a Colorado-based organization sponsoring veteran trips to World War II battlefields.
In 2006, Greene gave an oral history interview of his experiences as part of the Grout Musuem District’s “Voices of Iowa” project. That 30-minute video can be seen below; his account of the battle begins at the 12:30 mark.
Greene has been a faithful supporter of the Grout Museum District and its Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. He has served as a museum board member. The bar in the museum mess hall/events area is named “Ye Olde Marine Tavern” for him.
He frequently closed his letters and correspondence with “Dave Greene, the Old Marine.”
Philanthropy and service above self runs in the Greene family.
David’s grandson, Tyler Greene, who was born with cerebral palsy and used an electric wheelchair, had an outgoing, affable personality like his grandfather and was an advocate for people with disabilities - even doing a video called “I’m Tyler” for an Eagle Scout project in 2006 to raise awareness.
In 2021, Tyler was hit by an SUV while crossing the street and died of his injuries at age 31. The Greene family — including Tyler’s parents and Dave’s son and daughter in law, Paul and Gina Greene — has established a fund in Tyler’s name through the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to promote disability awareness and inclusion in general. Information about that fund, including Tyler’s video and how to donate, may be found here.
The Greene smile, personality and positive attitude, and grandfather and grandson’s call to service, each in their own way, are an enduring legacy of service through the generations.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. They are listed below. Clink on the links to check them out, subscribe for free - and, if you believe in the value of quality journalism, support this column and/or any of theirs with a paid subscription.
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Thank you for this information on the patriarch of the Greene family. What a wonderful, strong family. My daughter was a friend of granddaughter Molly who was Tyler’s sister. Tyler was my student at West. Molly gave my daughter Tyler’s video. My daughter introduced it to me. I used it when I taught for the state of Virginia in their EducateVA program.
When I taught at Hoover/West High about 20 years ago, I think I had a Joe Rosenthal in class. I wonder if he was related to the photographer.