World War II veteran reflects on his service and gives advice to those currently deployed

TAMPA, Fla. - Edward Mahoney, or Ed to his friends, will tell you that his 99 years of life are pretty chill these days.

"I play with the stock market. I watch it every day," said Mahoney." I don’t have nothing else to do. I do my work in the yard, my trimmings as much as I can in there."

But 78 years ago, his days were very different.

Ed was known as Corporal Mahoney, serving in the Third Marine Division, 9th regiment in Iwo Jima during World War II.

"I was with a weapons company, and when we made our landings in Iwo Jima in there, the first day, I was in a 37 millimeter in a tank gun, and we just put it over on the side in there, and we just went in as infantry in there," said Mahoney. 

" The battle of Iwo Jima off the coast of Japan was a major one in the war, he said. " And when the enemy moved into view, I had my gun, and I fired it, so I don't know what happened to them. I'd never seen if it killed all of them outright, and that really started in there. The fight started then."

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Ed spent more than a month there, knowing wins and suffering losses.

The men that Mahoney served with 

"I can tell you this, I was in Bougainville and lost my best buddy in Bougainville," said Mahoney. "I lost my best buddy in Guam and lost my best buddy in Iwo Jima. "

One day he found a friend on the battlefield.

"I went over to where he was at, and he was lying face up in the sun, and I reached down and got his dog tags, and there was his name on the dog tags," said Mahoney. 

He didn’t know what happened to his friend’s body until someone looked into it for him many years later.

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"After the reunion a couple of weeks, I got a letter from him saying he was buried in the fourth division cemetery," said Mahoney. 

The names of the soldiers who didn’t make it back home stick with Ed this Memorial Day. He mourns and reflects on what was. 

After the war, Ed served in the National Guard and grew his family.

He has one message to service members in war zones today. 

"Just be yourself in there, and you’ll come through all right in there with the help of God."