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The Enterprise — Michael Koff
At the Home Front Café, Thomas Lemme, left, and Porter Bidleman, right, talk while, in the background, beneath a flag that was made by a prisoner of war, Darlene Stanton helps Thomas Smith to a seat. Smith who served in the 4th Marine Division, 2nd Battalion, was a runner on Iwo Jima and was 18 at the time. He worked between the lines at night. “The job was to listen,” he said. Smith was wounded three times and has two Purple Hearts. He saw the iconic flag-raising on Mount Suribachi twice. “The first one was a small flag; they sent to a ship to get a bigger one,” he said. “It was quite a thrill.”