Wearing their purple hearts, a group of Iwo Jima veterans met on the 71st anniversary of the famous flag-raising and recalled the 1945 battle over breakfast in Altamont.

NEW SCOTLAND — Leading a platoon of 53 men into one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, 2nd Lt. Sanford “Sandy” Berkman and all of the Marines under his command would be wounded or killed while fighting on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima.