February 16 Quest for lost WWII hero BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com DUNMORE – Some 64 years after he filmed what many consider the most patriotic event in U.S. history, Sgt. Bill Genaust is still on the island of Iwo Jima. Entombed in a cave with other U.S. Marines and Japanese soldiers, Genaust is one of hundreds of men left behind after World War II. Genaust, a native of Minnesota, has a friend in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Bob Bolus read about Genaust in a 2005 Parade magazine story and has been battling ever since to convince the government to find Genaust’s remains and return them to the country he fought for and to inter his bones at Arlington National Cemetery. “I’m not going away,” Bolus said recently in his trucking company office in Dunmore. “I want the mission completed. I will hold our government accountable to bring these guys home. If the government won’t do it, let me do it.” Bolus is serious. He already has expended considerable personal funds to travel to Iwo Jima and has lobbied generals, politicians and ambassadors on Genaust’s behalf. Every time he sees footage of the Feb. 23, 1945, flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, Bolus is reminded that Bill Genaust is holding the camera. Genaust stood at the summit with his friend, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic still photo of the event. Genaust kept cranking his Bell & Howell camera as the flag was heaved into the wind and the flagpole jammed into the ground. A combat photographer with the 28th Marine Regiment, Genaust died nine days later when he was hit by machine gun fire as he was helping fellow Marines secure a cave, according to a 2007 Associated Press report on the search for Genaust. Iwo Jima, now known as Iwoto, was officially taken on March 26, 1945, after a 35-day battle that pitted about100,000 U.S. troops against 21,200 Japanese, the AP reported. All told, 6,821 Americans were killed and nearly 22,000 injured – the highest percentage of casualties in any Pacific battle, AP reported in recounting the battle. Only 1,033 Japanese survived, according to military archives. Bolus, 65, said he can assemble a team that will find Genaust. One member would be Gareth William “Bill” Rosson of Canton, Ill. Rosson, now 81, was on the island in 1947 and 1948. He claims to know exactly where on Hill 362-A Genaust’s remains are buried. Rosson said he has seen the mass graves where Marines’ bodies were placed, their dog tags around their necks. He remembers the caves where soldiers from both sides lay. He can still smell the stench from the heat of the caves and the rotting bodies. Rosson said he took a picture of a sign placed by a friend of Genaust’s that read: “Sgt. Bill Genaust – this is where I was shot. Your best friend. Good luck.” “They dug on the wrong side of the hill,” Rosson said. “They dug on the southwest side; that sign was on the northeast side. I don’t care what the island looks like now, I can find that spot. I know where he is and I’ll go there and show them where to dig. All we need are some good flashlights and a metal detector. There are still land mines there.” Chris McDermott, a civilian anthropologist for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii, said there have been three missions to Iwo Jima since 2005 – when Bolus began his quest – to try to find Genaust and others. JPAC sent an investigative team to gather data on where an excavation should take place. McDermott said a JPAC team excavated the southwest side of Hill 362-A and found no human remains. That was in July and August. McDermott said no future missions are planned. “I have spoken to Mr. Rosson and his information is interesting,” McDermott said. “But it is difficult for us to give credence to a northeast side excavation based on all of the historical data we have. … We will review new information to see if we can identify cases or sites that would justify sending out a team to excavate. But as of right now, we have nothing to justify it.” McDermott said JPAC wouldn’t oppose a private team going over as long as it was with the express permission of the Japanese government, which has been cooperative with U.S. recovery efforts. Bolus wants the U.S. to give him the go-ahead to search the island and excavate. He said he will work with the Japanese government to assure the mission is done properly. “All I need is the permission of the U.S. government,” Bolus said. “We asked to go with JPAC on the excavation, but we were denied.” JPAC’s position does not deter Bolus at all; in fact, he seems to be even more determined. “I believe Genaust is there and we can find him,” Bolus said.“Just because JPAC didn’t find anybody where they looked doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” Genaust, who would have been 102 this year, was 38 when he died. He and his late wife, Adelaide, had no children. A few months after his death, she received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts on his behalf. Billy G. Genaust, the sergeant’s cousin, said there is a memorial to the fallen Marine at the American Legion Post in Effingham, Ill. Genaust, 77, has handed out about 3,500 souvenir pens depicting the flag-raising scene his cousin filmed. The cousins never met; in fact, Billy Genaust was unaware he was related to Sgt. Genaust until 20 years ago. He is grateful to Bolus for his efforts to recover the war hero he never knew. “I think it would be the greatest thing to happen,” Genaust said. “We want the government to award him the Navy Cross, too. He deserves it.” The Friends of the Forgotten NEPA Wing, located in Scranton, is supporting Bolus’ mission. They have asked U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski to help make it a reality. “I have reached out to Mr. Bolus and I am working with Sen. (Bob) Casey and Congressman (Chris) Carney to help him in any way that I can,” Kanjorski said. “I will do what I can to help a fallen American soldier return to his native soil.” Carney and Casey said through spokespersons that they support Bolus’ efforts on behalf of Sgt. Genaust and have asked the Marine Corps to review his file and posthumously award the Navy Cross. Quest for lost WWII hero | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader
