THE CAPSHAW FAMILY HISTORY

I'm still working on this page. While most of the basic facts are here, it lacks continuity.

As indicated on Darrel I. Capshaw's data page, the "investigation" into the story of Darrel I. and his son Donald Morgan was believed to be finished around 1995. I felt as if I had tied everything together and clarified all the questions.

During the summer of 1996, my wife and I took a trip to San Antonio, TX. I had been talking with Jarrett Durwood Capshaw of Wayne, OK, and we agreed to meet on our return trip and discuss some genealogy questions. We did just that. We visited with Jarrett at his home, and disucussed his military career (he was a retired Chief Hospital Corpsman from the US Navy). He showed me some memorabilia, pictures and awards for he and his wife, who was also ex-military.

While telling tales, Jarrett told me a story about what blood and gore he had seen during the battle of Iwo Jima. He also related that some of the marines on his ship had come back from the beach telling him about a young marine named Capshaw who had been shot up very badly. The marines told him that they didn't think that the marnine was going to "make it". They were concerned that the injured marine was related to Jarrett. Jarrett said that he never did find out who the marine was.

Well, me being the world expert on all members of the Capshaw family, I proceeded to clarify this big mystery by telling Jarrett that the injured man HAD TO BE Ross Lillard Capshaw, also a hospital corpsman, aboard the USS Grayback, SS 208.

The USS Grayback had been sunk in 1944 during the battle of Iwo Jima. (Well, not quite. The Grayback was sunk by air attack on 27 Feb 1944, between Luzon and Formosa).

Having made this profound statement, Jarrett, very politely, informed me that to take a hospital corpsman from a submarine and send him in with an assault force would most likely NEVER take place.

#1. The submarine probably only had one corpsman.
#2. That particular corpsman probably didn't have the training to be with the attack force.
Ergo, it must have been someone else.

While Jarrett was correcting me, the light came on. Donald Morgan Capshaw. It had to be!!! While there was no iron clad proof, everything fits.

So much for the know-it-all genealogist.

A few years later, I began correspondence with a lady who was descended from the Missouri Capshaws. She provided me with a lot of information about her parents and grandparents. She then began to tell me about her brother, Billy, who was a WWII veteran, and a big hero in her eyes. Billy (Wiliam Cody Capshaw), a Marine, had been wounded on Iwo Jima. He lost an eye, and was stabbed in the back. He lay in a foxhole for a considerable period of time before they were able to get him medical help.

The Battle of Iwo Jima

Marines rush from their landing craft onto the beach at Iwo Jima as the United States invaded the island during World War II. The Marines captured the Japanese island in 1945 after a month-long battle that caused one of the highest casualty tolls in the Pacific theater of the war.

Iwo Jima, Battle of, one of the most costly battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought in February and March 1945 on the island of Iwo Jima. About 6800 United States personnel (including about 6000 Marines)lost their lives in capturing the island from the Japanese; Japanese losses were estimated at more than 21,000. The conquest of the island provided American air units with the first base inside the Japanese inner-defense system from which to attack the heart of industrial Japan with medium bombers escorted by fighters.

Before the actual invasion on February 19, the island was subjected to air and sea bombardment for three months. In spite of the preinvasion assault, some Japanese were still firmly entrenched in underground fortifications in the soft volcanic soil. The marines secured the island after a month of the most severe fighting in their history. Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the island and an important defense position, was captured on February 23. The campaign was officially declared ended on March 16.

One of the most famous images of World War II is that of the United States Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima during their battle with Japanese forces. The photograph, taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945, actually shows the second American flag-raising of the day. The Marines had raised the first flag on Iwo Jima more than two hours earlier, but they decided to replace it with a second, larger flag.

Joe Rosenthal/AP/Wide World Photos

This battle-tattered flag was the first American flag raised during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The United States Marines placed the flag atop Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi on the morning of February 23, 1945. Hours later, the Marines replaced it with a second, larger flag. About 6800 U.S. personnel (including about 6000 Marines) died while attempting to take the island from Japanese forces, who suffered even heavier losses, during February and March of 1945.

Surnames Return To Table Of Contents