Don Rumble departed his Schnecksville home in March and journeyed thousands of miles westward to view World War II historical sites on islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Having served in the U.S. Marine Corps, Rumble has a particular interest in sites where Marines played a prominent role.

His visit to Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima was described in Part I of this story.

On the island of Saipan, Rumble learned about the massive banzai attack directed against the Marines by the Japanese and their slave laborers from Korea and Okinawa.

When it became apparent the Americans were winning, enemy forces jumped off cliffs to commit suicide.

They were heeding a warning never to dishonor the emperor by surrendering.

“Women were told by Japanese leaders they would be tortured and raped by the Americans if they got captured or surrendered, so they jumped off cliffs with children in their arms,” Rumble explained.

The island of Tinian was the next destination for Rumble. Although few people have ever heard of Tinian, in 1944 and 1945 it was the world’s most active airfield with hundreds of B-29 bombers and tens of thousands of American troops.

Tinian also played a huge role in history.

Rumble said members of the tour had to be weighed before stepping on a wing to get into the six-passenger planes that would fly them to Tinian.

They were seated by weight to balance the planes flown by individuals still working to obtain flying licenses.

On Tinian, they walked along Runway Able, now a scruffy, ordinary looking site which has an ominous distinction in World War II and world history.

On Runway Able, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay carried the atomic bomb “Little Boy” which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying two-thirds of the city and causing 140,000 deaths by the end of the year.

Three days later, the B-29 bomber Bock’s Car departed from Runway Able with the atomic bomb “Fat Man,” which was released over Nagasaki, destroying half the city and causing 70,000 people to lose their lives by the end of the year.

The massive destruction led to the surrender of Japan.

Rumble could both see and touch replicas of the bombs and view the pits where they were placed before loading.

Because the bombs were so big, military personnel devised a hydraulic lift system to push them up from the pit into the fuselage

Rumble said he was privileged to learn so much about World War II in the Pacific by seeing the places where it happened and artifacts which tell the story.

“I felt honored to be there and glad to have had the opportunity to see that part of history,” Rumble said. “I’m glad I went.”