Lord Botetourt students in Bruce Ingram’s English 10 Advanced Studies class had to opportunity to meet with Marion Noel, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran who was a member of “Task Force 58,” a fleet that battled in Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.
Ingram’s students Meredith Griffith and Brett Smith created a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation as part of the Noel’s introduction and also as part of educating the students in attendance about the importance of Iwo Jima. The attentive students asked Noel several questions throughout the program.
Noel was born in Eagle Rock on Columbus Day, 1925. He is a product of Botetourt County Public Schools, having attended Eagle Rock Elementary and graduating from Eagle Rock High School in 1942.
On his 18th birthday in 1943, a train carried him northward to Samson, New York toward boot camp. Soon afterwards, he became a Seaman Apprentice in the U.S. Navy and served until 1946. During that time, Noel received several promotions, first to Seaman Recruit, next Seaman, then Petty Officer Third Class, and finally, though he was about to be promoted, he chose to come home with an honorable discharge.
After entering the U.S. Navy, Noel was sent to Richmond after boot camp for diesel engine school. From there, he went to Camp Bradford in Norfolk and on to Pittsburg as a new crewman. His ship there became part of Task Force 58, which included included U.S. Marines that arrived in Iwo Jima in February of 1945.
The craft was a 350-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, flat-bottom amphibious ship, which, typical of the time, had no name. Iwo Jima was a pivotal battle in World War II, which helped lead to the eventual victory of the allies in the Pacific Theatre. The flag from Noel’s ship is the one in the iconic photograph of American soldiers planting it on top of Mount Suribachi, a 554-foot-high extinct volcano in Iwo Jima.
After leaving the U.S. Navy in 1946, Noel worked at an auto parts store and several other jobs and married Beveline Martin, a William Byrd graduate from Vinton, in 1947. He raised two sons, Donnie and Tony, in Roanoke County. Later he worked for 35 years for the U.S. Postal Service, retiring in 1985. Currently, Noel lives in Hollins and recently attended the 78th Memorial Reunion of Iwo Jima, one of eight servicemen from that battle present. His son Donnie informs that his dad was quite popular with the ladies present and enjoyed several dances with them. Today, Noel enjoys attending church and working in his yard and house.
~ Fincastle Herald staff report