When Death and Duty Calls.. Pictured on May 7, 1945, United States Marine Colonel Francis Fenton kneels in prayer


Pictured on May 7, 1945, United States Marine Colonel Francis Fenton kneels in prayer over the flag-draped body of his 19-year-old son Private First-Class Mike Fenton, one of over 125,000 casualties (combined American and Japanese lives lost) in the battle for the Japanese island of Okinawa during World War Two.

According to witnesses, Colonel Fenton then stood up, looked around at the other fallen Marines, and said: “Those poor souls. They didn’t have their fathers here.”

After which Fenton returned to headquarters, wrote a brief note to his wife, and went back to commanding his troops still in the field.

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