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Red Bluff Daily News Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Page 7 Roy Ford to serve as parade’s grand marshal By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Red Bluff resident Roy Ford has been given the honor of serving as the 2011 Red Bluff Round-Up Parade Grand Mar- shal. Ford, a World War II veteran, was one of the Marines present at Iwo Jima when the flag was raised, and later went on to become a local rodeo champion. Instead of considering higher educa- tion or getting a job, Ford graduated from high school and went to Marine Parachute Training School, graduating Dec. 7, 1942, on the anniversary of the attack of Pearl Harbor. Stationed in the South Pacific, Ford was schooled in the brutal art of island warfare, which is an experience no school can prepare for and a test Ford almost did- n’t pass. without a hot meal or a change of clothes and existing on cold rations and precious little water as grueling. Fighting their way up a chain of islands including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian, names that still haunt veterans like Ford, the Marines were ordered to take the small but vital island of Iwo Jima at all costs. The United States underestimated the number of soldiers the Japanese had on the island, but the enemy knew the value of the island and had 20,000 battle hard- ened troops who were dug into solid rock concrete and protected by huge gun encampments. Fighting for every foot of territory gained, men died by the hundreds daily while the enemy operated from a series of caves. On day 34, Ford, acting as platoon sergeant with three men covering him, slung five bags of explosives over his shoulder. In order to secure the island, the Marines needed to gain a landing field for long-range bombers and their fighter escorts within easy striking range of Japan. The battle that was supposed to have lasted a few days wound up lasting 35 and Ford and the men in his division were under heavy fire daily. Ford, who served as a squad leader, describes those days when the men went Under intense fire from covering spi- der traps and with utter disregard for his safety, Ford set and detonated the charges, destroying several caves and numerous enemy soldiers, but at great personal cost. Ford, seriously wounded in the chest, was rescued by corpsmen who stabilized him with morphine, loaded him on a stretcher and carried him to the medics. His wound crudely packed with gauze, he spent a few days in a makeshift field hospital before being transported to the United States where he spent weeks recovering in a hospital. Ford was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his bravery, gallantry and valor RED BLUFF INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIC, Inc. Welcome Rodeo Fans NEW MOTORS Rewinding & Repair Service Ag-Bearings, Belts & Drive Line Components 527-5104 Gerald Rasmussen • Dean Rasmussen 455 Monroe St., Red Bluff Antelope Blvd. Walnut St. 914 Walnut St., Red Bluff, CA 528-9496 and the Purple Heart for his injury. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Ford returned to civilian life taking up his love of ranching and rodeo, traveling to rodeos throughout California in the 1950s and 1960s. Born Aug. 7, 1922 in Victorville, Ford moved to Tehama County in 1953 to pur- sue his rodeo career. He married and raised his two sons on a ranch in Gerber. Ford went on to be the 1961 Bare Back Champion of the California Pro Rodeo Association and a member of the Rodeo Association of America. In 1957, he rode a famous mule owned by Cotton Rosser in an exhibition in Red Bluff. He was well known for his horse training abilities. Today, Ford makes his home at Lassen House retirement home in Red Bluff where he is visited often by family, friends and other veterans. Welcome Rodeo Fans! o r Mexican Food Authentic RESTAURANT MEXICAN a L n a o C Main St.

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