Marine Col. Justice Chambers’ heroism on Iwo Jima earned him the Medal of Honor five years after the World War II battle. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Lt. Col. Joshua Chambers never knew his great-grandfather but grew up with family bedtime stories about Col. Justice Chambers and the troops he led in 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines.
One of 27 Marines awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, Justice left a four-generation legacy of service that is still going strong.
Now a Marine himself, Joshua is an operational planner for Marine Corps Forces Pacific at Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii.
One of his great-grandfather’s stories — about landing on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945 — still sticks with him. The Marines were under so much gunfire that, as Justice recalled, “all you had to do was stick a cigarette in the air and it would light.”
“One, just the idea of, I can’t imagine being in that type of environment,” Joshua told Stars and Stripes by phone March 6. “And then also, two, just carrying on a casual conversation with friends or whoever it was at that time. Kind of that cool, calm and collected – I want to aspire to be like that.”
Roughly 7,000 Marines were killed and another 20,000 were wounded in the five-week effort to take the volcanic island from Japanese troops.
Under heavy enemy fire, Justice led his battalion during an eight-hour battle to claim the ridgetop on the right flank of Mount Suribachi, according to his Medal of Honor citation.
On the invasion’s fourth day, Justice was directing the Marines’ first rocket barrage against the enemy’s front line when he was critically wounded by machine gun gunfire. He was medically retired and promoted to colonel, according to his Marine Corps University online biography. He received the Medal of Honor on Nov. 1, 1950, according to his citation.
President Harry S. Truman presents the Medal of Honor to Marine Corps veteran Justice Chambers for gallant action on Iwo Jima, Nov. 1, 1950. (Abbie Rowe/National Park Service)
Stories about Justice’s everyday dedication and perseverance proved just as inspirational, his great-grandson said.
Justice overcame polio at a young age and went on to play football at what was then Marshall College in his native West Virginia, Joshua said.
“His running line was always, ‘Show me a motor pool that’s clean and I’ll show you a unit that isn’t training hard enough,’ ” he said. “Just that, hey, you’re dedicated to your job, to your craft.”
Joshua’s grandfather, John Arthur Chambers, served in the Marines during the Vietnam War and retired as a lieutenant colonel, and his second cousin, Justice “Mike” Chambers III, served in Desert Storm.
His parents, Jennifer Ann and Charles Allen Snoddy, retired as captains from the U.S. Army. Joshua was born with his mother’s maiden name.
But their son was drawn to the Marines, thanks to his great-grandfather.
“Luckily, my childhood dreams came true,” he said.
Commissioned in 2009, Joshua served two tours in Sangin, Afghanistan, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, in 2011 and 2013. His unit provided security for the town after the fight in 2010 to win it.
“We hear the stories of Iwo Jima – I saw it in Sangin every day,” he said. “I saw Marines going out on patrol and fighting for each other.”
Joshua was stationed on Okinawa from 2014 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2022. He made the trip to Iwo Jima with other Marines during his first Okinawa tour and plans to attend the battle’s 80th anniversary ceremony on Saturday.
“I thought it was just going to be kind of a leisurely stroll up the mountain,” he said. “It took a little longer than I thought. But I couldn’t imagine having to fight through the jungle, through the rocks while being shot at with no cover, hiding enemy everywhere. I couldn’t imagine trying to fight for every inch.”
In this screenshot from a Marine Corps video, then-1st Lt. Joshua Chambers speaks about his deployment to Sangin, Afghanistan, March 23, 2012. (Bobby Gonzalez/U.S. Marine Corps)
Joshua has four children, ages 8, 6, 4 and 3.
“No. 3 loves the Marines. He is absolutely infatuated; he wants to be a Marine already,” he said. “I see that and it kind of warms my heart.”
