The men of Fox Company didn’t know anything about Barber’s intrepid performance on Iwo Jima—how he’d come ashore as a twenty-five-year-old lieutenant and, within a few short weeks, had found himself leading not just a platoon but a rifle company, in some of the most horrendous fighting the Marines had ever faced. He was shot in the hand, then suffered a nearly catastrophic concussion, blood pouring from both ears. He was evacuated, but he recovered and returned to the battle, where he endangered his life crawling through enemy cross fire to rescue a couple of wounded men. Barber fought to the
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