Keith Gibler

Sat., Aug. 12, 1995

By Ward Sanderson wards@spokesman.com

Relatives say it wasn’t hard to picture Keith Gibler as a Marine. Like his friends, he was an athlete. At Otis Orchards High School, he was involved in just about everything.

But Gibler’s personality and athletic ability made him stand out from the crowd, says his older brother, Craig Gibler.

“I was (in sports) too,” Craig says. “But I wasn’t as good as he was.”

In addition to boxing and wrestling, Keith Gibler also excelled in football and basketball.

Craig says his little brother had both brawn and brains. “He was a real good-looking kid, with a real flashy personality,” Craig says. “Smart. Especially mathematically.”

Gibler married Betty Kielmeyer not long before joining the Marine Corps in 1943. They had no children. Gibler trained as a rifleman at a Marine base in California. As a member of the 26th Marine Company, 2nd Battalion of the 5th Division, he shipped out to the Pacific.

There, he took part in one of the most famous conflicts of the war - the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. Before the Marines conquered the island on March 16, the battle claimed the lives of 4,189 Americans. Another 15,308 were wounded, and 441 were missing. The number of Japanese troops killed or captured was 22,000.

Keith Gibler was among the Americans killed.

Craig Gibler says his 22-year-old brother or another Marine fired a bazooka round into an area occupied by Japanese troops. The idea was to disperse them with an explosion, then raise up with rifles and attack any fleeing soldiers.

The round didn’t detonate.

Gibler thought it had. He rose up, rifle in hand, from his position on the ground and was shot.

Keith Gibler was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Victory Medal and the Purple Heart.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: See 3 related stories under the following headlines: 1. War-torn memories 2. Robert Serrette 3. Andrew Simpson

See 3 related stories under the following headlines: 1. War-torn memories 2. Robert Serrette 3. Andrew Simpson

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