"We didn't have a bassinette so my mother put me in the top drawer of the dresser. If I got fussy and started crying, she would just shut the drawer," the 87-year-old said.

Years later, Blane realized he was likely spending way too much time trying to keep another drawer shut, a drawer that led directly into the thoughts stored deep within a back corner of his mind.

"You don't become a Marine veteran until you see one of your fellow Marines go," he said.

Blane was one of a dozen survivors of Iwo Jima to return to the western Pacific earlier this year with the help of the Denver-based Greatest Generations Foundation. 9NEWS reporters Chris Vanderveen and Dave Delozier traveled with the group to Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima in an effort to record the journey.

All this week, 9News is bringing you pieces of a documentary that will air on 9News on Saturday at 6 p.m. For more information on supporting The Greatest Generations Foundation, or learning more about their programs please visit www.tggf.org or, call 303.331.1944.

(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)