75 years ago, America was in the midst of the battle of Iwo Jima. It was a month-long fight over one of Japan's Volcano Islands just south of the country. On Saturday, dozens came to celebrate the battle by watching a documentary filmed by Nick Russo.

Russo was in Iwo Jima during the 50th anniversary where he interviewed veterans and scaled Mount Suribachi.

“I was very lucky to get on top of the mountain I filmed things and captured things that no one else was able to get, “Russo said.

25 years later, he’s giving people a chance to feel the “fine” black sands of the troops had to walk through, a perception of the volcano itself and a look at the foliage growing on the island where the battle took place.

“So many came before us and the best way to express our appreciation is to embrace what they sacrificed,” he said.

It’s giving people like Kay Keller-Maurer a chance to learn what the troops went through. Keller-Maure’s father enlisted in the military after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, but he didn’t like telling stories about the fight.

“I tried to hear his stories,” said Keller-Maurer. “They just wouldn’t come from him. Someone once asked him to record what he remembered into a recorder. I remember sitting down when he pulled the recorder out to hear, but he would press the button to stop.”

Keller-Maurer understands why her father didn’t like to talk about the war.

“When you lose that many buddies and just the horror of the war I don’t think you’re going to come home and tell your younger daughter any of this,” she said.

But it wasn’t until recently that researchers told her Harold Keller was one of the soldiers who helped raise the flag on Mount Suribachi.

“I wish he would have talked to me about this,” she said. “I wish I would’ve heard these stories from him.”

Keller-Maurer and Russo said it’s important to share these stories about soldiers like Harold Keller because many of the veterans are passing away. Videos and experiences like Russo’s documentary are keeping these stories alive for the next generation.

“It gives you perspective on what he went through, the sand he had to go through, the plants he probably had to crawl through, it’s really eye-opening.”