As a young infantry Marine, James Cathey and his buddies took a trip to Iwo Jima, where they camped on the beach, remembering the nearly 6,000 Marines who died there during World War II. Before Cathey and his friends left the island, they each took a sackful of sand from the beach. After Cathey's funeral, his comrades laid their white gloves on his casket, then took fistfuls of the sand and drizzled it over them.