RUSTY'S
MEMOIRS
OF
WWII BATTLES
1943 - 1945
PFC.
WENDELL M. ELLENBERGER
GUAM CAMPAIGN
July 21 to August 10, 1944
Prologue
This is a small
story that occurred in a large event, WWII, and in particular, the Guam
Campaign as seen through my eyes and is the start of my participation in the
first campaign to recover a former U.S. possession.
This particular
story or endeavor, is the result of my reading my copy of the 3rd JASCO
History. It is a very good account and, I am sure, very well researched and
verified. My objection to, or question that bothered me was the list of killed
in the Guam Campaign.
All these long
past years I have believed that the officer in charge of Shore Party Team 3 was
a Lt. Smith from Idaho. A very caring and religious man that did all he could
for the men in his team.
Somehow on my
first read of the 3rd JASCO History I thought that the name of my Lt. had been
changed to Lewis instead of Smith and I thought that such an error should be
changed.
At the age of 77 this bit of misinterpreted information really
disturbed me. I was like a dog with a cement bone. I chewed and chewed but
never had any nourishment or reason for my assumed miscarriage of honor.
As a result, my lovely partner took command. She jumped onto the
internet and looked up the telephone number of my former commanding officer,
Col. John Ellis.
Whereby, I held several conversations with this kind, and I hope, still
my friend, Col. John Ellis. John (he said to please use John) said that he
would like for me to sit down and write what happened to me on the Guam
campaign.
I felt that this
request was a walk in the park. How wrong I was, soon became apparent. John,
this has been the hardest task that you ever assigned me to do.
I have sat down,
several times, to try and organize my actions from landing to end of campaign.
Much, to my dismay, I have forgotten names, faces, days, dates, that I thought
I knew by heart.
If the actions and
time frame do not match, please forgive, it is as I remember this action. I do
want to thank you, John, for all your encouragement.
One important fact that is stated in our history book is this. Guam was
the honing and tempering for ALL the 3rd Division in preparing us for the hell
of Iwo Jima.
I will end this prologue with 2 poems
from a fellow knifemaker, Ray Johnson.
WHISPERS ON THE WIND
Memories and nostalgia, seem to trap us all
Like the musty smell of classrooms when we return in the Fall
Can you smell bacon frying, on an early frosty morn
Or hear the night song of the mocking bird, or a dove's wailful mourn
Can you smell new hay a'curing, in the heat of the sun
Or hear the lonely sound of a cowbell, when the working day is done
Do you know the popping of a grasshopper as he wings around
Or can you smell the rain drops falling on parched summer ground
Have you really listened to the quietness of a new-fallen snow
Or seen a dew-drenched rose bud, puffin' on a show
Can you hear the katydids and crickets, on a hot summer night
Or hear geese a'honkin. on their northern flight
Yeah, we'd all like to travel back, where these memories all begin
But I reckon we all know, they're just whispers on the wind.
Like the musty smell of classrooms when we return in the Fall
Can you smell bacon frying, on an early frosty morn
Or hear the night song of the mocking bird, or a dove's wailful mourn
Can you smell new hay a'curing, in the heat of the sun
Or hear the lonely sound of a cowbell, when the working day is done
Do you know the popping of a grasshopper as he wings around
Or can you smell the rain drops falling on parched summer ground
Have you really listened to the quietness of a new-fallen snow
Or seen a dew-drenched rose bud, puffin' on a show
Can you hear the katydids and crickets, on a hot summer night
Or hear geese a'honkin. on their northern flight
Yeah, we'd all like to travel back, where these memories all begin
But I reckon we all know, they're just whispers on the wind.
WINNERS
Winners fear to lose they say, and losers fear to win
but consider the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin
Some seeds fall on fallow ground, and others fall on good
Some come up on foreign ground, some, where their mothers stood
Some grow real well, yet others just survive
But none of them ever quit, while they're still alive
They fight the storms and the sun, until they finally bloom
And even the worst of these flowers, can cheer a dreary room
Each of us can be a winner, if we will only try
The only way that we can fail, is just lay down and die.
but consider the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin
Some seeds fall on fallow ground, and others fall on good
Some come up on foreign ground, some, where their mothers stood
Some grow real well, yet others just survive
But none of them ever quit, while they're still alive
They fight the storms and the sun, until they finally bloom
And even the worst of these flowers, can cheer a dreary room
Each of us can be a winner, if we will only try
The only way that we can fail, is just lay down and die.
THE BATTLE BEGINS
July 21, 1944, 4:00 a.m.---REVEILLE! Boy! Those klaxons were loud. We
hadn't slept very well, so didn't mind the loud noise. We went for chow first,
then returned to our compartments. We put on our battle packs then checked each
other to see if we had all that was required.
Finally,
the order came down for us to go topside. Once we were topside we were able to
see the pre-landing bombardment taking place. The man behind me said,
"Boy… some fireworks." I told him that the Marine Corps was giving me
my birthday present a day early as I would be 19 tomorrow. He looked at me and said,
"if you like this just wait until tomorrow and see what the little yellow
fellows show what they have ready for you." How right he was.
7:00 a.m.---We were all loaded
into the Higgins boats we had loaded up with our corn equipment the night
before. Even with all our equipment we were still below the gunwale.
8:32
a.m.---Arrived at line of departure right on time. By this time, my stomach was
doing gymnastic exercises and my skin tingled all over, along with my mouth
getting dryer by the minute. The flag went up and the flag went down. We gunned
our engines and away we went. Then we came up to the reef.
This was
the first time that amtracks were used to ferry troops over the reef clear onto
the beach. We had not given a thought as we loaded the higgins boat the night
before that we were going to transfer all the corn equipment to the amtracks. I
think we were just too cranked up to think that far ahead. We were in the third
wave. What a chore it was transferring all the corn gear to the amtrack on the
open sea.
By the
time we had all of our gear in the amtrack, we were sitting a good two feet
above the gunwale. Luckily, so far, our amtrack had received only one large
shell that overshot us by 40 yards. Then it was a hazardous crawl up onto the
reef in an overloaded amtrack. We saw an amtrack 2 units to our right start up
the face of the reef when one tread seemed to collapse the edge of the reef and
over it went. But no time to watch now, we are charging for the beach. . .Now
we are only 75-85 yards away from the beach and just starting to hear bullets
ping off of the sides of the amtrack. Wasn't able to spot any of our troops on
the beach so hopefully, they are moving on inland. The noise is terrific.
Then we
came up onto the beach (Red 1, I believe), on the extreme left flank of landing
assignments. We were to the right of a fairly large rock formation called
Adelupe Point. The coxswain was screaming, GO . . . BAIL OUT over and over. We threw our gear off as fast as we
could. Threw the last rubber sack off as the amtrack backed off the beach.
We were
receiving small arms fire from Adelupe Pt., so we headed for the tree line as
fast as we could. An amphibious tank came from the left of Adelupe Pt., up the
same path as our amtrack had made. They faced toward 2 caves and cut loose with
their cannon. In one of the caves a Jap soldier had suddenly appeared, pointing
his rifle in our direction. After the cannon blast, no more Jap. The Lt. yelled
for us to all get up and return to the beach to get our equipment up to the
tree line. We had all grabbed a rubberized bag when either a large mortar shell
or maybe a 77 shell landed back of us toward the tree line. Most of us were
facing the sea with our backs to the trees trying to drag these very heavy
bags.
On the
first explosion the Lt. gave a very loud grunt, let go of the bag he was
dragging, and then sighed and collapsed to the sand. . . dead. Most of the team
were knocked by the explosion. Another of our team screamed and held his face
with quite a bit of blood seeping through his fingers. Then the other shell hit
and another of our team was hit. I think he was hit in the leg. We rolled the
Lt. over and the shrapnel had hit him in his battle
pack, as it was ripped to pieces along with most of his back. There were not
too many signs that the shrapnel had come out his chest as there was blood
everywhere. Have to assume it tore his heart and lungs up. There were 4 of us
that stopped the next amtrack and put the Lt. in. The other team members did
the same for the other two. It was total mass confusion. By taking time to take
care for our Lt. and the 2 wounded, several more amtracks came in and chewed up
and buried a lot of our equipment.
Sgt. Mimms assumed
command of the Team. He had us pick up and dig up as much of our corn gear that
we could find. We drug it inland about 40 yds. and took assessment of how much
of our corn gear was usable and how we could continue to perform our assigned
task.
Let me stop at this time and
give praise where praise is due. Sgt. Mimms took over a very rattled and
disorganized Team 3. He got us back to the business at hand. By nightfall we
had made contact by runner and wire to the JASCO team to our right.
Sgt. Mimms really
deserved his promotion to 2d Lt. As an add, I had the privilege of seeing Lt.
Mimms once more. It was nearing the end of the Iwo campaign. We recognized each
other and I was going to shake his hand when he grabbed me and gave me a big
hug. We talked for a few minutes then went our respective ways.
From this moment
on my memory is a kaleidoscope of various actions until I was sent to the
hospital with Dengue fever. The memory bank in this old man has become too
dusty and ancient to recall names of units assigned to, time elements, or even
the names of marines I fought beside after leaving Team 3.
DAY TWO was spent
consolidating our communication assignments with the remaining equipment we
had. It also was a day of mass confusion. More marines landing along with tanks
and all the accompanying units. We also established a link with the command
post of the 3rd marine regiment. Twice tanks tore up our wire. For a few
minutes we thought that maybe the tankers had it in for us.
DAY THREE was when
I left Team 3. A captain from, I believe, 1st battalion, 3rd regiment showed up
at our comm center and talked to Sgt. Mimms for a short time. The result of
that conversation was I and another team member were told to go with the
captain. From that moment on we were riflemen, pack mules, wiremen, radiomen.
Whatever they told us to do, we did.
The 1st
bat., along with the rest of 3d reg. was hung up on a series of heavily
forested ridges. It took us all that day and the next fighting a revived Jap
army that was dug into caves, snipers, and spider traps. The 1st took quite a
few casualties. I returned to the beach 3 times that day. Usually helping carry
a stretcher. Our return trips were always with either water, ammo, or grenades.
We also hauled back large spools of wire for the 3d regiment command center.
Several times that day I was used to give covering fire on attacks on caves
while they blew or burned the cave out. I was finding out how tough it is to be
a rifleman.
One surprise I received was very, very welcome. From about day 4 (mostly
late in the day), a jeep loaded with 3 stacks of thermos tins would
drive up to our company and the
driver would yell, "any 3d JASCO men here?" It was our cook called
Heavy. He would dish us up a hot mess kit full of food. Then as we sat around
he would ask us if we had run across any caves that had sake, beer, or Suntory
whiskey. He would also ask if we had run across any of the 4-crew large caliber
Jap machine guns. He seemed to have a distinct love of them. If we had run
across any of the items we would give him directions on how to get to them.
Needless to
say, we were the envy of all our different companies. You would be surprised at
how many of our fighting companions would offer us souvenirs if we would tell
Heavy they were 3d JASCO members. Heavy must have done a good job. I can
remember that after the campaign was over, after evening mess, we received a
small ration of sake, or Ashi beer for about a week.
The lst bat. finally reached the Chonito Cliffs. The engineers built two
"tramways" to pull supplies up on one and the other was used to bring
wounded down. I was once more assigned to the task of manning one of the
tramways. We hauled ammo, water, grenades, mortar cloverleafs, food. The next
day we beat the amount of everything we sent the first day by more than half.
Hard, brutally hard, on the arm and back muscles.
Then on July 26 I was assigned
to guard the tramway on top of the cliff. There had been no enemy patrols or
actions on the past 3 nights so was expecting none. I assumed my duty post to
the left side of the 2 tramways at about 5:45 p.m. I had been told not to worry
about my right flank because the 21st Marines were taking care of that section.
After I was up there I saw the 21st's lines began about 50-70 yds. on the other
side of the tramways. Their lines made a shallow half moon as far as I could
see in the gathering dusk. I improved my foxhole, making it a little deeper,and
wider.
The Japs
were starting to throw more mortar rounds as dusk settled in. Then the mortars
stopped and it seemed as if the Japs were saying, "we are still here and
don't forget it." Then they started throwing some rounds at the 21st. So
found some rocks to put up at the front of my hole and settled in for the
night.
About midnight, or shortly
thereafter, heavy mortar and machine gun fire hit to my right and also to my
left. It was really heavy.
Because of
my place on top of the cliff I could spot muzzle blasts from both our artillery
below the cliffs and from ships offshore. Then all hell broke loose. Star
shells from both land and sea filled the night with their eerie light. I knew
the 3d's lines were catching a lot of Jap stuff as, also, on farther to my
northeast it was really very heavy.
Then all of a sudden there was what seemed to me a huge wave pouring
over the hill from up where our 3rd's lines were. They were yelling and
screaming something, but I didn't understand any words. They knew where they
were headed. They angled away from my position, heading for the defile that the
21st was covering. I mean to tell you, there were hundreds of them.
All of our guns were firing and were chewing them up at a
fast rate. There seemed to be an unending stream. I tried throwing my grenades (half
case), but could see my explosions were not reaching them. So I switched to my
Rockola-made carbine and fired 5
as fast
as I could at anything that looked close or bunched up. I think I hit several
Japs. But how can you be sure with all the shells blowing huge chunks of dirt
and bodies skyward plus the crazy swinging light that distorts everything. I was relieved of my position about
5:00 am. I was shaking like a leaf and still scared. Most of that day was spent finding and killing off pockets of Japs in
our area of control. To a large extent, at the point where the Japs broke
through, all marines were killed. I can't remember exactly the figure
but it was very serious.
Early on
the morning of the 28th Father Brown, a chaplain for the 3rd Marines came by
our unit and said for all 6 of us to come with him. He said our commanding
officer had assigned us to him for all that day.
Father Brown had collected about 15-18 men from various units. He sat
us all down, and in his soft voice explained to us that there were more bodies
up there than Graves Registration could handle. What with the tropical heat it
was imperative we find all the Marines and tag them in the approved manner. He
gave us 10 thin stakes and off we went to find out what real hell is all about.
John, I
never puked and cried so much in my whole life. We did what was asked of us
that day and was very thankful that we were not needed the following day.
On the 29th I was sent out with a patrol as a radio operator on a
SCR-300 (?), a back pack radio, for the officer leading the patrol. We were to
make contact with the Japs, and to estimate their strength. We went out over
800 yds. past our former front lines and never found a soul anywhere. We did
find the assembly area the Japs had used. Our artillery had really wiped out a
large number of them. Also found some small supply dumps. I radioed back the coordinates
to regimental command of the areas we found. We returned after about 3-4 hours
of scouting and snooping.
On July
30th I was really feeling bad. All my joints ached and my head felt like it was
on fire. I told my sgt. of my problem. The sgt. told me it was just shock and
exhaustion from the past few days. I was excused from duty for a day. So I
sacked out in my hole at the base of the tramways and slept most of the day.
The next day I felt even more pain in my joints and had also developed
a rash over most of my upper body. So I looked up our corpsman. He examined me,
took my temperature (101 deg.). He said, 'that's it. . . it's off to the
hospital for you. He filled out the required papers, put them in a bag around
my neck. Then it was a jeep ride down to the hospital.
I was released from the hospital on either the 6th or 7th of Aug. I'm
not sure of the exact dates. It took me all day inquiring and hitchhiking to
finally arrive home at the 3rd JASCO. Finally found them several miles north of
Agana in the jungle at the base of a hill. After reporting in I was assigned a
hole. Stopped by the cook tent to say hello to our cook Heavy. Saw that he had
accumulated 4 of those large machine guns that he always asked for. Real nice
to be with your own unit again.
For what it is worth, this is MY version of what happened to me on the
Guam Campaign. I am sure there will be some that will
read this and say that I was dreaming. Col. Ellis, thank you
for giving me this assignment. I should have done it years ago when my grandchildren asked me too. I
think I'll start doing my Iwo Jima Campaign also. For some information
about my family, John, I will give you a small capsulation. I have two children, a daughter Terry,
who lives here in Arvada, CO, and a son Jim, who lives in Launceston, Tasmania,
Australia. My daughter married her high school sweetheart. My son-in-law, Mike, was in the Army for 12 yrs. and is now
in middle management at the Denver main postal building. They are
blessed with 2 sons. Scott is the oldest and is a E-6 in
the Army and is in an EOD unit. Keith is the youngest and is an E-4 in the Army as an MP stationed at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina. My son has lived
in Australia for the past 29 years. He is a citizen of that country and at the present time is employed as a carpenter. He is married to a lovely Tasmanian
lady, named Robin. They have 2 children, Jessica and Reuben.
Most of out lives are like a piece of ice forgotten in the
sun. It dissipates without leaving
a trace that it ever existed. May
the rest of our lives be in friendship for each other. And may we always be true to our own
ideals.
HOME IMPROVEMENT and RENEWING
OUR KNOWLEDGE of the ART
OF WAR
I have called this
section of my memoirs "home improvement". We had won the battle for
Guam and now, once more, Marines were back . . to stay. It was our new home and
remained our home until the end of the war.
Once we were able to stand up and look around without having a sniper
take a shot at us, we discovered that this beautiful "island' was much
better than our last home on Guadalcanal. Now we knew why they called Guam a
"white man's island".
We were
assigned a piece of land at division headquarters. It was on the Bluff above
Yelig Bay. What a beautiful spot! Now came the job of setting up the tents on
selected spots along marked-out company streets. I remember that the corner
pegs for the tents were twice as long as the middle pegs because of high winds.
Then, everyone took turns of piling into 6x6's (heavy duty trucks) to go
down to the seabees to pick up crushed coral to bring back for our company
streets. We also placed and painted larger rocks to denote the street width.
Then Major Ellis asked that some of the elderly Chamorro ladies, plus their
husbands, show us how to cut down palm fronds, split them down the middle and
then use both halves to weave for wails. Also, some of the fronds that were
split were layered one on top of each other to form the roof. As a result of
weeks of work, and the instruction of the Chamorros, we were able to make a
chapel and an officer's club.
Also,
during the same period, groups of us were assigned to a work force that spent
several weeks building a home on a point of land that overlooked part of Yelig
Bay for CinCPac (Commander-in-Chief of Pacific) Admiral Nimitz that was to use
Guam as his advance headquarters. We also helped build a home for our new
Commanding General, Graves B.Erskine.
Some
others of Shore Team 7 and I were assigned to take over the switchboard and
communications of the Third Engineer Battalion. They also had a beautiful
location overlooking, what I faintly remember, was Pago Bay. It was good duty.
Right off, 1 found out that the food at their mess was a lot better prepared
than the stuff that "Heavy" had been giving us. Also the Engineers
had built a platform extending out over a cliff that was used as their shower
room. The water from the showers just drained off into the jungle below. Very
open and was actually cooled by the sea breezes. I know that the shower area
was not lit. So, on several occasions, it was found that Jap stragglers were
also using said showers. Overall, it was good duty for 30 days. Also, the
Engineers were blasting a very large hole out of the coral reef to be used as a
swimming pool for them to use later.
It did shake you up a little bit to hear these large explosions every so
often.
Even
though we all were doing heavy labor, there were weekends we were free to go
down to the small beach area and watch the Chamorro men toss and catch fish
with their butterfly nets. Or we could go swimming in the river as long as we
didn't disturb the native ladies that were washing their family's clothes.
Another marine and I were invited to a Saturday meal at a village (Yona, ?) not
too many miles from our area camp. We talked to "Heavy" and was able
to talk him out of two cans of Spam to take to the two families we were eating
with. Never saw so many large belt knives. They were worn by almost all male
members of the Chamorro people.
It was at this meal
given by two Chamorro families that we were given samples of the native version
of high powered, fermented juice. The less potent of the two drinks was called
"Tuba", and was taken from the top of palm trees and was from the
blossom. It not only smelled terrible, it tasted even worse. That form of the
juice was then cooked and condensed down to a VERY strong drink called
"Agie" that would plain flatten you after one medium glass. Plus,
when you recovered, your head felt like you had been kicked by a mule. After
suffering for two days from swigging more than a small amount, I tried to avoid
all forms of native liquor.
One of
the big pluses of this period was getting a load of mail from your family and
friends in your old home town. In my case that was Lamar, CO. Like 90% of our
particular company we received these letters that started like this: "Son,
you will be glad to hear that there are three young men you know that are on
the same island as you." From then on you are asked if you have looked up
said "hometown buddies." Well,' found out that the Lubbers twins and
a Capt. Heath were on this large island.
I looked
up the Lubbers twins, Lloyd and Floyd, at Apra harbor. Both were in the Navy,
one in "dry stores" and the other in "refrigeration". I
wanted to make an impression on them, so I invited the two of them to our best
meal (Sunday dinner) that was prepared by our company chef "Heavy." I
had scrounged around and had come up with two extra mess kits.
"Heavy" came up with his best fried chicken, a little bloody, but
edible and had some dehydrated peas and carrots and chopped-up mango in a very
shady cream sauce. I will be forever grateful for "Heavy's" gourmet
meal. From then till we boarded ship for Iwo Jima, I was the guest of the
Lubbers twins in their fancy mess hall with all fresh food and veggies from
"refrigeration" and all the new white T-shirts, socks, and anything
else I needed from "dry stores."
The three of us found out, via letters from home, that Capt. Heath was
in charge of a Corsaire squadron and was stationed at the airfield. So the
three of us thumbed our way to the airfield. Found out at the gate that Capt.
Heath and his squadron were at the other end of the field two miles away. The
Sgt.-of-the-Guard gave us permission to visit for two hours. Signed the duty
roster and started walking. About halfway there an officer in a jeep stopped
and asked where we were going. We told him our story. He asked if we knew this
Capt. or if we had ever seen him. We all said no. He grinned and said, "you're
riding with him." He and his squadron were the most "laid-back,"
and drinkingest group we had ever seen.
The end result of this meeting was that Capt. Heath drove each of us to our
bases and even drove us to our individual tent or hut and then presented each
of us with a 5th of Canadian Club. Each of the four times we visited them, we
received the same reward. I had my four wrapped in brand new T-shirts and
skivvies in the middle of my sea bag until the end of the war. The three of us
never saw Capt. Heath after we returned to Lamar. The kind and generous captain
became an airline pilot on the east coast and never returned to Lamar.
About the middle of November
1944, we started training for our next campaign. No one really knew which
island we were headed for at that time, but there was much speculation. Some
said it was a cinch we would hit the big Jap base on the island of Truk; others
were saying it would be Formosa, but some said it would be the Bonin Islands.
There was very little true scuttlebutt on the nature of the Bonins, so everyone
sort of let that "guess" drop.
Maj.
Ellis and Capt. Boone started up advanced training for the radio men on how to
take messages while noise jamming was going on. As for us wiremen, we were sent
over to the division signal company to reacquaint us with the needs and methods
of company-sized units in the field. Nothing different there: two lines back to
Battalion, one line to right flank machinegun, one line to the left flank
machine gun, and one line to the FO position. We were also given instructions
on how to maintain and use a hand-held radio (they were all a piece of junk
under battle conditions), and how to splice and check for broken lines. We were
a little uneasy in this training feature as there was no training or exercises
for beachhead communication lines. So it was assumed we would be joining a
bathe already in progress. At this time in our training we were issued one
other piece of clothing that told us that, wherever we were headed, the
temperature was going to be colder. It was a Marine light jacket.
Then,
about two weeks later we were told that the whole division would do another
sweep of Guam under the name of a new campaign. As I recall, we didn't start at
the original beachhead; instead, it was on a line from Agana east to the coast
near Ylig Bay. We pushed all the way north to the north shoreline. We had been
blowing up and sealing as many caves as we could with the limited amount of
explosives allocated for the sweep. For 3rd JASCO it was assuming the role of
company wiremen, FO comm. setups. We periodically ran into starving Japanese
and usually searched them, fed them and sent them back to Battalion. If I
remember correctly, there was a total of over 2,500 japanese personnel caught
in this sweep.
Then, in the first
few days of January, 1945, the message went out to all the men of the 3d
Division that we were going into a battle and would be in reserve. We were told
that there was a chance that the 3d wouldn't even be called on. Ha! So now we
knew it was to be the Bonin Islands at a place called Iwo Jima.
Major
Ellis made a speech before the whole company, telling us that we were going to
two Jima as reserve for the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions. He said that the 3rd
JASCO must NOT go on the assumption that we wouldn't be called on to fight. Therefore,
according to Major Ellis, we WOULD continue to train as if we would be on the
landing. And that was exactly what we did. We replaced all worn equipment, and
worked with each other in company setups. The last training exercise was a
night exercise. It started raining right after we arrived at our setup
location. Boy!! It really came down. After about two hours of heavy downpour
not only were we drenched but our switchboards and field telephones were
practically useless. The exercise was called off, and we returned to our camp
where we spent the next two hours drying all the equipment. That was five days
before we loaded up all our equipment to be put aboard ship.
With the help of
information from Major Ellis, I believe the 3rd JASCO loaded aboard the APA
Knox on Feb. 9. If my memory serves me right, not all of our equipment was
loaded on the 9th. The rest of our equipment was loaded late on 2/10. We lifted
anchor on the morning of 2/11, heading for our rendezvous with the island of
Iwo Jima and our part of that historic battle.
One of
the more happy occasions of this trip into battle started on the seagoing part
of this trip into battle. It was on the second day at sea and I was on the
forward hatch cover, checking, for the hundredth time, my personal equipment of
knife, rifle, ammo, etc. While looking back and up to the radar shack, I
spotted one of the radar operators that triggered a bell in my head. After
watching the shack for several hours while this radar operator would come out
about every 45 min. for a smoke. Then, like a light bulb being turned on, I
knew who my unknown friend was. He not only was from my home town but he also
lived on the same block that I lived on. He was one of the four Kelly brothers.
There was Gale (oldest and in the Army), Dale (second oldest and also in the
Army), Then came Ralph (the radar operator), and Kevin, the youngest. I hadn't
heard that Ralph and Kevin were in the Navy, but recognized the facial features
they all shared. Naturally, the next morning I was out on the forward hatch
early. Finally, the Kelly brother showed up. I stood up and yelled loudly
"Ralph." Sure enough, he whirled around and leaned over the rail
above me. I told him my name and he let out a whoop and down the ladder he
came. We spent the next 45 min. slapping each other on the back and talking as
fast as we could about our mutual friends back in Lamar, CO. We managed to get
together each day of our trip to Iwo Jima. He said that Kevin (eight months
younger than I) was a Navy signalman but didn't know where he was at or what
ship his brother was on. The block we lived on was considered one the poor
parts of our home town. It was just a block from the railroad tracks. The nice
part of a small town was that all the kids played together and not against each
other. When school was out for the summer, we were all free to hike or bike
wherever we wanted, and if we were hurt, all you had to do was ask the nearest
adult for help and you got help.
The Knox
arrived at Iwo Jima on 2-18 to join the rest of the invasion force that was
assembled. It didn't make any difference which direction you looked, there were
destroyers, light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and many troop carriers everywhere.
The fireworks had already started. We were so far away we couldn't see Iwo
Jima. But all the cruisers and battlewagons were tuning up for the main event.
It was awesome to watch. We had
been briefed on Iwo Jima. We were told that Iwo was eight square miles, five and
one-half long by two and one-half wide at its widest points. There were 23,000
Japanese troops manning positions that had taken several decades to prepare.
This we did know, that all the shelling, bombing and strafing would only scrape
off the first thin layer, from that point on it would be infantry soldiers
fighting as hard as they could to kill each other. I don't believe there was even one Marine that didn't believe it
was back to the basics of getting up on your feet, advancing as far as you
could. Then dig in again. The next day repeating that same thing over and over
until the enemy was defeated or you are dead.
On Feb.
19, all Marines on the Knox awoke early to a beautiful blue sky and green sea.
Iwo was a mass of smoke and flashes of light as the 16-inch shells landed. We
were yelling our heads off at every explosion. When the big guns let up
slightly, we knew that the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions were landing_ All of a
sudden every one along the rail became silent. It was as if we wanted them to
know we were with them in spirit.
The
radio men in our group went below and set up their radios on the frequencies of
various infantry companies of the assault waves. The one I was listening to was
of a company of the 5th division. It has been too many years to recall exactly
which infantry company it was. I do remember it was one of the companies trying
to cross the island at the narrow waist. We could hear the different platoons
talking back and forth to each other, helping each other out on attack points
and calling in air strikes or naval gunfire on some strong points that were
really holding them up. We were really encouraged when we heard that in four
hours that this company had reached the West coast with just medium casualties.
We were really excited by that news. We thought that this battle was going to
be over quickly. Ha!
We went below
decks for chow and tried to get ourselves calmed down after the tension we had
put on ourselves on this D-Day. That night a storm front moved into our area.
There was little rain but there was lots of wind and the seas came up. The
assault transports were really rocking and rolling in eight to ten ft. waves.
Then we went back to listening to the radio about what was going on with the
infantry before sacking-out for the night. By daylight, it was just the
opposite from the day before. The Japanese had finally awoke and were coming
alive with a vengeance. Casualties were becoming very heavy. But there was
nothing we could do at that time. We sacked out knowing that the chances of us
going in to help had increased considerably.
On Feb.
20th, about 10 or 11 a.m. we were
told to get our gear ready and to report to debarking stations. Even though the
seas were still high, we managed to debark without too many injuries. Those
injuries that happened were, badly sprained ankles, jammed knees and several
heavy scrapes on faces and necks. When going down the landing net and a heavy
wave lifted the landing craft very
fast, you either had to wait until just before the landing craft reached you or
climb upwards very fast to keep from getting smashed between the landing craft
and the ship. The other way was to go down the net and try to jump into the
landing craft when it reached its highest point. Either way was a crap shoot
with little margin for error.
Once in the landing craft was not the end of
our misery. With the waves still at the 8 to 10 ft. high range it was like
riding a bucking bronco. It didn't take long before most of us had severe cases of sea sickness. We
were out on the bucking broncs for about three hours. Then word came that our
group was to return to the Knox until further notice. Boy! Were we ever glad to back aboard the
Knox. After we were aboard for awhile we found out that the Japanese, with the
aid of the high seas, had shut down the invasion beaches. The high seas had not
only swamped many craft but had also picked up many landing craft and flung them sideways onto the landing areas. Those that made it into
the beach were hit by heavy mortar and artillery fire. All the beaches were so
filled with wrecked landing craft that there was no way of resupplying the immediate needs of ammo,
water, etc.
Feb. 21
and Feb. 22 were a repeat of Feb. 20. We still had high seas so we were really down, both emotionally and physically. The only
difference was that on Feb. 22, most of the
21st Marine Regiment were able to get ashore and took over the center of the line. That meant that the 5th Div. was on our
left and the 4th Div. was on our right. When we, on the Knox, heard that
the 21st Marines made it ashore, we cheered. Now, maybe, we would get our
chance.
On Feb. 23 we, aboard the Knox, heard
that the Marine Engineers that were ashore were using explosives to blow
landing craft off the beaches. The Engineers must have done a good job because
we were told we would very definitely land. Not only did that little bit of
news cheers us up, but finally the seas calmed. Then it was into the landing craft and we headed toward the island called Iwo Jima. When
we landed about 2:00 p.m. we had no problems except the deep, black sands of
Iwo.
As we came off the ramp of our landing
craft, there was a cameraman shooting pictures of us, and just beyond the
cameraman was the load to be carried back to the ships. There were about four rows of wounded
Marines on stretchers waiting to go back to various ships of our
landing flotilla that were assigned to take care of the wounded of all three
Marine divisions.
We were lead to an area just
to the south of Motoyama Airfield #1 with its jumble of wrecked Japanese planes. We were told to dig in and get
ourselves out of sight as the enemy had a way of welcoming new troops. So, we dug in, and luckily most
of the shelling by the Japanese was directed at two LSTs that were trying to
unload much needed supplies
farther north along the beach. It didn't take long for a man to scoop out a
deep enough hole to get that person out of sight. We found out right fast that the
black sand of Iwo was very sticky but still contained sand fleas. We watched as
the rest of the 9th Marines landed. They didn't get a chance to dig in with us.
Instead they turned right alongside the wrecked planes and continued on north.
We were told that the 9th Marines would be relieving units of the 21st Marines
in the middle of the island.
By this time it was the middle of the afternoon. I had
finished my small meal of a K-ration booster bar (?), and had settled
down in my foxhole and took stock of my surroundings. One thing I noticed was a naval shore party control
tower about 15 feet high, complete with blinker light. I had taken off my
helmut and was watching the sailors signaling the ships offshore. All of a
sudden one of the crew of four on top of the tower started screaming and yelling in my direction
and started climbing down the ladder. I thought, "Boy, this guy has really
lost it." Then I noticed that he was heading in my direction, still
yelling, only now I could understand what he was yelling, and it was
"Rusty!." I still didn't recognize him. Then he was within 10 feet of
me when he took off his helmet. Wow! I was really surprised. I said
"Kevin, is this really you?" Sure enough it was Kevin Kelly, the
brother to Ralph that was aboard the Knox. We grabbed each other and fell down
in the sand laughing. I asked him if he knew his brother Ralph was out there on
the ocean, on the ship I came in on. Kevin asked if I was kidding him, because
he hadn't seen his brother in over a year. I told him I wasn't kidding and that
he was on the Knox. As a result, Kevin and I spent the next 45 min. talking
over old times. Then Kevin went back to his tower, got in contact with the
Knox. As a result, Kevin's brother Ralph came ashore about 3/4s of an hour
later. With the result, we all talked until the last landing craft was
scheduled to leave. What an absolutely great occasion in a very hard war. Ralph
returned to Lamar after the war. He married and the couple bought a sheep ranch
south of Lamar. In 1948 Ralph fell into a tank of pure creosote while dipping
his sheep. The creosote sensitized hiss skin so much that he was no longer able
to go outdoors until after the sun went down. He tried taking night jobs but
was even affected by bright lights. The next year Ralph committed suicide. The
family moved away from Lamar and that was the last anyone in Lamar ever heard
of them. Kevin remained in the Navy. The oldest son was killed in the Battle of
the Bulge. But I will always remember a reunion of three young men on Iwo Jima.
In the
early evening, quite awhile after the 45-minute reunion, the Japanese let us
new arrivals know that we were not ignored: had some light mortar fire that
didn't seem to have any path or direction, just one or two here and then one or
two there. There were some artillery shells that landed, but, again, not many.
Then came a really LARGE explosion down near the last LST unloading on the
beach. We all yelled to each other, "What the Hell was that?" Talking
to some of the "old" timers near us, we were told that the really
large explosion was a "spigot" mortar. Now, none of us, battle-tested
(?) beachhead Marines had ever seen an explosion that large from a mortar.
After much discussion between our foxholes we decided that the mortar tube that
fired that shell must be about four feet across. We had been nearly 100 yds.
away from the explosion and our ears were still ringing. One thing we did
notice, though, was that the targeted LST took only 20 min. to close its doors,
raise their anchors and "haul ass" out of there.
After a
night of getting used to random shots and explosions and being in a true battle
zone, we were awakened about 5:30 a.m. and told to pack up as we would be
moving up within the next hour. Naturally, it took 15 minutes to reassemble our
battle gear, then another 15 minutes to eat our tin of K-ration eggs and ham (definitely
not like anything Mom cooked). That left us some time to really look at this
"burnt-out cinder" named Iwo Jima. You could see Mt. Suribachi on our
left, then this fairly long and narrow neck of sand where we were located. And
as you scanned to our right we could see Airfield #1, very close by, and from
there on, to the North, was ridge after ridge getting higher as the ridges
marched North, and then Airfield #2, and then came a scene that can only be
described as "burnt-out
Hell ." We couldn't see even one tree, just some blasted brush. We were
all quiet, looking inside ourselves, and to judge ourselves to see if we were
prepared for what we thought we would face in the days to come. I can say, for
myself, I wasn't even close to assessing what would be faced.
We
reached the 9th Marine Rgt. HQ after following the same path that the infantry
companies had taken. Arrived at 9th Regiment HQ located just to the North of
Airfield #1. It was there that we were split up and assigned to different
Battalions of the 9th. Myself and three others were assigned to 2d Bat. We were
led to 2d Bat. HQ that was situated on the Northwest side of Airfield #2. A
long ridge that was covered with burned-out caves and holes. I believe the
South end of this ridge had twin 20-mm cannon that had been bent and blasted.
They pointed South, right down the beaches we had just left.
It
didn't take long to get us grouped together and assigned jobs. There had been
four other replacements that had arrived earlier. I was told to join the
earlier four Marines that were digging a huge foxhole for six people. I took
one look at the size and depth of the hole and told these, "fresh from the
States" replacements that there was no way in Hell I was going to spend
any time in that hole. They wanted to know why, and I told them I would rather
be shot than be smothered by all that black sand collapsing in on me. They just
laughed and kept digging. I put my poncho and my pack a little ways off and
reported to the Sgt. in charge of the switchboard and was told to bring my pack
and poncho and dig in close to the switchboard. He told me to take over the
switchboard in about three hours. So after moving my equipment to my new
location, I settled down in my newly dug foxhole to study and halfway memorize
the call letters and names of the various line companies that I would be
calling or they would be calling through this switchboard. I was still in view
of the "Waldorf-Astoria" Foxhole and saw they had finally stopped
digging. Good thing, as the four of them could barely see over the lip of that
"foxhole". There was a fairly large boulder between myself and the
switchboard. A yell and a couple of shots rang out by the switchboard. I jumped
up with carbine at the ready and stepped away from my boulder. I asked the
switchboard operator, who was lying flat on the ground what was going on. He
said an arm had come out from a small hole in the mound that the switchboard
was backed up to. They said the arm was reaching for the operator's carbine. I
would think it was more likely that the Jap was trying to get out. Too late to
discuss as another Marine noticed it and took a couple of shots at it. The
comm. sgt. told us to grab the switchboard and see if we could drag it and the
connecting lines over near the boulder that I was situated at. With four other
Marines holding guns at the ready, the switchboard operator, one other comm.
man and Ito drag the wires while the other one drug the switchboard to my
boulder. I guess I forgot to mention that the place where the arm came out was
about an 8-ft. high rounded mound that gave the switchboard protection from a
fairly large open area and another ridge on the other side. It seemed to me
that the switchboard had been placed in a good defensive location. So much for
that theory.
8-year-old man can bring forth a description of that battle, but can't.
I do know, though, that just trying to write about this particular
battle once more, my heart is racing, and I am tense, tense, tense.
We had quite a collection of Marines from
this battalion HQ group that were all offering suggestions. It was getting
close to dusk and none of us liked the thought of operating the switchboard all
night with an unknown number of the enemy so close at hand. Finally a captain
showed up with an interpreter. The interpreter yelled at the Japanese inside
the mound to give themselves up and come out. We waited for about 5 min., then
the interpreter repeated the message. This time a voice answered and said there
would be no surrender. Our man told them they had 10 min. to surrender or we
would set an explosive charge and blow the mound up. Another five minutes went
by when the voice answered. The interpreter said the voice said, again, that
they would not surrender and they would blow themselves up. Our man had no
sooner finished the translation when the mound erupted with a roar. Dirt,
rocks, 50-gal. drums were flying through the air. Most of us were lying down at
the time, just to be safe if the Japanese decided to come out firing.
As a
result of the explosion the switchboard was badly damaged by flying rocks.
Several Marines standing a little farther away than us, had minor lumps, cuts,
and abrasions. The one major casualty was a Lt. Colonel in 2d battalion HQ that
was clear on the other side of the camp. A boulder came through his tent and
smashed into him and his cot. He had serious damage to his spine and was
carried out on a jeep to the division hospital. Never heard how he came out of
his injury. We did find out that the small mound was a water supply for enemy
troops in the area. We inspected the area and found what seemed to be an
entrance hole in the middle of the exploded area that might have been an
entrance hole to whatever below. The explosion had collapsed the access tunnel.
This incident did prove one fact. We not only had Japanese all around us but
also below us.
Another
minor casualty was the "Waldorf-Astoria" foxhole had collapsed on the
four crouching replacements. There was a yell from that area and we all showed
up and started scooping those very scared and sand-covered Marines out. One
came out really shook up and took off on a fast run for the cliffs behind us.
Another Marine and I caught up with him and tackled him. We dragged him back to
camp, telling him he was a damned fool for heading for that cliff and all those
caves. Naturally, he thought we were crazy until a little later in the evening
a Nambu machine gun opened up from one of the caves. That Japanese gunner
picked on the wrong group. Once we located which cave the firing was coming
from an infantry man grabbed a bazooka and let him have it right between the
eyes. The firing stopped and after a short pause, everyone edged up to protect
a Marine while he used a flame-thrower on the cave. If my memory serves me
right, that same ridge full of caves Game alive again with enemy troops, and
each time it was a job to get it silenced again. This was another item to put
in your head if you expected to stay alive on Iwo:
The next
morning, four other infantry men and I were sent to Easy Co. I am not certain
of the name of the Platoon Sgt. that was acting First Sgt. at that time, but I
believe his name was O'Hara. No matter, he was one hell of a leader. The first
sight of him let you know that this company (of 75 men at that time) had been
through a lot. Sgt. O'Hara's steel helmut, on the right side, had been hit by
shrapnel and a piece had been folded back on itself.
The top half of his ear was shot off and he had a large battle dressing wrapped
around his head. He told me to settle in on the back side of the command post
and he would distribute the rest of the replacements to where they were needed
most.
About
that time a tall, lean man came running up and jumped into the command post,.
Sgt. O'Hara turned to the man and said, "Captain, you're just in time to
greet our latest members." The Sgt. told us there would be no saluting and
no standing at attention as our enemy was watching our every move. The Captain
said, "Welcome to Easy company. You're just in time to join our coming
party tomorrow." He said his name was Capt. Fisher, (I can't remember his
first name), and he was the 3rd company commander of Easy company in the past 5
days. He said that this particular area was called "Cushman's
Pocket," and that the 2d Battalion had been assigned the task of
eliminating this pocket. He said that this pocket was named after the CO of the
2d Battalion 9th Marines, commanded by Col. Cushman. He told the Sgt., to go
ahead and place the other men, and he would fill me in on what was expected of
me. He inquired if I had been on the Guam campaign? I told him I had. With that
information in hand he said that my duties would be to maintain the two lines
back to battalion and two lines to each flank machine guns. He said that my
main job was to stay with him at all times during attacks, and last, but most
importantly, to protect his backside. He said I could take over the last
wireman's hole on the side of our CP, which I did.
The next
morning, just before dawn, the Capt. got on the phone to our mortar platoon and
told them to start firing at the targets he had told them about the day before.
In about 5 minutes they started laying a lot of flying steel out in front of
us. The captain leaned over and said to me, " Now, as soon as this
softening up process is over we are going to get out of this hole and go visit
our neighbors out there in front of us. Remember, what I told you, stay with me
and shoot anything that has a blue or brown uniform." I was really scared.
But, when the captain said "Let's Go", the mortars (ours) stopped and
all of E Co. was up and were running in a crouch and heading toward the pocket.
Our CP was the South end of the "pocket". At first there was very
light rifle fire, then as we continued the Nambus' started picking up. Then we
rounded a group of boulders and almost ran right into the Japanese infantry.
They came out of a short trench and were firing and we were firing. It was an
organized mess. We eliminated the 5 or 6 enemy in front of us but could see
enemy forces darting around on each side of us. Your nerves are cranked up, you
just act and react on instinct. I stayed with the captain most of the time. We
were taking heavy fire from our left in the form of mortars and a few artillery
shells. I could see to my left front what appeared to be a tank turret sticking
up between some boulders. By this time we were stopped cold and had taken
considerable casualties. The captain said to pass the word to start falling
back. The captain's group, which was the sergeant, two other riflemen and I
started laying down covering fire to let the group to our left draw back. Then
it was our turn to draw back. Then both groups laid down fire support for our
right unit. The captain had me get on the pack radio to the mortar platoon to
really lay it on so we could get back home. All day you had these firecrackers
going off near your ear. We collected our dead and wounded and carried
them back to our starting point. It seemed a mile but in reality only 30 yds.
The casualty figures for the day for E company was four killed, and six
wounded. I was exhausted and felt like all my energy had just disappeared. All
of the wounds of our wounded were above the waist. There was one other
casualty. . . the pack radio had taken a hit. The captain said to bring the
radio and the two of us would go back to battalion where I could pick up a new
(different) radio while the captain went to a meeting to discuss what plan of
attack for the next day. On the way back the captain pointed out two areas to
be real careful of because there were snipers working in those areas. Was glad
to be given the information because on a later occasion, being aware of the
danger, I was fired on. I couldn't actually spot the exact cave and didn't have
time to spot the sniper.
The
captain came out of the meeting shaking his head. He said he would tell us all
about the next operation after we have returned to our CP. We were given three
fresh-from-the-States replacements to help fill us up slightly. The captain was
in a somber mood on the way back.
Capt.
Fisher and Sgt. O'Hara went back about 15 yds. and huddled together for a short
time. When they returned they both looked as if they had swallowed a dozen
lemons. The two of them told a Sgt. (name not remembered) to take over the CP
as they were going over to F company and talk to Lt. Indigo (CO of F company)
on our right and would be gone for awhile. They were gone for what seemed like
one to two hours, but could have been less. They still looked very sad or sour.
They left again to go talk to our men of E company that were on our right.
When
Capt. Fisher and Sgt. O'Hara returned to our CP they called everyone around (I
am not sure, but, believe there was six all total). They said that battalion
had decided to use the same tactic as was used earlier by the 1st Batt., 9th
Rut. to break through the defensive line earlier in the campaign. That was a
rolling barrage, but, since the pocket was a smaller area, there would be only
105s, 75s and our own, plus F company's mortars for the barrage. The barrage
would start 80 yds. in front of us at 0600 and would last for 15 minutes. At
that time the barrage would lift and start falling 100 yds. further out. As
soon as the first barrage lifted we were to rush forward to take as much ground
as we could and then hold. Just the captain explaining what was going to happen
gave me a good case of jangled nerves and a rise in my heart beat that made you
feel like your heart was going to jump right out of your chest. The two of them
laid it out and told us to give it better than our best effort. They said they
had already talked to the rest of the men of Easy company. Very few of us in
the CP were able to get much sleep that night. We cleaned our rifles to be sure
there was no sand in the moving parts, picked up three more bandoleers of
ammunition, and stuffed or hung grenades everywhere we could. Dug out my last
clean undershirt from my pack and wrapped it around the breach of my carbine.
Picked up one of the spare M-1 's left by one of our wounded. From then until
sunrise I prayed as hard as I could that I would do everything I could for all
of us in the CP. I wish there was some way that a 71would guess it was shortly
before the barrage came that the captain turned around to us and said,
"This is one attack none of us will forget, if we can make it to the end
of the day. Just want all of you to know, that
you are all tops." Now, that was not exactly the best "Give Them
Hell" speech, so now we were really worried. First Sgt. O'Hara saved the
day, however. He said, "Shit
Captain, we know we're tops, let's just get this F------show on the move so we can kill us some F------Japs"
That brought a smile to the captain's face as
well as ours. That's when the barrage started. We were all down low and hoping
there would be no "short
rounds." Took a peek over the top lip of the CP. There was a lot of real
estate rising and falling. The captain made his way to each of us, and saying,
"as soon as the barrage stops, start moving forward as fast as you can,
and don't bunch up." But, when he told me that sentence he started to move
on but turned back and said, “Take off two of those bandoleers. I want you
light and not weighted down by anything but the radio."
Then the
shelling stopped. And everyone raised up and started jogging all bent over toward the Japanese positions. To me it seemed as if the light
amount of firing went with the surreal landscape. We passed the buried tank and
the large boulder that protected the tank, for the most part, from the
shelling. A man to our left put a satchel charge on the turret and blew it off.
That explosion seemed to be a signal. The Nambu's opened up all around us, with
very heavy rifle and mortar fire. We could catch glimpses of Japanese infantry
dodging between the boulders. Then they were all around us. I guess you go a
little berserk at times like that and do things you normally wouldn't or
couldn't do. Somehow we fought them to a standstill. Just as quickly as they
appeared they disappeared. The captain said, "Call Fox company and tell them we
can't go any farther and will fall back." Tried to get an answer but
couldn't. There were bodies laying everywhere, mostly Japanese, but too many
Marines. The captain gave the order to fall back to our starting point. We
picked up our wounded and our dead and made it back to our CP. We were all
totally exhausted. If we had been asked to give an account of all our actions on that day, I
believe we couldn't have done it.
It wasn't
but a few minutes later that Lt. Indigo and approximately nine other Infantrymen showed up at our CP. He said to the captain,
"Call battalion and tell them the rest of the company is trapped in
the pocket between two lines of pillboxes and two buried tanks." Captain
Fisher asked where his radio was and Lieutenant Indigo said it was busted and had been shot to pieces shortly after they
had started the attack. He said all the communication they had was with a
SCR-536 (squad radio made by Motorola, "walkie-talkie"). I handed the
phone to the captain who rang up battalion and told them of the situation.
As a result, battalion HQ immediately notified George company to take over Fox company's former position and to connect to Easy
company. Lieutenant Indigo used our SCR-536 and made contact with his men that
were trapped. He was told that there were two shell holes close together with five men in one and seven men in
the other. The person talking said there were two other holes located to the
back of them. This person said they had been yelling back and forth between the
holes but hadn't heard any reply from the other two holes for the past hour, so
had to assume that those five men were dead. Lieutenant Indigo asked if they
had enough ammunition to last out the day. The trapped person talking said they
had a good supply of grenades but rifle ammo was starting to be a little low. He did say that none of them were even able to take a quick
look without receiving heavy fire from all sides of them. Lieutenant Indigo talked to
battalion and was told that George company was on the move and would be able to
fill the gap left by Fox company within the hour. There had been several
conversations with the trapped Marines trying to pinpoint the exact location of
the two shell holes. As a result the trapped men were told to hold out till
dark (not too far distant) and then try to sneak out. We had two very exhausted
Marines
make it to our CP about an hour after dark. One of the returned Marines was
from one of the back shell holes. He said he was the last one alive when he
left. But he did help pinpoint the location of the two bigger groups. It was
shortly after the two Marines returned that an officer from George company also
showed up to tell us that they were in position and all three officers huddled
to discuss plans of action for the next morning.
Early the
next morning we heard this rumble of tanks. Sure enough, battalion HQ had
dispatched two tanks. The Japanese heard those same sounds and they really
didn't like the sight of the tanks. As a result we received the heaviest mortar
barrage we had ever had since being assigned the job of eliminating
"Cushman's Pocket". Finally, the tanks backed off behind some large boulders
and the tank commanders came to our CP. There was much discussion on how to get
the men out and just where the men were. It was strange, in a way, you know
that they are in an area of about 50 yards and probably that same distance from
our CP. But in this area it was a mass of boulders, large and small. Not
exactly the ideal tank terrain. Finally, after much discussion, it was decided
that Lieutenant Indigo, and Sgt. O'Hara would lead (and talk) the tanks to the
former Fox company front and go in from there. Sgt. O'Hara's tank would be used
to eliminate the two buried Japanese tanks and two of the machine gun nests. The lead tank would be
guided by Lieutenant Indigo. They would try to eliminate the other two machine
gun nests and any other nests that were obstructing the rescue and go straight
to the trapped men, if possible. They couldn't do a preliminary barrage for
fear of hitting our men.
The
action took place pretty much as they had planned it. The two tanks led off,
passing through George company, with Lieutenant Indigo handling the phone on
the rear of tank One leading off, and tank Two was handled by Sgt. O'Hara.
After talking to the Sgt. after the attack, he said his tank was moved to the
right of tank One and a little ways back. He said two of the buried Jap tanks
were on his side and they almost got his tank. George company was only able to
fire at the Jap tanks on the right because of the possibility of hitting the
trapped F company Marines. Sgt. O'Hara said it really helped because 4 Japanese
soldiers were trying to sneak up on his tank with satchel charges and anti-tank mines and were cut down before they
reached his tank. Lieutenant Indigo and tank One located the two shell holes
occupied by his men. His tank knocked out the remaining buried tank and two
machine gun nests. Tank 1 straddled the forward shell hole and pulled in the 4 survivors through the belly hatch. Then tank One backed up
and gave covering fire and destroyed another machine gun nest while tank Two
straddled the back shell hole and pulled in 4 more Marines through their belly
hatch. As they backed out the tanks checked the other two shell holes but found
none alive. The two tanks returned to our CP and off-loaded the eight Marines. Most of them had shrapnel wounds of some kind
and some had light bullet wounds. Our corpsman patched them all up and they stayed
the night with us. We had a jeep ambulance come up the next morning and take
the worst of wounded back to battalion aid station. Lieutenant Indigo and the
remaining men of F company returned to battalion and it was told to us that F
company were all headed back to Guam.
Later on that same day E company was relieved
by another infantry company. We fell back about 150 yds. (yardage is estimated,
and can't remember which infantry company relieved us). One thing is definitely
certain, there were no defined front lines, and no safe areas on Iwo Jima. Just because
we were off the so-called front lines, we still received sniper fire and had two
Marines wounded by snipers the next day. Another prime example was that our mortar platoon
was always about 75 yds. behind us in supposedly cleared areas. But, each night they were attacked by small
groups of Japanese soldiers that thought they could attack smaller groups and
win. I guess what I am trying to say is that there were no "safe"
areas anywhere on Iwo. Two days of rest and we were told to "saddle up."
But, instead of going back to the "Pocket" we were sent
"forward" and to the left of the"Pocket"
to join forces with battalion HQ. Much to our surprise the 9th Marines were
almost to the northern shore of Iwo Jima. It seemed almost unreal, on this
occasion, that while we had been involved in a every day life and death
situation at the "Pocket" and then to rejoin HQ of the 2d Battalion
Ninth Marines and not have heavy sniper fire, mortar rounds, and an occasional machine gun firing at you, to no
sniper rounds, no mortar rounds, etc. To see men walking around standing upright, and talking in groups as if they were
back on Guam was a change so abrupt that it made you feel that you had
been transported to another time. It was at this time that a platoon from the
9th Marines made it to the northern coast. They filled a couple of canteens
with the sea water and sent them through channels to the commanding officer of
the Third Marine Division, General Graves B. Erskine, with the written words
attached saying, "for your inspection and not for consumption."
As for us
in the 9th Marines, we were far enough north that we could smell the sea. Even
though we couldn't see it yet, the aroma seemed to give us all hope that maybe,
just maybe, we could finish off this campaign and head back to our home on
Guam.
A lot of the badly depleted infantry companies were combined
into full company size. Mostly the assignments of these companies was to look
for groups of Japanese troops that had been bypassed and to eliminate them. At
night we formed into a wagon wheel defense (just like the covered wagons
crossing the West). We faced outward and shot at anything that moved. Usually,
each platoon would go out and set trip flares across all paths (large and small) that you thought the enemy
would use in front of your position. This went on for two or more days until we
had pretty well covered our area of control. It was at this period of the
campaign that I left Easy Co. Captain Fisher called me over to his hole and
told me that I would report back to Battalion HQ. He said that I had done a
good job and the capt. said that I deserved some extra pay. So he pulled out a
very large roll of Japanese money and said, "I think $50,000 should be
about right," and he peeled off the Japanese bills and gave them
to me. Then Sgt. O’Hara gave me
the biggest morale boost I had had yet.
He said, “I won’t tell you that you did good, but you are here standing
in front of me, and that is as good as it gets. But I will tell you this, I think with one more campaign
under your pack, you will undoubted be a sergeant. Wow! That is great praise. Made me feel like I was 10-ft.
tall.
It
was at this time of the campaign that almost all organized resistance had come
to an end. From this point on most
groups we encountered were usually groups of two to four Japanese looking mainly
for water, but also food. They would come out at night and return to their holes
and caves during the dy. Almost all of these groups were unarmed or had one or
two grenades on them. But, they were still dangerous as they would not give up.
Some were so desperate for food and water, and were so close to our lines, they
would jump up and charge straight at you.
I
had been lucky enough to be teamed up with fellow JASCO Team 7 member, William
“Joe” Crebs. Were were placed in 2-man foxholes in the ring defensive setups. I
must take time, right now, to tell Joe how sorry I am for spoiling his chance
of eliminating one of our Japanese enemies.
The
action went about like this. Joe and I decided to split the nignt into two
parts and would change shifts every 3rd night. There had been hardly
any action on our section of the defensive circle. On this one night, I had the
early shift. I had taken three flare grenades and three fragmentation grenades and really bent the cotter pins tight so
they wouldn't fall out as I threw them. Then I practiced throwing them at what we thought were key
paths in front of our position. After throwing them I went out and retrieved
them, and at the same time put out our trip flares. After returning to our
2-man foxhole I forgot to loosen the cotter pins. The night was very quiet on
my shift. So, at midnight 1 awoke Joe and he took over. I crawled to the back
and sacked out.
About three hours later I was shook
awake by a very mad Joe Crebs. One of our trip flares had gone off and Joe had tried two fragmentation and
two flare grenades and wasn't able to pull the pins. He stayed mad at me all
the next two days. Sorry about that Joe, maybe the next time you will get a
true shot and all the grenades will explode. A day or two later I had the great
pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with none other then WO Charles Mimms, who
had taken over and led our team on the Guam landing. He seemed as glad to see
me as I was to see him_ I often think of WO Mimms and if he is still alive? Battalion HQ, which included us, moved to a medium
size plateau. We had a cliff to our back and to our front, the plateau dropped
off a cliff to the sea except to our right front where it had a series
of gentle slopes interrupted by a ridge of rocks. As we set up our defensive
positions a machine gun squad set up to cover the slope. My position was
towards the cliffs. WO Mimms was just a little ways away from my position and
toward the center. The next day a very large
Caterpillar (D-8) and the operator started plowing a road down the right side
of our position. The blade was throwing dirt, rocks, and red flags (designating buried mines) with great glee, and no explosions. When the
Cat operator reached our machine gun position, one of the gunners asked the Cat
operator if he would clear a lane of fire for them. The operator yelled,
"Sure," and swung to the right so the Cat was in front of the gun
position and started plowing. All of a sudden there was a tremendous explosion. It was learned
later that the blade of the Cat had hit a buried naval torpedo. I ducked down
but saw the blade come flying over us and over the cliffs in back of us. The body of the operator landed
about 12 ft. away from my position, minus all arms and legs. The body of the
caterpillar was thrown about 75 feet back up the newly plowed road. There were
several injuries to Marines from pieces of the Cat falling on them.
But the
most miraculous thing was that WO Mimms had just crawled from his foxhole after a short nap. He was standing
alongside his foxhole stretching his arms up, when the explosion occurred. He
had turned his back to the explosion, when "whump," down came most of
the wide tread of the caterpillar. The tread buried itself the length of WO Mimms' foxhole. If he had slept just three more
minutes he would have been reporting for duty at St. Peter's Gates. He and I
got together about an hour later talking about the explosion. He was still
shook up and was trying to get his heart slowed to it's normal. I was sent out
with a squad the next day checking caves in the area. When I returned WO Mimms had been re-assigned to Guam.
From this point on the campaign had reached
a level of repeat and repeat day-to-day assignments. The occupation troops had arrived to take over control
of the island. One thing that graveled us at this time was that the occupation
troops had laid a double row of concertina wire clear across the island at the
end of the second airfield. This was done as a means of keeping all the
Japanese troops to the north of the fence. That was fine and good except we were north of the fence also.
We had to get permission from said occupation forces to cross the fence for
water supplies, food supplies, and to take showers after 3 weeks of no showers.
That seemed to raise the hackles on everyone's neck. We did manage to get back
one time for showers. We were smelling so bad by this time, that even the Japs
were avoiding us. I never saw the orders myself, but, supposedly those that remained
had to seal ALL caves on the north side of the fence. Well, I am here to tell you that there wasn't enough explosives
in ALL the northern Pacific to seal all the caves.
As I have mentioned before,
each day we loaded up with pole charges, satchel charges, and extra long poles that had
three blocks of TNT taped to them for those small caves or narrow openings for
air intake. We slid the small pole down and set off the explosives to collapse the walls
inwards. Also used rope to lower one or two satchel charges taped together at one time, to
collapse the larger caves. We were still getting one to two Japanese coming out at night,
searching for food and water. Even with end of this campaign being one to three days away,
and this last chance of life, these Japanese refused to give up even when asked
to do so. The very sad part of this very, very hard-fought campaign was this, we, the
Marines, lost 5,000 killed and 20,000 wounded. The Japanese had over 23,000 troops when the Iwo Jima
campaign
started and at the end of the battle there were only a little over 400 Japanese that we had captured or had surrender to us. That means that
over 28,000 human beings lost their lives for an island that was almost 3 miles
across, at the widest part, and only 5 miles long.
There is just one more
incident of how the battle of Iwo Jima came to an end for me. After a few more
days of snooping and blowing we were told to pack our gear as we would be going
home to Guam in the morning.
We loaded
our packs onto a 6 by 6, keeping our rifles and web belts with two clips
ammunition and canteen. Then all of us loaded ourselves into the remaining
"6 bys" and headed back down island. I remember we were both happy
and sad. Happy to be leaving this small piece of "Hell" but as we
traveled slowly we passed places where we had lost some of our comrades in
small and large battles.
Our first
destination was the Third Marine Division Cemetery. It was a sad time and it
was a private time. We were allowed to take whatever path we wanted to try and
locate the two, three, four, however many we could remember. We all separated
and took our own paths. It was so overwhelming. Even today, while writing this,
I have a lump in my throat and a tightening of my heart strings. For me, it was
to say "Thank You" for every time one of them protected my back in
battle. To me, the saddest part was we had to leave our "Battle
Comrades" here on this cinder block of an island. I just felt that we
should take them with us. There were so many currents of emotions swirling
around inside of all of us at this solemn occasion. There were many small
pieces of volcanic rock that had been hand carved by Marines for their dead
comrades. These "Headstones" were usually about one to two feet long
and usually about 18 inches high. I really can't remember how much time we had
at this honored ground. But I do remember that we were never ordered away by
the noncoms in charge. Each of us slowly returned to our trucks to sit and
await the remaining Marines. I want to say more about this occasion, but
finally realize then and even now, it is better to hold them in our memory and
our hearts and to move on in our lives to come.
It must
have been late afternoon we arrived at the beach we had landed on when arriving
on Iwo Jima. We were told to stand down and await our transportation back to
the ship that would take back to our home on Guam. The trip home was very
uneventful. This was something we needed at that time in our young lives. To
think about what the future would hold for us, to cleanse ourselves of the
emotions and tensions of this past battle.
A side
note of some interest, occurred the day before we loaded up to go to the
cemetery and on to the ship. It was just before sunrise of this day that we
were rousted out of our foxholes and told to bring rifles,ammo, and any
grenades we had and assemble at the CP of our present defense wheel. An unnamed
Lieutenant told us that a medium size group of Japanese had appeared at the end
of Airfield No. Two and had killed several airmen. They were attacking the
command tents of pilots manning P-51's.
Supposedly,
the occupation forces that strung barbed wire across the entire island, were to
take care of this outbreak. We all asked the Lieutenant why we should help out
the forces that wouldn't let us cross their barbed wire except under command of
our officers. The Lieutenant told us to "Knock it oft" They don't
know how many Japanese there are and that they needed more
firepower and we were it. Luckily, The occupation forces were able to handle
the 20 to 30 Japanese that had "seemed" to have come up right out of
the ground. We later heard that they had 10 Japanese bodies and that the rest
had just "seemed to have disappeared." After we were told to
"Stand down" we just started drifting back to our holes to get ready
for our trip.
Getting back to our home on Guam was like coming from night into
daylight. The changes that the SeaBees and Engineers had performed were
phenomenal. Paved roads, all evidence of any battle there removed, houses had
new paint, and Agana looked spotless. The trip across the island to Ylig Bay
was a wonderful ride across a very beautiful island. To sum it all up, "it
was nice to be back with Third Jasco once more."
Our area looked wonderful and I for one unloaded my gear, grabbed a
towel and was off for a long, cool shower_ Wow! I can still feel that shower
washing off the balance of Iwo Jima black sand. After returning to my tent I
dug out one of my brand new Navy undershirt and trunks and a clean smelling set
of khaki pants and shirt. Then, the best of all, a meal in my very own mess
hall. Our former cook "Heavy" had been sent packing just before we
left for Iwo Jima. Our new cook was T-Sgt. Clifton Odom who was chief cook and
a 500% improvement over "Heavy."
We were
given a week of lazing around our camp doing only light repair and policing of
our area. After that we turned in all our old web belts, canteens, unused first
aid packets, bayonets (if rusty), and our rifles. We were told we would get all
new equipment to start the next campaign. From the scuttlebutt floating around
we were going to be on one very big campaign. No truthful information at this
time.
After
receiving all new equipment we started receiving new recruits to fill all the
empty spaces of all teams. Even had some lucky souls rotated back to the
States. Then, it was getting down to business and training hard. All jeeps were
taken in and had new upright 30-cal. machine guns installed between driver and
right hand passenger seat.
At this
time Major Ellis announced to everyone that the 3d Marine Division would join
the 2d Marine Division and the 5th Marine division and all would become the 3d
Amphibious Corps. The 1st, 4th, and 6th Marine Divisions would become the 5th
Amphibious Corps. Both Corps would be assault forces for the 14th (?) Army that
was supposed to be on it's way to the Pacific Major Ellis said he told us this
to impress on us the enormity of the coming battle. He told us that, in the
European Theatre, there had been 9 divisions land on D-Day on Normandy. Our
coming campaign was scheduled to land 38 divisions on two different Japanese
homeland islands. By multiplying 20,000 x 38 it comes to 760,000 land forces. I
assume that this figure did not include the Navy or the Air Force personnel.
Approximately three to four weeks after that speech we received our SOP
(Standard Operational Procedures) manuscript for the coming campaign. From that
time on our code name for the 3d Amphibious Corps was OLYMPIC and we were to be
the assault force for one half of the 14th Army and was scheduled to land on
the west coast of Kyushu. The 5th Amphibious Corps was code named CORONET and
was scheduled to land on the West coast Honshu. The code name for both
segments of the land forces was DOWNFALL.
Training
was stepped up with battalion-size maneuvers and intense schooling in basic
Japanese language and traits. Also had many map reading classes. Each day
seemed to be an advanced stage of "hurry up and wait." By now it was
the beginning of August and we knew we would be boarding ships to go to our
staging areas. Each of us fought the two-headed ogre within each of us. The
first ogre was an elevated feeling of excitement. The second ogre was that of
doubt of how each of us would handle ourselves in the coming battle. The main
difference this time was we were able to sit down and talk about these ogres
openly. I really believe part of this talking was to settle down our new
comrades in each of our teams.
Then an
August 6th the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, on the southwest
coast of Honshu. Then three days later another bomb was dropped on the city of
Nagasaki. We were jumping for joy. Surely now the Japanese Warlords would see
the futility of continuing the fight. Our Air Force had complete control of the
skies over Japan. But such wasn'tthe case. It wasn't until Sept. 2 that Japan
formally surrendered, unconditionally, and the rest is history.
Every
radio shack of every regiment had their ears glued to the receivers. Strangely,
at JASCO we were laid back preparing ourselves for the battle to come. The
first we knew was loud explosions and tracer bullets climbing to the sky from
the area of the Ninth Marine Regiment. Then, just moments later the same
occurred at the Third Regiment and the 21st Regiment. Even the 12th Marines
(our artillery regiment) started to get in on the act. Then a member of the
Third Signal Company came running down the street yelling, "The Japs have
surrendered" There was mass euphoria all the rest of the night and the
next day.
With the war ended our training ended. So now Major Ellis set up college
accepted classes through the Armed Forces University. This was nice for
everyone. You knew you were going to need an education of some kind and these
courses fit the bill. Depending on your age, how many dependants, and how many
years overseas, determined when you could take the magic carpet home. The
U.S.A. had thousands of ships in the Pacific that were now idle. These ships
were used to transport the troops home. For myself, I was mustered out of the
Marines at the San Diego Recruit Depot the first part of Dec. With a lot of
pleading, hitchhiking, and prayers, I was able to return to Lamar Colorado on
Dec. 22. Now my story is finished and I can close this book.
I will never forget the time I
have spent in the United States Marine Corps. The training, the forever
friendships with former comrades is something that lives with you forever and
ever.
SEMPER
FIDELIS
EACH DAY
THE LAST
Lord,
let me live my every day as if it were my last
And strive to make amends for all the, sins that fill my past.
Let me be kind to everyone, in thought and word and deed
And share what worldly goods I have with those who are in need
Help me, 0 Lord with, strength of heart and with Your holy grace
To walk in calm and patience and to keep my humble place.
I want to be Your servant, Lord and always do your will
Until my eyes are closed in sleep, until my heart is still.
Be merciful to me, 0 Lord for my imperfect past
And let me live my every day as if it were my last.
And strive to make amends for all the, sins that fill my past.
Let me be kind to everyone, in thought and word and deed
And share what worldly goods I have with those who are in need
Help me, 0 Lord with, strength of heart and with Your holy grace
To walk in calm and patience and to keep my humble place.
I want to be Your servant, Lord and always do your will
Until my eyes are closed in sleep, until my heart is still.
Be merciful to me, 0 Lord for my imperfect past
And let me live my every day as if it were my last.
By Tames.I.
Meta*
I will
conclude this manuscript with his poem by Josie Trimble. Also want to thank
Col. John Ellis, Daniel Moriarty, Gerald Archuleta, and lastly Mark
Ellenberger.
COME MAKE YOUR HOME WITH ME OLD AGE.
I FEAR YOU NOT,
I GREET YOU WITH DELIGHT.
THIS MORNING YOU LAGGED FAR BEHIND; THE SUN GONE
DOWN, YOU WILL WALK WITH ME TONIGHT
I WELCOME YOU. I FIND YOU PLEASANT, YOU SEEM TO KNOW
THE WRONG FROM RIGHT
OF EVERYTHING. YOU HAVE READ LIFE'S PAGE,
BOTH SIDES OF IT. I RATHER LIKE YOU, DEAR OLD AGE.
LONG YEARS AGO I TREMBLED AT THE SIGHT OF YOU AND
CRIED,"PLEASE PASS ME BY.
YOUTH IS SO SWEET. AGE, IF YOU DARE TO COME I CANNOT
LIVE WITH YOU. I NEED MUST DIE."
BUT YOUTH WAS FOOLISH. I FIND YOU SAGE.
COME TARRY LONG WITH ME, OLD AGE
FOR YOU GAVE TO ME MY LADY, FOR MY CROSSING OF THE
LAST GREAT SEA.
I GREET YOU WITH DELIGHT.
THIS MORNING YOU LAGGED FAR BEHIND; THE SUN GONE
DOWN, YOU WILL WALK WITH ME TONIGHT
I WELCOME YOU. I FIND YOU PLEASANT, YOU SEEM TO KNOW
THE WRONG FROM RIGHT
OF EVERYTHING. YOU HAVE READ LIFE'S PAGE,
BOTH SIDES OF IT. I RATHER LIKE YOU, DEAR OLD AGE.
LONG YEARS AGO I TREMBLED AT THE SIGHT OF YOU AND
CRIED,"PLEASE PASS ME BY.
YOUTH IS SO SWEET. AGE, IF YOU DARE TO COME I CANNOT
LIVE WITH YOU. I NEED MUST DIE."
BUT YOUTH WAS FOOLISH. I FIND YOU SAGE.
COME TARRY LONG WITH ME, OLD AGE
FOR YOU GAVE TO ME MY LADY, FOR MY CROSSING OF THE
LAST GREAT SEA.
No comments:
Post a Comment