Marine Corps Combat Photography in WWII
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Military History History 1999 Shooting the Pacific ar:W Marine Corps Combat Photography in WWII Thayer Soule Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Soule, Thayer, "Shooting the Pacific ar:W Marine Corps Combat Photography in WWII" (1999). Military History. 16. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/16 Shooting the Pacific War Shooting the Pacific War Marine Corps Combat Photography in WWII Thayer Soule Lt. Col. U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Ret. Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2000 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1 Frontispiece: Capt. Karl Thayer Soule Jr., USMCR, in Quantico in 1943. (Photo by Richard Handley) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Soule, Thayer. Shooting the Pacific War : Marine Corps combat photography in WWII / by Thayer Soule. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8131-2137-X (alk.paper) 1. Soule, Thayer. 2. World War, 1939-1945—Photography. 3. World War, 1939-1945—Campaigns—Pacific Area. 4. World War, 1939-1945— Personal narratives, American. 5. War photographers—United States—Biography. I. Title. D810.P4S68 1999 940.54'26—dc21 99-27359 To Chuck, Dick, Grant, and Joe We went through hell together. You helped pull me through. Contents Illustrations viii Preface xi 1 I Become a Marine 1 2 Quantico, New River, and the First Division 14 3 Overseas to New Zealand and North to Combat 37 4 The Early Days on Guadalcanal 59 5 Tenaru, the Tokyo Express, and Bloody 82 6 Lunga Life, the Air Raids, and Naval Bombardment 96 7 The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 117 8 Australia 124 9 Home Leave 142 10 The Golden Days at Quantico 146 11 Guam and the Third Division 167 12 IwoJima 183 13 Great Orders 202 14 War's End at Pearl Harbor 212 Glossary 226 Bibliography 228 Index 231 Illustrations Maps Southwestern Pacific 43 Guadalcanal and adjacent waters 46 First drawing of Lunga Point area, Guadalcanal 48 Solomon Islands 52 Guadalcanal 54 Tulagi, Florida, Tanambogo, and Gavutu Islands 60 First map produced after Guadalcanal landings 72 Marine perimeter around Lunga Point 95 Iwo Jima, based on aerial photos 184 Photographs Aerial photo of Lunga Point 47 Tulagi and Florida Islands, D-Day 622 Gavutu Island 622 Tanambogo Island 63 The pagoda, air operations headquarters 64 Fifth Marines bulletin board 66 Col. Frank B. Goettge, USMC 68 Observer Left 73 Martin Clemens and some of 75 Sgt. Mjr. Jacob Vouza, Solomon Islands Defense 76 Bloody Ridge, from the south 92 Bloody Ridge, looking north 92 Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, Col. Merritt , and Maj. Gen. Archer A. Vandegrift 94 Sgt. Butch Morgan and his stove 99 Wing of a Japanese bomber shot down 103 Our radio station after a direct bomb hit 105 First Marines hospital 108 Marine fighter pilots 110 Maj. Gen. Archer A. Vandegrift, USMC 114 Japanese tanks destroyed 116 2nd Lt. Karl Thayer Soule Jr. on Guadalcanal 120 Hermitage, my ship from Melbourne to Los Angeles 143 Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine, USMC 1700 HQ Third Division Officers' Club on Guam 174 Assault wave hits the beach at Iwo 186 Artillery pounds Mount Suribachi 188 Advancing on the double near Airfield 189 Another Japanese position destroyed 189 Flamethrower hits a Japanese bunker 194 Captain Soule receives the Bronze Star 215 Farewell party at P.Y. Chong's 223 Maj. Robert Beche and Capt. Karl Thayer Soule Jr. 224 Preface Someone has said that gentlemen prefer wars. War is devastation be- yond belief, horror beyond imagination. Yet it produces a vitality, a comradeship that is found at no other etim. This book is a record of my part in World War II. It is drawn from memory and from my detailed personal notes and journals of the time. Originally, I did not intend that it be read by the general public. As I read other books about the Pacific war, I found that nearly all of them were by or about generals or admirals, privates or corpo- rals. My view, as a Marine captain, was from a place somewhere be- tween. These are my personal experiences and opinions, the latter not always those of "The Management." The people are real, and I have used their actual names. Ranks and titles are those of the time during which the events took place. Dates and hours are written Navy-style. Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy, an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress. Then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is when you are about to be reconciled to your servitude. You kill the monster. —Sir Winston Churchill Chris Merillat, author of two books about Guadalcanal, gave me in- valuable guidance on the details of the campaign, both at the time and later. Don Morse prodded me into more concise writing. Members of the Writers Groups of Sun City West, Arizona, endured long readings of the material, and were unfailing in their interest and constructive comments. My wife, Ruth, devoted many hours to detailed, frank criti- cism, and encouraged me during the long production process. Chris- tine Clough, my copy editor, was immensely helpful—and patient. 1 I Become a Marine On 7 August 1942, aboard Hunter Liggett, general quarters awak- ened us at 0430. Outside, it was dark and cool. Guadalcanal was on our right. Savo Island, black and mysterious, was on our left. A cur- tain of mist was rising on the greatest spectacle the Solomon Islands would ever see. By 0600 we were off Lunga Point. At least, the Australian plant- ers who were with us said that it was Lunga Point. It didn't look the way we expected it to look. At 0615 Quincy's eight-inch guns fired a crashing salvo. The shells streaked in long, luminous arcs across the sky into the coconut groves. There was no return fire. Other ships joined in the bombardment until, between the ships' guns and the explosions on shore, the roar was continuous. It carried like thunder over the water. Even at our distance we felt the punch and power. By now the enemy must be at least awake! Off Red Beach, the transports swung toward shore. We on Hunter Liggett were part of the support group. While waiting for orders, we marveled at the fireworks. Barnett and McCawley were closest to shore. The first wave of assault troops climbed over the side and down into the landing boats. The bombardment continued. Now and then, when a salvo fell short, blue geysers of water shot up. Shells bursting on the beach produced bright orange flashes amid clouds of sand and smoke. Canberra poured several salvos into the coconuts, and was rewarded with a big column of black smoke. Destroyers swept back and forth along the coast, firing constantly. Their gun reports were sharp and crackly, not the deep, powerful booms of the cruisers. From Tulagi, twenty miles away, we heard the gunfire of other ships. There, too, the attack had begun. 2/ Shooting the Pacific War At 0910 the first wave started for shore. At 0930 a white star- cluster shot into the air and hung for a moment over the beach. Two battalions had landed safely. The First Marines followed with the Tank Battalion and some artillery units. By 1000 scores of landing craft were running back and forth. The beaches were even better than anticipated, with no offshore coral. At 1100 we received warning of an air raid. The ships upped anchor and began to circle in the bay. At 1300 destroyers near Savo put up antiaircraft fire. The sky filled with the black puffs of their shells. Visibility was poor. We learned later that there were fifty- three planes, but We saw only three or four. Their bombs scored no hits. After returning close to shore, the ships resumed unloading. Men in the landing boats reported that the situation on the beach was poor. The Pioneer Battalion, the only unit available to work cargo, couldn't keep up with the flood of materiel. Boats were forced to land farther and farther to the right. Many were waiting as long as an hour to be unloaded. At 1330, when the ships pulled out into the bay in anticipation of another air raid, shore parties had a chance to move some supplies inland. The raid, nine dive-bombers flying low, arrived at 1500. Two or three of the dive-bombers broke through our fighter patrol and anti- aircraft fire to strike the destroyer screen. One ship was damaged. All of the planes were shot down, or had to ditch. By 1600, our assault troops and most of their support units were ashore, but we on Hunter Liggett were still awaiting orders to disem- bark.