WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEROES? ARTIS BREWER, NAVY COMMENDATION, WORLD WAR II VERNON BROOK

With the great proliferation of decorations awarded for heroic acts during World War II, one would ordinarily think that a com- mendation medal should not be placed in as high esteem as other decorations for heroism, but Artis Brewer’s Navy Commendation Medal was earned under extraordinary circumstances. It is the purpose of this article to record those events so that others may be aware of Brewer’s heroic actions.

Brewer enlisted in the Navy on March 8, 1939, at Omaha, Nebraska. From there he was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois, for Boot Camp, and upon completion went to , California, for Hospital Corpsman School. After graduating as a corpsman, Brewer was trans- ferred to Bremerton, Washington, Naval Hospital. From Bremerton he was transferred back to San Diego as a member of the First Defense Battalion, U.S. Marines. Shortly thereafter he was sent to Pearl Harbor and then to . Marines do not have medics of their own, but Navy medical personnel are attached to them. When serving with a Marine uni~, Navy personnel wear the Marine uniforms. Wake Island was garrisoned by the Marines in August 1941, consist- ing of 180 Marines and some Navy small boats crews, under the command of James Devereux. At the time, there were also about twelve hundred civilians on the island engaged in construc- tion. Wake had been recognized as a valuable outpost for America’s first line of defense. Most of the far-flung American islands in ~z.he So~th Pacific were being prepared in 1941 as naval air sta-

Between August and December 1941, the Marines on Wake were kept busier at construction details than at training and setting up gun emplacements. Then, about ten days before war erupted, re- placements began arriving. Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham arrived as the Commanding Officer of the naval air station, bring- ing some clerical personnel and a supply officer. Then came Com- mander Campbell Keene with naval ground personnel, and finally, four days before December 7, 1941, twelve F4F Grumman Wildcats arrived - the M§rine Fighter Squadron 211 - under command of Major Paul A. Putnam.~ By war’s beginning there were 519 militar~ personnel on Wake. Devereux’s Marine detachment numbered 15 officers and 364 men, including a Navy doctor and Brewer, Marine Fighter Squadron 211 had twelve officers and 49 men; there were eleven Navy officers and 64 men, but these included the doctor and Navy corpsmen at~ tached to Devereux’s Marines; and six Army communications men. Because of innumerable shortages in both men and equipment, it was never intended that the military could hold the island against an all-out attack. Instead, the mission was to withstand a hit- and-run attack. But shortly after December 7, 1941, all this theory changed! For sixteen days the Wake Island defenders held the Japanese at bay, inflicting heavy casualties. By the time Wake Island sur- rendered on December 23, 1941, the enemy had lost 820 dead and 1,153 wounded according to one report,~ plus ii ships and 29 planes lost.5

Upon surrender, Brewer was herded with the rest of the captives into hospital dugouts and work details of burying the dead, re- pairing damage, etc., went on until January Ii, 1942, when the Americans were told that they were to he sent to prisoner-of-war camps in and . There were two medical doctors on Wake when it fell: Lt. Kahn and the construction crew’s civilian doctor, Lawton M. Shank. When the Americans were being transferred aboard the ship Nita Mauri, to go to a Pew camp, Brewer had a close call. Following is his account: "When the Japs started to move us aboard ship, the N~ta Maur~, they asked Dr. Shanks to pick two hospital corpsmen to stay with him and the sick and wounded, who were to stay on the island. He picked me and John Howard, another U.S. Navy Corpsman, to stay with him. All others went aboard. When the Japs found out John and I were Navy, they came and got us and brought two civilian corpsmen to stay with Dr. Shanks and the sick and wounded. This was January 12 - my birthday was January 13. "I’ll mention here what happened to Dr. Shanks, the two corpsmen, and the sick, wounded, and workers left behind. As soon as food got scarce and things were bad, the ~ps lined up all hands and killed them - doctor and all.

This atrocity occurred on October 7, 1943. Admiral Sakaibara and eleven 9fficers were later tried and sentenced to death for this action." Brewer continues: "We got aboard ship and sailed for Japan. On the way the Jap Commander of the escort took four young men from the hold, took them topside, and in front of his guards cut their heads off with his sword. "We landed in , Japan, and stayed overnight. Then pulled anchor and sailed to , China. There we marched to Camp Woo Sung. Then we were transferred to Camp Kiron Wong. Sgt. Leonard Coulson and I attempted to escape, but were caught and sentenced to two years confinement. In Ward Road jail we escaped again and were caught again. Was sen- tenced to eight years. And we did part of it. Ha! "Was sent to Nanking and there we came in contact with the Doolittle flyers, four of them. We were later moved to Peking, where we were liberated. "This is just a rough sketch - the misery is in between.’’8

Several documents relating to the Wake Island defenders have been published in other accounts of that action, but it is felt that they are worthy of reproduction again. After the Americans had surrendered Wake Island, Admiral Kajioka came ashore in the afternoon to formally take possession. He brought a proclamation reading: "December 23, 1941 PROCLAmaTION Here it is proclaimed that the entire islands of Wake are now the state-property of the Great Empire of Japan. PUBLIC NOTICE The Great Empire of Japan who loves peace and respects justice has been obliged to take arms against the challenge of President Roosevelt. Therefore, in accordance with the peace-loving spirit of the Great Empire of Japan, Japanese Imperial Navy will not inflict any harm on those people - though they have been our enemy - who do not hold hostility against us in any respect, So, they be in peace!

But whoever violates our spirit or whoever are not obedient shall be severely punished by our martial law. Issued by The Headquarters of the Japanese Imperial Navy’’9 When Brewer and the other prisoners were loaded aboard ship they were given a set of rules which read" "Commander of the Prisoners Escort Navy of the Great Japanese Navy.

REGULATIONS FOR PRISONERS. The prisoners disobeying the following orders will be punished with immediate death. a. those disobeying orders and instructions. b. those showing a motion of antagonism and raising a sign of opposition. those disordering there regulations by individual- ism, egoism, thing only about yourself, rushing for your own goods. d. those talking without permission and raising loud voices. e. those walking and moving without orders. f. those carrying unnecessary baggage in embarking. g. those resisting naturally. h. those touching the boats materials, wires, electric lights, tools, switches, etc. i. those climbing ladder without order. j. those showing action of running away from the room or boat. k. those trying to take more meal than given to them. 1. those using more than two blankets.