World War II Chronicles

A Quarterly Publication of the World War II Veterans Committee ISSUE XXVIII, Spring, 2005

Veterans Remember IWO JIMA 60th Anniversary

The Battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.

By their victory, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

-Admiral Chester Nimitz World War II Chronicles A Quarterly Publication of the World War II Veterans Committee WWW.WWIIVETS.COM ISSUE XXVIII, Spring, 2005

Articles -In This Issue- Iwo Jima: Iwo Jima: Storming Sulfur Island by 60 Years Later 5 Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC-Ret The armed forces of the United States seize In early 1945, victory for the Allies was in sight. one of the most heavily defended islands in Nazi Germany was crumbling, and the slow but the world steady advance of the American forces in the Pa- Raising the Flag on Mt. Suribachi by cific brought them ever closer to the heart of Im- 15 G. Greeley Wells perial Japan. Yet in order to intensify the aerial The story behind the most memorable bombing of the Japanese homeland that would deal the Empire its deathblow, an island base for moment of World War II and an image that fighter escorts would be needed. Sitting 650 miles from Tokyo was the vol- would live forever canic island of Iwo Jima, a small outpost placed directly in the path to Japan Our Brother by and an obvious target for invasion. The American command expected a 17 Jean Miller, Josephine Ross, Meri Cox, tough, but winnable battle. What they got was carnage beyond imagination. and Susan Haney Four sisters remember a brother who made From the Latest Generation the ultimate sacrifice on Iwo Jima The Face of a Young Pilot by Justin R. Taylan Features 19 A Japanese Zero pilot at Iwo Jima fulfills a lifelong wish In Their Own Words 27 21 Uncommon Valor by Steven Mosley Highlighting Love Company by Donald O. A story of the often-overlooked soldiers without whom Dencker victory at Iwo Jima would have never been possible 31 World War II Book Club 29 Okinawa: A Bloody Prelude to Victory by Hunter Scott 32 Committee Activities The costly final push toward the Japanese homeland

Now Available from the World War II Veterans Committee! Iwo Jima: Fifty Years of Memories VHS (1 hour) $22.95

It was one of the last major battles of World War II, fought on a tiny island only eight miles square. When it was over, nearly 30,000 American and Japanese men lay dead. Tens of thousands were wounded. This video shows the horror of Iwo Jima, told 50 years after the battle in 1995 by U.S. servicemen who survived. For many of these brave men, their words here are the first they have spoken about their ordeal since 1945 - a silence that has haunted many of To order, send $22.95 for each copy desired (includes shipping and handling) to: them to this day. World War II Veterans Committee Already having aired nationally on PBS and The Learning Channel and including 1030 15th St. NW, Suite 856 Washington, DC 20005 extensive combat footage and photographs not previously available to the public, Iwo Jima: Fifty Years of Memories is a moving tribute to all the men who fought in this Or order with credit card by calling horrific campaign and the thousands who didn’t come home. 202-777-7272 ext. 220

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 2 The Road to Victory

An Exclusive Tour of the Entire Western front of World War II September 15 - 29 2005

Sponsored by the World War II Veterans Committee

Sixty years ago, in the spring and summer of 1945, the Allied armies stormed across Europe and into the heart of the Third Reich. Today, you have the opportunity to follow in their footsteps. Commemorating the 60th Anni- versary of the Allied victory in Europe, the World War II Veterans Committee is offering this exclusive tour of all of the major war sites on the western front. For veterans and history buffs alike, this one-of-a-kind tour will take you from London to Berlin, and all the points in between, on “The Road to Victory.” World War II veterans attending the Committee’s 2004 D-Day 60th Anniversary Tour stand before the bronze statue entitled “The Spirit of American Youth” at Omaha Beach Complete Itinerary

September 15: D-Day headquarters of General Eisenhower. Prior to taking the ferry Late afternoon departure from your home city for London. to Caen, tour the Naval Dockyards where Admiral Lord Nelson’s HMS Victory was docked. Dinner will be served on board the ferry from September 16: London England to France. (Breakfast, Dinner) Arrive at LHR, London Airport. Transfer to the Millennium Gloucester Hotel. In the afternoon, visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, site of the American September 20: Bayeaux Memorial Chapel. Later visit the Imperial War Museum and the Cabi- Today you will visit the British airborne landing grounds at Ranville net War Rooms where Winston Churchill directed Britain’s war efforts. and Benouville (Pegasus Bridge). Continue on to visit Arromanches Dinner and orientation discussion in a typical English pub. and see the remains of the Mulberry floating harbors, followed by a (Dinner) visit to the Landings Museum. After lunch, tour Omaha Beach, site of the hardest fighting on D-Day, and the American Cemetery, final resting September 17: London/Oxford/Bletchley Park place of 9,386 American servicemen. Then on to Pointe du Hoc to see Head to Oxford, the City of Dreaming Spires and home to the legend- the Ranger Monument, St. Mere Eglise and the U.S. Airborne Mu- ary University. Continue on to Bletchley Park, where the secret German seum, and finally Utah Beach. (Breakfast, Dinner) communications were cracked by Allied code breakers. (Breakfast, Dinner) September 21: Bayeaux/St. Lo/Coutances/Paris Leave Bayeaux for Paris. Along the way, stop at St. Lo and Coutances, September 18: London/Portsmouth where Operation Cobra, the breakout from Normandy, began. Following breakfast, visit the HMS Belfast cruiser. Launched in 1938, (Breakfast, Dinner) the Belfast played a critical role in the invasion of Normandy and later saw action in Korea. Lunch aboard the Belfast before departing for September 22: Paris Portsmouth. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) Morning at leisure. Afternoon tour of the city includes stops at the Arc de Triomphe; the Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk of Luxor; the September 19: Portsmouth/Southwick/Caen/ Pantheon, final resting place of many of France’s most illustrious fig- Bayeaux ures; the Louvre; the Cathedral of Notre Dame; and finally dinner at the In the morning, visit the D-Day Museum and Southwick House, the Eiffel Tower’s “Altitude 95” restaurant. (Breakfast, Dinner) September 23: Paris/Reims/Hamm/Luxembourg mountaintop retreat known as the Eagle’s Nest. Return to Munich in Depart France for Luxembourg. Along the way, visit Reims, site of the the evening. (Breakfast, Dinner) formal surrender of the German Reich. Tour the Mumm and Co. September 27: Munich/Nuremberg/Berlin champagne cellars. Proceed to Hamm, where you will visit General Leave Munich for Nuremberg, site of the Nazi Party rallies and the later Patton’s grave and the American war crimes trials. In the afternoon, board the ICE Train for Berlin. Cemetery. (Breakfast, Dinner) Dinner served on board. (Breakfast, Dinner) September 24: Luxem- September 28: Berlin bourg/Bastogne/ Today will be spent exploring Remagen/Heidelberg Berlin. See the Brandenburg Continue to Bastogne, where you Gate, the Reichstag Building, will see the Battle of the Bulge the Checkpoint Charlie Mu- Museum and the Mardasson Me- seum, and the Wannsee House, morial honoring the American where the infamous “Final So- Army. See the Patton Memorial visiting Remagen and the Memorial to lution” was devised. See the So- Peace. Head on to Heidelberg where you will spend the night. (Break- viet Memorial, commemorating fast, Dinner) the Red Army’s capture of Berlin. In the afternoon, visit Potsdam, one September 25: Heidelberg/Dachau/Munich of the most beautiful cities in Germany. Here you will see the Sanssouci In the morning prior to leaving Heidelberg, visit the imposing Heidel- Palace and the Charlotenhoff Palace. Return to Berlin for a farewell berg Castle. Move on to tour Dachau Concentration Camp and Mu- dinner. (Breakfast, seum. Continue to Munich to visit the sites of the infamous “Brown Dinner) House” and Feldherrnhalle, site of the SS rallies. (Breakfast, Dinner) September 29: Departure September 26: Munich/Obersalzburg Farewell to Europe as you transfer to the airport for your return flight Venture from Munich to Obersalzburg, where you will visit Hitler’s home. (Breakfast)

Tour Highlights: $5,945 Per Person/ Double Occupancy -International Air from IAD (Washington, DC) to London and from Berlin to IAD (Washington) Single Supplement Additional $725 air add-ons from most U.S. cities avail- -2 nights in London at the able Millennium Gloucester Hotel Price based on a minimum -1 night in Portsmouth at the of 26 paying participants Hilton Hotel Land only price approxi- -2 nights in Bayeaux at the mately $5,435 Novotel Hotel Partial-Tour of Paris to -2 nights in Paris at the Millen- Berlin (September 20-29) nium Opera Hotel Available for $4,345 -1 night in Luxembourg at the A $500 Non-Refundable Europlaza Hotel Deposit is required to -1 night in Heidelberg at the register Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel (Full payment due by July 1, 2005) -2 nights in Munich at the Platzl Hotel Not Included in Package: -2 nights in Berlin at the Maratim Passport fee, items of a personal nature Proarte Hotel and items not mentioned in the itinerary, tips to guides and drivers, cancellation and medical insurance -Dinner with Sir Winston Churchill’s granddaughter, (strongly recommended), and airline taxes (approx $145). author Celia Sandys -All sightseeing and transfers as per program by deluxe air-conditioned motor coach (itinerary listed in brochure) For more information or a registration form, contact -English speaking guide throughout tour Vicki Doyle at: -13 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 13 dinners Vicki Doyle Tours Phone: 703-418-0939 -Transfers, luggage handling, and hotel taxes 1300 Crystal Drive Cell: 703-298-9044 Apt. 502S E-mail: [email protected] Arlington, VA 22202 Web site: vickidoyletours.com Iwo Jima: Storming Sulfur Island By Col. Joseph Alexander, USMC (Ret)

“It was an operation of one phase and one tactic. From the time the engage- crippled U.S. Super-Fortresses struggling to return to the Marianas. ment was joined until the mission was completed it was a matter of frontal And Japanese medium bombers staged through Iwo for dam- assault maintained with relentless pressure.” aging raids on the U.S. airfields on Saipan and Tinian, destroying —Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, USMC more B-29s on the ground than Gen. Curtis E. LeMay’s crews Commander, Expeditionary Troops, Iwo Jima lost during their strike missions. The vaunted strategic bombing Task Force 56 Action Report, March 1945 campaign had proven a bust so far. Iwo Jima had to go.

Iwo Jima was the most heavily for- On 3 October 1944 the Joint Chiefs tified island the Americans would of Staff directed Nimitz to capture assault in World War II. The strate- the eight-square-mile island. With gic benefits of acquiring airfields Halsey still mired in the “tar pit” of within fighter range of Tokyo would Peleliu, Nimitz gave the newest task- be significant—the risks in attacking ing to Spruance. Reduced to its nub, that steep, volcanic fortress, “the the Fifth Fleet’s mission was twofold: Doorstep to Japan,” would be enor- enhance the strategic bombing cam- mous. No U.S. amphibious force paign; facilitate the ultimate invasion could have tackled this mission any of the Japanese homeland. Nimitz earlier in the war. Seizing Iwo Jima emphasized speed of execution, as would require full command of the he had before Tarawa, saying: “It is air and sea, overwhelming fire- a cardinal principle of amphibious power, imaginative naval campaign operations that shipping be localized planning, seasoned shock troops, and exposed at the objective for the and violent, sustained amphibious Battle-weary Marines display trophies of war minimum possible time.” This guid- execution. ance would prove increasingly diffi- cult to honor: seizing Iwo would take five full weeks; Okinawa, Iwo Jima was a latecomer as a potential objective for U.S. am- twice as long. phibious forces. Many planners figured that the campaigns in the Philippines and Palau would be followed by a combined opera- Operation Detachment, the campaign to seize Iwo Jima, became tion against Formosa. Others, including Fifth Fleet Commander of necessity a stepchild wedged between the larger campaigns of Raymond Spruance, believed the wiser choice would be to strike Luzon and Okinawa. This narrow window of time dominated north-by-northwest against the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands. Seize the planning for Detachment. Even as late as 1944-45 America Iwo Jima, he suggested, then Okinawa, in preparation for the lacked the resources to conduct two, simultaneous, full-scale am- final invasions of Kyushu and Honshu. phibious operations in the Pacific. The JCS twice postponed D- Day for Iwo because slow progress in Luzon delayed the turn- Iwo Jima represented a major obstacle to the strategic bombing over of naval gunfire support ships and landing craft from of mainland Japan by B-29s based in the Marianas. The island, MacArthur’s forces to the Fifth Fleet. Nor was there any slack at lying about halfway between Saipan and Tokyo, contained an early the other end of the schedule. Spruance had to complete the warning radar system that provided Tokyo with an invaluable seizure of Iwo Jima and reposition his amphibious forces to sup- two-hour alert of each approaching B-29 raid. Further, Iwo- port the Okinawa campaign well before 1 April. That was the based fighters launched to intercept the incoming bombers, forc- latest date Okinawa could be invaded without incurring undue ing them to fly a circuitous route, requiring more fuel and dimin- risk from the summer typhoon season. ishing their payloads. Fighters on Honshu, alerted by Iwo Jima’s radar, would be waiting for the American bombers, forcing them These time constraints did not unduly bother Spruance. He knew to fly higher altitudes, further sacrificing bombing accuracy. Af- each of his principle task force commanders to be a veteran of ter each mission, Iwo fighters sallied forth again to swarm around urgent planning and hard campaigning in the Central Pacific. He

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 5 led a seasoned, proven team. Marc Mitscher would again com- the perimeter, followed by a massive banzai attack the first night. mand the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 58); Kelly “Terrible” Turner, “We welcome a counterattack, ” growled Smith. “That’s when the Joint Expeditionary Force; “Handsome Harry” Hill, the At- we break their backs.” A revealing 5 January 1945 intelligence tack Force. Rear Adm. W.H.P. “Spike” Blandy, highly regarded report that forecast a radically different Iwo defense organized in for his cool-headed handling of an amphibious group at Saipan depth along the lines of Peleliu attracted little top-level attention. and Tinian, would take command of the massive Amphibious Support Force (in effect, the “advance force commander”). Iwo Jima represents a paradox in American naval history. The battle resulted in total victory, acquisition of strategic airfields vir- Marine major general Harry Schmidt would command V Am- tually on Japanese territory, and an enduring symbolic legacy. Yet phibious Corps as he had done so ably at Tinian. Schmidt would Iwo Jima also became the bloodiest battle in the history of the have the distinction at Iwo Jima of commanding the largest force U.S. Marine Corps, the only major Pacific assault where the land- of Marines ever committed to a single battle: a three-division ing force sustained higher casualties than they inflicted on the Japa- landing force numbering seventy thousand men. But Spruance nese garrison. As Smith would shortly be forced to admit, “This and Turner (to the displeasure of Nimitz) com- is the toughest fight in the 169 years of our Corps.” plicated the command structure by inviting Lt. Why such a surprise this late in the war? What Gen. Holland Smith along for one last campaign. made “Sulfur Island” such a tough nut to crack? Smith would serve as commanding general of “expeditionary troops, ” a contrived billet in this The Americans at first believed the Japanese had case where one amphibious corps attacked one spent years preparing Iwo’s intricate, mutually sup- island. Smith knew this, and endeavored to keep porting defenses. They would be surprised to out of the Corps commander’s way, but Schmidt learn later that the fortifications they encountered would forever be resentful of Smith “stealing his in February 1945 had largely resulted from a crash thunder.” construction program completed barely a week before the invasion. As late as February 1944 Smith actually contributed significantly at the high- only fifteen hundred troops occupied the unfor- est echelons to the success of the campaign. By tified site. It took Nimitz’s Central Pacific drive serving as the eminently quotable Marine spokes- to alert IGHQ to Iwo Jima’s strategic vulnerabil- man for the media—and by “baby-sitting” VIP ity. But it would take a strong-willed, imaginative visitors like Navy Secretary James Forrestal—Smith commander to reverse the rigidity of service allowed Schmidt to fight the tactical battle with- politics and the Bushido code and turn the island out distraction. And it would be Holland Smith’s role to provide into the most formidable fortress in the Pacific. a necessary “reality check” for the combat correspondents gath- ered on the flagship before D-Day. “This is going to be a rough Imperial Headquarters in 1944 created a new subtheater, the one, ” he predicted, “we could suffer as many as fifteen thousand Ogasawara Area, which included islands of that name, plus the casualties here.” Few believed him. neighboring Bonin and Volcano Islands—to which they assigned a freshly formed, patched-together command designated as the Aside from aerial photography (and periscope photographs from 29th Division. Many of these soldiers would be assigned to Iwo the submarine Spearfish), American intelligence collection and analy- Jima. Navy forces on the island were encouraged to “cooper- sis prior to Iwo Jima proved less effective than most preceding ate” with the area-division commander. Neither the subtheater amphibious campaigns. Analysts looked at the island’s severe water nor the division reflected inspired staff work. The critical differ- shortage and concluded that no more than thirteen thousand ence would lie in the personality of the newly designated com- troops could be accommodated there, a 40 percent shortfall. mander, Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi. Analysts also believed the senior officer on the island to be Maj. Gen. Kotono Osuga, assuming incorrectly that little-known Lt. Kuribayashi may have been a stranger to the Americans in mid- Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi maintained his headquarters on Chichi 1944, but by the following March certain Marine riflemen were Jima, 140 miles away. Planners underestimated the proliferation calling him “the best damned general on this stinking island.” of Japanese major weapons. “The Japs had more heavy guns Kuribayashi was fifty-three years old, tall and portly, a native of than we expected, ” admitted Kelly Turner to a New York Times Nagano Prefecture in central Honshu, and a descendent of samurai reporter during the battle. ancestors. A 1914 graduate of the Military Academy, he served the ensuing thirty-one years as a cavalry officer. With the out- Nor did Turner, Smith, or Schmidt pay much attention to the break of war in Asia, Kuribayashi commanded a cavalry regi- evidence of the transformation in Japanese anti-amphibious tac- ment in Manchuria, a brigade in China. He participated in the tics manifested at Biak and Peleliu. They expected another Saipan, capture of Hong Kong in December 1941 as chief of staff, another General Obata. They anticipated a vigorous defense along 23rd Army. With the emperor’s approval, he took command of

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 6 the Imperial Guard Division in Tokyo. From this post in late week Maj. Gen. Joichiro Sanada, operations chief of the Army May 1944 Prime Minister Hideki Tojo selected him to command General Staff, visited the island. Like Kuribayashi, he was ap- the suddenly vital island called Iwo Jima (literally “Sulfur Island” palled by the unpreparedness he saw. As he recorded in his diary, in Japanese). “Kuribayashi warns that if an American task force of the size of the July 4th fleet returns with a division and a half of troops he Kuribayashi’s military record provides few clues as to what made could sustain the defense for at best a week to ten days.” Sanada him such a formidable commander at Iwo Jima. His experience had great influence in Tokyo. Soon, more troops, weapons, and commanding men in combat represents an asset, but this pales ammo began flowing to Iwo Jima. against the combat record of his contemporaries who fought in the tougher battles in Malaya, the Philippines, or New Guinea. As Kuribayashi studied the topography of the Volcano and Bonin He was an unreconstructed cavalryman, refusing to “transition” Islands, he concluded that Iwo Jima was the only one with the into tanks and armored warfare, and therefore of diminishing potential for a bomber strip. This would inevitably attract the tactical value to his service. As a colonel assigned Americans. Kuribayashi saw the paradox. Iwo to the Ministry of the Army in 1937, for example, Jima served only a limited tactical advantage to he served as head of equestrian affairs in the lo- the Japanese as an early warning site and fighter- gistics branch—more concerned with forage and interceptor base. On the larger scale, the island farriers than the more central issues of war plans was a strategic liability to the Japanese. Ameri- or mobilization. can seizure of Iwo would be catastrophic to the Japanese war effort, bringing the home islands Given this unremarkable record, it is no wonder within range of medium bombers and fighter American intelligence analysts failed to predict escorts to augment the B-29s. Sensing this, Kuribayashi’s tactical brilliance. Iwo Jima some- Kuribayashi spent weeks determining whether the how invoked a metamorphosis for Kuribayashi. Japanese would be better off simply blowing In his final command he proved to be tough, the island up—or at least sinking the central pla- cool-headed, pragmatic, innovative, and fear- teau into the sea. Some demolition experts less—a warrior in the best definition of any came down from Tokyo, examined the volca- Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, nation’s army. Holland Smith’s grudging post- commander of Japanese forces on nic rock, and said it could not be done. war assessment summed it all up: “Of all our Iwo Jima adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was the Kuribayashi then took a long look at the de- most redoubtable.” fense tactics recently employed by Japanese commanders defending Biak, Peleliu, Angaur, and Luzon. In General Kuribayashi came to Iwo Jima during the second week each case the Japanese provided only minimal resistance at the of June 1944 and found the small garrison ill-prepared for war, point of landing but established interior positions in depth. While a hodge-podge of squabbling units at each other’s throats. Sev- the Americans at Peleliu had scoffed at these tactics as “the Cor- eral disasters occurred in short order. On 15 and 24 June, Rear nered Rat defense,” their ultimate victory had come only at a very Adm. Joseph J. “Jocko” Clark’s fast carrier task group struck high cost in casualties and after an unexpectedly protracted cam- Iwo hard, sweeping away the inexperienced Japanese aircraft and paign. Kuribayashi concluded that this was the best he could bombing the island with impunity. Then during 4-5 July, Ameri- expect to accomplish: fortify the interior of the island so expertly can battleships and cruisers bombarded the island at leisure. Re- that the Americans would take exorbitant casualties and perhaps corded one member of the Japanese garrison: “For two days we lose heart. If all else failed, a prolonged and lethal defense of cowered like rats.” Iwo Jima might make the American public have second thoughts about invading the Japanese home islands. Relief came from an unexpected quarter. The U.S. decision to tackle Palau after the Marianas provided the Japanese a half-year Kuribayashi then announced his decisions. He would establish grace period in which to fortify Iwo Jima. Kuribayashi took full the headquarters of his 109th Division on Iwo Jima, not on the advantage of this lull. With the fall of Saipan, IGHQ diverted larger, safer, and more comfortable island of Chichi Jima. He the veteran 145th Infantry Regiment, earmarked to reinforce the ordered the evacuation of all civilians from the island, including Marianas, to Iwo Jima for duty. This was a windfall. Although the “comfort girls.” He abolished all booze. He ordered all numerically small, the ranks of the 145th were filled with men facilities moved underground. Finally, and most controversial of from Kagoshima, renowned fighters, commanded by Col. Masuo all, he stated his plan to concede the amphibious landing and Ikeda. Kuribayashi would build his defense with this regiment at instead concentrate his defenses in depth among the broken ter- its core; he would die with Ikeda at his side. In early August, Rear rain of the central and northern highlands. Further, he forbade Adm. Toshinosuke Ichimaru reported to Iwo for duty, a legend- any large-scale banzai attacks. Counterattacks would only be ary naval aviator, long crippled, hungry for a fight. The next launched by small units and for limited tactical objectives. He

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 7 would make maximum use of the night, sending out “prowling Regiment, and some of the artillery units Kuribayashi had first- wolves, ” small groups of marauders to gather intelligence, de- rate troops, a credit to any armed force. In Col. Chosaku Kaido, stroy enemy crew-served weapons, or kill sentries. commanding the composite artillery brigade, Kuribayashi had one of the finest gunners in the empire. Kuribayashi’s difficulties in enforcing these unpopular decisions were compounded by the duality in service command lines that On the negative side, the 109th Division was hardly one of the continued to fracture Japanese operations. He was clearly senior empire’s best—certainly not one of the vaunted Manchukuoan to Admiral Ichimaru (and the two actually got along well), but outfits from the Kwantung Army. Moreover, Kuribayashi did Ichimaru felt pressured by some of his own hotheaded officers not even have his entire division at hand. His second independent and the Navy General Staff to argue for beachfront defenses. mixed brigade was scattered to the north, defending places like Against his better judgment, Kuribayashi Chichi Jima and Marcus Island. Nor could agreed to a compromise. He would per- the 109th Division ever expect to match in mit construction of 135 pillboxes along the open combat the task organization, fire- obvious landing beaches in the southern power, and unit integrity of any one of the part of the island. The project took three three U.S. Marine Corps divisions steaming months; the Americans would overrun all toward Iwo. Further, while Kuribayashi of them in the battle’s first three hours. had been able to stockpile plenty of food and weapons in advance, he did not have General Sanada continued to ramrod sup- that luxury in terms of artillery, mortar, and port for Kuribayashi from the Army Gen- rocket ammunition. Only on D-Day would eral Staff. Surprisingly, Kuribayashi did not his gunners enjoy unrestricted firing. The ask for more troops. The earlier arrival of very proliferation of types and calibers of the 26th Tank Regiment commanded by major weapons would further complicate the colorful Baron Takeichi Nishi, added ammunition supply and distribution. Some to Ikeda’s troops, gave Kuribayashi a solid weapons were simply inappropriate. The core of veterans. Many of the newly enormous Japanese 320-mm spigot mor- formed battalions in the 2nd Independent tars would scare the hell out of the Ma- Mixed Brigade contained little more than rines, but their 675-pound shells would of- raw recruits, more liabilities than assets. ten prove more hazardous to the handling Kuribayashi wanted neither to saturate his Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt, USMC, commander crews; the launchers had an operating life of the tough and experienced V Amphibious defenses nor to overwhelm the island’s of only five to six rounds. Corps and charged with taking Iwo Jima meager water supplies. He had the guns and the shooters; now he needed fortifica- Kuribayashi seemed to accept all this. When tion specialists. Sanada quickly provided Japanese scout planes reported the depar- mining engineers, quarry experts, fortress units, and labor battal- ture of hundreds of American ships from Ulithi and Saipan on ions. The island’s volcanic ash lent itself to efficient cement mix; 13 February, the general ordered his men into their final bunkers its soft interior rock yielded to thousands of picks and spades. and moved into his command post in the Motoyama highlands. “I pray for a heroic fight, ” he said. Kuribayashi kept his training simple: antitank defenses, night infil- trations, and marksmanship. Each man’s defensive position was Kelly Turner’s joint expeditionary force approached Iwo Jima to be his grave, his military shrine. Knowing how isolated the with 495 ships—including 125 amphibious and 75 seagoing landing battlefields would quickly become, the general posted “Coura- craft—a force ten times the size he had led against Guadalcanal geous Battle Vows” in each bunker. If each man took ten Ameri- thirty months earlier. Only one useful piece of intelligence had can lives for his own, he told them, Japan could win a glorious filtered to the landing force from the unsavory Peleliu experience. victory. A captured Japanese message from Peleliu recommended that drums of fuel be placed along the obvious landing beaches for An assessment of the Japanese garrison on the eve of the battle remote ignition during the height of the American’s ship-to-shore reveals a checkered mix of strengths and weaknesses. On the assault. The latest aerial photos of Iwo showed a suspicious line plus side, Kuribayashi had transformed the divided, dispirited of fifty-five-gallon drums positioned at close intervals along the garrison into a force imbued with readiness to remain in pre- beaches. Schmidt’s Marines in their first waves would therefore pared positions and inflict maximum casualties. The borrowed land wearing fire-retardant grease on their exposed skin. engineers had created a masterpiece of defensive works, particu- larly in the main belt that crossed the island just north of the Holland Smith and Harry Schmidt were more concerned with second airfield. In the 145th Infantry Regiment, the 26th Tank acrimonious dispute with the Navy over the extent of prelimi-

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 8 nary bombardment allotted to Iwo. The Marines, sensing the and his chief beachmaster, Capt. Carl E. “Squeaky” Anderson, difficulty of seizing this godforsaken rock, asked for ten days— had worked furiously to devise means of improving beach but got three. The Navy saw a greater need to orchestrate tactical trafficability. Bulldozers would be in high demand along the beach surprise, coordinate the bombardment with strikes against Honshu on D-Day; Hill and Anderson fabricated armored shields to pro- by Mitscher’s fast carriers, and guard against an incursion by the tect the operators from sniper fire. The two officers also devel- remnants of the Combined Fleet. Logistic restraints also served oped sand sleds and “Marston matting, ” folded, hinged metal to limit bombardment. The Pacific mats intended to surface an expedi- Fleet had not yet mastered the art of tionary airfield, modified so they could underway replenishment of major- be payed out from a tracked vehicle caliber ammunition (8-inch and to lay an improvised “road” over the larger); those ships would have to re- soft sand as a beach exit. Hill said the tire to a distant anchorage to rearm task force brought eight miles of for any prolonged bombardment. hinged matting to Iwo. There was also concern for conserv- ing ammunition for the pending, Marine planners looked beyond the larger invasion of Okinawa. The ar- beach, noting the heights on either guments became rancorous. Blandy’s flank, sensing how Mount Suribachi gunships would deliver four times the and the Rock Quarry would afford shelling Tarawa received and one and Marines of the 4th Division aboard LVTs speed toward the enemy deadly fields of fire. Said a half times the prep fires at Saipan. the ashen shores of Iwo Jima Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates, com- Yet the Marines argued that pro- manding the 4th Marine Division and longed, deliberate fire—repeated hits a veteran of Belleau Wood, on hard targets—was more critical than gross tonnage delivered. Guadalcanal, and Tinian: “I didn’t like the idea of landing in a bight, where you were flanked on both sides.” There is little doubt that a greater preliminary bombardment would have saved Marine lives. The heart Iwo Jima would be the fourth as- of Kuribayashi’s defenses in the sault landing in thirteen months for Motoyama plateau remained essen- the 4th Marine Division. The 3rd tially unscathed during the three days Division, scheduled initially in a re- before D-Day. On the other hand, serve role, had defeated the Japa- most of Kuribayashi’s emplace- nese at Bougainville and Guam. The ments in the north were so skillfully 5th Division was brand new, but camouflaged, his men so deeply en- former Raiders and paratroopers trenched, that they probably would with combat experience in the have remained impervious to any Solomons led most of its rifle com- extended shelling. They had already panies. Moreover, the training fo- withstood ten weeks of daily cus for each division was right on pounding by Seventh Air Force target for Iwo: small-unit tactics, as- bombers without substantial dam- saults on fortified positions, coor- age. Suspending the naval shelling dinated use of combined arms. each night provided further respite Collectively, this was a tough, com- to the subterranean garrison. As 1st Marines peer out over the sides of their landing craft to get bat-savvy landing force, as lethal an Lt. Kinryu Sugihara, a member of their first view of the island. Soon, nearly 100,000 men amphibious spearhead as the Ma- the 11th Antitank Battalion on Iwo would be crowded on an island not eight miles square rine Corps ever fielded. Jima, recorded in his diary for the night of 17 February: “Our units are taking advantage of the Embarking the huge landing force uncovered frustrating prob- slackening of the bombardment during the night and are strength- lems. The newly modified M4A3 Sherman tanks were now too ening their positions, repairing fortifications, and hauling food heavy to be safely transported in standard LCM-3 tank lighters and ammunition to the different positions. They worked all night and had to be loaded, five at a time, on medium landing ships in preparation for tomorrow.” (LSMs), which in turn skewed landing plans at the last minute. Commanders and cannoneers worried about their 105-mm how- Landing force planners knew in advance that Iwo’s steep beach itzers preloaded in DUKWs. Iwo was known to have rough and loose volcanic sand would complicate the movement of seas. The weight of the field piece equaled the DUKW’s maxi- vehicles from landing craft to the high-water mark. Admiral Hill mum payload; there would be precious little freeboard. Am-

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 9 phibious rehearsals reflected the recurring problem of geographic for the Japanese—and Kuribayashi’s only major mistake of the separation of key task groups. Most amphibian tractor (LVT) battle—surely saved a thousand American lives on D-Day morn- units did not get the chance to rehearse with the LSTs, many of ing. them new to the ship-to-shore business. Kelly Turner hoped for three days of good weather in which to Although the Japanese knew of their approach, the Fifth Fleet conduct the landing. He got less than one. D-Day morning was quickly established near-total dominance over the air, sea, and nigh perfect. At 0645 Turner signaled “land the landing force.” underwater approaches to the island. The most spectacular ex- The now-familiar choreography began, the process that proved change of heavy gunfire at Iwo Jima occurred on the morning so difficult at Tulagi or Tarawa now ticking like a Swiss clock. To of 17 February, D-minus-2, during the conduct of the beach some observers the ship-to-shore assault against Iwo Jima’s south- reconnaissance by Navy and Marine swimmers. These were men east coast resembled the third day at Gettysburg: hundreds of of the Navy Combat Demolitions Unit, augmented by recon- thousands of men of both sides watching the panorama of ten naissance Marines, collectively called “frogmen” (also, “half fish, thousand shock troops in disciplined alignment charging the cen- half crazy”). Many were veterans of stealthy reconnaissance mis- ter. “The landing was a magnificent sight to see, ” said Marine sions in the Marshalls, Marianas, and Palau, but there would be lieutenant colonel Robert H. Williams. “So the real landing has nothing covert about this operation: a direct approach into “the come at last!” recorded Lieutenant Sugihara, as he cleansed him- bight” in broad daylight. This self for death in combat. was a mission of tremendous risk, reflecting the critical Mitscher’s Task Force 58 re- shortage of information on turned from raiding Honshu the landing beaches. in time to add to the fire- works. Among other assets, A dozen LCI-G gunboats this provided the landing force comprised the first line of fire with the temporary support of support for the frogmen, eight carrier-based Marine closely followed by several fighter squadrons, each well destroyers. The sight of this trained in close air support. mini-armada approaching the The troops cheered as the most obvious beach made Corsairs with USMC marking General Kuribayashi believe roared down the beaches the main landing was at hand, The American forces swarm the shores of Iwo Jima: H-Hour, February 19, ahead of the landing. and he authorized his local 1945 commanders to open fire from their concealed coast-defense The ship-to-shore movement at Tarawa fifteen months earlier batteries along the eastern slopes of Suribachi and the Rock had featured a convoluted ten-mile trek that took hours and left Quarry. The tiny LCI-Gs were shot to pieces: one sank, all others the LVTs dangerously low on fuel. Worse, the only senior con- badly damaged, two hundred casualties. trol officer in the lagoon was the skipper of the minesweeper marking the line of departure, a brave man but inexperienced in To the rescue came a dozen destroyers and cruisers, moving close amphibious execution and unassisted by any Marines. At Iwo ashore to engage the enemy batteries one-on-one, both sides catch- Jima, the LVTs had an easy thirty-minute run to the beach, and ing hell and delivering same. Incredibly, the swimmers accom- the assistant commanders of the assault divisions, both brigadier plished their mission despite the cannonade, even braving Japa- generals, took station on the control vessels marking each end of nese rifle fire to gather samples of beach sand. They found only the line of departure. one mine, no obstacles, no natural barriers to the approach— then retracted, bearing their precious vials of sand, with the loss Nor were there any deadly lapses in naval gunfire support as the of a single man. assault waves of LVTs approached the beach. Navy and Marine fighters made one final screeching sweep along the coastline, then The swimmer mission, accomplished at great risk and acceptable the ships commenced a carefully regulated “rolling barrage” to cost, thus serving the more valuable function as an inadvertent provide a moving curtain of heavy explosives just ahead of the amphibious feint, causing the enemy to play his hand prematurely. disembarking troops. This complex procedure worked to per- Kuribayashi, facing his first amphibious landing, had even radi- fection, reflecting the cumulative experience and painstaking plan- oed Tokyo that his forces had repulsed a major landing. But ning of the amphibious task force. The torrent of explosives Blandy’s gun crews had a field day the next thirty-six hours, sys- vaporized the worrisome line of fuel drums and demolished many tematically taking out the big guns overlooking the beaches that of the Imperial Navy’s vaunted gun positions. A Japanese naval the Japanese had unwisely revealed. This factor, a tactical disaster officer observing all this from a cave on Mount Suribachi could

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 10 hardly believe his eyes: “At nine o’clock in the morning several While the assault forces maneuvered in the soft sand to over- hundred landing craft with amphibious tanks in the lead rushed come the local defenders they failed to notice an almost imper- ashore like an enormous tidal wave.” ceptible stirring among the rocks and crevices of the interior high- lands. With grim anticipation, Kuribayashi’s gunners began un- This was the ultimate storm landing of the Pacific War. Okinawa masking their big weapons—the heavy artillery, giant mortars, would be bigger but unopposed. At Iwo Jima eight thousand and naval rockets held under tight discipline for this precise mo- Marines raced ashore in the first few min- ment. Kuribayashi has patiently waited utes. Within ninety minutes some of these until the beaches and terraces were men cut the lower part of the island in clogged with troops and material. His two. By dusk, when Lieutenant Sugihara gun crews knew the range and deflection guessed that “enemy strength [ashore] is to each preregistered target. At approximately two thousand men and Kuribayashi’s signal, these hundreds of eighty tanks, ” General Schmidt had ac- weapons opened fire. It was shortly af- tually landed thirty thousand men, the bet- ter 1015. ter part of two divisions, each with their own tank battalions and most of their The ensuing bombardment was as deadly organic field artillery. There would still be and terrifying as any of the Marines had hell to pay, but the V Amphibious Corps had stormed ashore in ever experienced. There seemed to be no cover at all. Explo- great strength and good order. Kuribayashi was already in grave sions blanketed every corner of the three-thousand-yard danger—abruptly he was outnumbered. beachfront. Large-caliber coast-defense guns and antiaircraft guns firing horizontally added their deadly scissors of direct fire from The first enemy encountered by the landing force on Iwo Jima high ground on both flanks. Landing force casualties mounted was the island’s damnable hydrography. Even in mild weather appallingly. As the Japanese fire reached a crescendo, the four the steep beach featured a constantly plunging surf and a vicious assault regiments radioed dire reports to the flagship: undertow. Time and against the surf would first broach then shatter the 1036: (From 25th Marines): “Catch- Higgins boats, reducing them to shards ing all hell from the quarry. Heavy and splinters, further fouling a beach that mortar fire.” soon resembled a demolition yard. For 1039: (From 23rd Marines): “Tak- those vehicles that made it ashore, ing heavy casualties and can’t move. trafficability proved worse than ex- Mortars killing us.” pected. “Squeaky” Anderson’s experi- 1042: (From 27th Marines): “All units mental Marston matting worked well pinned down by artillery and mor- at first but soon became chewed to tars. Casualties heavy.” pieces by hundreds of tracked vehicles 1046: (From 28th Marines): “Taking desperately trying to negotiate the steep heavy fire, forward movement terraces under fire. And while the Japa- stopped. Machine gun and artillery nese had not mined the precipitous off- Marines of the 5th Division take refuge on Red Beach fire heaviest ever seen.” shore approaches, they had spared no #1, inching toward their target: Mt. Suribachi effort in mining beach exits. Many Veteran combat correspondent Robert Sherman tanks and LVTs came to grief Sherrod spent D-Day morning with in a deadly field of horned antitank mines, inverted depth charges, General Cates on the troop transport Bayfield, flagship for the 4th and naval torpedoes buried vertically beneath pressure detona- Marine Division. Cates watched the fighting ashore through bin- tors. oculars and agonized over the pounding of his troops. “Look at that goddamned murderous fire on our Yellow beaches,” he ex- Like Colonel Nakagawa at Peleliu, Kuribayashi decided to ex- claimed to Sherrod, adding, “There goes another hit square on a pend one infantry battalion in the vicinity of the beaches to dis- tank—burned him up!” rupt the landings. The Americans’ “rolling barrage” made mince- meat out of most of these men, but those who survived main- The landing force suffered and bled but did not panic. The pro- tained a hot fire. “Crossing that second terrace the fire from fusion of combat veterans in the ranks helped steady the rookies. automatic weapons was coming from all over, ” said one Marine Communications remained effective. Keen-eyed aerial observ- battalion commander. “You could’ve held up a cigarette and lit it ers spotted some of the now-exposed Japanese gun positions on the stuff going by.” This was simply the beginning. and directed naval gunfire effectively. Carrier planes swooped in low to drop napalm canisters. The heavy Japanese fire would

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 11 continue to take an awful toll throughout the first day and night, days by these amphibian vehicles, often just at dusk to avoid en- but it would never again be so murderous as that first unholy emy fire. All too frequently, however, the green LSTs refused to hour. accommodate any unfamiliar craft appearing close aboard out of the darkness. When please and curses failed to work, the small Robert Sherrod went ashore in the late afternoon, but even his vehicles could only move further out to sea in hopes of finding a previous experiences during D-Day landings with the Marines at more receptive ship. Too often this resulted in LVTs and DUKWs Tarawa and Saipan had not prepared him foundering in high seas at night, usually with for the carnage he encountered. “Whether a dozen wounded men on board. The the dead were Japs or Americans, they had landing force lost eighty-eight LVTs to non- one thing in common, ” he reported, “they combat sinking during the campaign, most had died with the greatest possible violence. of them under such circumstances during Nowhere in the Pacific War had I seen such the confusion of the first several nights. badly mangled bodies. Many were cut squarely in half. Legs and arms lay fifty feet Kelly Turner’s naval officers at Iwo Jima from the nearest cluster of dead.” included an unusually high percentage of newcomers to combat. While in due time By day’s end General Schmidt counted they would become seasoned, valuable vet- twenty-four hundred casualties among the erans, their first days were filled with a mix- landing force, a stiff price for the beach- Landing vehicles lay smashed and useless on ture of awe and distress. Future Hollywood head—comparable to losses of the U.S. V the beaches of Iwo Jima in a wasteland of producer David H. Susskind recorded his Corps at Normandy’s Omaha Beach on D- black sand and twisted metal emotions on D-Day at Iwo Jima as fresh- Day—but still proportionally better than the caught lieutenant on board the troop trans- first night at either Tarawa or Saipan. Schmidt began to sense he port Mellette: “Iwo Jima was not all flaming spectacle and har- was facing a formidable opponent, although it would be days rowing death. For this ship and this crew—for me—it was the before his staff could confirm that Kuribayashi had in fact been end of one world and the beginning of the other…We were present on Iwo Jima from the start. ‘young-in-war’ and everything ahead would be the first for most of us.” Bad weather the next day severely hampered unloading opera- tions. Even the larger landing ships, LSTs and LSMs, had diffi- Fully effective naval support for the Marines ashore remained culty maintaining position when beached. Stern anchors rarely hostage to the treacherous surf and the looming presence of held. Forward cables to “deadmen” (usually Japanese-held Mount Suribachi. The 556-foot vol- wrecked tanks or LVTs on the beach) snapped canic cone—honeycombed with its Fukkaku caves under the strain. Smaller craft played hell getting and firing ports—became the objective of the 28th ashore. One artillery battalion commander, Lt. Marines. Kuribayashi knew his southern sector Col. Carl A. Youngdale, watched in helpless hor- could not hold Suribachi-yama indefinitely, but he ror as twelve of his fourteen 105-mm guns went expected them to resist for two weeks. He was down in deep water, one by one, when their stunned when the Marine regiment took the pin- DUKWs swamped in the choppy seas. nacle in four days. “Hot damn!” exclaimed Navy pilot David Conroy over the air control net as he Schmidt’s desire to land a regimental combat team flew past the summit and saw the first flag go up. from the 3rd Marine Division, the corps reserve, “All hands look at Suribachi!” bellowed “Squeaky” on D+1 could not be met. The troops de- Anderson over his beachmaster’s bullhorn. barked in a series of hair-raising net-to-boat “There goes our flag!” episodes, then circled for hours, desperately The first flag is raised upon Mt. seasick, waiting for the pounding surf to abate Suribachi. A second flag would soon The Suribachi flag-raisings have taken on a life be raised in an immortal moment on the beach. It never did. The troops had to of their own in the ensuing half century—to captured on film by Joe Rosenthal struggle back on board their transports and the point that many modern readers express wait another day. Hill’s efforts to land heavy equipment by pon- surprise that the events occurred on the battle’s toon causeway sections also proved disastrous. fourth day, not the thirty-sixth. Seizing Suribachi was essential to prosecuting the rest of the battle and enabling the logisticians to At this point, the inexperience of some of the LST crews and the get on with the mammoth buildup ashore, but the spectacular absence of any opportunity to rehearse with LVT and DUKW flag-raisings signaled “the end of the beginning”—hardly the end units proved costly. Because of high surf, wounded Marines of the battle. Ahead lay a full month of combat as savage and could only be evacuated from the island during the first several relentless as the Marines would ever face.

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 12 Kuribayashi rued the precipitate loss of the highest peak on the intensity of American firepower, delivered day after day from island, but he knew the Americans had yet to encounter his real ships, planes, artillery pieces, and rocket trucks. “We need to re- defensive masterpiece in the central highlands. That battle com- consider the power of bombardment from ships, ” he telegraphed menced directly with three Marine divisions attacking abreast. Each the chief of the general staff. “The violence of the enemy’s bom- would pay dearly for every yard, every redoubt. Throughout this bardments are far beyond description….The power of the Ameri- period the Marines rarely saw a live Japanese soldier in the day- can warships and aircraft makes every landing operation possible time. Nights were marked by desperate struggles between small to whatever beachhead they like.” groups of shadowy men slashing and stabbing with knives and bayonets. The VAC would average a thousand casualties a day With Suribachi in American hands, Admiral Hill opened up beaches during the first three weeks of the assault. on both sides of the southern coast. The 3rd Marine Division (less the 3rd Marines, withheld as Expedi- Nowhere was the Navy’s role in the Iwo tionary Troops reserve in a controversial Jima battle more crucial than in sustained decision by Holland Smith) streamed medical support. Surgical teams oper- ashore and shouldered into line between ated around the clock in field hospitals the 4th and 5th Divisions in the attack north. barely two miles behind the lines. A Navy Seabees landed in force, an entire dozen women, Navy flight nurses, brigade of them, and began rebuilding served aboard DC-3s making daily runs Iwo’s vital airfields under scattered fire. from Guam to Iwo and back during the Army antiaircraft units moved their big fighting to help evacuate nearly twenty- guns ashore to provide a high-velocity five hundred critically wounded men. land-based punch to counter the expected Former flight nurse Norma Crotty re- air raids from the Japanese home islands. calls holding many a desperate hand on An Army Air Forces P-51 Mustang fighter the return flights to Guam, murmuring, group flew ashore, providing superb “Hold on, son, just hold on.” The DC-3s inbound to Iwo also close-air support and a lethal interception force. delivered priceless cases of whole blood to battlefield surgeons. And every boat or LVT or DUKW that delivered supplies ashore At Iwo Jima, however, the Fifth Fleet’s picket screens and com- returned to hospital ships at sea with another load of wounded bat air patrols experienced few difficulties in intercepting aerial Marines. counterattackers. There were two exceptions. The night before D-Day a pair of Japanese bombers penetrated the task force This was an extremely costly battle for the surgeons and corps- and struck the transport Blessman. Ironically, this was the mother men who accompanied Marine units. Exactly 850 of these men ship for the Navy combat demolition teams, the men who had were killed or wounded at Iwo Jima, twice the rate for bloody just executed their bold mission so successfully along Iwo’s beaches. Saipan. The bond between Marines and their corpsmen was The ship survived the attack—the bomb just missed the after never more profound than during the protracted, point-blank hold where the frogmen stored their TNT—but the unit lost combat on Iwo. The pressures on these young medical techni- more of its members in this one fiery instant than the total of all cians were enormous. Corpsman Stanley Dabrowski recalls “being their combat operations in the Pacific. up to my elbows in grime, dirt, and blood, and you’re constantly asking yourself, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing enough?’” At twilight on D+2, a flight of fifty kamikaze planes penetrated Four of the seven Congressional Medals of Honor awarded to the fleet screen. In desperate action that foreshadowed the Navy corpsmen during World War II originated at Iwo Jima. Okinawan campaign the ships managed to down all fifty planes, but not before some crashed aboard the escort carrier Bismarck Kuribayashi’s field medical service suffered by comparison. Of- Sea, sinking her, and the old warhorse Saratoga, damaging her ten the only “cure” for a wounded Japanese was for his compan- enough to send her back to Hawaii. There were no other break- ions to leave him a hand grenade with which to end it all. The downs in air defense. subterranean caverns soon filled with dead and dying men. And despite their “Courageous Battle Vows, ” the Imperial troops Japanese attempts at aerial resupply proved ludicrous. Accord- failed to exact the ten-to-one ratio sought by their commander. ing to Imperial Navy chief officer Kei Kanai, one of the few They died by the thousands, many sealed up in caves and tunnels Iwo survivors, a plane flew over Japanese positions in the north by armored bulldozers, or burned alive by flame-throwing tanks. one night and dropped packages for the garrison—filled solely They did not anticipate the Americans’ proficiency in combined with bamboo spears. arms, small-unit leadership, field experience—nor their undeni- able individual courage. And nothing in the combat experience Nor did the once-mighty Combined Fleet make any serious move of Kuribayashi or his other veterans had prepared them for the toward disrupting the Iwo landing. In operational terms, the

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 13 Japanese Navy’s only contribution was the dispatch of several General Kuribayashi and several hundred survivors actually held kaitan “human torpedoes” embarked on fleet submarines. Three out another nine days, making the 5th Marine Division bleed for of these subs left Kure for Iwo during 22-23 February, followed every bitter yard in the Gorge. His body was never identified. by two more on 2 March. None got through. Some survivors claimed he led the final, savage, “all-out-attack” against the American bivouac at airfield number 2 during the pre- By 4 March, the end of the second week of fighting ashore, the dawn of 26 March, the last day of the battle. Whatever his final Marines had suffered thirteen thousand casualties, and the end end, Kuribayashi fought a good fight and died. So did 22,000 seemed nowhere in sight. Yet at that point the first crippled B-29 other Japanese. Yet Kuribayashi’s imaginative and radical defen- landed on Iwo’s main runway, a great boost to American morale. sive plans achieved little more than inflicting 24,053 casualties upon Thirty-five more of the silver war birds, damaged in Tokyo raids, the attacking Marines and prolonged the campaign for five weeks. would land successfully on Iwo during the battle. The troops cheered each one. “We knew where they’d been!” said one rifle- In context of the great sweep of forces converging on Japan by man. the spring of 1945, such heroic sacrifices stood for little. The Americans had gained operational use of airfields on Japanese This was the beginning of the end territory within the first two weeks for the Japanese garrison. Unknown of battle. Already Curtis LeMay’s B- to the Marines, they had now pierced 29s were enjoying an eleven-fold in- the main defensive belt, killed as many crease in bombing effectiveness; a Japanese as their casualty total, and total of 24,761 crewmen from forced Kuribayashi that very day to crippled bombers would owe their abandon his forward command post lives to the Marine seizure of Iwo in and seek shelter in a cave near Kitano the months ahead. And the Joint Point, prepared to make his last stand. Chiefs’ master plan remained fully “Send me air and naval support and intact. Iwo Jima officially ended on I will hold the island, ” he radioed 26 March. On that same date—right Tokyo; “without these things I can- on schedule—Raymond Spruance not hold.” On the following day a and Kelly Turner kicked off Opera- heavy American bombardment killed tion Iceberg in the waters off Colonel Kaido in his artillery com- Okinawa. mand post at Turkey Knob. Marines mourn the loss of one of their own. Though the Americans eventually took Iwo Jima, it came at a tremen- Kuribayashi’s principle contribution to In Kuribayashi’s absence from the dous cost: over 25,000 total casualties, with almost 7,000 the Pacific War was the portent he central highlands, the infantry brigade killed provided the world of what to ex- commander in the eastern sector dis- pect should the Japanese home islands obeyed his standing orders and be invaded: savage, no-quarter fight- launched an all-out, traditional banzai charge against the 4th Ma- ing on a massive, protracted scale. On the other hand, Iwo Jima’s rine Division. Many of these Marines were veterans of larger inexorable loss sobered the Japanese high command. The Ameri- counterattacks at Saipan and Tinian; once again they stayed low, cans had seized one of the most heavily defended islands in the aimed carefully, and scored devastating hits against the charging world, conquered it in spite of the bravery and ingenuity of Japanese, backlit by a thousand flares. Morning revealed rows of Kuribayashi and his men, and achieved this in the face of daunt- dead Imperial troops, fully eight hundred of them. The 4th Ma- ing losses. The Americans, it was quite clear, had the ways and rine Division, their back-breaking burden suddenly lightened by means—and will—to inflict their storm landings against any de- this turn of events, then made such rapid progress they secured fended shore. the entire coast in their sector in five days. The 3rd Marine Divi- sion, fighting ferociously, sent Schmidt a canteen of seawater from the northeast coast. Colonel Alexander served 29 years on active duty in the Marine Corps as an assault amphibian officer, including two tours in Vietnam. He is a life member of the The next day, 17 March, the 5th Marine Division swept over Hill Marine Corps Historical Foundation and the Naval Institute. 165, trapping the remnants of Kuribayashi’s forces in what would “Iwo Jima: Storming Sulfur Island” is an excerpt from Joseph H. Alexander’s be called “the Bloody Gorge.” Colonel Ikeda burned his regi- book, Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central Pacific, mental colors. Fleet Admiral Nimitz declared victory. Kuribayashi available from the Naval Institute Press. The piece can also be found in the bade an emotional farewell to the people of Japan. That evening “Iwo Jima Teacher’s Training Guide” available from the World War II Prime Minister Kuniaki Koisi made an unprecedented announce- Veterans Committee. ment over Radio Tokyo to a shocked nation: Iwo had fallen. WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 14 Raising the Flag on Mt. Suribachi

by G. Greeley Wells

Editor’s Note: G. Greeley Wells was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 28th We watched the patrol go up the mountain from our base Marines, 5th Marine Division as an adjutant during World War II and below. It took about 45 minutes in all. They slowly worked was honored with the privilege of carrying the first flag raised on Mt. their way up, the whole way expecting there to be somebody Suribachi. to shoot at them and there would be a firefight. But there was not a sound. On the third day after the Fifth Division went ashore on February 19, we came to the base Nobody could believe it, but we watched this of Mt. Suribachi. F Company sent two men whole scene and there was not a shot fired. scaling up the mountain…just straight up the They found dead Japs all along the way, but side. One of these Marines carried two ma- none of them had to fire their weapons. chine guns and climbed up the mountain fir- ing with a gun on each arm to protect his men. Then they came up and looked over the top. Everything seemed clear. Yes, there was a cave These men made it to the top and scouted the over a ways off, but they didn’t see anything area, before reporting back that there was in it. It was quite a distance. nothing up there. “There’s a bunch of caves in the back and a bunch of pipes hanging around The men went about the business of finding a but there’s nobody there,” one of them said. LT. G. Greeley Wells pipe, which they did, and used it to put up the So they came down and reported this to the flag. As they lifted this makeshift flagpole a Japa- colonel. The next day a patrol of about 42 men nese soldier hiding in a nearby tunnel charged was brought in with the orders to take control of Suribachi’s out with—believe it or not—a broken samurai sword. Well, he peak and raise the U.S. flag. Lt. Harold was immediately taken care of, and a Schreir, the leader of the platoon, said few hand grenades were tossed into to me, “Wells, where’s the flag?” And the cave in which he had been hiding. then I gave him the flag, which had When a few more Japanese ran out, been in my possession. they were shot...nobody on our side was hurt. This seemed to solve the Well, this is the only “official” thing problem. about raising that flag. There was a reporter with us that day, and after Around this time, the word had be- that little scene he came over to me gun to spread among the American and asked my name and what I was forces that this patrol had gone up to doing. And so the story was released the top of the mountain in order to in the newspaper with my name in the secure it. So people in the ships around headline: “Wells carried the first flag us (and there were over 300 ships) that was raised on Mt. Suribachi.” were watching with binoculars, wait- The first flag is carried up the steep slopes of Mt. ing to see what happened. The minute Now this is just about the only part in Suribachi the flag went up it was like New Year’s this whole story that is not argued even Eve: there was machine gun fire, 60 years later. Many people (I believe artillery…then the boats blew their there are at least a dozen people) have claimed that they got the horns. It was really quite a spectacle. flag, or that they put the flag up. This was a special moment and it gave everybody a good feel- ing. We had conquered the control point of the island, so we

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 15 thought this battle was about to be over were going to be putting up a second and we were just about home free. Little flag. All of a sudden, the flag started to did we know. go up. Rosenthal turned and took a pic- ture of this flag raising, which later be- During this period, James Forrestal, Sec- came the most reproduced picture of retary of the Navy, landed and saw the the war, and one of the most famous flag flying atop the mountain. Looking pictures of all-time. He didn’t even set at it, he is said to have exclaimed, “The his timing or do any of the things that raising of that flag on Suribachi means a photographers normally do. And then Marine Corps for the next 500 years!” when the flag was up he went and got a He then turned to an aide and said, “I’d “gung-ho” picture of his own. Soon af- like to get that flag. Have that flag sent ter, when everything was completed, ev- to me.” erybody slowly came down. The origi- nal flag came down with them. So, we were going along our way and The first flag comes down as the second suddenly the colonel received this mes- takes its place In the midst of this confusion and battle, sage: “Congratulations, but Forrestal nobody noticed the significance of what wants the flag.” Now, my colonel was was taking place. And unfortunately, the a feisty fellow, short and tough as can pictures had to be sent to Guam to be be. And he replied, “He’s not going to developed, so it would be some time have this flag, this flag belongs to this before it was known whether they were battalion! Get another flag!” any good.

We had just found an officer to go As it turned out, somebody saw this down to the beach and retrieve a flag flag raising picture and immediately re- when the colonel yelled, “Get a bigger alized what a terrific picture it was, so one and we’ll put that one up!” they sent it back to Washington. It was soon decided to make this image the So we found this second flag and symbol of the bond drive. From there, brought it up to the mountain. During the rest is history. this episode, Joe Rosenthal, the AP pho- A moment that would endure forever tographer, came along and said, “I want Lending to the later confusion over to go up to the mountain and take a whether this famous moment was picture of the flag.” He was given per- staged was an incident that took place mission to do so. soon after Rosenthal took his picture. Shortly afterward, Rosenthal was The second flag arrived at the top of asked if he had staged the picture. Suribachi and Lt. Schreir (in charge Believing that the picture in question in this case), wanted to take one flag was the second “gung-ho” picture, down and put the other one up at he replied that “of course” it was the same time. They were preparing staged. He had no idea that his quick to do just that when Rosenthal made shot was this famous picture. it to the top. The Marine Corps pho- tographer who had gone up with the So this is how it all happened. Books patrol had taken a picture of the first have been written - and I have writ- flag raising, and he said to Rosenthal, ten to refute it - that this was a staged “You know, we put the flag up and “Hollywood-style” moment ordered I’ve got the picture already.” by high command. If ever you hear Rosenthal was under the impression that this was the photo Washington wanted to use that, you should know it is baloney. It The Marine photographer had lined was not staged. It was a set of pecu- the flag up and put all the troops in liar little circumstances that built into front yelling and celebrating and took the picture, which be- this whole event where nobody knew what they were getting came known as the “gung-ho” picture of the flag raising. So it into. appeared to be all settled and done. Rosenthal noted that they WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 16 Our Brother... The Story of A Young Man’s Sacrifice By Jean Miller, Josephine Ross, Meri Cox, and Susan Haney

Charles Francis Burton was born May 31, 1926 in Washington, While attending St. Albans, Charles participated in many sports D.C. Although his father and mother divorced in his first year, programs, most notably wrestling and boxing. Although Charles Charles was brought up in a warm, loving fam- was slight of build and height, he earned the nick- ily atmosphere and was showered with affection name of “Toughy” because of his prowess in from his mother, Elizabeth, and grandparents, the wresting and boxing rings. We believe he was aunts, uncles, cousins and his two older adoring most proud of his accomplishments in the sisters, Jean and Dorothy. Charles led a charmed Golden Gloves boxing competition. life as he was not only physically attractive with fair hair, light complexion and brilliant blue eyes, Always the one for excitement and adventure, but was a bright student and had an engaging Charles traveled with his Boy Scout troop to personality. He was a popular kid and was ex- Mexico for the entire month of July 1941. This, tremely well liked by adults as well as his friends of course, was a marvelous experience for him at school and in his neighborhood. and brought back many treasures from his trav- els – a multi-colored hand-made Indian blanket, The family moved from Washington D.C. to a serape and sombrero, a hand-carved life-size Cheverly, Maryland in March, 1927. There were wooden facemask and a leather chair. He enter- only twenty homes in Cheverly at that time but tained our family for hours with tales of his ad- there were many children in the small commu- PFC Charles F. Burton, USMC ventures. nity and a number of boys in the neighborhood became Charles’ lifelong companions. The boys were inseparable At the age of 14, Charles was chosen by the renowned artist, and biked for hours, played ball and also loved to compete at Count de Rosen, to be a model for St. John the Apostle in the horseshoes. large mural that dominates the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea in the Washington National Cathedral. Our brother as St. John is In the summer of 1934, Charles’ easily recognized as he is depicted com- mother married Joseph E. Singer. In forting the Virgin Mary. All of the mod- 1935, Josephine Singer was born, fol- els selected by Count de Rosen were lowed by Mary in 1938. It was a full, students, instructors, and artisans con- bustling household. nected with the Cathedral. Because Charles wanted to surprise his family, Charles started school in 1932 at the age he never told any of them about his se- of six, when he enrolled at Cheverly- lection as a model. This created quite a Tuxedo Elementary, which only had two problem because he allowed his hair to classrooms for seven grades. He walked grow to shoulder length – quite an un- a mile to school each day with his two acceptable hairstyle for grown boys and A young Charles Burton, second from the front, older sisters and never missed a day of men in the early 1940s. His two older with the Cathedral Boys Choir school. He progressed well in school sisters, Jean and Dorothy, teased him both academically and physically. In continually about his long tresses, until 1936 at age 10, Charles was accepted at St. Albans School for they finally decided to take matters into their own hands. Dot sat Boys, which is affiliated with the National Cathedral in Washing- on Charles while Jean attempted to cut his hair to a respectable ton D.C. Charles received a partial scholarship because he was a length. Despairing, Charles was forced to reveal his secret and member of the Cathedral Boys Choir. Charles thrived in this ex- begged them not to tell his mother. They pledged to keep his ceptional environment and even though he had to travel a long secret intact, and shared his joy when the fresco was finally un- distance from Cheverly, Maryland, via public transportation, Charles veiled to the public. again never missed a day of school. Sadly, Charles’ education at St. Albans came to an end just six

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 17 months before his anticipated graduation. Because his voice had later on February 24, 1945. Charles was awarded the Bronze Star changed, he was no longer eligible for the boys choir. Financial and the Purple Heart for: difficulties at home made it impossible for the family to pay the additional tuition that was required and Charles was forced to “heroic achievement as Rifleman in a Marine Rifle Com- withdraw. He was enrolled at Eastern High School but found it pany, Third Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, Fifth Divi- so lacking in comparison to his experience at St. Albans that he sion, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo soon dropped out. We understand that he received his high school Jima on February 24 1945. Alert and ready to render ser- diploma despite the fact that he withdrew from school several vice when his platoon’s advance was halted by furious ma- months shy of graduation. chine-gun and sniper fire, Private First Class Burton unhesitatingly volunteered Charles immediately sought to go forward of the lines employment and was hired by and spot the menacing po- the Division of Cartography, sition. Disregarding the ex- Soil Conservation Service, U.S. treme peril, he confidently Department of Agriculture, as proceeded to a point about a rodman on a plane table party. fifty yards in front of the However, World War II was line of battle and then, raging at the time and Charles, creeping and crawling un- like so many other young men, der savage fire, finally lo- was anxious to enlist to defend cated the hostile bunker. Re- his country. Unfortunately, turning with his valuable Charles was rejected by the information, he enabled a United States Marine Corps forward artillery observer because at 16, he was under- to direct heavy fire against age and not eligible. Disap- the hostile position and de- pointed, but undeterred, stroy it, thereby making Charles managed to find his possible the continued ad- way to the U.S Marine head- Jan Henrik de Rosen’s depiction of The Procession to the Tomb in the vance of his platoon. While quarters in Quantico, Virginia in Washington National Cathedral. St. John, for whom Charles Burton moving forward with his an attempt to enlist again. This served as a model, is pictured with the Virgin Mary in the upper-left company later in the day, time the rejection was more de- PFC Burton was instantly moralizing because the Marines called our mother and said that killed by a direct hit from a Japanese mortar shell. His “her little boy was there to enlist in the war and, although they did exceptional courage, aggressive fighting spirit and loyal de- have an extra diaper and could keep him there for a day or so, votion to duty throughout this hazardous action were in she would have to make arrangements to pick him up.” keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.” Still absolutely determined to sign up with the Marines, Charles wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt pleading for his Charles was originally interred on Iwo Jima, but was later trans- help. He explained that our family descended from the earliest ferred to the National Cathedral, Chapel of St. Joseph of settlers of Maryland, and had fought in every war in the history Arimathea, where he is buried in the crypt alongside Helen Keller of the United States in pursuit of freedom and liberty. He re- and Annie Sullivan and less than 100 feet from the mural in which ceived a response from the War Department that he would be he is depicted. allowed to enlist at age 17 with the signed permission of one or more parents. Our mother finally acquiesced and reluctantly signed Now, nearly 60 years later, we, his four remaining sisters, remem- her permission for Charles to enlist in October 1943. ber our wonderful fair-haired brother and think of what might have been had his life not been extinguished so swiftly on that Charles enlisted on October 27th, 1943 and reported for active hostile island in the far off Pacific. However, we are extremely duty on November 9, 1943. He was sent to Parris Island, South proud of his gallant bravery in an effort to save our country and Carolina for basic training from November 10th through January the world from the cruel tyranny of the Imperial Japanese forces of 1944. He earned the rank of PFC and was then transferred to during World War II. He made the supreme sacrifice so that we Camp Lejune where he was trained as a rifleman in the 26th Ma- can live in peace and prosperity. He did not die in vain. rines, 5th Division. He was shipped overseas on the SS Drake in January 1945. Charles landed on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands on Jean Miller, Josephine Ross, Meri Cox and Susan Haney are the remaining February 19, 1945 and, tragically, was killed in action only 5 days sisters of Charles Francis Burton. WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 18 The Face of a Young Pilot An Unforgettable Encounter at Iwo Jima By Justin R. Taylan

This is the story of an American and a Japanese In May 1942, his brother was appointed Buntaicho pilot who met in aerial combat. Their deadly aerial (vice squadron leader) of a dive-bomber squadron engagement began with a moment of humanity – aboard the Japanese Carrier Zuikaku. He left a the sight of a young man’s face – during the battle handful of his hair with Kunio, in the Japanese tra- over the tiny island of Iwo Jima. More than half- dition. This would be the last time they were to see century later, this encounter resulted in a meeting each other. between former enemies. His brother was killed during the Battle of Santa By the summer of 1944, Iwo Jima was poised to Cruz, after bombing the USS Hornet. Hit by anti- become the Pacific war’s front line. General aircraft fire, his bomber was severely damaged and MacArthur was ready to fulfill his promise, “I Shall his rear gunner killed. Limping back to the fleet, he Return” to the Philippines. The invasion of Saipan ditched and was picked up by a Japanese destroyer. was underway, and Iwo Jima was under attack. The Before expiring, he uttered the name of his carrier Japanese Navy was in the process of moving the ‘Zuikaku.’ Even in death, his brother was a role 301st Kokutai (Air Group) to Iwo Jima. However, model, especially after his heroics were dramatized American carrier planes allowed them no time to in two Japanese wartime movies. Upon learning establish. of his brother’s death, Kunio Iwashita reflected: Kunio Iwashita in 1944 “Rather than being proud of my brother as my The first flight of nine Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero own flesh and blood, I came to respect him deeply fighters, led by Lt. Katsumi Koda, as such an excellent Navy officer was intercepted as they approached that I was simply no match for him. the island. Three Zeros, including He always dealt with matters with Lt. Koda’s, were shot down. The all his might and burned up his following day his classmate from power of life twice as fast as ordi- Eta Jima (the Japanese naval acad- nary men, ending his life at age 25.” emy), Lt. Kunio Iwashita flew the same route. Much had changed By the end of February 1943, since they graduated from the acad- Iwashita completed his pilot train- emy in March 1941, three years ear- ing first in his class, just as his older lier. brother had earlier. Instead of be- ing sent to the front with his class- Zero Pilot Kunio Iwashita mates, Iwashita was ordered to re- main in Japan as an instructor. Re- Kunio Iwashita served aboard two port after report brought disheart- cruisers before transferring to flight ening news of their deaths. Before Smoke rises from the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. This time, school in November 1941. By co- however, its source is the relentless American bombing that long, Iwashita was assigned to the st incidence his older brother, Kutaka, took place in the months leading up to the invasion 301 Kokutai, and on June 25, 1944 was an instructor at the same he was flying to the front lines. school. Kunio remembered being summoned by him at midnight on December 7, 1941: “He told Air Combat Over Iwo Jima me in a rigid tone. ‘At last our country will wage war against America with an air raid on Hawaii.’ I was overwhelmed by ten- Kunio Iwashita’s flight arrived safely, but a week later on July 3, sion and almost stopped breathing.” he suffered from an intense stomach ache, later diagnosed as a

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 19 symptom of appendicitis, and was grounded. He watched from The remaining F6Fs circled to avenge the attack. One of their the ground as 31 Zeros took off to intercept incoming American bullets hit the windshield of Iwashita’s Zero, making a snapping planes. At the conclusion of the dogfight, only seventeen Zeros sound and shattering his canopy, causing him to duck reflexively. returned. Iwashita recalls: “I was on pins and needles to see More holes appeared in the left wing. At the same instant, his friendly planes being shot down squadron leader and morning ad- one after another. I told Com- visor, Lt. Fujita arrived and drove mander Katsutoshi Yagi, the off the remaining American group commander, I wanted take planes. part in the sortie tomorrow by all means.” Iwashita made an emergency land- ing and ground crews ran to him, Before dawn on July 4, 1944, saying, “Buntaicho, you’ve done while still suffering from stomach well. Those four planes had been pains, Iwashita reported for duty. strafing the airfield. We were His squadron leader, Lt. Fujita, grinding our teeth. Then, you shot took him aside to offer some down one of them before our Iwo Jima today. Though many of its battle-scars have healed, it advice on flying into combat for eyes. We gave cheers!” Iwashita re- remains a hallowed resting place for thousands who died in the the first time: “One’s first fight is struggle to control it called. There was no time for re- most risky. Buntaicho, I will teach flection. Following the air attack, you how to fight. Don’t go apart Iwo Jima was bombarded by the from me. Follow me tight.” Iwashita recalled. His leader was a American fleet. Iwashita and the other aviators resigned them- classmate of Iwashita’s deceased brother, and a veteran of the selves that the American landing would occur the next morning, Pearl Harbor attack and Battle of Midway. and they would be defending the island with the infantry.

Suddenly, a report sounded about enemy planes. The assembled Kunio Iwashita couldn’t sleep. He recalled all too vividly the face pilots, including Iwashita, raced into the air. Before they got off of the young pilot he shot down. While his comrades slept, the ground, they were under attack: “The enemy planes had come Iwashita walked to the black sand beach near Mount Suribachi near, firing at us before we reached an altitude of 100 meters. and stood alone. Looking towards the sea, where the American Trajectories of their blue and red trac- had crashed, he pressed his hands to- ers looked as if a bundle of ice candies gether in prayer. flew to us. In a hurry, I retracted the landing gear, prepared for firing and The American fleet withdrew the next followed my leader. Looking down at morning. A few days later all surviving the ground, I saw a terrible scene of pilots were ordered back to Japan on a aircraft and fuel tanks in flames.” transport plane. During their defense of Iwo Jima, Iwashita’s squadron lost 31 The Face Of A Young Pilot pilots and claimed 20 enemy planes de- stroyed. Lt. Iwashita saw four planes that he ini- tially assumed were Japanese. Increas- The War’s End ing his speed, he approached them at a distance of 100 meters. Closer, their After Iwo Jima, Iwashita flew missions star markings came into sight: they were Iwashita with the author, Justin Taylan, in 2004 over the Philippines, Okinawa and Ja- American Grumman F6F Hellcats. They pan. He shot down other aircraft, but had failed to notice his approach, allowing Iwashita to close in on never witnessed another American pi- the last fighter in the formation. From less than 30 feet, he opened lot up close again. Iwashita was 24 years old when the war ended, fire. and recalled the news: “I had experienced hard battles on Iwo Jima and in the Philippines, I expected that we could not win. The Zero’s 20mm cannon shells tore into the Hellcat. “The wing Even though I understood that we would not be able to win, I of the F6F broke up. I saw the goggles and white muffler of the did not think that Japan would be defeated. The idea of defeat young pilot and his face as he looked back in surprise. The F6F would not come out of our minds because we had not received was instantly engulfed in flames and crashed into the sea. Mount education to be defeated. However, I had a feeling that the end Suribachi was close to us.” Iwashita observed. had come at last. I think that most members of the Yokosuka Kokuai (Iwashita’s unit) accepted the end of the war rather calmly.”

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 20 By the end of the war, 31 of the 35 of his fighter school strange coincidence, Iwashita’s daughter and her husband also classmates were dead. live in Massachusetts. After Iwashita made contact with the fam- ily, he informed his daughter about the planned meeting. She A Wish Becomes Reality worried about the implications of her father meeting a former enemy. Iwashita held firm. Many years later, married and himself a fa- ther, Iwashita retired as an executive in the Terence Nisi recalled the moment his family textile industry. He remained active with war- received Iwashita’s letter: “Since Alberto died time comrades as President of the Zero almost 60 years ago, I feared this might open Fighter Pilots Association and member of up old wounds for his brother and sister, I the Unabarakai, the Japanese Naval Appre- talked to them first. Alberto was someone I ciation Society . But Kunio could never for- didn’t know, but was always compared with. get that face over Iwo Jima. If Mr. Iwashita was possibly an eyewitness to the final moments of his life, I wanted to During the 50th Anniversary remembrances meet him. My uncle has no grave, he was of World War II, Iwashita delivered a speech missing in action.” about his experiences. He revealed that it was his deepest hope to discover the identity of The Meeting his first kill and pay his respects to the family. The request was passed to the US Navy His- Trepidation rankled both sides prior to the torical Society, and Kunio got his answer. Five A young American pilot, Ensign June 20, 2003 meeting. The entire Nisi family American planes were shot down over Iwo Alberto Nisi would be there, only Victor was unable to Jima on July 4, 1944. One attend due to health reasons. pilot was rescued, the other Iwashita declined any media four went ‘Missing In Action.’ coverage of the meeting. It Although impossible to iden- was to be a private affair. tify precisely which plane Iwashita shot down, one pos- After introductions, Iwashita sibility stood out: his name explained his recollections of was Alberto C. Nisi. the combat and answered the family’s queries. The former Ensign Alberto Nisi Zero pilot even entertained numerous questions from On July 4, 1944 Nisi was 26 Albert Nisi’s curious 11-year- years old serving aboard the old great-nephew. The atmo- USS Wasp with VF-14, the sphere of the two-hour ‘Iron Angels.’ Nisi was of meeting was gentle. Then the Italian decent, and his family Nisi family showed Kunio a lived in Worcester, Massachu- Iwashita’s long-awaited meeting with the family of Alberto Nisi, nearly wartime photograph of setts. Before the war, he at- 60 years after his death Alberto in the cockpit of his tended a two-year college F6F Hellcat. and earned his degree in ac- counting, worked for the Electric Boat Company in Connecti- Terrance Nisi reflected on the meeting: “Mr. Iwashita’s visit cut, and joined the United States Navy Reserves. Prior to his moved us very deeply. It took a lot of courage for him to July 4th mission, he was constantly writing his sister, who was meet us. He was a proud fighter pilot, still that doesn’t mitigate pregnant and expecting in early July. Instead of a celebration the feeling when you take someone’s life.” As we pause to when the baby arrived, there was a telegraph. Ensign Alberto reflect on the legacy of World War II, perhaps we should also Nisi was ‘missing in action.’ Born two days after his uncle’s reflect on these two courageous families and their special meet- death, Terence Nisi’s life paralleled his uncle’s: he studied ac- ing. counting, shared a love for golf and served in Vietnam. Justin Taylan, a Pacific war researcher, is the creator of PacificGhosts.com and The Nisi Family Today PacificWrecks.com. He is the recipient of the World War II Veterans Committee’s 2004 Hunter Scott Youth Award. Albert Nisi’s siblings, Victor and Mary, live in Massachusetts. By WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 21 Uncommon Valor An African American’s Service on Iwo Jima by Steven Mosley

The sacrifices, accomplishments and adversities faced by young rode on tires that could be inflated and deflated at will. In addi- black men in World War II are often overlooked in American tion the DUKWs were built to float on water, thus giving these history books. Besides the contribution of the Tuskegee Airmen, vehicles the ability to travel on both land and sea. On land these few realize the importance of black troops in winning the war. vehicles could travel at speeds of 50 miles per hour, while reach- Blacks fought valiantly beside white soldiers to serve a country ing speeds of only 6 miles per hour on sea. that often treated them with disdain. This is the story of one black man who boldly fought for his country in the horrific battle During basic training, eighteen-year-old Gray and the other young for Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is remembered as one of the bloodiest recruits frequently bragged about their eagerness to fight in the battles of World War II. During the thirty-six days of intense war. “We didn’t know what fear was,” Gray remembered. Gray fighting one in three men were either killed or and the other young men in his company often pro- wounded. Sergeant Frederick Douglass Gray was claimed, “I want to see some battles! I want to see among the “colored” soldiers who fought against a war!” Mr. Gray recalled that the older, more the Japanese on Iwo Jima. mature men in his Company quickly admonished him, “‘You damned fool, you better stop saying Fred Gray was born and raised in rural St. Leonard, that!’ It wasn’t too long before we saw war.” Calvert County, Maryland. The land was green with tobacco crops and the landscape was pastoral. He Although he was a member of the United States was born in 1925 and grew up in a segregated com- military, segregation and Jim Crow laws prevented munity, attending school in a one-room schoolhouse Fred Gray and the rest of his Company from en- up until the eighth grade. There was no high school tering the USO and many other facilities on base, for black children in Calvert County at that time. as well as several commercial establishments in the Upon completion of the eighth grade, Fred began area. Commanding officers attempted to keep in- to work for his father, a contractor who built barns, teraction between the races to a minimum. Mr. Gray A young Frederick Gray in remembered, “We blacks went through hell in the houses, churches and black schools. service to his country military those days. We were made to go through When Fred was sixteen, his older brother, Norman A. Gray, was the back door. It was hard for us too. And it was demoralizing, drafted into the all black 92nd Army Infantry Division, at the age very demoralizing.” Mr. Gray recalled an incident in which he of 21. Originally the age range of the draft was 21 to 35. In and fellow members of his Company went to a store to get 1942, President Roosevelt extended the draft to include men within some beers. They paid for and received the beers without diffi- the ages of 18 to 38. The military needed more men to ad- culty, but when they asked the white store owner for a bottle equately fight both the Nazis and the Japanese. In 1943, at the opener he replied, “Why don’t y’all jus’ open it wit’ your teeth, age of eighteen Fred Gray was drafted in to the United States that’s what the last nigger did.” Mr. Gray and his friends just left. military at a time when his country needed him the most. He left There wasn’t much they could do in an area of the country where his home in Calvert County, seated on the back of a segregated state laws enforced racism. Black soldiers were fighting two bus, destined for Fort Meade, Maryland. distinct wars- a war on foreign soil to protect the United States against German and Japanese forces, and a war here on their From Ft. Meade, Gray traveled to Tallahassee, Florida for basic own soil against racism and discrimination. training. After basic training, most blacks were assigned to ser- vice and supply details. Gray was assigned to the 476th Amphibi- There was conflict among the troops in Florida as well. Fights ous Truck Company, an Army Support Unit, which would later broke out between the black and white soldiers. The tension become attached to the 4th Marine Division. Mr. Gray recalled, grew to the point that a race riot was threatening to break out on “We had 177 enlisted men and 6 officers, all of them white.” the base. Blacks did not like the way that the white soldiers were treating them. The commanding officers did not tolerate this Gray was trained to operate a new type of transport ship made turmoil for long and they promptly relocated Gray’s unit to Spo- by General Motors called DUKWs. This was an acronym for D- kane, Washington. Soon after they arrived in Washington, the production code for 1942, U-amphibious utility truck, K-front 476th shipped out to Hawaii. wheel drive, W-two rear wheel-driving axles. The purpose of the DUKWs was to transport 2 ½ tons of troops and supplies In Hawaii, Fred Gray and his company resumed their training from the larger carrier ships (LSV2s) to the shore. DUKWs with the 4th Marine Division, not knowing where their journey

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 22 would take them next. While Mr. Gray was in Hawaii he received training that he received could not have prepared him for the the devastating news that his brother, Norman, was missing in horrors of war. Streams of blood flowed down the beaches. action in northern Italy. While they were training in Hawaii, Gray Pools of red blood mixed with the black volcanic ash. The dead learned that B-24 bombers were conducting heavy air raids on were mangled and mutilated. Often, there was no way to iden- the small 2x7-mile island of Iwo Jima. From this information tify the bodies. Pieces of soldiers were strewn across the beach, Fred Gray surmised that Iwo Jima would be the next destination rarely whole bodies were found. Black clouds of smoke cov- for his division. His prediction was correct; the 476th battalion, ered the island as bombs exploded. The sound of gunshots, along with the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, was destined for explosions, and screams rang through the air. Iwo Jima. “We were attached to the 4th Marine Division. The 4th and 5th Fred Gray recounted, “While on the high seas going to Iwo Jima, Divisions had the responsibility of taking Iwo Jima. But it got so I got word that he (Norman Gray) was killed in action, Septem- rough over there, Gen. Holland M. Smith, the Commanding Gen- ber 15th, in Northern Italy…I was sure I would be next.” Dur- eral, called for another division (the 3rd) to come in to assist us.” ing the voyage to Iwo Jima, Gray and the other soldiers received The battle progressed, the casualties increased. It soon became little information about the mission. What he did know was that necessary for the men in Gray’s unit to carry wounded Marines it would be his job to drive the DUKWs from ship to shore. from the battlefields to the DUKWs. The DUKWs were then used to transport the wounded to the hos- On February 19, 1945 the assault force be- pital ship offshore. Gray recalled, “We gan forming offshore at 6:30 A.M. The sea would put them (the wounded) on stretch- was filled with vessels that stretched ten miles ers and take them to the hospital ship. They from shore. At 6:40 A.M., every battleship were… calling for their mothers, wrestling in the ocean began to blast the island one in pain, blood all over them, blood every- last time before the ships landed. Five hun- where.” dred various amphibious vehicles, including LSTs, DUKWs and other transports, moved Gray had many friends that didn’t make it slowly into their assigned areas. At 8:30 A.M. back. He remembers a man in his com- the myriad of ships began to make their way pany, Anthony Thornton from Baltimore. to shore. The assault was underway. Thornton was a short light skinned black A “sitting” DUKW man. The other soldiers in Gray’s unit would Loaded with two and a half tons of sol- often warn Thornton to be careful because diers and supplies the amphibious trucks made it to shore with he might be mistaken for a Japanese soldier. One day, Thornton only minor difficulties. Gray recounted, “When we first landed, went to relieve himself in a makeshift latrine, but never made it it was a picnic. We didn’t see any Japs, and we said this is going back. He was confused for a Japanese solider and was shot by a to be easy. What we did know was that (Iwo Jima) was bom- Marine. While on Iwo Jima, Gray befriended a young white barded for 47 or 48 consecutive days by B-29’s, long range bomb- Marine. They talked about their trades and considered going ers. And three or four days before we landed, the battleships, oh into business together after the war. But in an instant, the young God, they put something on that island. They bombarded that Marine was shot dead before Gray’s eyes in the middle of their island around the clock.” What they did not know was “that the conversation. Mr. Gray commented, “When you see people get Japanese were buried in so deep,” in the caves beneath the island’s killed right in front of you that you had a beer with the night surface. before, that you played cards with, that you laughed and talked with and you see them get cut in half...” Mr. Gray paused and The Japanese allowed the first wave of Marines to land without covered his eyes for a few seconds, then he continued, “But that’s retaliation; this made the DUKWs’ inefficiencies the 476th’s big- war…that’s war. A saying goes that any man that goes to war gest problem of the day. The combination of choppy waters and says that he is not afraid of battle is either a liar or a fool and excessively heavy loads caused water to mix into the gasoline because war is Hell.” Lives were lost in an instant. Soldiers that tank, resulting in the sinking of several of the DUKWs. Accord- you conversed with just a minute ago could be but just a memory ing to Mr. Gray, on sea the DUKWs were “sitting ducks,” since in a moment’s time. they traveled at very low speeds and were highly vulnerable to enemy attack. In addition, the DUKWs proved to be practically The most frightening tactics used by the Japanese were the Banzai immobile on Iwo Jima’s soft and steep volcanic ash dunes. Sol- attacks. These were suicide attacks perpetrated by Japanese sol- diers had to push and pull these trucks across the ash to get the diers to try to kill as many Americans as possible before being supplies to their destination. Although these vehicles were very killed themselves. According to Mr. Gray, the Japanese “went reliable during training, they were no match for Iwo Jima’s ardu- out and didn’t care whether they were going to get killed or not. ous terrain. They would go out with their rifle and kill the first thing they saw. They killed a lot of Marines that way…a lot of them.” In Fred Gray witnessed absolute carnage on Iwo Jima. All of the addition, the DUWKs were regularly targeted for attack by the

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 23 Japanese. The Japanese knew that the DUWKs carried much estimated 20,000 soldiers. Mr. Gray believes that only about half needed supplies and weapons for use by the Marines on shore. of the men in his Company made it back to the States. This was Gray recounts, “The Japanese were smart enough to know that undoubtedly one of the bloodiest battles fought in American if you cut off a unit’s supplies then they wouldn’t have any sup- history. plies to fight with. So they went after our DUWKs that were loaded with equipment and supplies,” therefore the DUWKs were Sgt. Gray’s service was so exceptional that the military offered in constant danger. him the opportunity to attend officer candidate school. But after experiencing the loss of many friends on Iwo Jima and receiving Black troops performed countless acts of heroism during their word that his older brother was killed in battle at Salerno, Italy, he service on Iwo Jima. For example, Gray recounted that a fellow decided not to pursue a military career. Fred Gray made his way DUWK driver by the name of Horace Taylor was transporting home, on a seat in the back of a bus. Sgt. Gray had fought so several troops from ship to shore. His co-driver, Lewis Ander- hard to uphold freedom; however he was not entirely free in his son, realized that a rope was caught in the truck’s propeller. Without own country. hesitating, he jumped out of the truck and cut the rope, prevent- ing it from sinking the DUWK. He saved the ship, its cargo, and Every white man that fought on Iwo Jima was granted the Presi- possibly the lives of many white Marines; both dential Unit Citation for his valor in the year Taylor and Anderson received the Silver Star 1945. Because of the mere color of their skin, for their valor. “Horace Taylor (and Lewis the black soldiers who fought valiantly for their Anderson) would have got the Medal of country were denied this honor. As president Honor, but he was this color,” Gray remarked of the Iwo Jima Black Veterans Association, while pointing to his bronze colored hand. Mr. Gray requested that the overlooked black veterans be honored and given their due re- By and large the race relations on Iwo Jima spect. It wasn’t until 1979, thirty-four years af- were without incident. American soldiers of ter the battle, that President Jimmy Carter all creeds were busy trying to defeat a com- awarded the surviving black Iwo Jima veterans mon enemy. Soldiers became color blind and the Presidential Citation. worked together for the same cause. Still, Frederick Gray and Steven Mosley in 2005 isolated instances of prejudice occurred. Gray After the war, Mr. Gray came back home to recalled that after one particular attack, a gravely injured white St. Leonard. He resumed working for his soldier laid on a stretcher, waiting to die. He requested a ciga- father. In addition he finished his high school education and rette. Horace Taylor quickly reached in his pocket for a cigarette, received his diploma. Mr. Gray applied and was accepted into but was gruffly rebuffed by the soldier. In the midst of death the the Washington DC Police Academy. He worked as a policeman white soldier snarled, “I don’t want no cigarette from no nigger.” for six years. He then accepted a position with the National Park According to Mr. Gray there were “two wars to fight; a war of Service. He retired after 34 years. Mr. Gray’s position as Con- racism and a war in battle.” struction Representative for the Park Service afforded him the opportunity to meet several U.S. presidents, including Presidents The February 23rd flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi was a sign of Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and George H.W. Bush. Mr. Gray has relief and triumph for the American troops, but it did not mark been married for 52 years to Helen Eloise Gray; they have two a “Star-Spangled Banner” finish. Fighting on Iwo Jima raged on daughters and three grandchildren. for another month, through March 26th. On August 6, 1945, Sgt. Gray, still stationed on Iwo Jima, felt the shock from the atomic Mr. Gray has had a very busy life since retiring from public ser- bomb that was dropped hundreds of miles away on Hiroshima, vice. He is president of the Iwo Jima Black Veterans Associa- Japan. Three days later he witnessed the turbulent waves caused tion. He is also very active politically, having campaigned for by the atomic bomb that hit Nagasaki. Although American troops President George W. Bush and for Maryland’s Governor Robert had conquered Iwo Jima, they did not realize that hundreds of L. Ehrlich. Because of his service at Iwo Jima and later political Japanese soldiers remained hidden in deep underground caves activism, Frederick Gray has made substantial contributions to while they were still on the island. The soldiers gradually went our society. Mr. Gray continues to keep the story of the black home based on a point system. Because he was young and un- veterans that fought on Iwo Jima alive, by passing it on to younger married, Sgt. Gray remained on that miserable island until March generations and to those that want to know more about America’s of 1946. history. The legacy of all veterans, including the brave black sol- diers that fought on Iwo Jima, must never be forgotten. Even though the battle was marked as a victory for the United States, the devastation of war took its toll. During the thirty-six Steven Mosley is a freshman honor student enrolled as a Banneker Key Scholar at days of intense fighting, one in three men were either killed or the University of Maryland. He is majoring in journalism and plans to pursue a wounded. At the end of the battle, there were 6,821 dead and career in broadcast journalism. Steven is an Eagle Scout and remains active in his 19,217 wounded American servicemen. The Japanese lost an community. He resides in Charles County, Maryland. WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 24 In Their Own Words Books Authored by World War II Veterans

Books written about World War II are becoming more and more popular, as the public seeks to learn more of the heroics displayed by our men and women who served. While the works of authors and historians are valuable and entertaining, a great untapped source of history resides in the stories of the veterans themselves. A large number of veterans have written books on their own stories, with many being published. World War II Chronicles is proud to showcase excerpts of books written by veterans of World War II. To submit a book to be highlighted in In Their Own Words, please mail to:

World War II Chronicles Attn: Editor 1030 15th St., NW Suite 856 Washington, DC 20005

Donald O. Dencker, historian for the 96th Infantry Division The Japanese counterattack put the 1st and 3rd platoons in a Association, was a gunner in the Mortar Section of Company precarious position. Bill House, our communications Sergeant, L—Love Company, 382nd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry went to those embattled platoons and used his SCR536 radio Division, during World War II. He received the Bronze Star to maintain contact with our Company Commander, Lieuten- for “meritorious achievement in connection with ant Young, as well as the 2nd Platoon. With the military operations against the enemy in Platoon Leaders gone and most of the noncom- Okinawa.” missioned officers killed or wounded, Sergeant House took command of the platoons and suc- After becoming a part of the Army Specialized ceeded in repulsing the fanatic Japanese attacks. Training Program (ASTP), assigned to the Illi- For this gallantry in action, Sergeant House was nois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Dencker awarded the Silver Star. After the Japs were re- was assigned to the 96th Infantry Division in pulsed, the balance of the company moved in to March 1944, which had been reactivated in 1942 reinforce our hold on the knoll. and by 1944 was composed largely of draft- ees—the so-called “citizen soldiers.” Dencker During this action, the 60mm Mortar Section pro- chose to serve in a mortar section—a place where vided fire from Tombstone Ridge. We then he assumed to be “somewhat safer” than a rifle moved up to the north side of the knoll, set up platoon. Little did he know that there were no our mortars, and started to dig individual fox- safe places on Leyte and Okinawa, where he would soon be holes. Ernie and I set up our mortar between our foxholes. sent. As soon as I had finished mine, I volunteered for a call to go back and bring up rations, water and additional ammunition. I Love Company went with a group to the center of Tombstone Ridge where Infantry Combat Against the Japanese, the supplies were being dropped off by the battalion carrying World War II party. There I ended up taking and lugging back to our com- Leyte and Okinawa pany a five-gallon can of water. By Donald O. Dencker When I returned to my foxhole, I set the water can down near From Chapter 16: The Big Push my hole, but up on a slight slope. As I was waiting for instruc- tions regarding the water, a Japanese Nambu light machine gun During the day of April 20th, Company I and Company L, started to fire at Mortar Section men. The bullets missed me as aided by Company K in the afternoon, drove to the south end I dived into the safety of my foxhole, but one of them went of Tombstone Ridge, with our 3rd Platoon attempting to take through the precious can of water I had brought up. As I lay a small tree-covered knoll just east of the south tip of Tomb- prone in my foxhole wondering what to do next, water from stone. This little knoll, called Hill 7, became the focus of a furi- the punctured can started to run into my hole. Damn ironic, I ous battle during which the Platoon Leader, 2nd Lieutenant Lyle thought, but better than my blood! For some reason, perhaps Shreffler, was killed. The 1st Platoon Leader, 2nd Lieutenant due to the tension, I started to laugh at the sight of my hard- Emil Roemer, was also was also wounded and evacuated.

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 25 obtained water trickling over me. The Jap machine gun was Japs also fired some 81mm or 90mm mortar shells into our located on the east face of Tombstone Ridge just below the area. Fortunately, we were well dug in and no one was wounded. upper part of the ridge occupied by men Word was passed that we were to attack of companies I and K. Apparently these again in the morning. This time, due to our men heard the Nambu firing and were able depleted strength, all three rifle companies to silence it or force the Japanese crew to would be involved, with no reserve com- retreat into a cave. pany. I had a rather restless night and an- swered several calls to fire illuminating shells, The position of Company L was precari- or flares as they were called. ous as the Japs could fire at us on the ex- posed knoll from three directions; front and Dawn came and shortly thereafter we re- both west and east sides. Lieutenant Young ceived K-rations and ammunition. Even the was given permission to withdraw the com- K-rations tasted good, as there had been pany to the main body of our battalion, no meal the evening before. Our mortar which had completed the occupation of ammunition was replenished, so that for our Tombstone Ridge. Our withdrawal was sup- three mortars we would have a full comple- ported by a barrage of smoke shells laid ment of 90 high-explosive shells. down by the 81mm mortars of Company M. The screening was effective, and the only Our plan of attack for April 21st was inno- harassment experienced during withdrawal vative in that we would move southwest was Japanese knee-mortar fire. into 381st Infantry Regiment territory and then turn left about 120 degrees to attack We moved to our assigned location on The author, Donald Dencker, at Camp Nishibaru Ridge from west to east. This way Tombstone Ridge and dug in just as it was San Luis Obispo, California in 1944 we would straddle the ridge and be able to getting dark. We had lost our rations and bring direct fire against both the forward water, but had withdrawn without further casualties. and reverse slopes. Nishibaru Ridge was about 500 yards to the southwest of Tombstone Ridge. If our approach route April 20th had been a bad day worked, we would be avoiding for Company L. We suffered 35 a direct frontal attack on our ob- battle casualties, including 10 men jective and would not be sub- killed in action or dead of jected to flanking fire from the wounds. Our strength had been Japanese still holding out on Hill reduced to 101 men from the 7. 168 who had landed on April 1st. After our K-ration breakfast, I Gone from Love Company had another cigarette, which were a number of my friends; seemed to calm my nerves. We Staff Sergeant Alvin Engan, picked up our mortars and am- killed, the fine man from Iowa munition and prepared to move with whom I had shared a coach out behind the Rifle Platoons. My seat on the train back to Califor- right knee was still sore, but I nia from our pre-overseas fur- could walk without difficulty. lough; Sergeant Bob Heuer, st killed, an ASTP friend; Jack American forces met fierce resistance from an oftentimes hidden We moved out into the 381 Kramer, seriously wounded a enemy on Okinawa. Here a Marine takes aim at a Japanese zone behind its front lines at 8:45 second time, a Minnesotan who sniper concealed near Wana Ridge A.M. At this time the Japanese had entered the Army with me fired their first 320mm mortar and had shared my Basic Train- shell of the day in our direction. ing and ASTP experiences; and finally 1st Lieutenant Bob The large, slow-moving shell seemed to float in the air, making Glassman, seriously wounded, my excellent Weapons Platoon a ringing sound as it passed. This first shell harmlessly hit the Leader during most of my time in Company L. ground, and its massive explosion blew a hole ten feet deep. Miraculously, no one was injured. Ernie and I shared a two-man foxhole again, taking alternative watches. As usual, artillery fire continued in the darkness. The We continued our stealth approach. Surely we were being ob-

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 26 served by the Japs, but there was no reaction. By 11:00 A.M. The Japs managed to get even closer, and the sheer number of we were astride Nishibaru Ridge and moving along it toward them threatened to reach up. I saw a couple running about 75 the east end. Apparently we had caught the enemy by surprise, yards away and fired all seven rounds from the magazine in my as we consolidated our hold on most of the east half of the pistol. I don’t think I hit them at that range. ridge. Rifle Platoon men were trying to dig into the rocky soil a scant 20 yards ahead of us. We stopped and set up our mor- Ernie increased the angle of the mortar tube to 85 degrees, tars, and then the first Japanese counterattack came. We imme- and we fired about 10 rounds to a distance of 70 yards. Then diately began to fire our mortars at the enemy troops as they up the tube went to 86 degrees, the maximum elevation. Down closed to within 150 yards of us. All told, Ernie and I fired the tube went a charge-zero shell. It came out really wobbling about 20 rounds of high-explosive shells by the time this mod- and looking like it was going almost straight up. It crashed to erate counterattack faded at 12:30 P.M. the ground and exploded about 50 yards away, about the dis- tance to our attackers. As quiet returned to our area, I told Ernie that I would go to get replacement shells. He con- While preparing and dropping shells down the curred, and off I went back along the route tube at 30-second intervals, I noticed nearby we had taken to our present position. After I a man in a clean uniform, urging our men on had gone only 200 yards, I realized that I was and intermittingly firing a M1 rifle. He was completely alone, but I continued along our our interim Battalion Commander, Lieuten- path with my .45-caliber pistol in my hand. ant Colonel Franklin Hartline. Hartline was When I had gone about 500 yards, there in a doing everything possible to help us hold firm shell-cratered area on the side of a hill lay two and rout the Japanese, and at great danger to 60mm mortar-ammunition bearers. They did himself. He then led a few men to a flanking not move when I tried to rouse them, and I position where they could have an unob- realized that they were both dead. I did not structed field of fire. see a single wound on either body. I could only conclude they had died from the concus- Gradually the counterattack spent itself due sion of a nearby exploding large shell. to casualties, and the few surviving Japs fled. Left behind were 175 “good” – dead – Japs. Each dead ammunition bearer had a double- Lt. Colonel Hartline, the former West Point football star, was awarded the Silver Star for compartment ammunition bag full of high- The author in 2002 explosive shells. With some effort I pulled the his actions on April 21st. He deserved it. ammo bag off over the head of each dead man. I had 24 badly needed shells in the two bags, weighing some 90 pounds, All during the counterattack, Japanese knee-mortar shells fell in which I started to drag back to my mortar. It was strenuous the area. Though they caused a few casualties, they were hardly work, but I made it in about 20 minutes. Ernie was glad to see noticed due to the intensity of the action. When the situation me, and the ammunition. calmed down, I realized we had only three mortar shells left.

A short time later, the Japs launched a major counterattack I have always wondered who the two dead mortar-ammuni- using about 250 troops. We were desperately trying to keep tion bearers were on the other side of the hill and what com- from being overrun. Every rifleman and BAR man fought to pany they were from. I never found out. They never knew that stop them on a battlefield strewn with large boulders, behind their deaths provided mortar ammunition needed to sustain which the enemy took cover. BARs and light machine guns Love Company during this desperate fight. During the battle, were fired from the hip, with some men burning their hands our medics and litter bearers again were busy. Our company on the hot gun barrels. cooks, a couple of messengers, and armorer-artificer, Techni- cian 5th Class John Arend, acted as litter bearers. Several were Ernie cranked our mortar up to 84 degrees tube elevation, and awarded the Bronze Star for heroic service during the April I stripped off all charge increments on the first shell. Flicking 19th through 21st period, including Technician 4th class Carl York, off the safety ring, I dropped the shell down the tube. “BAM!” Messenger Wilber Poorman, and Technician 5th class John The cartridge propellant detonated, but at “charge zero” and Arend. this steep angle, the shell came wobbling out of the tube. I followed the path of the shell as it moved slowly through the In spite of the intensity of the action on April 21st. Company L air until it hit the ground and exploded a little less than 100 was fortunate to have only three men killed in action – Privates yards away. We fired a few more shells at the 84-degree eleva- 1st Class Lesley, Jeanise, and Porta – and 11 men wounded. We tion. had taken and held our objective.

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 27 For the night, we established our perimeter on Nishibaru Ridge. Dan Rubin and Johnny Wages. Also wounded was ammuni- As usual, the Mortar Section formed the rear of the perimeter tion bearer Ed Gallaher. Johnny Stec died of his wounds on near the base of the ridge – a joint perimeter with the other April 24th. Our three Mortar Section men were seriously enough companies of the battalion. wounded so that they never returned to Company L.

Ernie and I set up our mortar, had a supper of K-rations, and Love Company is available for purchase at $12.50 for the first copy, prepared to settle in. We were dead tired, and I imagine every- and $11 for each additional copy (includes the cost of shipping). To order, one else in company was worn out as well. The stress of days contact the author at 608-837-7479 or write to: of combat and artillery and mortar shelling were apparent. To our surprise, the welcome word came that we were to be re- Mr. Donald O. Dencker lieved some time the following morning. 1375 Musket Ridge Dr. Sun Prairie, WI 53590-3436 Ernie and I settled into our watch routine, but somehow, out of exhaustion, we both fell sound asleep. At about 3:00 A.M. a Mr. Dencker will also be leading a 60th Anniversary Okinawa Battle number of shots rang out. The M1 bullets passed very near Tour from June 17 to 24, 2005. For a complete itinerary and registra- our foxhole. It was pitch dark and we could not see a thing. tion form, contact Valor Tours, Ltd. at 800-842-4504, or write to: There had been no calls for illuminating shells. We asked in a moderate voice, “What’s happening?” We got back a reply from Valor Tours, Ltd. a foxhole farther up the hill, “There were Japs creeping up – I 10 Liberty Ship Way think we got them.” Needless to say, Ernie and I slept no more Sausalito, CA 94965 that night. WWII With the light of dawn we saw two dead Japanese sprawled out some 25 feet to the side of our foxhole and 40 feet further down the hill. If they had not been spotted, they could have World War II Chronicles easily thrown a hand grenade into our foxhole. One was an officer with a pistol and the other was a soldier with a rifle. Lesson learned: Someone in each foxhole must keep awake at A Quarterly Publication of the night. World War II Veterans Committee Issue XXVIII, Spring 2005 At about 7:30 A.M. the Japanese 150mm howitzers opened up. One fired a shell that reached 150 yards beyond our fox- hole. Less than a minute later another shell came in that ex- David Eisenhower, Honorary Chairman ploded 75 yards over. I shouted to Ernie, “The next one’s it! James C. Roberts, President Let’s move!” We did what we usually would not do – in a rush Michael Paradiso, Publisher we left our foxhole, leaping onto a little ledge about 10 feet Tim G.W. Holbert, Program Director/ away where there was a vertical face. About four feet high into that face was a cut a two-feet-deep recess. Ernie and I lay prone Editor in this recess. At least the next shell could not hit us directly. In a few seconds, the shell came; there was a tremendous explo- World War II Chronicles is sion. The concussion threw me against the wall of the recess published quarterly by the and my ears were ringing. American Studies Center 1030 15th St., NW, Suite 856 We were shaken, but unhurt. I don’t know why, but I got up and ran along the hillside perpendicular to the shell trajectory. Washington, D.C. 20005 Then the fourth shell landed father up the hill in the center of 202-777-7272 our perimeter, harmlessly because there were no foxholes in this interior portion. The howitzer was now silent. I went back The World War II Veterans Committee toward our foxhole and heard cries for a medic. The large shell had landed about 20 feet from our hole. We could have is a project of been killed by shrapnel or concussion had we stayed there. The American Studies Center, Shrapnel had flown into the nearby foxholes, critically wound- a 501 (c) (3) non-profit ing our Platoon Sergeant, Technical Sergeant Johnny Stec, and public education foundation. wounding the two remaining Mortar Squad Leaders, Sergeants

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 28 Okinawa A Bloody Prelude to Victory By Hunter Scott

The “Typhoon of Steel,” as the locals called the shower of bul- Shuri. Gen. Ushijima had anticipated this attack and had com- lets, was the largest amphibious assault during the Pacific cam- bined his forces there to counteract the 3rd Amphibious Corps. paign of World War II. As the largest island in the Ryukyu archi- On Saturday, May 12, the Japanese forces were able to fend off pelago, Okinawa hosted the bloodiest battle of the Pacific from the 1st Marine Division and the U.S. 77th Division, but not for April until June. During those three months over 200,000 people long. Slowly but steadily American forces came back to push died, nearly half of them civilians, and their way through the Shuri lines. One many more were wounded. More week later, the 6th Marine Division con- troops were employed, more bombs quered Sugar Loaf Hill, and on May 21, were dropped and more supplies were the Japanese troops begin to retreat from transported in Okinawa than in any other the Shuri line. At the end of the week, battle in the Pacific. on the 27th, Japanese aircraft commenced a two-day strike of the Allies’ naval ves- The invasion began on April 1, 1945 sels surrounding the island. One hun- when 60,000 American troops from the dred Japanese planes were shot down U.S. 10th Army led by Lt. General Simon while only one American destroyer was Bolivar Buckner, the 3rd Amphibious sunk. The attacks proved to be unsuc- Corps comprised of the 1st and 6th Ma- cessful. rine Divisions under Maj. General Roy S. Geiger, and Task Force 51 com- At the beginning of June, the 6th Marine manded by Vice Admiral Richmond K. Hunter Scott pictured with General Richard Myers Division began its assault on the Oroku Turner stormed the beaches to meet at the World War II Veterans Committee’s Annual Peninsula. Japanese forces offered a minimal beachfront resistance from the Conference in 2004 fierce resistance, but the airstrip there was Japanese. The Japanese had pulled their eventually captured and Japanese forces troops inland in attempt to avoid casualties that might result from suffered devastating losses. With the securing of Oroku, the Japa- the overwhelming firepower from the U.S. Navy and Marine nese started committing suicide en masse in order to avoid sur- Corps. By the end of the first day the American troops had render. maneuvered their way three miles inland, covering a nine mile- wide spread. The Japanese had buried themselves in trenches The end of June brought about defeat of the Imperial Army and caves in the heart of the island. and the suicide of Gen. Ushijima. When the “mop-up” opera- tions had finished on the island, the number of Japanese soldiers By the end of Saturday, April 2, kamikazes had already struck the killed amounted to 8,975. Almost 3,000 Japanese prisoners had USS West Virginia and several U.S. transport vessels. Not until been taken. On the American side, the battle for Okinawa was day three of the invasion did American troops start to confront the costliest in human lives in the entire Pacific war, with 12,520 the masses of Japanese infantry hidden in the island. Lt. Gen. servicemen killed. In the end a total of 110,000 Japanese died in Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the Japanese 32nd Army, was a futile effort to hold onto the island. in charge of meeting the invasion. It was his plan to hide the troops within the island to repel the attack from a position of The battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest of the war, strength. taking more civilian lives (many were the result of suicides) than any other battle in the Pacific. The men who fought in Okinawa Throughout the next few weeks Americans continued to push are as brave as can be found during the war. They overcame an forward through the island while the Japanese continued their underestimated Japanese army to produce an important, final kamikaze attacks. On Apr. 20, the 3rd Amphibious Corps cap- victory in World War II for the Americans and Allied forces. tured the Motobu Peninsula and the northern part of the island. The next day the U.S. 77th Infantry Division captured Ie Shima. Hunter Scott is National Youth Representative for the World War II Veterans By the end of the first month of fighting over 5,000 Japanese Committee. He was instrumental in persuading Congress to pass legislation to had been killed. overturn the court martial of Captain Charles McVay of the USS Indianapolis. Hunter is currently a student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and The main battle was fought in the southern part of Okinawa in enrolled in its Naval ROTC program. WWII

World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 29 Announcing... The World War II Veterans Committee’s Eighth Annual Conference

November 10-12, 2005 Washington, DC

This Veterans Day weekend, join the World War II Veterans Committee as we learn from and honor the Greatest Generation at our Eighth An- nual Conference. From November 10-12, veterans of the Second World War, their family, friends, and admirers will gather in Washington, DC, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and to pass their stories on to future generations. Capped off by the Edward J. Herlihy Awards Banquet, which recognizes the heroics of some of America’s greatest living veterans, the World War II Veterans Committee’s Eighth Annual Conference will prove to be an event that none who attend will soon forget.

Scheduled Events Include

- Panel Discussions on D-Day and Iwo Jima - Speakers on the fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan - Speakers on the POW Experience - A wreath laying ceremony at the World War II Memorial - A Dialogue with members of “E” Company, 506th on the National Mall Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne: the famed Band of - Brothers A Choral Evensong church service at the historic Church of the Epiphany in downtown Washington - A special tribute to the crew of the Enola Gay - A tour of The Price of Freedom: Americans at War - Panel discussion on the China-Burma-India Theater exhibit at the National Museum of American History - Presentations on Roosevelt, Churchill, and Hitler - The Eighth Annual Edward J. Herlihy Awards banquet, - A reception featuring a show on the fashions of where special tribute will be paid to the heroes of World the World War II-era War II - Presentations from survivors of the Nazi death A World War II-era swing band dance featuring a 21- camps and the American soldiers who liberated piece orchestra them And much more! - Special presentations of World War II film For more information or to request a registration form, call the World War II Veterans Committee at 202-777-7272 ext. 220 (Note: Schedule is tentative and subject to change) The World War II Book Club Featuring Books About World War II -Special Iwo Jima Classics Edition- FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS NIGHTMARE ON IWO by James Bradley by Patrick Caruso Bantam Books; 384 pages $26 (Hardcover) Naval Institute Press; 164 pages $24.95 (Hardcover)

Perhaps the most famous book written When Pat Caruso landed on Iwo Jima in on the battle of Iwo Jima, Flags of Our February 1945 as a Marine second lieu- Fathers is the story of the enduring im- tenant, he was sixth in K Company’s chain age of World War II: the flag-raising of command. Within an hour of the ini- atop Mt. Suribachi. Written by James tial assault, with his senior officers and Bradley, son of one of the six men who one-third of his company’s 230 men raised the flag captured on film by Joe dead or wounded, he took command. Rosenthal, this classic book powerfully Fourteen days later, he was wounded and recounts the lives of these six young men evacuated, one of only a dozen or so in who created a moment that would last the company to survive the campaign. an eternity. Three of the men would Until then, he had never known the full not survive the battle, and the three who made it home be- meaning of the word grateful, and he felt compelled to keep came reluctant heroes, shunning the adulation heaped upon alive what he had observed. From a hospital bed in Guam he them by the public. As Bradley’s father would tell him, “The began writing down his thoughts on discarded hospital reports, real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn’t come back.” paper bags, and anything else he could find. What emerged is one of the great memoirs of that epochal battle of the Pacific Flags of Our Fathers is currently slated to be adapted into a War, where the U.S. Marine Corps suffered more casualties feature film, directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by than they inflicted—the only time in their history—yet emerged Steven Spielberg. victorious. Caruso’s prose is concise and vivid, placing the reader on the black ash beach beside him. Enduring lonely, terrifying nights when the dawn seemed never to come, inhaling the stench of death while listening to the agonized cries of wounded com- THE LONG THE SHORT AND rades, sharing moments of introspection, he always thought THE TALL his next step toward the enemy might be his last. MARINES IN COMBAT ON GUAM AND IWO JIMA by Alvin M. Josephy Burford Books; 240 pages $16.95 (Paperback) IWO JIMA THE DRAMATIC ACCOUNT OF THE EPIC BATTLE THAT TURNED THE TIDE OF WORLD WAR II In May, 1944, Alvin M. Josephy was a by Richard Newcomb U.S. Marine sergeant and war corre- Henry Holt & Company; 352 pages $15.00 (Paperback) spondent with the 3rd Marine Divi- sion, leaving Guadalcanal for Guam. Richard F. Newcomb is one of the true This narrative of the ensuing months masters of military storytelling. In re- follows Josephy through the Guama- searching Iwo Jima he interviewed hun- nian jungle, and on into the teeth of dreds of Iwo veterans, both American one of the bloodiest assaults in all war- and Japanese; read the diaries and letters fare — Iwo Jima. Accompanied by nu- of fighting men; and combed through merous photographs of the battle, The masses of official navy and marine Long the Short and the Tall is a supremely records to write the full story of one of vivid and spellbinding account of one the most famous battles in U.S. history. of the most famous chapters in military history. In the words With exceptional depth, intelligence, and of the author, “Iwo Jima was the most ferocious battle the emotional power, Newcomb recounts the events of February Marines have ever fought. And they were treating it that way 19, 1945, in which common men were thrust into impossible while we were still fighting.” circumstances, demonstrating valor and even humor amid the horror and chaos of war

All books can be found at local bookstores or www.amazon.com World War II Chronicles - Spring, 2005 - 31 The Dedication of Trimble Field: 1945 - 2005

In early 1944, a young man by the name of Jimmy Trimble made the decision to join the United States Marine Corps. Like so many others his age, he wanted nothing more than to serve his country in its time of need. And like so many others, he was willing to give up his life back home to do so. Trimble had much to give up. He had been a star pitcher for St. Albans High School in Washington, DC, and was offered a contract to pitch for the Washington Senators. Many who saw him pitch were sure he would be the next Walter Johnson or Bob Feller. Still, though he loved baseball more than anything, Trimble felt compelled to serve. Disqualified from officer training due to poor sight in one eye, Trimble (pictured left pitching for the 3rd Marine Division All-Star team in Guam) instead opted to join the Marine Corps as an enlisted man. On the night of February 27, 1945, Jimmy Trimble found himself assigned to an eight-man platoon charged with locating enemy rocket sites on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. Perhaps “assigned” is the wrong word, as Trimble, true to form, was the first to volunteer for the mission and was joined by his good friends Don Mates and Jim White. Just after midnight, the patrol came under a ferocious attack from the Japanese forces. Trimble and Mates, together in a foxhole, fought desperately to repel the attack. Still, the sheer numbers of the enemy were too much, and Trimble was killed, while Mates was badly wounded. Jim White, in a nearby foxhole, scrambled across the field of battle to retrieve Mates, then almost single-handedly fought off the Japanese attack. Learning of Trimble’s death, 3rd Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. Graves Erskine was devastated. Trimble’s bravery and outgoing personality had made him a favorite of the General’s. Two months later, at a ceremony on Guam, the 3rd Division baseball field was named in honor of Jimmy Trimble by the personal order of Erskine (pictured above right). As the war ended and the years went by, Trimble Field was slowly forgotten in time. In recent years, the World War II Veterans Committee has sought to preserve the legacy of the brave men and women like Jimmy Trimble who made the ultimate sacrifice, and has named its annual youth scholarship award after Trimble. To coincide with the 60th anni- versary of Iwo Jima and Trimble’s death, the World War II Veterans Committee joined with the Young Marines and Mayor Jose Terlaje of Yona, Guam, to dedicate a new Trimble Field (pictured left), less than a mile from the original. Fittingly, Trimble’s friend and com- rade-in-arms Jim White threw out the first pitch. Among those participating in the cer- emony were Felix Camacho, the Governor of Guam; Admiral Arthur Johnson, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Marianas; Minoru Shibuya, Japanese Consul General in Guam; and Congressmen Darrell Issa, Madeleine Bordallo, and Lane Evans. Presi- dent George W. Bush said in remarks read at the dedication, “Brave Marines, like Private Trimble, served courageously on Iwo Jima as they fought for our security and advanced the cause of liberty. Americans continue to be inspired by the valor and integrity of those who fought this battle and in World War II. When it mattered most, an entire generation of Americans showed the finest qualities of our Nation and humanity.”

World War II Veterans Committee NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE A Project of The American Studies Center PAID WALDORF, MD 1030 15th St., NW, Suite 856 PERMIT NO. 30 Washington, D.C. 20005