April 1, 1945 Okinawa

[semperfi71]

Although today is the 2nd I will post this.

I just finished watching my copy of the "Pacific" by HBO. I thought it well done. I was then taken to thoughts of my Father and his "war" then.

He served with the 6th Marine Division and fought at Okinawa. His unit was 6th JASCO (Joint Assault Signal Company). A large company of about 400 men. Their main task was ship-to-shore and air-to-ground artillery and bombardment support. My Father was ship-to-shore. A platoon of Marines would travel about with a Navy or Marine Lieutenant aviator or ship's gunnery officer. I have been told a lot of times these officers were miscreants who were being punished. My Father's platoon was originally assigned to support the 29th Marines (Marine regiments are so called this) but in time, at Okinawa, they went to whichever unit of whichever regiment needed their support. At times they were used as all Marines were used...combat infantry. I suspect they did so at Sugar Loaf Hill.

The attached picture is of my Father and some of his combat cohorts fabricating a sandbag bunker to protect communication gear on an newly occupied Japanese airfield on about April 3. My Father is the tall lanky guy in front with the cigarette and no shirt. He stood that particular way all of his life, I recognized the stance before the face when I first saw the pic.

The two-wheeled cart was a standard Marine Corps mode of transportation for "gear" dating to well before Pearl Harbor. It was hand-held and pulled along. The Army probably had no such thing since they all rode trucks everywhere they went!! According to WWII Marines that is! JASCO eventually became ANGLICO which is still in use today.

Okinawa was a horrible battle, on land and at sea. I think the U.S. Navy had 34 ships sunk and over 4,000 sailors killed by kamikazes, a hugely feared weapon. I think the Army and Marines had over 6,000 men killed. Contrary to Marine claims, the Army did not "fail" in taking their objective of the southern end of Okinawa. They ran into a meat-grinder. When they were finally relieved they had successfully annihilated most of the top cadre of the Japanese fighting units, but had gained little ground and were well-spent. So the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions went south and fought Japanese infantry and Marines (some, since most had already died), naval troops, aviation units, Okinanwan conscripts, cooks, bakers, and rear echelon types. Even as such the Marines also ran into a buzz-saw.

A new tactic had been put into effect by Colonel Hiromichi Yahara. His job was designing the defense of the island. There would be no defense of the beaches at all. No banzai charges afterwards. Only the southern end of the island, the most defensible would be defended. Artillery, naval guns, mortars, and machine-guns would be sighted to strike almost anywhere within range on that southern end. The troops would hole up and fight from heavily protected positions and come out only at night in counter-attacks if need be. The northern end was left to skirmishes of a few troops.

The Colonel's defense was so deadly and well planned that American planners of the invasion of Japan proper felt (knew) that THAT invasion would be extremely costly. The United States had FINALLY realized what the Japanese had been planning since before Pearl Harbor. The United States expected two full Marine divisions would be wiped out in two weeks with an attack on Japan proper. Hence Okinawa was also one of the many reasons for dropping the Atomic bombs.

It has been reported that at least one half of the U. S. land battle wounded casualties were "shell-shock" victims. Men who had seen too much and were incapable of fighting any longer until rehab. If they rehabbed at all.

The 6th Marine Divison was the shortest "lived" division and was incorporated and disbanded in about three years time. It was filled with a lot of younger than average Marines but also a lot of "Old Salts". The infantry regiments were the 4th, 22nd, and 29th. The 4th named after the surrendered "Old 4th" of China and later Corregidor. All of the early WWII Marine Raider and Para-Raider units had been incorporated into the 4th Regiment. The 22nd and 29th Regiments had many men who had fought at Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam, and Tinian. Of course the 1st Marine Division had men in it who had fought at Guadalcanal, The Upper Solomons, and Peleiu. These were tough units.

Okinawa has never had the popular historical "attachment" that Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleiu, and Iwo Jima had. But is was probably one of the most pivotal battles, if late in the war, of the Pacific. Upon attacking true Japanese soil the United States leadership finally realized what they would face during an invasion of the Japanese homeland. So the atom bombs were dropped.

That saved more American lives, and MORE Japanese lives, than a land invasion would have.

So when you are at a dinner-party or some sort of polite gathering and you hear the "revisionist" theory that "we" didn't need to drop those bombs...you can tell them that I...for the sake of my Father alone, much less millions of other Americans and Japanese as well; will say the "revisionists" are full of.....

And today, one of our strongest allies in the Pacific, the Japanese, are suffering another cataclysmic event. I pray for them this time around.

 

[Kanewpadle]

My mother is from Okinawa. She was 10 years old when the Americans invaded.

The Japanese Army told Okinawan citizens to hide in caves because the Americans would torture, kill them and eat them.

While in the cave, the Japanese Army forced her father and oldest brother to fight for the empire or die. They were each handed and rifle and short supply of ammo.

They were never seen again.

She and her family stayed in the cave for almost a year before the Americans found them. They were the lucky few who survived the horrible conditions of the cave.

Others died or committed suicide. Others died because of lack of food or clean water. Still more died due to disease.

It's interesting because my paternal grandfather was a marine during the invasion.

Many years later my mom and grandfather were quite close.

 

[semperfi71]

Kanewpadle,

Thanks for sharing that. The Okinawan people suffered greatly.

 

[Frank237]

Great post. And what a tremendous photo of your Dad as well!

I post a little history lesson and pic of the flag going up on Suribachi each February 19th as Iwo Jima was My Dads part of the War. Luckily the end of the War for him too.

I've talked to several Veterans of Okinawa ,your term "meat grinder" is a good one. I recall one man stating their time there was one ambush after another...for weeks on end. With no sleep at night for fear of ending up dead in your foxhole.

Semper Fi

 

[semperfi71]

Frank237,

One of the few real war stories my Father told me was that one night he woke to see a Japanese soldier crawling right next to his foxhole. My Father said he could reach up and touch him. He nudged his foxhole buddy awake, who was a combat vet named "Swampy". Swampy shot the infiltrator and according to my Father, then "made sure he was dead". Then Swampy went right back to sleep.

I asked my Father, "Did you go to sleep too?"

He said, "No, I was so scared I stayed awake all night." He was only 19 and into his first, and last combat campaign.

Iwo Jima was also exceptional hellish. One of the best descriptions of that campaign I heard from a Marine who was there. It went something like this.

"We shot at the ground. We rarely shot a live, visible Jap. They were in caves, holes, etc. Sometimes only a very small slit in the rock was their firing hole. So we were shooting into geography."

Imagine walking around on rocky, uneven terrain and the ONLY way you know when you have found the enemy is when a shot, or many, come from the ground, or a rock formation. And after you reduce that point you move again, waiting until the next piece of ground, or rock opens fire.

What made it extra tough was the Japanese gunpowder was reputedly a little less smokless than the American. So a single shot, or a short series was hard to detect via powder smoke.