It Was Our World War Too

Okinawa

Okinawa is about sixty miles in length and varies in width from two to eighteen miles.

The northern part is mountainous, wooded, and filled with small farms. The southern part of the island is made up of rolling hills.

It was intensely cultivated. One main road traversed from north to south. Other roads were little more than cart trails.

It was hoped that the battle for Okinawa would be the last engagement before the final assault on Japan. The war in Europe seemed to be going well for the Allies, and the invasion of Japan was being planned around the availability of troops and equipment from Europe.

At this point in the overall war with Japan our superiority in the air, on and below the sea, as well as on the land was becoming obvious.

Their most effective option was the kamikaze suicide squadrons which were organized by their air force, called the divine wind. A divine wind had helped the Japanese destroy a Mongol invasion hundreds of years ago, and they hoped it could save them again.

The program involved recruiting pilots who flew their aircraft loaded with explosives directly into enemy targets. They also had a version using mini-submarines.

We spent the second last day of March on our troop ship slowly moving toward Okinawa. Ships were everywhere again, close enough to read their numbers. Up until this time we were allowed to sleep on deck if we followed all blackout rules.

Trying to sleep on our miniature bunks, four high and very narrow, was very difficult. The problem was compounded by the fact we were nearing our mission. The time for action was at hand. That night we were allowed on deck provided we wore our helmets and were fully dressed in our fatigues.

Well before daybreak we were watching the war from a helpless position. We could see the efforts of our naval bombardment and the air attacks.

The invasion force was made up of over 540,000 Marines and soldiers. It was called the Tenth Army.

The designation of Army was related to its size and not of any attachment to a military branch of the service. It consisted of a number of divisions of soldiers and Marines.

Included in the Marine makeup of the 10th Army was the Third Amphibious Corps. Individual divisions included the 1st, 2nd, and 6th, along with many support groups such as ours.

I was NCO in charge of the Mark XX radar units, Searchlight Battery, 8th AAA Battalion, 3rd Amphibious Corps, 1st Division, 10th Army, United States of America, Allied Armed Forces. That’s how I fit into the overall picture. At this point I was a First Division Marine.

The main landing site was chosen for its proximity to two enemy airfields that would be invaluable in efforts to secure the rest of the island.

The total length of the invasion front was approximately eight miles and for the most part was level.

All of the 10th Army landed at this site which was on the western side of the island except for the 2nd Marine Division. They made up a diversionary force designed to keep the Japanese commanders confused while trying to figure where our landings would take place.

It proved to be a good piece of strategy.

Marines were assigned the upper part of the main landing site with the Army assigned the southern half. This division was made along the banks of the Bishi Gawa River.

The Yontan airfield was north of the river and the Kadena airfield was south. The landing site was divided into beaches and color-coded. The Marines were given yellow, blue, red, and green. The Army had purple, orange, white, and brown. Every officer had a map and knew his and the adjacent officers’ landing sites.

At 0406 (4:06 a.m.) April 1, Easter Sunday, 1945, landing orders were given and final shelling began.

At 0650 the beach shelling stopped and air support began. At 0700 the first wave of Marines and soldiers hit their respective beaches. Five to seven waves had landed by 0724.

All troop landings on April 1st were made using LSTs, LSMs, LCTs, and LCSs. About 2,400 of these types of vessels were used to land the 10th Army.

These small ships proved to be better assault vessels than the Higgins boats that were used in earlier invasions and were still used to land support personnel from troop ships. That was us.

Unlike Iwo Jima and most of the other island invasions where the Japanese fought desperately to prevent a landing, here on Okinawa most of the first waves were unopposed by Japanese infantry. Their plan seemed to be: let them land, then we annihilate them.

They had a diversionary plan also. We didn’t know where they were, how many, or when they would attack.

Many individual groups of resistance had to be eliminated. A lot of these came from fortifications built into family burial tombs which were used as command points.

Don’t let me mislead you. There was plenty of front-line action, with casualties.

At this point the beach operation was getting somewhat confusing. The first waves were moving ahead cautiously and the follow-up troops were moving right in behind. All were expecting the surprise attacks they were sure would come at any moment.

Even with all their caution, they were moving ahead faster than supplies and support equipment could keep up.

Commanders wanted to keep up the momentum and keep taking additional yardage.

At 1700 hours the advance was halted and the men were instructed to dig in and prepare for the counterattacks.

The offensive had secured an area about 15,000 yards wide and had penetrated inland about 5,000 yards. Both airfields had been secured.

It was anticipated that casualties would be in the thousands and the airfields wouldn’t be taken until the third day.

There was considerable action going on that could be seen from our ship, but we were far enough away that the enemy was concentrating on the ships and troops that were nearer to the beach.

Almost all of the planes that we could see were ours as they would fly over us making their turns to start another pass at the enemy. The day passed quickly.

As daylight began to fade we prepared for our last few hours aboard ship. We were told we would receive an early call to be prepared for our landing before sunrise tomorrow, completing the first day of Operation Iceberg.

All night long we could hear our Navy guns shelling Okinawa. Needless to say, no one slept very well. Reveille came early.

Breakfast was good and plentiful, after which we were instructed to don full combat gear. If we thought it was crowded before, we hadn’t seen anything.

Trying to move around with your rifle, ammunition, pack, and all the other gear required for an assault was almost impossible in the area allotted to us.

Soon we were ordered topside. We were now close enough to see everything except it was still dark.

You could see, smell, and feel the smoke from the bombs and shells. It was hard to believe that anyone could withstand the heavy attack.

We knew that they could and did. We had heard about the concrete bunkers and tunnels the Japanese had built all over the island.

I witnessed many of the attacks, both while we were embarking for the beach and after we were getting organized and setting up our support equipment.

Even though our sailors shot down a number of them there were so many kamikaze aircraft that some got through and we lost more ships. These attacks continued through the entire campaign. Their targets shifted to land-based designations as our Navy ships could now seek more defensive locations instead of being sitting ducks while unloading troops.

Their targets now became our supplies of ordnance, fuel, antiaircraft installations, command centers, hospitals, radar units, and searchlights.

Our ship was close enough to land to be of concern to the Japanese. We were assembled on the deck when the first kamikaze attack of the day started. There were not as many of them as we were told to expect, but there were enough to fill us with fear as we stood on the deck helpless as they flew directly toward us. Our Navy and Air Force came through and none of them reached our ship. Others were not as fortunate.

Finally we were ordered over the side, climbing down nets that were familiar to us after all of our training. We loaded into our Higgins boat in rows as we had also practiced many times before. The Navy was in charge of this operation and kept us organized. They put me as a sergeant at the head of the row on the starboard side. When we were loaded we pulled away from the ship. Within minutes we were circling in a holding pattern while all of the other landing craft got into position before making our final turn and heading toward the beach.

The Japanese infantry had their defensive battle plans which allowed us to land before counterattacking.

Their air force had their plans which involved eliminating us before, during, and after the invasion. Is this the time the Japanese army would attack?

Each one of us was trying to see what was going on and wondering what we would encounter in the next several minutes as wave after wave of Japanese aircraft flew over us, firing and looking for more targets.

The army counterattack never happened. They defended their island from their bunkers and network of defensive positions. The difficult fighting had begun.

Even though the sun was supposed to be up now, it was hard to tell because there was so much smoke in the air, smoke from the bombs and the fires burning on the beaches and on our Navy ships.

Our Higgins boat landed without casualties. Others weren’t as fortunate. We were directed to a staging area where we were assigned to help the 1st Division with their supply problems.

Because heavy resistance was expected, only priority cargo was scheduled to land the first two days. This included ammunition, tanks, vehicles, food, and medical equipment. It became apparent that the Tenth Army was continuing to advance ahead of schedule.

The supply ships stepped up their unloading operations. Supplies and equipment continued to pile up on the beaches. Hundreds of ships were offshore and a steady stream of supplies was moving toward us.

Our senior officers did their jobs and took charge of the rapidly changing situation. They volunteered all available personnel to help move equipment. My group was busy all day following orders that were constantly being changed. There were no major foul-ups, just changes in priorities. We stopped moving some equipment and switched to moving something else. I was put in charge of from two to a dozen Marines. The number kept changing. I constantly had to get involved and put my shoulder to a piece of equipment to keep things moving. I found there was one school that I didn’t go to. Remember the load on the LSM that I went on from California to Pearl Harbor? It was carrying 6x6 trucks. Here came several LSMs loaded with trucks. When they were unloaded on the beach and began to pile up, an officer told me to get them out of here and up on hard land. I told him no one here knew how to drive them. He replied, “Here, let me show you. You turn it on here and use the gears as shown on the instructions on the gear box. It also tells you how to put it in all-wheel drive. Don’t forget to double-clutch when shifting.” He was off to another crisis.

I got in, started it, and found the instructions. After moving a few trucks I taught another Marine how to drive and we moved all the units out to hard land.

These trucks were so powerful I believe one of them could pull an LSM out of the water and across Okinawa.

Nightfall came and we were all tired. It had been a quick change from living on board ship for so long, then jumping right into physical labor.

A major priority of the 1st Division was to take Zampa Misaki, a peninsula just north of Yellow Beach.

The peninsula projected into the East China Sea and was selected for a prime defensive position against enemy aircraft from Japan. The 8th AAA would set up here as soon as possible.

By the end of the second day, the peninsula had been secured and the front had moved halfway across the island. Both airstrips were operational and were providing air support for the ground troops. That night we were told to dig in.

Shortly after dark, night warfare began. We were subjected to alerts all night long. Our Navy was firing over us constantly.

There was small-arms fire all around us, some in the distance, other reports so close you suspected they were coming from the foxhole next to you.

All of this was accompanied by flares and tracers. Each one looked as if it was headed straight toward you.

Even though we were supposed to remain quiet and stay put unless given specific orders, someone yelled out, “This war is getting too close for me.”

This was followed by a few chuckles and a stern, “Knock it off.” Later things quieted down and we were able to get some rest. I paraphrased their language.

Very early the next morning there was some commotion on the beach that stirred all of us. We were afraid to leave our security area and even afraid to move within it.

What if the enemy had somehow managed to sneak in while we were resting? Things calmed down quickly and we waited for daybreak. The next morning, April 3rd, dozens of bulldozers operated by the Seabees began to cut roads to the center of the island.

They also began to enlarge the airfields so they could be used by our bombers in an emergency while en route to or from Japan. The 8th AAA Battalion headed north having located all of its equipment.

The locations for the 90mm antiaircraft installations and their 584 radar units were selected. Searchlight positions were then determined and finally positions were designated for the Mark XXs. The CO selected these sites. I had no say in that. From that point on it was up to me to get them operational.

I had some very busy hours making sure that each site had all of its equipment, that it was operational, and that they had a full crew.

All things considered, we were in good shape.

The area we occupied ranged from less than ten feet above sea level to about fifty feet. We had a good view of all aircraft coming from and going to Japan.

Both major airports which we now controlled were only a few miles away. A large portion of our area was covered with trees and low areas where water could stand. Part of the land looked as if it may have been a small farm. There was no sign of human life anywhere near us. Headquarters was located as close to the China Sea as they could put us. My tent and foxhole were located on a cliff overlooking the China Sea.

The commanding officer of the 8th AAA Battalion was Lt. Col. James S. O’Halloran. Captain Paul N. Ierardi commanded the Searchlight Battery. His executive officer was Lt. Tom Maples.

By the end of the day Okinawa had been crossed. The Marines turned their attention to the north and the Army to the south. All 90mms were operational at the end of the day as were our searchlights and radar units. Headquarters was operational also. Each one of us had a foxhole for night sleeping and a tent for daytime.

I had my jeep for traveling and my carbine for protection. All of the 90mm units were dug in.

A Searchlight Battery consisted of five Mark XXs. They were dug in and were surrounded by a circle of sandbags and dirt.

They were safe from most anything except a direct hit or being run over by the enemy.

To guard against being run over, we had .50-caliber machine guns. These were also used to fire at low-flying aircraft.

It was the 90mms that we were here for. They had a good record for accuracy and distance. About a dozen men were assigned to each unit. These were supported by technicians, power-generation specialists, as well as radar and searchlight crews. Most of the work was done at night, but crews had to be kept on alert during the day. The shells, bigger than my arm, were heavy. After a hard night of firing we often helped remove the spent casings and moved in replacement shells from the ammo storage area.

When enemy targets were located either by shipboard or land-based radar, the entire battalion went on alert. If it was daylight and the enemy was headed in our direction, the 584s and the 90mms went into action.

If it was night, the Mark XX and the searchlights went into action as well.

When the SCR-584 confirmed a target, it sent information to the 90mm control center concerning the range and location. When everything was verified, the guns were put on remote control.

From this point on the radar handled the movement of the gun and the setting of the fuse to insure that the shell explodes at the right point. The commander then gave the “on target” signal and firing commences.

In some cases, if the target was flying exceptionally low or had special maneuverability and it is daylight or the target is fully illuminated by a searchlight, visual firing was used.

The Mark XX operated in a similar manner. Once we locked on a verified target, the information was fed to the searchlights.

Our early days on Okinawa were pretty much all the same except for the interruptions by the Japanese.

We ate K or C rations for breakfast, lunch, and supper. We drank a lot of coffee. The smokers smoked until dark.

A lot of physical energy was expended. There was a lot of mental anguish as well. We listened to Navy ships shell areas that needed attention and listened to the small-arms fire.

A kamikaze attack or an air raid took place regularly. Before the island would be secured we would encounter nearly a thousand air raids and dozens of kamikaze attacks, ten of which were considered major.

On April 6 and 7 we took our worst beating from the kamikaze. Over 900 of them from numerous Japanese-controlled air bases came to Okinawa in wave after wave. Their mission was to sink a ship or destroy a plane or installation with every kamikaze.

During the night and morning, they sank three destroyers, two ammunition ships, one LST, and one minesweeper. They also made hits on an aircraft carrier, eleven destroyers, two destroyer escorts, and eight smaller ships.

The Navy suffered thousands of casualties along with the Army and the Marines, most of them in installations such as ours. A lone infantryman was pretty safe from a kamikaze attack, but he still had to avoid their machine-gun fire.

The main difference between the daylight hours and the night hours was that at night there were no organized meals. You ate what you had stashed. There were other little differences also. For instance much of the Navy shelling wasn’t directed at targets requested by the infantry. All night long, about once a minute, a shell was fired into enemy territory.

It rustled over our heads and became so commonplace we got used to it. Hopefully it kept the enemy awake all night. It was the flares that kept us awake, ours and theirs. We hoped for clear skies and a moon. That kept the need for flares at a minimum.

Another difference between night and day was in the mental attitude regarding rifle fire. In the daylight you were better able to assess the potential dangers. At night this was very difficult to do. Your thoughts weren’t always related to reality. Of course we can’t forget the mosquitoes. They bridged the hours between daylight and darkness as well as darkness and daylight.

By mid-April a new problem was added to the operation. The rains started and continued. These weren’t like the rains on Guam. Here it rained for hours, let up a little, and then started to rain for hours again.

Transportation bogged down. Newly cut roads became stretches of mud. Foxholes became waterholes.

Clothes never dried and the fighting never stopped. Imagine trying to keep the rain and mud off your weapon under these conditions.

Trying to live in a foxhole when it is dry is miserable. Adding a light rain shower makes it as bad an experience as you would ever want to encounter. Doing it for days at a time with rains so heavy you know God hasn’t kept his promise to Noah is about as much as even Marines can take.

On the first night of rain from a typhoon that was passing through the area, I built a dam all the way around my foxhole.

This was a great idea except the rain was so hard it filled the hole directly from above. The second night most all of us found something to put over our foxholes. We didn’t want to use our tent because that was all we had to look forward to the next day to dry out. I stretched a piece of canvas over my foxhole. That didn’t help.

There I was, sitting in my mud-filled hole, listening to the rain and wind blow, soaked to the skin, shoes full of mud and water. All the time clutching my rifle and hoping that it would work if needed. The only thing that kept us sane through all of this was the fact that the temperature was always in the 70s and 80s.

Have you ever been so busy and scared that you haven’t been able to go for several days or more? How about three or even five? Many soldiers and Marines have. Sailors, probably not as many. Of course your body won’t let you keep it forever. So eventually the time comes.

The rains and warm weather caused fungus to grow. Not having dry clothes, especially shoes and socks, was a torture experienced by almost every foot soldier in the military.

Millions of us would come home with a permanent case of infection. My brother and I were no exception. He had it on his hands and feet. I was lucky in that mine was confined to my feet. He tried everything that was suggested including professional medical care.

I tried a few things that he recommended. Nothing worked for either of us.

The Okinawans I saw were poorly dressed and mostly filthy as one would expect, having been subjected to days and days of heavy bombing and being forced to live on the move.

I had no occasion to speak or communicate with any of them. They were not Japanese. They had their own culture influenced by the Chinese that had control over the island for centuries.

The Japanese were never able to integrate them. They were drafted into the army for this war, but they were not considered good fighters for the emperor.

On April 12th we received word that President Roosevelt had died.

I don’t know if we really understood what this meant as far as the war was concerned, but it was discussed among us for a few days.

We heard that Truman was a military man and expected the war would still go on as before. The death of Roosevelt caused little delay in the fighting although special memorial services were held whenever possible.

Within a few days I doubt that many on Okinawa gave it much thought.

That night we had our second major kamikaze attack of the day. We usually had advance notice when a major attack was coming. Our Navy kept a close watch on them.

Some of our Mark XX radar units were difficult to get to and I would have to be gone all day.

My jeep got a lot of use. It was understood that I would never be on the road after dark. If I couldn’t make it back, I would stay with a unit that was close. On one such day I had allowed myself plenty of time to return before dark, still providing time to do all my paperwork.

What I didn’t allow for was getting stuck. About halfway back it started to rain very hard. With all the previous days’ rain it soon became a sea of mud and the jeep just bogged down. As I tried to get myself unstuck I mired deeper and deeper in the roadway until the floorboards were floating. My jeep didn’t have a winch.

For several hours I tried every trick in the book, using tree limbs to pry with, putting things under the wheels, jerking the clutch, and even leaving it in gear with the motor running while I pushed it. It would be dark soon. I turned off the motor. Now I could hear noises that I didn’t hear before. I picked up my carbine, checked it, and tried to decide how far it was back to my last stop and how far it was to the next safe place.

Maybe I should just spend the night in the jeep and start walking the next morning. I knew if there were any Japanese around they already knew I was there and were just waiting for it to get dark. The best plan I could come up with was to keep trying. With more and bigger tree limbs and a few stones I built a firm footing under one wheel. Why not? It’s a four-wheel drive. I picked the left front wheel, thinking I could best observe the results.

That one tire grabbed a firm grip and moved the rest of the jeep ahead just enough to get another tire grabbing onto something and get me going. Another simple solution to a complicated problem.

As I drove down the road I was quite happy to be on my way and I made it back to base at dark. It was still raining hard when I went into my tent. By the next morning the rain, which was still falling, had washed almost all the mud off of my jeep and it sat there glistening in the rain. I decided to try and start it in case I needed it for an emergency later that day. It started.

The jeep got its name from its intended use: a General Purpose (GP) vehicle. It was originally referred to as a Peep, but it proved so versatile and reliable that the name Jeep won out.

The vehicle was 11 feet long and 5 feet wide. I was told mine had come directly from Iwo Jima. I loved it. Four-wheel drive, powerful engine, and deep-tread tires—the combination of which got me out of a very serious situation.

Tanks were used in both theaters of the war, more in Africa and Europe than in the Pacific operation. We were involved in jungle warfare and fighting in swamps.

Some landings were in volcanic ash, some on open beaches with coral reefs, and in more confined areas. However, tanks were available when needed and were used effectively.

The rain didn’t hurt the operation of our radar sets. They were well designed to operate under severe weather conditions.

However, we did have a major problem develop during the second week of operation. We began to have trouble operating because we couldn’t get replacements for our GL444 tubes. Our reserve supply quickly ran low. There were four of these tubes used in each set. Every Mark XX unit sergeant was screaming at me to get replacements.

When the first unit couldn’t go on the air because they didn’t have a replacement tube, Capt. Ierardi yelled at Lt. Maples who yelled at me. This tube was of a special design and there was no way to check it other than place it in the radar unit and see if it worked. We managed to get working tubes to everyone that night. I checked with other AAA battalions. They were having problems also.

The next day I went to all of my Mark XX sites and collected the tubes that were reported bad and took them to Joe to try in his set. We found almost all were working to my satisfaction. With this information I went to Lt. Maples and we met with our field technicians to determine what could be done quickly. I told them we needed a GL444 field tube tester. I would make one.

The technicians would try to determine why the tubes appeared to fail. The next day I had constructed a tube tester.

Normally a tube tester is a very complicated piece of equipment. It is designed to test hundreds of different tube types, using many different voltages, representing different sizes and shapes and used under different conditions.

However, to build one for a specific tube was fairly simple. Armed with this information I went back to Lt. Maples. By this time the technicians had a handle on their investigation. Original design lab tests hadn’t discovered any problems caused by constant use.

This didn’t mean they didn’t do their job properly. It just pointed out that field conditions can’t always be anticipated or reproduced. The technician came up with a plan. Changing one resistor would prevent overheating without affecting the operation of the radar set. Instructions were issued to make the change in the circuit and build enough GL444 tube testers to check the tubes if necessary. There were no more complaints from the field regarding shortages for this tube. This information was passed on to all AAA Mark XX units on Okinawa.

One night during an exceptionally heavy air raid, one of our units visually sighted a twin-engine Betty coming in just over the waves. When it passed over, they let everyone know it was headed southeast. It was flying at treetop level, in our direction, moving so fast and close that we couldn’t connect with it. Our .50-caliber machine gunner was watching and yelled, “Here she comes,” and he started firing. Then he yelled, “I got her!” There wasn’t time to worry if he did or didn’t.

We continued with the problems at hand, concentrating on the ones we could target. We didn’t hear any nearby explosions, but you couldn’t tell because of the noise made by the AAA fire and the bombs exploding. The next morning at daybreak, before calling it a night, several gunners went looking for the Betty. Sure enough the plane had been shot down. Both crew members were dead. We assumed the Betty was on a bombing run, not a kamikaze mission, and they had already dropped their bombs, which is why we didn’t hear an explosion. The next night we had another intense kamikaze attack involving hundreds of small planes.

Several days later Lt. Maples said they were considering me for a Letter of Commendation for work I had done with the Mark XX radar units.

Having learned my swimming lesson well on the beach at Kauai, I was very cautious when the opportunity came to take a swim in the China Sea. The water was a beautiful blue. I never swam in the China Sea although many Marines did.

Bombs make a lot of noise when they hit and explode. One such explosion that I have heard in my thoughts and dreams many times took place here.

It was during an isolated daylight air raid by a single Japanese plane while most of us were sacked out. We never did determine if he came from a location on Okinawa or got by the Navy radar pickets and our land-based long-range radar while flying in from Japan.

Anyway, we were one of his targets. He dropped several bombs at our location then continued on toward Yontan airfield. The bombs he dropped that were meant for our battery were released a split second too soon.

They hit the edge of the cliff instead of us. The explosion came with the sound of the plane’s engine as it roared overhead. The bombs exploded and shook the earth as they threw dirt, rock, and sand into the air. We all moved so fast that we had our helmets and rifles in our foxholes before the noise of the blast died down. It seemed a while until we began to be peppered with dirt, rock, and sand that fell on us.

That was the closest call I had during the entire Operation Iceberg.

Anita’s letters came to me in groups. Mine got to her in a similar manner. One of the letters that I thought was from Anita was really from Leslie.

This was remarkable because she was only five months old at the time. It was wonderful to receive this letter from Leslie as well as all the other ones from her mother.

One of these letters from Anita contained information that her nephew Edward had been wounded on Okinawa and was in a field hospital. He told his folks that he had taken a few hits but it wasn’t serious. The field hospital he said he was in wasn’t far away. With the intense fighting going on there were a number of hospitals. I secured permission to visit him. I would not be able to take the jeep as it would have to be available at the base.

There was a major problem. Just where was Edward? How long ago was he wounded, how long until he was able to write, how long did it take for the letter to get to Illinois and a reply back to me? Maybe he was already back home or even in a cemetery.

There was good news and a little bad news. I set about looking for a ride. Fighting was still heavy in the north and south and there was a lot of traffic on the roads. I got a ride from Zampa Misaki to Kadena airfield without any trouble. From there on I would be on my own. Injured Marines were taken directly to the hospital for treatment. Dead Marines were moved by any means available to a staging area. One of these was Kadena. From here they would be transported to another area. I was headed to the hospital where Edward said he was. I caught a ride on a 6x6 truck.

It was transporting dead Marines in body bags. I found a place in the back with two other Marines each riding with their M-1 rifles at the ready. I found myself assuming this same position with my carbine. Yes, you didn’t go anywhere without your weapon locked and loaded.

I inquired if we would be going through an unsecured area. They assured me the trip would be safe.

They just thought that it was appropriate that they guard their buddies in this manner, the only way they knew to show their respect.

I thought of Anita, Leslie, and Mom and Dad and the dead Marines’ families, their wives, mothers, fathers, and others, and choked up. I said a little prayer for them and their loved ones. I was pretty close to the war again.

I found the field hospital. After some checking, we found Verna Mae’s brother Edward. He was glad to see me, grinning from ear to ear as they say. He introduced me as his “Sergeant Uncle Tom from Illinois.”

He wasn’t as good physically as he acted and as he reported in his letters home. He had bandages over most of his body from fragments from a Japanese shell that hit quite close to him. He had lost a lot of blood and had a lot of holes in him.

But he assured me it wasn’t as bad as it looked. He was scheduled to be evacuated by hospital ship in a few days and sent to Guam to be put back together, as he said, “for the invasion of Japan.” Semper Fidelis! He went to the United States with a Purple Heart and a disability discharge.

Okinawa looked a lot like parts of Illinois, except for the beach area that looked a little tropical, like coastal Mississippi. The farmland was divided into small sections on which they grew a lot of vegetables for their own use. We were warned against eating the vegetables as they reportedly used unsafe fertilizer.

We were also warned of snakes. This turned out to be unnecessary as I didn’t see one live snake the whole time I was there.

On April 15th we had our next major kamikaze attack. There were also the regular air raids that took place every day.

Again on the 27th we had another major kamikaze attack. And another on May 3rd. During this period we averaged a major kamikaze attack once a week with an average of ten major air raids every day. That doesn’t count the minor kamikaze raids and the small one-to-ten-aircraft air raids. The ground fighting continued.

The war in Europe was fast winding down and victory was declared on May 8, 1945. Not so in the Pacific. Some of the fiercest fighting was still ahead on Okinawa. The Philippines had not yet been secured and there was still Japan.

Mom and Dad were so glad that the European war was over that Mom celebrated. She invited Anita to go to the show with her. Anita’s mom and dad watched Leslie.

While at the show Mom became sick and had to leave. This was probably brought on by all of the excitement. They had to call Dad and he went and picked Mom and Anita up and took them home.

We had settled into a routine of expecting air raids every night. During the day we waited for word from the fronts. Our equipment was working well and no major problems were encountered.

A lot of talk took place regarding the next operation. After almost three months of fighting, Okinawa was declared secured on June 22, 1945. This was the last campaign of World War II and was the largest land-and-sea operation in history.

It would only be overshadowed by the planned invasion of Japan. When the fighting for Okinawa was over, 250,000 Japanese and Okinawans were dead. Over 23,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers, and sailors were killed.

I have to add a personal comment here. Yes, there were over 23,000 soldiers and Marines that gave their lives for us.

What I want to emphasize is that these were mostly teenage boys and young men in their early twenties.

When all the battle deaths during the war with Japan are added the figure goes into the hundred-thousand range. With the European battles it is doubled. Years later, Anita and I discussed what affect and effect the loss of this whole generation of these teens and young men did have on our current situation as it relates to our attitude toward war, crime, education, and all of our other social problems. Her degree is in sociology.

The millions that were wounded present a similar but different situation. Hundreds of thousands were injured on Okinawa, including Edward. Never in so short a time period had so many U.S. military casualties been experienced.

However, casualties for the attack on Japan were anticipated to be in the millions as the Japanese prepared to defend their homeland.

We had another major kamikaze attack on the night fighting was declared over. With the fighting for Okinawa now supposedly over and the invasion of the Japanese mainland coming up, Joe wanted to go home immediately. Joe was a rebel. He did not like the military structure at all. He chose the Marines not because he wanted to fight but he knew the girls liked Marines and he liked girls. All the time I knew Joe there were no girls around.

We were always on each other’s case but we were friends. He was always out of uniform, his bed wasn’t made, he mistreated equipment, and was disrespectful to officers.

A formal inspection, our first since the landing, was scheduled by the top brass. Even though we knew it would eventually come we couldn’t figure when.

Our CO scheduled a preliminary inspection to make sure everything was acceptable. Almost all of our radar units passed with only a few comments being made to improve their appearance, except for Joe’s. His had a long list of things that needed fixing and changing. He assured Captain Ierardi, Lt. Maples, and me that he would take care of them before tomorrow’s inspection. We believed he would do this.

The formal inspection was called off, but the CO came to look at Joe’s radar. Nothing had been done; in fact things might have been in worse shape that day than before. Joe lost his radar, two of his stripes, and was made an operator.

Why was the inspection called off? General MacArthur flew into Okinawa on June 22 and the officers wanted to make sure that everything was shipshape in case the general came by. He didn’t.

As soon as the fighting was over the critics began to sound off. Many called it a waste of effort and life. They each had points to make as to how casualties could have been avoided.

One thing we all found out very quickly was that a lot of our Air Force personnel were very glad that this friendly island was here as they tried to make it safely back after a bombing mission over Japan.

The attacks on the mainland were stepped up and wave after wave of our bombers flew over us, going and returning. Now that the war was over in Europe and the distances our bombers had to fly to and from their targets decreased, we began to see more Liberators.

On July 4th the Philippines were declared secured. On July 5th the bombing of Japan was stepped up. It was President Truman’s hope that if we caused considerable damage to the mainland, they may want to start talking peace.

By the middle of the month the British Navy was in the Pacific in great force and participated in the bombing of Japan. I wondered if brother Frank would be among those coming to this area. My question was answered soon by a letter from Mom and Dad stating that he had been assigned to a railhead group that was stationed in Paris.

On July 20th, I became 21 years old. On the 21st, the Japanese were told to surrender or suffer complete destruction. They rejected our request to talk peace.

On July 27th we heard sirens off in the distance. These were different than any others we had heard on Okinawa. We were cautious as we tried to find out where they were coming from and what they meant. Then someone discovered the source.

Coming up the road toward us was a convoy of vehicles led by several jeeps and consisting of several passenger vehicles. They all had American flags flying from their fenders. As they came closer and the sirens became louder, someone yelled out, “It’s General MacArthur!” We stood up and watched as he came within fifty feet of us. I could clearly see it was him. He had on his sunglasses and his famous hat with all the gold braid that it would hold. I didn’t see his pipe. We Marines all stood at attention and saluted our 10th Army General, Douglas MacArthur, as he passed by.

While working on the beach helping with landing operations, I saw several Marine generals. They traveled dressed in fatigues, wore regulation helmets, and rode in jeeps. Their stars were usually stenciled on their shirt with black ink.