The Pacific (94 page)

546
G-2 Periodic Report, 25 May 2400-26 2400 May 1945 #50, 1st Marine Regiment, Okinawa, NARA.

547
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, pp. 277-278 footnote.

548
1st Marines SAR.

549
"Notes on Interview with Lt. Col. Austin C. Shofner, USMC," by Capt. James R. Stockman by request of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 19 March 1947, NARA.

550
1st Marines SAR; G-2 Periodic Report, 28 May 2400-29 2400 May 1945 #53, 1st Marine Regiment, Okinawa, NARA.

551
3rd Bn SAR.

552
First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.

553
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 374.

554
Hank to Sledge, March 31, 1980, SCAU.

555
3rd Bn SAR.

556
"Notes on Interview with Lt. Col. Austin C. Shofner, USMC," by Capt. James R. Stockman by request of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 19 March 1947, NARA.

557
G-2 Periodic Report, 30 May 2400-31 May 2400 1945 #55, 1st Marine Regiment, Okinawa, NARA.

558
1st Marines SAR.

559
Ibid.

560
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 327.

561
3rd Bn SAR.

562
Sledge to Boyes, March 31, 1980, SCAU; Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.

563
1st Marines SAR.

564
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 333.

565
Shofner, "WWII Memories," p. 96. It must be noted that Shofner's version of this particular action, written late in his life, contains some overstatements and/or misrepresentations that have been omitted. The story is included because he described the casus belli in "Notes on Interview with Lt. Col. Austin C. Shofner, USMC," by Capt. James R. Stockman by request of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 19 March 1947, NARA.

566
1st Marines SAR.

567
Ibid.

568
Fournier Diary.

569
First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.

570
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 345.

571
Carlisle L. Tiller to Stumpy, April 28, 1985, SCAU.

572
3rd Bn SAR contradicts Sledge's
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa
slightly as to the chronology of events on Kunishi Ridge (see p. 294).

573
Sledge to Dearest Mom and Pop, June 24, 1945, SCAU.

574
Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU; Sledge to Boyes, March 31, 1980, SCAU. The 3rd Bn SAR totaled only thirty- one casualties for this action, but Sledge and Boyes make a compelling case for the higher figure.

575
Stanley to Sledge, June 9 Tuesday (year unknown), SCAU.

576
3rd Bn SAR.

577
KPI.

578
3rd Bn SAR.

579
KPI.

580
Brown,
A Few Good Men: A History of the Fighting Fifth Marines
, p. 191.

581
Sledge to Stanley, August 26, 1980, SCAU; see also Stanley, "Peleliu Veterans--A Roll of Honor with K-3-5 at the End of Okinawa," undated MS, SCAU; Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, and May 8, 1980, SCAU; Sledge to Boyes, March 31, 1980, SCAU.

582
Sgt. Joe Frangona (1/1) interview with Dr. Dave Thompson, March 3, 2004, author's collection.

583
Fournier Diary.

584
Brown,
A Few Good Men: A History of the Fighting Fifth Marines
, p. 191.

585
William Phillips (1/1) interview, author's collection.

586
First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.

587
Ted Reuther (1/1, Communications) personal history, Northwood Institute, Midland, Michigan.

588
Sam Menzelos (K/3/5) interview, author's collection.

589
Merriell Allen Shelton USMC Personnel File, NRC.

ACT V

1
Jeanne Sledge interview, Playtone Collection.

2
Frank L. Kluckhohn, "Atsugi 'Parade' On,"
The New York Times
, August 30, 1945, p. 1.

3
Richard B. Finn,
Winners in Peace: MacArthur, Yoshida, and Postwar Japan
(Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1992), p. 8.

4
Ibid., p. 10.

5
Ted Reuther (1/1, Communications) personal history, Northwood Institute, Midland, Michigan.

6
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 557.

7
Cpl. Bill Farrell, "Hot Irony,"
Leatherneck
, April 1946, vol. 29, #4, p. 19.

8
E. B. Sledge,
China Marine
(Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2002), p. 24.

9
Thomas Stanley to Sledge, December 10, 1981, SCAU.

10
Sledge,
China Marine
, p. 102.

11
The healing love provided by the Soong Family, although touched on by Sledge in his letters home, was most fully described by him in his second book,
China Marine
.

12
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 532.

13
Finn,
Winners in Peace.

14
Douglas MacArthur,
Reminiscences
(New York: McGraw- Hill, 1964), pp. 282-283.

15
Frank and Shaw,
Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V
, p. 492.

16
Scout
Article; USS
Basilone
Commissioning Ceremony Program, RPL; Lena Basilone Service File, NRC.

17
Shofner, "WWII Memories," p. 73, stated that this meeting took place in 1943. Coach Neyland, however, served overseas during the war and thus this important meeting could have taken place only in 1946.

18
Bob Gilbert,
Neyland: The Gridiron General
(Savannah, Georgia: Golden Coast Publishing Co., 1990).

19
"Houston-Phillips Wedding of Interest," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, Sidney Phillips Collection.

20
J. Robert Moskin,
The U.S. Marine Corps Story
(New York: McGraw- Hill, 1977).

21
Tom Bartlett, "Against All Odds,"
Leatherneck
, June 1976, vol. 59, #6, pp. 39-41.

22
Kay Rose, "New Plaque Honors Shofner,"
Shelbyville Times-Gazette
, May 5, 2003, p. 1, courtesy of Col. Otto Melsa.

23
Sledge,
China Marine
, p. 154.

24
Sledge to Stumpy and Valton, December 3, 1980, SCAU.

25
Sledge to Stanley, February 6, 1980, SCAU; Sledge to Hank Boyes, July 25, 1979, SCAU; Sledge to Walter McIlhenny, May 31, 1977, SCAU.

26
Sledge,
China Marine
, p. 135.

27
Dr. Sidney Phillips interview, author's collection.

28
Jeanne Sledge e-mail to author, 2008, author's collection.

29
KPI.

30
Sledge to Stumpy and Valton, December 3, 1980, SCAU.

31
Sledge to Stanley, January 16, 1984, SCAU. It is clear that Sledge did not have access to the 3/5 Record or the 3rd Bn SAR cited frequently here. When he saw the former document years later, it disgusted him.

32
The story of Hiroo Onoda was taken from an entry of
www.wikipedia.com
.

33
Sledge to Stanley, January 16, 1984, SCAU.

34
Jeanne Sledge interview, May 2004, Playtone Collection.

35
Sledge to Stumpy and Valton, December 3, 1980, SCAU.

36
Lieutenant Kasky (CO of C-1-27), April 24, 1945, Basilone USMC Service File, NRC.

37
Scout
Article.

38
Carlo Basilone to Gen. A. A. Vandegrift, April 12, 1946, Basilone Personnel File; A. A. Vandegrift to Mrs. John Basilone, September 29, 1947, Basilone USMC Personnel File;
"
World War II Hero's Sister Dies in Somerville Car Accident,"
Newark Star-Ledger
, November 15, 2003, RPL; photograph of the funeral at Arlington, Basilone Family Collection; Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, RPL.

39
"Raritan to Unveil Statue of Basilone; Parade Set,"
Courier News
, June 4, 1948; "Dedicate Statue of Basilone," June 7, 1948, clipping from unidentified Newark, New Jersey, newspaper, RPL.

40
USS
Basilone
Commissioning Ceremony Program, RPL.

41
"Meets His Family," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection.

42
Herbert Lansner, "Chance Call for Taxi Reunites Widow, Hero Husband's Pals," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection.

43
"Her Hero Husband Didn't Come Back,"
Newark Star-Ledger
, May 28, 1950, Basilone Family Collection.

44
"A Family Look at Hero John Basilone,"
South Plainfield Observer
, February 11, 1988, p. 9, RPL.

45
Jim G. Lucas, "Medal of Honor Winner Rejected a Hero's Life for a Hero's Death,"
New York World-Telegram
, 1962, Basilone Family Collection; Robert Leckie, "The Perfect Marine Who Begged to Die,"
Saga Magazine
, 1964, courtesy of Robert Leckie Family.

46
"How School Kids Started Parade in '81," Forbes Newspaper Supplement, September 19, 1990, RPL.

47
Lena Basilone Interview,
Scout
Article.

a

The reader's convenience, not military practice, guides the nomenclature used here to identify military units.

b

Formosa is now known as Taiwan.

c

The officer in command of the USMC defense battalion and the USMC fighter squadron, Commander Winfield S. Cunningham, sent a list of his supply and reinforcement needs. Most historians believe the quote above was "padding" added to the message to make it more difficult for the enemy to decode.

d

Of the roughly 1,200 officers and men of the Fourth Marines who fought for Luzon, 357 were listed as wounded in action and 331 either were killed in action, died of wounds, or were missing and presumed dead.

e

The IJN had no carrier named
Ryukaku
. The U.S. had sunk the
Shoho
.

f

All of these claims of ships sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea were highly inflated.

g

Most histories of the Battle of Midway have used a standardized time because they are covering all aspects of a battle taking place across several time zones. The times given here were those of Ensign Micheel's ship and therefore, presumably, of his wristwatch.

h

The
Enterprise
's YE/ZB transmitter was switched on and functioning.

i

U.S. Navy pilots reported seeing and/or dogfighting Japanese flying the Me-109 or other German-made aircraft with some regularity. These reports were inaccurate.

j

These estimates of Japanese losses were widely inflated. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost four carriers (
Kaga
,
Akagi
,
Soryu
, and
Hiryu
), as well as one cruiser,
Mikuma
. Estimates of her casualties have run as low as 2,500 men. By contrast, the United States lost two ships,
Yorktown
and
Hamman
(DD-412), and about 340 men.

k

The Harvey House was a well-known chain of restaurants situated near railroad stations. The CCC was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which offered work for unemployed men from 1933 to 1942. It focused primarily on the conservation and improvement of natural resources.

l

R.A.F. stands for the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. Its Spitfires had beaten the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.

m

Historians refer to the Battle of Hell's Point as the Battle of the Tenaru.

n

Amelia Earhart, a pioneer in aviation and holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross, disappeared in 1937 somewhere over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the globe.

o

This carrier battle came to be called the Battle of Santa Cruz.

p

This battle is known as the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

q

The First Marine Regiment landed with 136 officers and 2,937 enlisted personnel, not counting its medical team. Three officers and 30 enlisted men were killed; 3 officers and 41 were wounded. Like its parent division, the First lost a much greater number of men to disease, especially malaria.

r

Listed alphabetically, the men who attempted it were: Lieutenant Leo Boelens (Army); Lieutenant Michael Dobervich (USMC); Captain William Dyess (U.S. Army Air Corps); Lieutenant Samuel Grashio (Air Corps); Lieutenant Jack Hawkins (USMC); Corporal Paul Marshall (Air Corps); Lieutenant Commander Melvyn McCoy (Navy); Major Stephen Mellnik (Army); Captain Austin Shofner (USMC); Sergeant Robert Spielman (Army).

s

During World War II both official and unofficial accounts referred to the "winners of the Medal of Honor." Since the war the men who wear it have mounted a concerted effort to change it to the "recipients of the Medal of Honor." The Congressional Medal of Honor, they believe, is not a prize won in a contest.

t

A Seabee was a member of a navy construction battalion and took his name from the unit's initials, CB.

u

WAC stands for Women's Auxiliary Corps, which was connected to the army.