Read With the Old Breed Online
Authors: E.B. Sledge
With the Old Breed (49 page)
Our little guard detail spent several quiet, carefree days basking in the sun by day and mounting one-sentry guard duty at night. We were like boys on a campout. The fear and terror were behind us.
Our battalion came north a few days later. All hands went to work in earnest to complete the tent camp. Pyramidal tents were set up, drainage ditches were dug, folding cots and bed rolls were brought to us, and a canvas-roofed mess hall was built. Every day old friends returned from the hospitals, some hale and hearty but others showing the effects of only partial recovery from severe wounds. To our disgust, rumors of rehabilitation in Hawaii faded. But our relief that the long Okinawa ordeal was over at last was indescribable.
Very few familiar faces were left. Only twenty-six Peleliu veterans who had landed with the company on 1 April remained. And I doubt there were even ten of the old hands who had escaped being wounded at one time or another on Peleliu or Okinawa. Total American casualties were 7,613 killed and missing and 31,807 wounded in action. Neuropsychiatric, “non-battle,” casualties amounted to 26,221—probably higher than in any other previous Pacific Theater battle. This latter high figure is attributed to two causes: The Japanese poured onto U.S. troops the heaviest concentrations of artillery and mortar fire experienced in the Pacific, and the prolonged, close-in fighting with a fanatical enemy.
Marines and attached Naval medical personnel suffered total casualties of 20,020 killed, wounded, and missing.
Japanese casualty figures are hazy. However, 107,539 enemy dead were counted on Okinawa. Approximately 10,000 enemy troops surrendered, and about 20,000 were either sealed in caves or buried by the Japanese themselves. Even lacking an exact accounting, in the final analysis the enemy garrison was, with rare exceptions, annihilated. Unfortunately, approximately 42,000 Okinawan civilians, caught between the two opposing armies, perished from artillery fire and bombing.
The 1st Marine Division suffered heavy casualties on Okinawa. Officially, it lost 7,665 men killed, wounded, and missing. There were also an undetermined number of casualties among the replacements whose names never got on a muster roll. Considering that most of the casualties were in the division's three infantry regiments (about 3,000 strength in each), it's obvious that the rifle companies took the bulk of the beating,
just as they had on Peleliu. The division's losses of 6,526 on Peleliu and 7,665 on Okinawa total 14,191. Statistically, the infantry units had suffered over 150 percent losses through the two campaigns. The few men like me who never got hit can claim with justification that we survived the abyss of war as fugitives from the law of averages.
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As we finished building our tent camp, we began trying to unwind from the grueling campaign. Some of the Cape Gloucester veterans rotated home almost immediately, and replacements arrived. Ugly rumors circulated that we would hit Japan next, with an expected casualty figure of one million Americans. No one wanted to talk about that.
On 8 August we heard that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. Reports abounded for a week about a possible surrender. Then on 15 August 1945 the war ended.
We received the news with quiet disbelief coupled with an indescribable sense of relief. We thought the Japanese would never surrender. Many refused to believe it. Sitting in stunned silence, we remembered our dead. So many dead. So many maimed. So many bright futures consigned to the ashes of the past. So many dreams lost in the madness that had engulfed us. Except for a few widely scattered shouts of joy, the survivors of the abyss sat hollow-eyed and silent, trying to comprehend a world without war.
In September, the 1st Marine Division went to North China on occupation duty, the 5th Marines to the fascinating ancient city of Peking. After about four and a half months there, I rotated Stateside.
My happiness knew no bounds when I learned I was slated to ship home. It was time to say goodbye to old buddies in K/⅗. Severing the ties formed in two campaigns was painful. One of America's finest and most famous elite fighting divisions had been my home during a period of the most
extreme adversity. Up there on the line, with nothing between us and the enemy but space (and precious little of that), we'd forged a bond that time would never erase. We were brothers. I left with a sense of loss and sadness, but K/⅗ will always be a part of me.
It's ironic that the record of our company was so outstanding but that so few individuals were decorated for bravery. Uncommon valor was displayed so often it went largely unnoticed. It was expected. But nearly every man in the company was awarded the Purple Heart. My good fortune in being one of the few exceptions continues to amaze me.
War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other. Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive. But it also taught us loyalty to each other—and love. That esprit de corps sustained us.
Until the millenium arrives and countries cease trying to enslave others, it will be necessary to accept one's responsibilities and to be willing to make sacrifices for one's country—as my comrades did. As the troops used to say, “If the country is good enough to live in, it's good enough to fight for.” With privilege goes responsibility.
*
The 8th Marines came up from Saipan to reinforce the 1st Marine Division in the final drive on Okinawa. Among the many streamers on its regimental battle color flew one for Tarawa.
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The total number of Japanese killed by the five American divisions during the mop-up was 8,975, a large enough number of enemy to have waged intense guerrilla warfare if they hadn't been annihilated.
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The 1st Marine Division received the Presidential Units Citation for its part in the Okinawa campaign.
PPENDIX
A Roll of Honor
Peleliu Veterans with K/3/5 at the End of Okinawa
James Allen
Charles Anderson
James C. F. Anderson
Franklin Batchelor
Henry (Hank) Boyes W/NE
R. V Burgin W/R
J. T. Burke
Guy E. Farrar
Peter Fouts
G. C. Gear
Anton Haas
Julius (Frenchy) Labeeuw
Les Land
Thorkil (Toby) Paulsen
Les Porter
Bobby Ragan
John Redifer
D. B. A. Salsby W/R
Vincent Santos
George Sarrett
Henry K. Schaeffer
Merriel (Snafu) Shelton S/R
E. B. Sledge
Myron Tesreau
Orly C. Uhls
W F. Vincent
NOTE:
W/R—wounded returned to duty; W/NE—wounded not evacuated; S/R—sick returned to duty.
Of the approximately 65 Peleliu veterans who landed with the company on Okinawa, only the above survived death, injury, or illness, and were present at the end of the battle. Many of the above had been wounded on Cape Gloucester or Peleliu.
IBLIOGRAPHY
The books and documents listed here are not the only accounts and references to the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa, nor should the reader construe them to be suggestions for further reading. My story is personal. It relates what I saw and knew. I used the following references to check my facts for the few pieces of connecting tissue I've included to orient the reader to the larger war that raged around me and to be sure I had the names and places right.
Appleman, Roy E., et al.
Okinawa: The Last Battle.
Washington: Historical Division, Department of the Army, 1948.
Davis, Burke.
Marine! The Life of Lieutenant General Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962.
Davis, Russell.
Marine at War.
Scholastic Book Services, N.Y., 1961.
Falk, Stanley.
Bloodiest Victory: Palaus.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1974.
Frank, Benis M.
Okinawa: Touchstone to Victory.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1974.
Frank, Benis M. and Henry I. Shaw, Jr.
Victory and Occupation: History of Marine Corps Operations in World War II,
Vol. V Washington: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps (hereinafter HQMC), 1968.
Garand, George W and Truman R. Strobridge.
Western Pacific Operations: History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II,
Vol. IV Washington: Historical Division, HQMC, 1971.
Heinl, Robert D., Jr.
Soldiers of the Sea: The United States Marine Corps, 1775-1962.
Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1962.
Hough, Maj. Frank O.
The Assault on Peleliu.
Washington: Historical Division, HQMC, 1950.
Hunt, George P.
Coral Comes High.
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946.
Isley Jeter A. and Philip Crowl.
The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951.
James, D. Clayton.
The Years of MacArthur
Vol. II, 1941-45. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1975.
Leckie, Robert.
Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan.
New York: Random House, 1962.
Mayer, S. L., ed.
The Japanese War Machine.
Secaucus, N.J.: Chartwell Books, 1976.
McMillan, George.
The Old Breed: A History of the First Marine Division in World War II.
Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1949.
Moran, John A.
Creating a Legend.
Chicago: Publishing Division, Moran/Andrews, Inc., 1973.
Morison, Samuel Eliot.
The Two-Ocean War.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963.
Moskin, J. Robert.
The U.S. Marine Corps Story.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977.
Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps: Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. From 1 September to 30 September, 1944, inclusive; from 1 October to 31 October, 1944, inclusive; from 1 April to 30 April, 1945, inclusive; from 1 May to 31 May, 1945, inclusive; from 1 June to 30 June, 1945, inclusive. Washington: History and Museums Division, HQMC.
Nichols, Charles S., Jr., and Henry I. Shaw, Jr.
Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific.
Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1966. Originally published in 1955 by the Historical Branch, G-3 Division, HQMC.
Paige, Mitchell.
A Marine Named Mitch.
New York: Vantage Press, 1975.
Shaw, Henry I., Jr., Bernard C. Nalty and Edwin T. Turnbladh.
Central Pacific Drive: History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II,
Vol. III. Washington: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, HQMC, 1966.
Smith, S. E., ed. and comp.
The United States Marine Corps in World War II
New York: Random House, 1969.
Steinberg, Rafael.
Island Fighting.
Morristown, N.J.: Time-Life Books, 1978.
Stockman, James R.
The First Marine Division on Okinawa: 1 April-30 June 1945.
Washington: Historical Division, HQMC, 1946.
Time
Magazine, 9 October 1944, p. 29; and 16 October 1944, p. 38.
Toland, John.
The Rising Sun.
New York: Random House, 1970.
United States 1st Marine Division. Operation Plan 1-44. Annex A, B Serial 0003 over 1990-5-80 over 45/8332; dated 15 Aug 1944.
———Palau Operation, Special Action Report, Serial 0775 over 1990-5-80 over 45/8390; dated 13 Sept 1944.
———Field Order No. 1-44 through 9-44. Serial 1990-5-80 over 45/8332; dated 20 Sept, 21 Sept, 22 Sept, 25 Sept, 2 Oct., 5 Oct, 8 Oct, 10 Oct., and 13 Oct 1944.
Copyright © 1981 by E. B. Sledge
Introduction copyright © 2007 by Presidio Press, a division of Random
House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Presidio Press, an imprint of The
Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House,
Inc., New York.
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The epigraph from Kipling is from “Preface” in
Departmental Ditties
and Ballads and Barrack Room Ballads,
Macmillan and Co.,
1915.
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