March 1944 (3)

Admiral Raymond A. Spruance w/ his staff

In other areas of the Pacific during this month_____

16 March – as the Japanese 12th Destroyer Group returned home. HIJMS Shirakumo and the cargo ship, Nichiren Maru, were sunk by the US submarine Tautog off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan.

18-19 March – a US task force group bombarded Mili Island in the Marshalls from air and sea.  The battleship, USS Missouri was hit by a shell from a coastal gun and was the only ship damaged.  A two-day bombardment at Wewak on enemy positions on the northern coast of New Guinea were carried out by US destroyers.

20 March –  the invasion of Emirau Island by the USMC 4th Division went without a hitch.  There were no Japanese on the island, and so the marines were able to make an unopposed landing and complete a circle of enemy-held Rabaul.  Work began on turning the island into a powerful base. The first airfield was ready by May, and was followed by a bomber base.

30-31 March – Under command of Adm. R. A. Spruance, Commander 5th Fleet, including carriers, fast battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, attacked the Western Carolines.  Carrier-based planes struck at the Palau group with shipping as primary target. They sank 3 destroyers, 17 freighters, 5 oilers and 3 small vessels, and damaged 17 additional ships. The planes also bombed the airfields, but they did not entirely stop Japanese air activity. At the same time, our aircraft mined the waters around Palau in order to immobilize enemy shipping in the area.

Part of the force struck Yap and Ulithi on 31 March.  Although the carrier aircraft encountered active air opposition over the Palau area on both days, they quickly overcame it.  Enemy planes approached the task force on the evening of 29 March and 30 March, but were destroyed or driven off by the combat air patrols. During the 3-day operation US plane losses were 25 in combat, while the enemy had 114 planes destroyed in combat and 46 on the ground.  These attacks were successful in obtaining the desired effect, and the operation in New Guinea went forward without opposition from the Western Carolines.

31 March – Japanese Adm. Koga and Adm. Fukudome headed to Mindanao, P.I. in 2 separate seaplanes.  After encountering a storm, Koga’s aircraft disappeared and was never seen again.  Fukudome, with the plans for Operation Z in a briefcase, went down off the waters of Cebu.  He and most of the flying boat’s crew were rescued by guerrillas. [2 escaped and made it back to Japanese HQ].  The head of the local guerrillas, Lt.Col. James Cushing, radioes MacArthur via Col. Wendell Fertig.

Fukudome had convinced his captors that he was Koga and MacArthur ordered Cushing, “the enemy prisoners must be held at all costs.”  But Cushing exchanged Fukudome for a ‘truce’ between the local guerrillas and enemy Col. Onishi’s troops.  The briefcase, with TOP SECRET stamped on its contents, made its way back the Gen. Mac by way of a submarine.

Fukudome was returned to Japan in disgrace.  Adm. Soemu Toyoda replaced Koga as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, with Adm. Ryunosuki Kusaka as his Chief-of-Staff.

Click on images to enlarge.

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Current –  27 July 1953, Armistice is called in Korean War – 

https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/national-korean-war-veterans-armistice-day/

 

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Military Humor – Sad Sack – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Tatsuo Asamen – Westmorland, CA; WWII Relocation Camp; US Army, Korea, 71st Mil. Gov’t. HQ

Dave Bald Eagle Jr. – Cheyenne River Rez, Sioux Falls, SD, US Army, WWII

Tubencio Carpio – Moline, IL; US Army, WWII & Korea

Robert Cox – Hoover, AL; US Navy, WWII & Korea

John Jerome – Hanover, MA; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, (Ret. 25 yrs.)

Richard Kogut – Celoron, NY; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret.)

Tony Lukasavge – Sweet Valley, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

Michael Palazzo – Wild Wood, FL; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

Edward Roche Jr. – Chesapeake, VA; US Army, Korea, 64th Field Artillery Batt. Medical Corps, Bronze Stars

Harold Smith Jr. – Ithaca, NY; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT, Bronze Star

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