Seaman Sal Murino
The pages, unearthed 70 years after their origin, are stark in simplicity and detail: One young man, one typewriter, together aboard the U.S.S. Doyen.
“Hello everyone!” reads a handwritten greeting on the top of page one, followed by a single-spaced report complete with wisecracks and World War II talk direct from young Sal Murino to his family.
The long, yellowing letter from the U.S. Navy man offers a first-person recitation of the fighting from Dec. 1944-March 1945 as the devastating war finally enters its final year..
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“To hear one combat fatigue(d) Marine put it who was smoking an endless chain of cigarettes — said, ‘Those bastards had us surrounded and throwing everything at us.’ Incidentally, this Marine wanted to go back and fight as he did not want to leave his buddies.”
The letters were in the custody of Murino’s niece, Marie, who across the decades tended carefully to the pages that preserved an unseen slice of history. Marie’s husband Jim, a regular reader of the Daily News, convinced her to share the letter seven decades after it reached her Brooklyn mailbox.
The missive was mailed to the entire Italiano family, living on DeGraw St. in South Brooklyn. Marie’s mother had three sisters and four brothers — Sal, Johnny and Tony were all fighting overseas.
USS Doyen
Yet progress against the tenacious Japanese fighters was slow despite the firepower — and came at a price.
His description of the war’s cost: “The task of removing the wounded was another hard job … These same wounded men not so long ago came walking up the gangplank with their rifles and equipment and now, some were able to walk by themselves and the others had to be assisted not only minus their rifles and equipment but a few with (out) their arms and limbs.”
He laid out the scene on the island of Guam, another hub of intense fighting.
“During our invasion last June it was without a question of doubt a place of ‘agony and hell’ (a partial payback for the sneaky attack on Pearl Harbor),” the sailor writes. “We saw many caves in the mountains — some as large as the tunnel of love you would find at amusement places.”
But months later, the only signs of battle were “remnants of Jap tanks, large guns still remained alongside the beaches. The natives were happy to see the Americans return.
“The majority of them wore American clothes and girls were painted with lipstick,” he wrote. “Mingling with them was entirely out, due to the old baloney of ‘military secrets.’”
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Taylor Conrad – Baton Rouge, LA; USMC, LCpl., 465th Squadron/3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, KIA
Arnold Harrison – Detroit, MI; USMC, WWII, PTO, Pfc, Co. B/1/2/2nd
Marine Div., KIA (Betio)
Richard Holley – Dayton, OH; USMC, GSgt., 465th Squadron/3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, KIA
John Kiefer – Fairport, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Charles Lazarus – WA; US Army, WWII, cryptographer
Zell Miller – Young Harris, GA; USMC, U.S. Senator & Governor
Samuel Phillips – Pinehurst, NC; USMC, 1st Lt., 465th Squadron/ 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, KIA
E.R. Reece – Klondike, OK; US Army, WWII & Korea, 24th Infantry Division
Samuel Schultz – Huntingdon Valley, PA; USMC, Captain, 465th Squadron/ 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, KIA
James Vincent – No. Sioux Falls, SD; US Army, WWII / Korea, Sgt.
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Mar 24
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Originally posted on USS Hornet (CV-12)-A Father's Untold War Story:
John T. Ryan US Navy The world is still at war and my father, Seaman First Class, John Thomas Ryan is still serving on the USS Hornet (CV-12). I recently accessed a war diary on the website Fold3. This war diary provides a…
The 31st Naval Construction Battalion on Iwo Jima
This account was submitted by: John Ratomski
A Seabee on Iwo Jima: They Also Served Who Drove Cranes and Cats -62nd SeaBee Battalion
BY: JACK CORNWELL
ON D+2 WE WERE JUST OFF THE SOUTH END OF THE ISLAND, in a Landing Ship, Tank. At about 5 p.m. we were told to report to our equipment. We started our engines, the LST opened its bow doors, and the ramp dropped. We were at Red Beach. A Caterpillar bulldozer went first, to build a dirt ramp. Once that was ready we moved out—trucks, more Cats, and my Northwest 25 crane. The noise was continuous. Wreckage was everywhere. It was getting dark when I got to shore, close to Mount Suribachi. There was a 30-degree slope up from the beach; I barely made it to the top of that volcanic sand.
My partner Red and I were to share a foxhole. Trying to move that sand was like digging flour. I took the first watch and let Red sleep. When it was his turn, he woke me up every time he heard land crabs. Finally I gave him my bolo knife and told him that only after he had shot the carbine and stuck the enemy with the bolo could he wake me.
Seabees unloading cargo on Iwo Jima’s Red Beach
We were issued D rations, bars about two-and-a-half by five-and-a-half inches that looked like chocolate but were grainy, not sweet. Three bars was one day’s supply. Navy guys on the ship had gotten into the canned goods we had stowed on the crane, but they hadn’t fooled with the five-gallon can of water we had hidden in the boom. We were thankful to have that, since we were allowed only two canteens of water a day.
On D+3 we woke at dawn but couldn’t leave our foxholes until we had clearance from security. Finally we got up, relieved ourselves—no toilet—and saw men from our battalion. Cats went to clear the beaches. Dump trucks were hauling supplies. After we hung the crane with a clam bucket—the Marines needed a water point dug across the island for distributing fresh and desalinated water—Red and I split up.
I started for the beach in the crane. A Northwest 25 was a big, slow thing on treads with a rotating cab and long boom; even with its big diesel engine it only did about two miles an hour. It was going to be a while before I could dig that water point. All around me were Marines trying to get somewhere. Right in the middle of the road some of them had dug a hole and were setting up a 105mm howitzer that they pointed at Japs a hundred yards away on some rocks. After they shot five rounds that killed everyone on the rocks they moved the gun and I filled in the hole and went down to the beach. Far enough up from the sea to avoid the tides, I dug five holes, each 20 feet in diameter, down to the water table. Other Seabees and Marines set up evaporators, pumps, and storage tanks for the water point.
SeaBees constructing the Iwo Jima command post.
I was told to go to the battalion’s new bivouac, below the old Japanese airfield nearest Suribachi. I left my machine there at the strip. At the bivouac two guys from my company and I remodeled a shell crater for our quarters. I stole a tarp to cover it. For sanitary facilities we had slit trenches we squatted over.
Around D+5, my company commander, Lieutenant Pond—I don’t think I ever knew his first name; we generally called him “Mister Pond”—told me my mother had died. There was no way he would be able to get me home to bury her. We couldn’t even move wounded men off the island. I wanted to send money for the funeral, but the paymaster was out on the ship. Lieutenant Pond loaned me $100 and took care of sending it home. He was an outstanding officer. I didn’t mind calling him “Mister.”
This piece of art was created by the Navy Seabee Waldon T. Rich, a few days after the Battle of Iwo Jima to pay tribute to the flag raising on top of Mt Suribachi.
I needed to work on the airfield, so the mechanics changed my rig over from a bucket to a shovel. I put in 9 or 10 hours a day extending the original airstrip to make it big enough to accommodate B-29s. Marines were fighting for the very piece of ground where we were trying to enlarge the strip. We had to watch out for sniper fire and mortar fire and live ammunition and mines. One evening after I finished my shift the first B-29 landed.
ON D+6 THE MAIN BODY OF THE 62ND CAME ASHORE. By D+7 the cooks and bakers had the cook tent erected and we got our first hot meal with baked bread. Marines didn’t have chow lines, just K rations, so whenever they had a chance they got into the Seabee chow line. We got water for showers from underground. It smelled like rotten eggs but it was hot enough. We made the pipes out of shell casings. The showers were out in the open with no covering. Slit trenches got upgraded to four- and six-holers.
Finding Japanese booby traps
After working about 10 days I was sent to Airfield 2, half a mile north, to help extend that strip. I had to walk the crane with the shovel on it uphill past a B-29 in a gully with other abandoned equipment. I noticed a bottle of sake and had gotten down to fetch it when a passing Marine said, “I wouldn’t handle that if I were you.” His face was bloody from hundreds of tiny holes made by a grenade. He explained that it was a booby trap and showed me the wires inside the bottle. I gently put the bottle down. He was waiting to be treated nearby at an evacuation center that was also identifying the dead. They had men going through pockets and checking dog tags and clothing and then stacking the bodies four or five high at an old Japanese revetment. It was awful gruesome.
There was a 105mm howitzer behind our bivouac. The Japanese tried to knock it out with eight-inch guns. The first shell hit about 20 feet from me and killed two of my buddies. The Japs were also using giant mortar shells that tumbled end over end in the air, making a frightening screaming noise. But they usually landed in the water. We figured they were launched from a trough, like Fourth of July skyrockets.
One day a Marine crawled up into my crane’s cab. He pointed to three guys about 100 yards away and said one was a lieutenant colonel who wanted to talk to me. I hurried over. The colonel asked how far down I could dig. Twenty-six feet, I told him.
“That ought to do it,” he said. “Can you move the rig?”
When I said yes the colonel told me I was temporarily relieved of my duties. His sergeant drove me about three-quarters of a mile to a rise called Hill 382. At the foot of the hill he showed me a flat area covered with dead Japs, big mines, and shell casings, then he drove me back to my machine. It took an hour to fuel the crane and return to the work site.
Marine flamethrower on Iwo Jima
The sergeant was waiting there with 40 Marines who spread out on either side of me. The sergeant had me move the crane forward to a cave, which the colonel told me to dig out. I dug all day. We found supplies and living quarters, but no people. That evening the Marines dug foxholes; they were on the fighting line. One drove me to my bivouac. The next morning, when we realized we wouldn’t find anything more, the Marines burned out the cave with flamethrowers. Then they sealed it. I found out later we had been looking for the Japanese commander of the island. Hill 382 became known as Meat Grinder Hill.
For 20 days I dug out caves. At some we pulled out dead Japs and rifles, pistols, and ammunition. I sold souvenirs, mostly to air force fighter personnel. One day I found a bail of tube socks. From then on I never washed socks. Every morning I would put on a new pair. I took a gun rack off a wrecked jeep and mounted it on the nose of the crane cab, which seemed a better place to keep my gun than the floor of the rig. The front windows of the cab were hinged so I could get hold of my weapon in a hurry.
For the continuation of this story and other first hand accounts about the SeaBees contributed by John Ratomski, they appear in the comments at this post – Click Here!
Click on images to enlarge.
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This week the U.S. Air Force lost 10 Great Men
Andrew Becker – Novi, MI; US Air Force, 318th Special Operations Squadron, Captain, pilot, KIA
Dashan J. Biggs – Port Jefferson Station, NY; US Air Force, Iraq, SSgt., KIA
Missing Man formation
Kenneth Dalga – Union, KY; US Air Force, 318th Special Operations Squadron Combat Systems, Captain, KIA
Frederick Dellecker – Ormond Beach, FL; US Air Force, 318th Special Operations Squadron, 1stLt., pilot, KIA
Carl P. Enis – Tallahassee, FL; US Air Force, Iraq, SSgt., KIA
Andreas B. O’Keefe – Center Moriches, NY; US Air Force, Iraq, Captain, KIA
William R. Posch – Indiatlantic, FL; US Air Force, Iraq, MSgt., KIA
Christopher J. Ruguso – Commack, NY; US Air Force, Iraq, MSgt., KIA
Mark K. Weber – Colorado Springs, CO; US Air Force, Iraq, Captain, KIA
Christopher T. Zanetis – Long Island City, NY; Iraq, Captain, KIA
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Bombs from US Army 7th Air Force drop on Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was more than just another strategic island fight in the US military’s struggle with Imperial Japan during WWII. It was a key stepping stone for the planned invasion of Japan. It was a battle with heavy losses, great heroism, and eventual controversy.
By the start of 1945, the American military were planning an invasion of Japan, intended to take that country out of the war. In preparation, they began bombing campaigns against the Japanese mainland, softening it up ready for the attack. Everyone knew that it would be a brutal struggle – the Japanese were fighting tenaciously for every inch of ground, and would be even more determined in defending their homeland. But with the Manhattan Project still a closely guarded secret, to most people it looked like the only way to win the war.
Taking off from the Mariana Islands, B-29 Superfortresses took 3000 mile round trips to bomb Japan. It was a long journey, tough on the pilots, planes and fuel supplies. Flying so far from base, the Superfortresses lacked fighter protection, making them vulnerable to Japanese defenders.
Iwo Jima, regarded by the Japanese as an unsinkable aircraft carrier, lay only 760 miles from Japan. The Japanese were using its fighter base and radar to take out the American bombers. Capturing it would be a double victory for the Americans – taking out those defenses, and putting their own fighters close enough to support US bombers on raids over Japan.
USS New York firing 356mm guns on Iwo Jima, 16 Feb. 1945
Five miles long and two-and-a-half miles wide at its broadest, Iwo Jima was the best-defended spot in Japan’s Pacific empire. Its tough defenses were manned by 21,000 soldiers led by Lt.General Kuribayashi Tadamichi. Delays in launching the invasion gave General Kuribayashi time to reinforce the defenses, despite bomber attacks.
Air strikes, rockets, napalm and the shells of naval guns pounded the defensive positions. Some bunkers and caves were destroyed, but the Japanese remained well dug in and determined. They had been preparing for this moment for nearly a year. They would not be easily broken.
On the night of 18 February 1945, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, overall commander of the invasion, arrived at Iwo Jima along with Task Force 58, a vast carrier fleet.
As 19 February began, landing craft headed toward the beaches under a clear, bright sky. There would be no helpful gloom or fog to help the marines and soldiers hide from enemy guns.
The first troops, mostly marines hit land at one minute to nine, welcomed by desultory fire from rifles and mortars, as you saw in the video. Crossing the beaches, they hit fifteen-foot slopes of ash that had been spewed out by the island’s volcanic mountains. This soft black mass was tough to cross, forcing men to abandon equipment to continue their advance. It was impossible to dig foxholes in ash, the upside being that it absorbed some enemy shrapnel.
1st Battalion/23rd Marines burrow in on Yellow Beach
The slow rate of fire from the enemy made the Americans think they would face little opposition from a broken Japanese force, but Kuribayashi had held back his men’s fire for an hour while the beaches became rammed full of troops and equipment – Then he unleashed the full fury of guns, mortars and artillery.
Under intense fire, the Americans pushed hard to get off the beaches and reach their objectives. Transport vehicles became bogged down in the ash, forcing men to slog through it on foot.
Japanese bunker on Iwo Jima
The Japanese held out in bunkers connected by a tunnel network. The Americans would clear out a bunker with grenades and flamethrowers then move on, only for the Japanese to reoccupy the bunker by underground routes and fire on them from behind.
By the end of 19 February, the 28th Marine Regiment had crossed the island at its narrowest point, where it was only half a mile across, cutting off the Japanese at Mount Suribachi. One of the two airfields had also been taken.
References: Hyperwar; WW2today; War Histor online
Click on images to enlarge.
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Clyde Barth – McAlisterville, PA; US Army, WWII / USMC, Korea
Linda Campbell – Portland, OR; US Air Force (Ret.), Lt.Colonel
Michael Ferriolo – Corona, NY; US Army, Medical Corps
William Hartley – Macon, GA; US Army, Medical Corps, Captain
George Lagasse – Manchester, NH; US Navy, WWII, USS Essex
Basil Nickerson – Ketchikan, AK; US Navy, WWII, USS Broome
Ono ‘Peggy’ Olson – Ferryville, WI; US Navy WAVES, WWII, 12th Regiment
Billy Sheppard – Alamogordo, NM; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Hudson
Johnny Weidkamp – Bellingham, WA; US Merchant Marine, WWII
John Zucco – Boston, MA; USMC, WWII, USS Alaska
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From: “Japanese Destroyer Captain” by IJN Capt. Tameichi Hara____
After heavy preliminary bombardment, the Americans began the invasion of Iwo Jima… Not a single Japanese warship was sent to oppose this enemy landing, only 700 miles from the homeland. Meanwhile the bombing of Japanese cities by B-29 Superforts from Marianas bases continued with increasing intensity.
Nothing I write could possibly give you the feeling of this operation – so please watch this documentary that gives both American and Japanese thoughts on this 19 February 1945!
I realize this is rather long, so if you have limited time, I suggest watching the first few minutes – still – it is very impressive!
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Murray Barton – NYC, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO
Rayner Broadbent – Waikato, NZ; RNZ Navy # 8573, WWII, submarine service
Ralph Casale – Chelmsford, NH; USMC, WWII, frogman
Donald Gilbert – Greenville, OH; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
John Herberg – Eau Claire, WI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, pilot (Ret. 30 y.)
Ernell Hermanson – Albuquerque, NM; US Army, WWII
John McShane – Boston, MA; US Army, 187th RCT, infantryman
William Shank – US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 8th Air Force
Kenneth Taylor – Montreal, CAN; RC Navy, WWII, Signalman, HMCS Inch Arran
Ralph Wasserman – St. Paul, MN, US Navy, WWII, PTO, radioman
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Nichols Field bombing, 6 Feb. 1945
The 6th and 8th Armies on Luzon were repeatedly in close and brutal combat with the Japanese. By dawn on 4 February the paratroopers ran into increasingly heavy and harassing fire from Japanese riflemen and machine gunners. At the Paranaque River, just south of the Manila city limits, the battalion halted at a badly damaged bridge only to be battered by Japanese artillery fire from Nichols Field. The 11th Airborne Division had reached the main Japanese defenses south of the capital and could go no further.
US Army on Luzon, February 1945
Regarding Manila as indefensible, General Yamashita had originally ordered the commander of Shimbu Group, General Yokoyama Shizuo, to destroy all bridges and other vital installations and evacuate the city as soon as strong American forces made their appearance. However, Rear Adm. Iwabachi Sanji, the naval commander for the Manila area, vowed to resist the Americans and countermanded the order. Determined to support the admiral as best he could, Yokoyama contributed three Army battalions to Iwabachi’s 16,000-man Manila Naval Defense Force and prepared for battle. The sailors knew little about infantry tactics or street fighting, but they were well armed and entrenched throughout the capital. Iwabachi resolved to fight to the last man.
11th Airborne Div. path into Luzon
On 4 February 1945, General MacArthur announced the imminent recapture of the capital while his staff planned a victory parade. But the battle for Manila had barely begun. Almost at once the 1st Cavalry Division in the north and the 11th Airborne Division in the south reported stiffening Japanese resistance to further advances into the city. As one airborne company commander remarked in mock seriousness, “Tell Halsey to stop looking for the Jap Fleet; it’s dying on Nichols Field.” All thoughts of a parade had to be put aside.
Entering Manila
The final attack on the outer Japanese defenses came from the 11th Airborne Division, under the XIV Corps control since 10 February. The division had been halted at Nichols Field on the fourth and since then had been battling firmly entrenched Japanese naval troops, backed up by heavy fire from concealed artillery. Only on 11 February did the airfield finally fall to the paratroopers, but the acquisition allowed the 11th Airborne Division to complete the American encirclement of Manila on the night of the twelfth.
Corregidor, aerial view
As February opened, the 7th Allied Air Force continually bombed Iwo Jima, Marcus Island and Corregidor, while the 5th Allied Air Force not only targeted Corregidor as well, but Cavite, Cebu City, enemy positions on Mindanao and Borneo.
[Actually, since 15 June 1944, the US Navy and Army Air Forces together began naval bombardments and air raids against Iwo Jima, which would become the longest and most intense in the Pacific theater. These would contain a combination of naval artillery shellings and aerial bombings that went on for nine months. On 17 June, the, USS Blessman sent Underwater demolition Team 15 (UDT-15) toward Blue Beach for reconnaissance. The Japanese infantry fired on them, killing one American diver. On the evening of 18 June, the Blessman was hit by a bomb from a Japanese warplane, killing 40 sailors, including 15 members of her UDT.]
Unaware of Kuribayashi’s tunnel defense system on Iwo Jima, many of the Americans assumed the majority of the Japanese garrison were killed by the constant bombing raids. “Well, this will be easy. The Japanese will surrender Iwo Jima without a fight.” – Chester W. Nimitz
References: “Angels: The History of the 11th Airborne Division by Gen. EM Flanagan Jr.; US Army History: Luzon; Pacific Wrecks & US Navy records; “Our Jungle Road To Tokyo” by Gen. Robert Eichelberger.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Horace Ashenfelter – Phoenixville, PA; US Air Force, pilot / Olympic Gold medal / FBI
Dominick Bove – Wilmington, DE; USMC, WWII, PTO, 3rd Division, Bronze Star
Marshall Clark – Frewsburg, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot
Donald Dammert – Cincinnatti, OH; US Navy, WWII
James Holton – Alma, GA; US Army, Vietnam
Ray Jones – Greenwood, WV; US Army, WWII
John Peter Jr. – Belleville, IL; US Army, 11th Airborne Division, medic
Donald Solin – W.AUS; RA Air Force, WWII, ETO, pilot
James Speed – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 74023
Bruce ‘Bear’ Whitehouse – Bloomfield, NJ; US Army, Korea, 73rd Tank Battalion
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Gen. Eichelberger (C) w/ Gen. Swing (R)
21 January 1945 – Gen. Swing announced to his 11th Airborne Division that he was ordering up a review as they were transferring to the 8th Army and the reviewing officer would be none other than Gen. Robert Eichelberger. Swing had received Field Order Number 17 which gave him the order to prepare for Luzon.
Luzon was the most populated, most highly developed and the historical island in the archipelago. It was a land of wild boars, birds, snakes, reptiles, feral dogs, tons of insects and an enemy hiding within the cogon grass at every turn. (the plant had coarse spikes with “silky” hairs that made your skin feel as those hundreds of critters crawled beneath it.) There was always a threat of dengue fever, that is contracted from a mosquito and if left untreated resulted in bleeding and death, and we can’t forget malaria.
The 6th Army, under Gen. Krueger, was already in the midst of all this trying to reach Manila. MacArthur had told Eichelberger how upset he was at their slow progress to get to the capital and added, “speed up your ‘palsey-walsey,’ Krueger doesn’t radiate courage.” Ergo – a rivalry was born and a race between the 6th and 8th Armies would exist – the problem was – the 11th A/B had been given more than one priority as their mission.
As X-Day approached, the pace of activity increased dramatically. The division’s supply loading plan put the responsibility on the unit commanders. The G-4, Roy Stout, set up a special section to load the 11th and all ran efficiently despite not knowing what vessels the Navy would be sending. But on 25 January, most of the supply ships were completely loaded within 24 hours.
The LCI’s (Landing Craft Infantry), arrived at 0700 hours on 27 January and a convoy of almost 100 ships pulled out to sea that afternoon,under the command of Adm. Fechteler, and headed south through Mindanao Sea and then swung north. The LCI’s were crowded and there were no cooking facilities, the men ate “10-in-1” rations rather than having the customary steak and eggs before a landing.
Most of the sailing days were spent in map study, planning and orientation. All the troopers would be so well briefed on the terrain from aerial photographs and mock-up reliefs that their landing somehow felt like deja-vu. Excess baggage was not carried – only what the men could carry on their backs. Personal baggage would not be seen for 2 months.
General Eichelberger wrote his wife, Miss Em, of the beauty in watching the large naval convoy and he marveled at their expertise. He noted the Navy’s ability to keep their sense of humor, despite the seriousness of their voyage. Before landing on 31 January, he heard over the loud speaker system, “Sick call _ all sick, lame and lazy report to sick bay.” He also commented that Gen. Swing was grand to deal with.
Eichelberger would write in his book, “Now the stage was set for what I regard as one of the most thrilling exploits for the Pacific War – the 11th Airborne’s dash for Manila”
References: “Our Road to Tokyo”, by Gen. Robert Eichelberger; “The Angels: A History of the 11th Airborne Division,” by Gen. E.M. Flanagan Jr.
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Melton Austin – Live Oak, FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Air-Sea Rescue Squad
Dave Barnett – Charlotte, NC; US Army, WWII, PTO
Charles Cooper III – Dover, DE; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Capt., USS Hornet, Washington & San Diego
William Darr Jr. – Dyer, AR; US Army, WWII
Mihail Golin – Riga, LAT; US Army, Iran & Afghanistan, Sgt. 1st Class, KIA
Jacob Hagopian – Providence, RI; US Army Air Corps, WWII & Korea, Col.(Ret.), 11th A/B & 82nd A/B divisions
Ben Jones – Chestertown, MD; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star
Joseph Medina (103) – MN; US Army, WWII, PTO
Chester Roberts Sr. – Coatesville, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Ronald Scott – Claremore, OK; US Air Force, Vietnam, Col., pilot, Silver Star, KIA
Vito Truglio – Staten Island, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Shangri-la
Marjorie Harris White – Creswick, AUS; AWAS # 11483, WWII
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Movements of Task Force-38
Except for submarines, Task Force-38 was the first appreciable presence of U.S. forces in the South China Sea. The ‘Great Fleet’ under VAdm. John McCain consisted of 8 carriers, 4 light-carriers, 19 other capital (war) ships, 56 screening vessels and various logical support ships. Their mission, Operation Gratitude, was to disrupt the Japanese Navy and interrupt the vital support lanes from Singapore and Indochina.
TF-38 spent 2 days avoiding detection from the enemy and staying clear of the typhoon brewing over the island of Mindanao. On the 12th, they arrived 65 miles off Can Ranh Bay in French Indochina (Vietnam). Halsey’s intelligence proved false as to the activity in the area, so alternative plans were put into action.
USS Essex pilots: Hartsock, Parker, Finn and Libbey, Jan. 1945. US Navy photo
Waves of US aircraft scoured the Indochinese coast from Qui Nhon to Saigon. Clusters of merchant ship and escort vessels were attacked, as were concentrations found in Saigon Harbor on the Mekong River. Convoy HI-86, north of Qui Nhon, consisted of 10 merchant ships and 6 escorts and drew attention that was an average for the day.
2 freighters and i tanker sunk by Ticonderoga aircraft, Saigon
The full strikes of 30-40 planes each from the carriers Hancock, Hornet (Essex-class), Ticonderoga, Essex, Langley, Lexington (Essex-class), and Independence. The result was that only 3 smaller enemy escorts remained afloat, the rest were either sunk, left beached or burning.
USS Sullivans & Astoria fuel up from the Taluga 62. Halsey’s flagship New Jersey in the background.
The absence of air opposition allowed all this damage to be accomplished. At the end of that single day, a total of 41 ships throughout the region were sunk, 31 damaged and 112 aircraft were destroyed on the ground. In addition to all this, docks, oil storage tanks, and airfields were heavily damaged.
USS Astoria guad-40mm hun crew
The results of this day drastically reduced the Japanese ability to ship goods along this route and Japan would feel the effects for a long time to come. Robert Sherrod, a Time Magazine correspondent, flew as an observer in one of the Essex aircraft, summed up the day by saying, “By any accounting, 12 January 1945 must be regarded as one of the greatest days of the U.S. Navy.”
With the typhoon now moving westward, TF-38 moved across the South China Sea and northward. After they refueled, they were in position to strike Formosa again on the 15th. These strikes were successful, but not as dramatic as the previous ones and they proceeded to backtrack westward again.
Japanese convoy off French Indochina, 12 Jan. ’45
On the 16th, they launched strikes against Hong Kong and the island of Hainan. The Formosa, Hong Kong and Hainan missions encountered a better organized anti-aircraft fire than Indochina, but it did not hold back the attack. During these 2 days, another 14 Japanese ships (mostly warships) were sunk and 10 more were damaged.
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USMC Captain Gerard Armitage was washed overboard from the USS Astoria‘s port beam; Herman Schnipper took the photograph. Joe Aman drew the cartoons for the USS Astoria ‘Morning Press News’.
As you can see below – Capt. Armitage was rescued from the sea, but the seamen on board were not satisfied to simply do that for the Marine. When he got back on board ship the men serenaded him with their own version of a popular song….
The Captain of the Marines went over the rail, parlez vous
It happened in a terrific gale, parlez vous
He slipped on the deck and slid on his tail
You’ll never teach a Marine to sail
Inky-dinky parlez vous.
_____ J.Fred Lind
Once dry and having a meal in the mess, Capt. Armitage was awarded the “Extinguished Service Cross” – It just happened to be his 24th Birthday!!
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Gary Asles – Long Beach, CA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
John Balog – Wichita, KS; US navy, WWII, PTO, Yeoman, USS Anthony, gunner
111024-N-WD757-029
SAN DIEGO (Oct. 24, 2011) Ceremonial honor guard during the funeral for retired Vice Adm. Paul F. McCarthy. McCarthy passed away on October 5, 2011. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Carlos M. Vazquez II/Released)
Charles Cooper – Dover, DE; US Navy, WWII, Captain, USS Hornet, Washington & San Diego
Harry Doerfler – Amarillo, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, 424/106th Infantry Division
Jay Ewing – AR; US Army, WWII, PTO, ambulance driver
Joseph Hanoon – Philadelphia, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Enterprise
Merv Martin – Paeroa, NZ; RNZ Navy # 13636, Korea
Frank Nolte – Albuquerque, NM; US Army, Korea, Co.K/187th RCT
Marvin Peters – Longmont, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 gunner
John Turek Sr. – brn. POL/Newington, CT; US Army, WWII, Cpl., mechanic
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USS Ommaney Bay, January 1945
The USS Louisville is struck by a kamikaze Yokosuka D4Y at the Battle of Lingayen Gulf, 6 January 1945
On 2 January, the US carrier, USS Ommaney Bay, was severely damaged by a kamikaze aircraft and would later need to be scuttled. Three days later, the cruiser, USS Columbia, was also damaged when she was hit by 2 of the Japanese suicide planes. US shipping received relentless kamikaze strikes that cost the Navy more than 1000 men due to those 30 hits.
Beginning on 6 January, a heavy naval and air bombardment of suspected Japanese defenses on Lingayen began. Aircraft and naval artillery bombardment of the soon-to-be landing areas occurred, with kamikazes attacking again on the 7th.
USS Columbia hit by kamikaze
On the 8th, it was observed that in the town of Lingayen, as a response to the prelanding shelling, Filipinos had begun to form a parade, complete with United States and Philippine flags – firing was shifted away from that area.
The USS Louisville had been hit on the 5th of January with one man killed and 52 wounded, including the captain. The following day she was attacked by six successive plane, 5 were shot down, but one got through.
USS Louisville, hit by kamikaze
The strike on the Louisville was also notable for the death of RAdmiral Theodore Chandler, commanding the battleships and cruiser in Lingayen Gulf. He was badly burned when his Flag ship was engulfed in flames, but jumped down to the signal deck and deployed hoses to the enlisted men before waiting in line for treatment with the other wounded sailors. However, his lungs had been scorched by the petroleum flash and he died the following day.
Rear Admiral Theodore Edson Chandler
An eye witness account of the attack on the USS Louisville, from John Duffy:
“All of a sudden, the ship shuddered and I knew we were hit again. I was in charge of the 1st Division men and I yelled, “We’re hit, let’s go men!” I was the first man out the Turret door followed by Lt.Commmander Foster and Lt. Hastin, our Division Officer, then a dozen more men.
“The starboard side of the ship was on fire from the forecastle deck down. One almost naked body was laying about ten feet from the turret with the top of his head missing. It was the kamikaze pilot that had hit us. He made a direct hit on the Communications deck.
“As the men poured out of the turret behind me, they just stood there in shock. Explosions were still coming from the ammunition lockers at the scene of the crash. We could see fire there too. Injured men were screaming for help on the Communications Deck above us. I ordered 2 men to put out the fire on the starboard side by leaning over the side with a hose. That fire was coming from a ruptured aviation fuel pipe that runs full length of the forecastle on the outside of the ship’s hull. That fuel pipe was probably hit by machine-gun bullets from the kamikaze just before he slammed into us.
“Although there was no easy access to the deck above us, I ordered several men to scale up the side of the bulkhead (wall) and aid the badly burned victims who were standing there like zombies. I also ordered 3 men to crawl under the rear Turret 1’s overhang, open the hatch there and get the additional fire hose from Officers Quarters. These 3 orders were given only seconds apart and everyone responded immediately, but when they got near the dead Jap’s body, which was lying right in the way, it slowed them down…”
For some additional information on the Kamikaze, Click HERE.
The HMAS Australia was included in this fleet and would also come under heavy attack. Her full story will be the following post.
Click on images to enlarge
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“I wish they’d get someone else to make up the mess duty roster!”
“Hold it , sailor! – Let’s see your orders!”
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Robert Chapman – Macon, GA; US Army, WWII, PTO
George Cramer – Prichard, AL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Major, B-17 belly gunner
Peter Ferracuti – Ottawa, IL; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Charles Galloway – Clinton, SC; US Army (Ret.), WWII, Korea & Vietnam
Margaret Glazener – NC; US War Dept.; code breaker
William Hayes – London, ENG; RAF, CBI
Vance Larson – Saskatoon, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, Captain
Richard Nichols – Billings, MT; US Army (Ret. 22 y.), 11th, 82nd & 101st Airborne Divisions, 2 bronze Stars
Thomas O’Brien – Broad Channel, NY; US Navy, WWII
Daphne White – Melbourne, AUS; Women’s British Air Force, WWII
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Major Thomas McGuire,
As the fighting for the 11th Airborne on Leyte came to a close, the battalions worked their way back to Bito Beach. The 674th and 675th Glider Field Artillery and the 457th Parachute Field Artillery remained in strategic positions to cover them.
The Luzon Attack Force, commanded by VAdmiral Kinkaid, under MacArthur, was composed of 7th Fleet units and numbered more than 850 ships. This was divided into the Lingayen Attack Force (Vice Admiral Wilkinson commanding), the San Fabian Attack Force (Vice Admiral Barbey), a reinforcement group (R Admiral Conolly commanding), a fire support and bombardment group ( VAdmiral Oldendorf ) and surface and air covering groups (Rear Admiral Berkey and Rear Admiral C.T. Durgin, respectively, commanding). The Luzon Attack Force was to transport, put ashore and support elements of the 6th U.S. Army (Lieutenant General Walter Krueger) to assist in the seizure and development of the Lingayen area.
2→3 January – A military report showed that 111 enemy aircraft were destroyed on and above Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands. B-24’s bit Haha Jima and Iwo Jima over a seven hour period and areas of Luzon and the Netherland East Indies (NEI) continued to be hit.
In preparation for the upcoming invasions of Iwo Jima, Okinawa and eventually Japan, Gen. MacArthur was placed in command of US ground forces and Adm. Nimitz over all naval forces.
3→4 January – the 3rd Fleet, operating under Admiral Halsey, with its fast carrier task force commanded by VAdmiral McCain, was to cover and protect the operation by air strikes over Luzon. There was little airborne opposition, but unfavorable weather conditions somewhat reduced the toll of enemy ships, planes and facilities destroyed.
Early in January, Japan’s General Yamashita pulled his Fourteenth Army (260,000 men) back off of Luzon’s beach to conserve them. He was aware of the forthcoming invasions of American troops.
Japanese division of troops on Luzon
Yamashita divided his men into three defensive groups; the largest, the Shobu Group, under his personal command numbered 152,000 troops, defended northern Luzon. The smallest group, totaling 30,000 troops, known as the Kembu Group, under the command of Tsukada, defended Bataan and the western shores. The last group, the Shimbu Group, totaling 80,000 men under the command of Yokoyama, defended Manila and southern Luzon.
Yamashita tried to rebuild his army but was forced to retreat from Manila to the Sierra Madre Mts. of northern Luzon, as well as the Cordillera Central Mts. Yamashita ordered all troops, except those tasked with security, out of the city.
Almost immediately, IJN RAdm. Sanji Iwabuchi re-occupied Manila with 16,000 sailors, with the intent of destroying all port facilities and naval storehouses. Once there, Iwabuchi took command of the 3,750 Army security troops, and against Yamashita’s specific order, turned the city into a battlefield.
USS Spot
6 January – The naval battle of Lingayen Gulf will be published in a following post.
7 January – US pilot and ace, Mj. Thomas McGuire (38 victories) was killed in a low-level combat with a group of Japanese Zero fighters, led by Shiochi Sugita, the 3rd highest scoring ace of the IJN Air Force, over Negros Island.
USS Spot sank 2 Japanese trawlers with her deck gun in the yellow Sea and US aircraft over the South China Sea sank IJN landing ship No. 112.
Resources: World War II Database; Angels: A History of the 11th Airborne, by Gen. EM Flanagan; US Army Green Books; US Navy reports.
Click on images to enlarge.
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William Brennan – Manitowoc, WI; US Army, Korea, 25th Infantry Division, Col (Ret.), Bronze Star
Paul Ciccarelli – Monessen, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 188th/11th Airborne Division
Thomas Ender – Diamondhead, MS; US Merchant Marine, WWII
Sixto Fernandez – Las Cruces, NM; US Army, 82nd Airborne Division
Wesley Fox – Blackburg, VA; USMC, Korea, Vietnam, colonel (Ret. 43 Y.), Medal of Honor
Harold “Tidley” Hannon – Scranton, PA; USMC, WWII, PTO, Pfc, KIA (Tarawa)
Robert Mains – Rochester, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st LT, B-24 pilot, KIA
Todd L. McGurn – Riverside, CA; US Army, Iraq, Cpl., 1st Armored Division
Marvin Peters – Longmont, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 gunner
David Swidler – Oklahoma City; US Army, Korea
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