by Hugh Ambrose
6 The story of Vernon "Mike" Micheel relies upon the extensive interviews and correspondence between Micheel and the author; the Playtone Collection of interviews with Micheel, supervised by the author; the Official US Navy Personnel File of Vernon Micheel; the Flight Log of Vernon Micheel and other personal papers and orders related to his service; the Deck Log of the USS Saratoga , December 7, 1941; the Deck Logs of the USS Enterprise of 1942 (inclusive), NARA; the After Action Reports of VS-6, NARA.
7 Deck Log of the USS Saratoga, December 7, 1941.
8 The story of Dr. Sidney C. Phillips relies upon the Playtone Collection of interviews with Dr. Phillips, supervised by the author; Dr. Phillips's WWII memoir entitled "You'll Be Sor-ree," unpublished MS, author's copy courtesy of Dr. Phillips and for which the author obtained written permission to quote; the daily diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, unpublished MS, furnished by the Tatum Family; extensive correspondence and interviews by the author with Dr. Phillips; interviews with a dozen veterans of H/2/1 (Dr. Phillips's company); After Action Reports of the First Marines; Muster Rolls of 2nd Battalion, First Marines, NARA.
9 Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interview with Bruce McKenna, Playtone Collection;"The Life and Death of Manila John," Time, March 19, 1945.
10 Richard Greer interview with author, author's collection; Phyllis Basilone Cutter, "The Basilone Story," Somerset Messenger-Gazette, series beginning November 15, 1962 (hereafter PBC Articles).
11 Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, Raritan Public Library Collection, Raritan, New Jersey (hereafter referred to as RPL); PBC Articles.
12 Keith Sharon, "Shooting Star: The Story of John Basilone," Part 1, The Orange County Register online (www.ocregister.com), October 2004.
13 PBC Articles.
14 Keith Sharon, "Shooting Star: The Story of John Basilone," Part 1, The Orange County Register online (www.ocregister.com), October 2004.
15 Richard Greer interview with Bruce McKenna, Playtone Collection.
16 Official USMC Personnel File of John Basilone, NRC.
17 "Brother: Johnny Went Back to'Those Kids' at War," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.
18 Baldwin, " The Fourth Marines at Corregidor: Part I," p. 15.
19 Ibid.
20 Condit and Turnbladh, Hold High the Torch, p. 202.
21 William Milhoun, "Awn Up Reep!" Leatherneck, April 1946, vol. 29, #4, p. 19.
22 Condit and Turnbladh, Hold High the Torch, p. 219.
23 Baldwin, " The Fourth Marines at Corregidor: Part I," p. 52.
24 Ibid.
25 John Costello, The Pacific War (New York: Quill, 1982), p. 196.
26 USMC Personnel File, John Basilone, author's collection.
27 "Some Find Glory, Some Find Death, Some Find Trouble," Newsweek, 1945.
28 Clinton Watters (D-1-7) interviews with author; Albert Masco (D [C?]-1-7) interview with author; Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interviews with author.
29 Fitness Reports of John Basilone January-April 1942, Basilone USMC Personnel File, author's collection.
30 USMC Personnel File, James P. Morgan, NRC.
31 Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, RPL.
32 Col. Jon T. Hoffman USMCR, Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller (New York: Random House, 2002), p. 138.
33 Marshall Moore (former CO of C-1-7) letter to Gary Cozzens, author's copy courtesy of Gary Cozzens.
34 Baldwin, " The Fourth Marines at Corregidor: Part I," p. 54.
35 Table of Transportation, Annex A to Embarkation Plan Number 1-42, 1 January 1942, RG 127, NARA.
36 "War Strikes Japan! Planes Raid 4 Industrial Areas," Honolulu Star Bulletin, April 18, 1942, p. 1.
37 Ibid. p. 4.
38 "Japanese Solve Mystery of Raids," Honolulu Star Bulletin, April 20, 1942, p. 1.
39 Commanding Officer Scouting Squadron Six, Report of Action, June 4-6, 1942, dated June 20, 1942, NARA.
40 www.cv6.org.
41 Clarence E. Dickinson, The Flying Guns (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942), p. 41. Dickinson was Micheel's division leader.
42 Edwin P. Hoyt, The Carrier War (New York: Lancer Books, 1972), p. 37.
43 Condit and Turnbladh, Hold High the Torch, p. 232.
44 Baldwin, "The Fourth Marines at Corregidor: Part II," Marine Corps Gazette, December 1946, vol. 30, #12, p. 31.
45 Ibid. p. 28.
46 Baldwin, " The Fourth Marines at Corregidor: Part IV," Marine Corps Gazette, February 1947, p. 40.
47 Report of Capt. A. C. Shofner USMC, 3 December 1943, General Subject File 1940 to 1953, Box 7, 38-2 HQ USMC, RG 127, NARA.
48 Cmdr. Melvyn McCoy USN and Lt. Col. S. M. Mellnik USA, as told to Lt. Welbourn Kelley USNR, "Prisoners of Japan," Life, February 7, 1944, vol. 16, #6, p. 27.
49 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. vii.
50 Robert J. Casey, Torpedo Junction: With the Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor to Midway (New York: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1942), p. 290. This book, by an experienced military journalist, is an excellent source of information about "what did they know and when did they know it."
51 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. vi.
52 Edward P. Stafford, The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2002), p. 84.
53 Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 337.
54 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 135.
55 Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 423.
56 Ibid. p. 340.
57 Unit Report, 3d Marine Brigade, FMF, 10 June 1942, NARA.
58 Basilone Service Record Book, Pay Book entries May-August 1942, John Basilone Official USMC File, NRC.
59 Richard Greer interview with author.
ACT II
1 Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 361. As do many other sources, Casey makes it clear that a lot of people in Hawaii, particularly within the navy, knew in some fashion about the coming battle.
2 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 137.
3 Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 374.
4 Commanding Officer USS Enterprise, Battle of Midway Island, June 4-6, 1942--Report of, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet Report, Serial 01849 of 28 June 1942, World War II Action Reports, NARA.
5 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 73.
6 In the Enterprise's report on the battle, "Air Battle of the Pacific, June 4-6, 1942, report of," by Admiral Spruance, the Japanese Fleet was said to be "maneuvering radically." Neither Micheel nor his division leader, Lt. Clarence Dickinson, recalled it that way.
7 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 172.
8 Ibid. p. 153.
9 Commanding Officer Scouting Squadron Six, Report of Action, June 4-6, 1942, dated June 20, 1942, NARA.
10 Capt. N. J. "Dusty" Kleiss e-mail to Battle of Midway Roundtable, 5 January 2008, Issue No. 2008- 02.
11 Commanding Officer Scouting Squadron Six, Report of Action, June 4-6, 1942, dated June 20, 1942, NARA.
12 In the VS-6 Action Report, June 4-6, Gallaher stated that (a) the entire Third Division failed to return and (b) William Pittman flew in the Third Division. Pittman, however, landed aboard Enterprise . The same report listed his participation in later sorties.
13 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 140.
14 Robert J. Cressman et al., A Glorious Page in Our History (Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc., 1990), p. 108.
15 Commanding Officer Scouting Squadron Six, Report of Action, June 4-6, 1942, dated June 20, 1942, NARA.
16 Cressman et al., A Glorious Page in Our History, p. 140.
17 "Jap Communique: 'We Beat the U.S. at Midway--Our Troops Are on the Aleutians,' " AP story, San Francisco Chronicle, June 11, 1942; Stafford, The Big E, p. 117.
18 Casey, Torpedo Junction, p. 396.
19 Ibid. pp. 393, 408.
20 Deck Log of USS Enterprise, June 1, 1942-Sept. 23, 1942, General Records, Logs of Ships and Stations, 1801-1946, RG 24 Records of Bureau of
Naval Personnel, NARA.
21 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. 110.
22 "Jap Battleship, Plane Carrier Hit," San Francisco Chronicle, June 5, 1942 (based upon a June 4 AP story from Honolulu), p. 1.
23 "Huge Jap Invasion Fleet Smashed at Midway--Fleeing!" San Francisco Chronicle, June 6, 1942, p. 1.
24 "Jap Disaster," San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 1942, p. 1; "Knew Jap Task Force Was Coming--and Were Ready," San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 1942, p. 3.
25 Robert Turnbull, "Eyewitness of Victory: Col. Sweeney Tells How His Squadron Smashed Japan's Invasion Attempt" (dateline: With the United States Army Air Force in the Pacific, June 11), San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 1942, p. 1.
26 Dickinson, The Flying Guns, p. vi.
27 Stafford, The Big E, p. 121.
28 Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow (New York: Random House, 1957; ibooks, 2001), p. 52.
29 "MacArthur Day: Army Plans Big Show with P-38s in Spectacular Maneuvers," San Francisco Chronicle , June 10, 1942, p. 1; "MacArthur Day: Kezar Stadium Becomes a Battleground, a Warning to All of America's Enemies," San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 1942, p. 1.
30 Stafford, The Big E, p. 119.
31 Much of the story of Shofner's life as a POW rests upon his daily diary and upon a report he wrote in Australia and submitted to MacArthur's Headquarters. The latter was dated December 3, 1943.
32 "Prisoners of Japan," Life, p. 29.
33 The Bataan Death March, documentary, Executive Producer Charlie Mayday, The History Channel.
34 "Prisoners of Japan," Life, p. 29.
35 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA; Official Flight Log of Vernon Micheel.
36 Deck Logs of USS Enterprise, June-August 1942, RG 24, Box 3, NARA.
37 Col. Clifton Cates, "Now It Can Be Told," July 30, 1942; author's copy courtesy of Dr. Sidney Phillips.
38 "Plan of the Day," August 6, 1942, USS Enterprise, www.cv6.org.
39 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA.
40 Stafford, The Big E, p. 125.
41 "Plan of the Day," August 6, 1942, USS Enterprise, www.cv6.org.
42 Ibid.
43 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA.
44 Report of Action 7 and 8 August 1942, August 22, 1942, Enterprise Air Group, Enclosure A, by CO of VB-6, RG 38, Box 351, NARA.
45 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA.
46 Report of Action 7 and 8 August 1942, August 22, 1942, Enterprise Air Group, Enclosure A, by CO of VB-6, RG 38, Box 351, NARA.
47 Commander, Enterprise Air Group, " The Tulagi-Guadalcanal Air Action and Landing Force Operation of 7-8 August, 1942--Narrative and Comments Concerning," 10 August 1942, NARA.
48 Ibid.
49 "Plan of the Day," August 11, 1942, USS Enterprise, www.cv6.org.
50 A. A. Vandegrift as told to Robert B. Asprey, Once a Marine: The Memoirs of General A. A. Vandegrift, USMC (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1964), p. 126.
51 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA.
52 Report of Action 7 and 8 August 1942, August 22, 1942, Enterprise Air Group, Enclosure A, by CO of VB-6, RG 38, Box 351, NARA.
53 Lt. Ray Davis Recommendation for a DFC, Micheel Navy File, NRC.
54 Capt. A. C. Davis's Narrative Report of Operations in Support of Guadalcanal--Tulagi Landings, Action Report, USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942, NARA.
55 Ibid.
56 "Action Report, Anti-Submarine Action by Aircraft, Report of," CO VB-6, 12 August 1942.
57 "History of the First Marine Regiment" Phase II (H Hour 7 August-Evening 9 August) 1st Marines Guadalcanal After Action Report, RG 127, Box 42, NARA.
58 Ibid.
59 Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow, p. 77.
60 "History of the First Marine Regiment" Phase II (H Hour 7 August-Evening 9 August) 1st Marines Guadalcanal After Action Report, RG 127, Box 42, NARA. This document specifically states that the captured POWs reported coming from "Guam, Japan, and Truk."
61 Commander of the Enterprise Air Group, "Report of Action in the Solomon Islands Area Aug. 22-25, 1942, Narrative," September 2, 1942, RG 38, NARA.
62 Commanding Officer of Enterprise, "Action of August 24, 1942, Including Air Attack on USS Enterprise , Report of," September 5, 1942, RG 38, NARA.
63 "Report of Action August 24, 1942," Bombing Squadron Six, August 31, 1942, RG 38, NARA.
64 USS Enterprise War Diary, August 24, 1942, www.cv6.org.
65 "Report of Action August 24, 1942," Bombing Squadron Six, August 31, 1942, RG 38, NARA.
66 Deck Logs of USS Enterprise, June-August 1942, RG 24, Box 3, NARA.
67 Henry I. Shaw Jr. and Douglas T. Kane, History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in WWII: Isolation of Rabaul, Volume II (Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Division, 1963), Appendix E; see also p. 34.
68 John Basilone USMC Service Record, NRC.
69 PBC Articles.
70 Ibid.
71 Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interviews with author.
72 Gilbert Lozier (C-1-7) interview with Gary W. Cozzens, Gary Cozzens Papers, USMC Archives, Special Collections, Quantico, Virginia. The author would like to express his appreciation to Gary Cozzens, who sent me his manuscript about C-1-7 entitled "Suicide Charlie," tracing the company's history up through Operation Desert Storm (copyright 1994). This manuscript alerted the author to the interviews of 1/7 men conducted by Mr. Cozzens as well as by the author Eric Hammel. The donations of this research by Messrs. Cozzens, himself a former CO of Charlie Company, and Hammel, a renowned author of WWII books, has allowed this author and future scholars to continue their work.
73 Hoffman, Chesty, p. 153.
74 Col. Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, Eric Hammel Papers, USMC Archives, Special Collections, Quantico, Virginia. The author's thanks to Mr. Hammel are above in entry 72.
75 Gilbert Lozier interview with Gary W. Cozzens, USMC Archives.
76 "Platoon Sergeant John Basilone," undated MS, author unknown ( John Basilone is presumed to have dictated this MS), RPL; Basilone Personnel File, USMC, NRC; Summary of Operations of the 1st Battalion, 30 September 1942, RG 127, Box 44, NARA.
77 Thomas Boyle (D- 1-7) interview with author, March 10, 2004.
78 Summary of Operations of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 18 September 1942, RG 127, Box 43, NARA; Summary of Operations of the 1st Battalion, 30 September 1942, RG 127, Box 43, NARA (hereafter Puller 1/7 Reports).
79 Albert Masco (D-1-7) interview with Bruce McKenna, Playtone Collection.
80 Puller 1/7 Reports.
81 Hoffman, Chesty, p. 157.
82 "Report on Period of Captivity," for the Commandant of the USMC, by Capt. M. H. McCoy USN, March 1946; Shofner USMC Personnel File, NRC.
83 Marshall Moore to Capt. Gary W. Cozzens, May 7, 1986, author's copy courtesy of Gary W. Cozzens.
84 "The Life and Death of Manila John," Time, March 19, 1945. There is reason to believe this letter made it past the censors, or was sent before an effective process of enforcing censorship was in place.
85 Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interview with author, March 30, 2004, file #2.
86 Puller 1/7 Reports.
87 Lester W. Clark, An Unlikely Arena (New York: Vantage Press, Inc., 1989), pp. 94-95.
88 Gilbert Lozier interview with Gary W. Cozzens, USMC Archives.
89 Muster Roll, D-1-7, October 31, 1942, NARA.
90 PBC Articles.
91 John Basilone Personnel File, NRC. The Muster Roll of Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Mari
nes recorded that John Basilone did not participate in the actions of October 7-9. The records in his personnel file, however, indicate he did.
92 Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interview with author, author's collection.
93 Capt. Marshall Moore correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
94 Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
95 Hoffman, Chesty, p. 175.
96 Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
97 Muster Rolls for C-1-7 and D-1-7, October; Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
98 Puller 1/7 Reports.
99 Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
100 PBC Articles.
101 Marshall Moore correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives; PBC Articles.
102 Lt. Col. Frank Hough et al., History of USMC Operations in WWII, Volume I (Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Divison, 1989), p. 320.
103 Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps., Company "D," 1 Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, in the field, October 1-31, 1942, USMC, NARA.
104 Marshall Moore correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
105 Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
106 Charles Kelly and Marshall Moore correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.
107 Puller 1/7 Reports; Dog Company and Charlie Company 1/7 Muster Rolls, October 1-31, 1942, NARA.
108 Richard Greer interviews with author, author's collection. Jockstrap was also mentioned in a letter from Richard Greer to John Basilone dated 1943, Basilone Family Collection.
109 PBC Articles.
110 Ibid.
111 Dog Company 1/7 Muster Roll, October 1-31, 1942, NARA.
112 Thomas G. Miller Jr., The Cactus Air Force (New York: Bantam Books, 1987), p. 126.
113 MAG23 War Diaries, August 20-November 16, 1942, Cactus Air Force, Box 14, 1054, RG 127, NARA.
114 Ibid.
115 Clark, Unlikely Arena, p. 97.
116 Miller, The Cactus Air Force, p. 73.
117 Ibid. p. 129.
118 Arvil Jones and Lulu Jones, Forgotten Warriors: Challenge at Guadalcanal (Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Co., 1994), p. 46.
119 Miller, The Cactus Air Force, p. 132.