by Hugh Ambrose
416 Clinton Watters interview, author's collection.
417 PBC Articles.
418 John Basilone letter to parents, undated, Basilone Family Collection.
419 Shofner, "WWII Memories," p. 85.
420 "Memo to 6th Army G-2," dictated by Austin Shofner, January 23, 1945, RG 338, Entry 44469, Box 24, Folder 383.6, and attached routing slip signed by Col. Horton White and others, NARA.
421 Austin Shofner wrote in his "WWII Memories" (p. 85) that Admiral Nimitz had requested Shofner's presence and that he served alongside General Krueger on that assignment. The orders found in Shofner's USMC service file, however, show that this assignment came from the 1st Division staff. The memo Shofner dictated was completed by the staff of the 37th Division, who forwarded it up to Krueger's HQ. Shofner also insisted that he was there to greet the POWs freed from Cabanatuan on January 31, 1945. His orders, as well as the account he wrote in 1945, make clear that he departed Luzon on January 23, before the "Great Raid" began.
422 Harry Bender interview, author's collection.
423 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, " To All Hands," 1982, SCAU.
424 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 87.
425 Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview, Playtone Collection.
426 J. R. Kerin, unpublished memoir and interview with author; Calvin Anderson and Adolf Brusa interviews with author.
427 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, p. 146.
428 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, pp. 474, 523.
429 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 35.
430 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, p. 137.
431 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. xi.
432 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 473; Adolf Brusa interview, author's collection.
433 C/1/27 Machine Gun Platoon Roster, courtesy of Clinton Watters.
434 Clinton Watters interview with author; Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview with author.
435 Charles "Chuck" Tatum e-mail to author, author's collection; Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 123.
436 Lynn Kessler, Never in Doubt (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1999), p. 53.
437 John Basilone USMC Service File.
438 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 40.
439 Kessler, Never in Doubt, p. 53; Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 134.
440 Tom Lea, "Peleliu," Life, January 1945, p. 61.
441 J-O-U-R-N-A-L, UNIT Headquarters, 1st Bn, 27th Mar, 5th MarDiv, 0800 19 Feb 1945 to 1600 19 Feb 1945, NARA.
442 Ibid.
443 Report by CO of C-1-27, April 24, 1945; Navy Cross Citation for John Basilone, Basilone USMC Personnel File, NRC.
444 Bob Gallo article, undated and unidentified newspaper, RPL. An article in Newsweek from 1945 has a similar quote from Basilone at this moment.
445 Roy Elsner interview; Joe Rawlinger interview, May 3, 2004; William Weber e-mail to author; all in author's collection.
446 Charles "Chuck" Tatum, "The Death of Manila John Basilone," unpublished MS; Charles "Chuck" Tatum interviews, author's collection.
447 Chuck Tatum's account, written in "The Death of Manila John Basilone" as well as delivered in an interview (Playtone Collection), differed somewhat from that found in the Navy Cross Citation, which has John destroying the pillbox "single- handedly."
448 Tatum, " The Death of Manila John Basilone."
449 Tatum, "The Death of Manila John Basilone"; Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview, Playtone Collection.
450 Company C. Report, 24 April, 1945, Basilone USMC Personnel File, NRC; Statement of Witness George Migyanko (C-1-27) 24 April 1945 for Basilone's Navy Cross Citation; Adolf Brusa interview, author's collection.
451 J-O-U-R-N-A-L, UNIT Headquarters, 1st Bn, 27th Mar, 5th MarDiv, 0800 19 Feb 1945 to 1600 19 Feb 1945, NARA.
452 TransDiv 47 1st Trip of Boats, RG 127, NARA.
453 Roy Elsner interview; Tatum, " The Death of Manila John Basilone"; Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview; Joe Rawlinger interview; Calvin Anderson interview; Jim Turner (A-1-27) interview; William Weber (C-1-27) e-mail; all from author's collection.
454 Clinton Watters interview and e-mail, author's collection. In fairness to Mr. Watters, his doubts about the account by Mr. Tatum concerning his action with Basilone should be mentioned here.
455 Roy Elsner interview; Tatum, " The Death of Manila John Basilone"; Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview; Joe Rawlinger interview; Calvin Anderson interview; Jim Turner interview; William Weber (C-1-27) e-mail; all from author's collection. In The Spearhead, p. 48, Howard Conner stated that four men were hit with him.
456 Basilone Medical File, "Abstract of Medical History," February 19, 1945, Basilone USMC Personnel File. A fair number of veterans interviewed for this project claimed to have been nearby when John Basilone was killed. All of them give different versions, but they agree that a mortar round killed John, which is the version found in written accounts. With all marines dressed alike, and with all the witnesses in extremis at that moment, it is possible that their memories have been clouded by the fog of war. In the case of the written accounts, these were not informed by the medical file cited here. Since the men of Graves Registration had to examine the body and take the dog tags and keep records and bury the body, their account is definitive.
457 Col. J. Shelton Scales USMCR to author, September 10, 2007, author's collection; Adolf Brusa interview, Charles "Chuck" Tatum interview, and Clinton Watters interview, all from author's collection; Kessler, Never in Doubt, p. 123.
458 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 148.
459 Daily Diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, entry of November 24, 1944, author's copy courtesy of Tatum Family.
460 Scout Article; Barbara Gardiner interview and Lucille Otis interview, both from author's collection; Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
461 "Marine Company get final arms inspection by officers of Co under Lt. Col. Shofner," March 29, 1945, is the USMC Photograph #116686 caption in the Still Pictures Branch, NARA. The 10th Army MG Plan cited below appears to differ on the number of men Shofner commanded.
462 HQ 10th Army, Tentative Operations Plan 1-45: Military Government, HQ Tenth Army, Folder B-16, Box 278, RG 127, NARA.
463 Capt. H. Prudhomme USMCR (Asst. Civil Affairs Officer), "Enclosure K: Comments on Military Government Operations, Okinawa, 1st Marine Division, April 1-June 26 1945," June 6, 1945, Box 278, RG 127, NARA (hereafter Enclosure K).
464 Ibid.
465 Benis M. Frank and Henry I. Shaw Jr., History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Victory and Occupation, Volume V (Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Division, 1968), p. 94.
466 Thomas J. Stanley to William "Bill" Leyden, June 20, 1980, SCAU.
467 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
468 Sterling Mace (K/3/5) interview, author's collection.
469 Pfc. A. R. Fournier USMC, "Diary of King Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines," Box 260, RG 127, NARA (hereafter Fournier Diary).
470 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
471 Report of Military Government Activities, July 1, 1945, Box 278, RG 127, NARA.
472 3rd Battalion Special Action Report, RG 127, Box 260, NARA (hereafter 3rd Bn SAR).
473 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection; Fournier Diary.
474 Harry Bender oral history, author's collection.
475 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
476 3rd Bn SAR; 5th Regiment Special Action Report, RG 127, Box 260, NARA (hereafter 5th Regiment SAR).
477 HQ--Bn, 1st Marine Div.--Journal--Okinawa, NARA.
478 First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.
479 Enclosure K.
480 Ibid.
481 3rd Bn SAR.
482 5th Regiment SAR.
483 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 192.
484 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley to William "Bill" Leyden, June 20, 1980, SCAU.
485 Harry Bender (K/3/5) interview, author's collection.
486 3rd Bn SAR.
487 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
488 E. B. Sledge, "Lecture to the Squadron Officer School," 1993, SCAU.
489 Romus V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection.
490 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 203.
491 Boyes to Stanley, March 14, 1981, SCAU.
492 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
493 First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.
494 Frank and Shaw, Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V, p. 172.
495 Fournier Diary.
496 Enclosure K.
497 Ibid.
498 3rd Bn SAR.
499 5th Regiment SAR.
500 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
501 Frank and Shaw, Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V, p. 199.
502 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
503 3/5 Radio Log, May 1-July 14, 1945, RG 127, Box 258, NARA.
504 Ibid.
505 Sam Menzelos interview, author's collection; Sterling Mace interview, author's collection; 3rd Bn SAR. The 3rd Battalion Special Action Report and the 3/5 Radio Log offer different accounts of which companies led the assault on this day.
506 USMC Press Release, undated. Written by a USMC correspondent in the field shortly after the incident, the document was included in a letter from Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
507 Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
508 Sledge to Boyes, March 31, 1980, SCAU; Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
509 Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
510 Sledge to Dear Mom and Pop, April 17 [May 17], 1945, SCAU. The letter is obviously misdated; given the contents of the letter, it could not have been written on April 17.
511 Stanley to Sledge, June 9 Tuesday (year unknown), SCAU.
512 Romus V. Burgin interview, author's collection. Burgin told this story as if it occurred on May 1, but the only day when King made a rapid advance on a hill and held it (the whole point of the story) was May 9.
513 Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU.
514 Conner, The Spearhead, pp. 123-124.
515 Pfc. George W. Basilone to Sgt. Lena Basilone, May 8, 1945, Basilone Personnel File.
516 The date of the Treasury Salute given by the Library of Congress sound recording archives is 00/00/194, narrated by Hally Hull, LWO 5757 r28A4. See also "Some Find Glory, Some Find Death, Some Find Trouble," Newsweek, 1945, p. 25; "Sergeant John Basilone, Hero of Marines Killed on Iwo Jima," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper; and "Hero of Guadalcanal Killed in First Wave of Iwo Attack," UPI story by Lisle Shoemaker, dated February 21 "delayed"; all in the RPL.
517 Edward Kasky to Lena Mae Basilone, May 10, 1945, Basilone Personnel File.
518 First Marine Division, SAR II Okinawa, RG 127, NARA.
519 D- 2 Reports (Liaison) 1st Marine Regiment, Okinawa, NARA.
520 Ted Reuther (1/1, Communications) personal history, Northwood Institute, Midland, Michigan.
521 "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.
522 1st Marines Special Action Report, Box 258, RG 127, NARA (hereafter 1st Marines SAR); Frank and Shaw, Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. V, p. 239; 3/5 Radio Log, May 1-July 14, 1945, RG 127, Box 258, NARA.
523 1st Marines SAR.
524 Fournier Diary.
525 E. B. Sledge, "Lecture to the Squadron Officer School," 1993, SCAU. The date of this incident comes from the Muster Roll of Officers and Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division, 1 May to 31 May 1945, which listed the dates of Snafu's hospital stay.
526 Ronald J. Brown, A Few Good Men: A History of the Fighting Fifth Marines (New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 2001), p. 185.
527 3rd Bn SAR.
528 William "Bill" Leyden interview, Playtone Collection.
529 1st Marines SAR.
530 "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.
531 3rd Bn SAR.
532 Sledge to Stumpy, March 20, 1980, SCAU.
533 Carlisle L. Tiller to Stumpy, April 28, 1985, SCAU. Tiller said he learned the ridge's actual name only when he read Sledge's book.
534 Sledge to Stanley, February 6, 1980, SCAU.
535 Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU. The biggest criticism the men of K/3/5 had of Sledge's book was his portrayal of George Loveday. Sgt. Johnny Marmet, GySgt. Hank Boyes, and Sgt. R. V. Burgin all thought Sledge had done him an injustice. Some of Sledge's disgust undoubtedly stemmed from an incident that took place between him and Loveday in China. See Sledge's China Marine (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 2002).
536 E. B. Sledge, "Lecture to the Squadron Officer School," 1993, SCAU; Sledge letter "To Whom It May Concern" [Leyden medical claim], October 26, 1982, SCAU.
537 3rd Bn SAR.
538 3/5 Radio Log, May 1-July 14, 1945, RG 127, Box 258, NARA.
539 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
540 Hank to Sledge, March 31, 1980, SCAU.
541 William "Bill" Leyden interview, Playtone Collection.
542 Sledge to Dearest Mom and Pop, June 12, 1945, SCAU.
543 E. B. Sledge, "Lecture to the Squadron Officer School," 1993, SCAU.
544 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 269.
545 Sledge to Boyes, March 31, 1980, SCAU.
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.