Shadow Warriors

by Dick Camp

  With minutes of the landing, Major Williams was severely wounded by a bullet in the chest as he led a group of men up Hill 148. Lieutenant Norman R. Nickerson, Company “A” was close by. “I saw Williams fall and rushed to his aid with my platoon, where we formed a protective shield around the major until a corpsman arrived.” Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class Les Ferrell dumped sulfonamide powder on the wound and applied a battle dressing. “Major, you’re damn lucky it was a machine gun that hit you,” Ferrell told him. “It had so much velocity it went right through you.” Major Charles A. Miller assumed command of the battalion but by this time, “The battalion C.P. was in considerable turmoil,” according to the battalion’s after-action report. “The battalion commander was wounded, the communication officer and the intelligence officer were killed. Gavutu was secured, not by any direct action on the part of the battalion headquarters, but by the persistent and courageous action of individuals and small groups of men.” Major Miller established the command post and aid station in a partially demolished building near the dock area.

  NAVY CROSS CITATION

  The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Williams, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with the FIRST Parachute Battalion, FIRST Marine Division, during the assault on enemy Japanese forces at Gavutu, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942. Fighting against very great odds, Lieutenant Colonel Williams and his command daringly stormed strongly entrenched enemy forces and succeeded in securing a beachhead for further operations. Although he was wounded during this forward thrust, his outstanding spirit of aggressiveness and leadership was an inspiration to his entire Battalion, reflecting great credit upon Lieutenant Colonel Williams, his command, and the United States Naval Service.

  The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant Walter Xavier Young, United States Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving as Communications Officer, FIRST Parachute Battalion, FIRST Marine Division, during the assault on enemy Japanese forces at Gavutu, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942. During the extremely dangerous initial landings on Gavutu, First Lieutenant Young, on his own courageous initiative, fearlessly attacked several of the enemy in a single-handed attempt to neutralize a dugout which commanded a portion of the dock and constituted a grave menace to his comrades. Although fully aware of his imminent peril, he determinedly continued his voluntary action until, while effecting a daring entrance, he was fatally wounded by rifle or pistol fire from within the dugout. First Lieutenant Young’s heroic spirit of self-sacrifice was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

  Despite the heavy enemy fire, the Parachutists crept forward knocking out bunker and caves. Platoon Sergeant Merritt C. Walton was one of those courageous men. “Although fully of his extreme personal danger,” the Posthumous Navy Cross citation stated, “Platoon Sergeant Walton voluntarily proceeded to reconnoiter the position of a hostile machine gun which threatened his platoon’s right flank. After skillfully spotting the weapon’s location, he courageously participated in a daring attack and realized success in silencing this deadly menace before he died of fatal wounds. Platoon Sergeant Walton’s unflinching determination and unconquerable fighting spirit were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.” Platoon Sergeant Roland F. Kachinski was another heroic individual who lost his life. “When the right flank of Company A was subjected to withering fire from a hostile machine gun, Platoon Sergeant Kachinski, on his own courageous initiative, launched a lone attack against the enemy. Effectively throwing grenades and engaging in perilous hand-to-hand combat, he fought with such tenacious determination and fearless aggressiveness that he was able to destroy the gun position before receiving fatal wounds. Platoon Sergeant Kachinski’s relentless fighting spirit and unswerving devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

  Company “A” made slow progress against the Japanese on Hill 148 because of the heavy fire from Tanambogo. “I saw a sandbag fortification at the other end of the causeway [Tanambogo side] with a machine gun,” Private First Class Moran explained. “This weapon was shooting at our guys trying to take the hill. Some Marines from Company ‘A’ managed to toss a grenade at a cave adjacent to the hill and killed two or three Japs, but there were some still alive. The entrance was plugged with sand bags and I could not see too well because of the dust that had been blown through the embrasure.” A machine gun team came up and set up their gun about twenty yards from the entrance. “I told the guys that I saw some Japs still alive,” Moore said. About this time, Lt. Walter X. Young, the battalion communications officer arrived. “The lieutenant set his Reising-gun on full automatic and started blasting the emplacement,” Moore recalled. “From the emplacement I heard a loud single shot and the lieutenant fell, shot through the neck.” The company continued to push ahead but it was stymied by the heavy fire. Unless something developed quickly, Company “A” risked being shot to pieces.

  Company “B” inched its way to the left through heavy enemy fire toward the southern end of the island. The company was fortunate to be defilade and partially protected from the Japanese positions on the high ground. “We got to the end of the island and started up the east side of the hill under extreme fire,” Private First Class Moore recalled. “It was slow going with casualties all along the route.” Company “C” was pinned down by Japanese machine gun and sniper fire from Tanambogo. At 1430, Major Miller requested reinforcements and air and naval gunfire to knock out the enemy positions. Commander Harry D. Felt’s air group off the USS Saratoga launched five SBDs armed with 1,000-pound bombs. Their raid set fire to fuel and ammunition dumps, which exploded and burned for over two hours. A plume of black smoke from the fire rose several hundred feet in the air over Tanambogo. Commander Felt requested another strike after observing dugouts and trenches on Hill 121. Within a few minutes fifteen dive bombers arrived on station and began bombing the enemy positions. In addition, destroyers Buchanan and Monssen unleashed an intense concentration of five-inch shell fire. The combination air and naval bombardment greatly reduced the Japanese fire from the island and allowed Company “B” to begin their assault of Hill 148.

  Private First Class Moore made it to the base of the height. “The hill was approximately 140 foot high and there were caves and dugouts all the way up. The first Japs I saw in one of the dugouts were big men in gray uniforms [probably the Mitsuwa unit]. … Vesey [Pfc. William K.] was in a Jap dugout swearing and stabbing any enemy … over and over with his bayonet. … I [learned that] Platoon Sgt. Howard D. Pumroy and 2nd Lt. Walter W. Kiser had been killed.” Kiser had been shot in the lung while leading his platoon and lay bleeding to death while a corpsman vainly attempted to save his life. Pumroy had been shot in the head while trying to find a way around a Japanese position and died instantly. “There was a constant machine gun fire coming from a tin roof building,” Moore recalled. “We were pinned down for some time, I don’t recall just how long, and we had not reached our goal.”

  By 1400, Company “B” had reached the crest of the hill. At that moment, an SBD dropped a bomb on the summit. “As I started up the incline, two dive-bombers started to drop bombs near the top of the hill,” Private First Class Moran said. The mistake cost the company two men killed and several wounded but did not stop the assault. They began clearing the Japanese fighting positions with grenades, hand-to-hand combat and explosive charges. Captain Harry L. Torgerson developed a novel method for destroying the Japanese emplacements. He bundled several sticks of TNT together, lashed it to a long board and stuffed it into the caves with a short fuse so the Japanese could not push it out. He personally destroyed more than fifty of the emplacements
and came out with only a broken wrist watch and his pants blown off! Company “B” and a few men from Company “A” continued to attack Hill 148 from its eastern flank. Individuals and small groups cleared out dugout after dugout under rifle and machine gun but by late afternoon, Gavutu was essentially secured. However, Private Howard recalled, “The enemy was still to be found in many places. They had the island tunneled from one side to the other. At night the Japs were very active. They sometimes used firecrackers to draw machine gun fire, and then threw hand grenades in our emplacements. They used darkness to cover their movements. Some reinforcements swam across from Florida Island, using a log to keep their rifles out of the water.”

  Night Attack

  At 1800, Company “B,” 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, under the command of Capt. Edgar Crane arrived pursuant to Major Miller’s early afternoon request for reinforcement. Miller ordered the reinforced company to seize Tanambogo in a night landing. Crane was told there were just a few snipers on the island. It is difficult to understand how Miller could misconstrue the heavy machine gun fire his battalion was receiving from Tanambogo’s Hill 121 for “scattered sniper fire.” At the time there were almost 250 Japanese defenders on the island. Captain Crane planned to land on a small pier on the northeastern tip of the island about 1845 in an attempt to take the Japanese positions from the rear in darkness. Flight Officer Cecil E. Spencer, an Australian guide, was attached to Company “B.” He recalled, “We had about five minutes of naval gunfire support prior to landing. As we were coming in, the last shell hit a fuel dump on the beach lighting it up just like day, and the Japs opened fire from their dugouts on Tanambogo Hill.” Captain Crane’s boat with about thirty men made it to shore without incident and the men deployed along the beach but the other boats were silhouetted and taken under heavy fire. “Only two boat loads of our men got ashore,” Spencer explained. “The coxswain of the third boat was shot in the head and killed and the other members of the crew wounded.” One of the embarked Marines took over and piloted it out of danger.

  Lieutenant John Smith, the company executive officer was in the second boat. Author Richard W. Johnson wrote in Follow Me, The Story of the Second Marine Division in World War II, “As the ramp of Smith’s boat descended, the lieutenant charged across the sand shouting over his shoulder; ‘Follow me!’ As the men stumbled from the boat, the Japs brought all of their fire to bear and there was no place to go but down. The lieutenant already had vaulted across the sand and into the thicket beyond. His platoon edged slowly sideways to join Crane’s men, which were taking what shelter it could find behind the concrete pier.” Lieutenant Smith was alone and behind the Japanese lines. “Painfully, cautiously,” according to Johnson, “he began circling behind the Jap positions … and eventually worked his way back to the beach.” At one point he ran into a Japanese soldier who “whirled, bayonet flashing, and Smith shot his first Japanese.” Sometime later, Smith was able to join the men at the pier.

  The Marines of the 4th Platoon in the third boat managed to get two machine guns in action. However, they were forced to withdraw “as soon as we opened fire [because] the Japs spotted our tracers.” Coxswain John Stanley Evans Jr. kept his boat on the beach according to his Navy Cross citation, “although two other landing boats turned back due to intense hostile fire.” The intense enemy fire forced Crane to withdraw. He managed to get all but twelve of his men and all the wounded aboard Evans’s boat, which was able to successfully withdraw and take them to the USS Neville for treatment. Chief Pharmacist Mate William F. Graham was one of the dozen men that were left behind. “It was Captain Crane who gathered us together and led us back, wading chin deep in water along the causeway,” he said. “In the darkness, both Japs and the Marines were firing at us.” The Marines were unaware that they were friendlies. “Crane … shouted, ‘I’m Captain Edgar Crane, Company “B,” 2nd Marines.’ A ‘chute’ yelled, ‘No he is not, he is a Jap, I can tell by the accent. Shoot the Jap son-of-a-bitch!’” Graham related that Crane hailed from Galveston, Texas, and had a well-developed southwestern drawl. Fortunately, Captain Torgerson was on hand and yelled, “Hold your fire, I know this guy!”

  Pharmacist Mate Second Class Walter C. Wann received the Silver Star for crossing the causeway several times under heavy machine gun fire to assist Crane’s wounded. His citation read in part, “Ignoring the enemy fire and with complete disregard of his own life, he sprinted back and forth, carrying and rendering aid to wounded Marines.” Unfortunately, Wann was killed in action on 4 November 1942. The abortive landing cost Company “B” eight dead and fourteen wounded. In addition, one sailor was killed and several wounded.

  The Parachutists’ action can be explained by the fact that Japanese reinforcements were swimming to Gavutu from Tulagi and Florida under concealment of a heavy rain. Platoon Sergeant Harry M. Tully, an expert rifleman was located in a position where he could watch the water for the tell-tale sign of a swimmer using a floating log for cover. Second Lieutenant Herbert L. Merillat wrote in the September 1942 issue of the Navy Information Bulletin, “Sergeant Tully spotted a suspicious log float to the beach only six feet from where he lay in wait. He patiently waited for over a quarter of an hour until a Jap lifted his head. Tully shot him, ending the enemy’s reinforcement attempt.” Other swimmers reached the island and caused several casualties but were soon hunted down and killed. In another action that night, a group of holdouts was wiped out when they launched a bonsai attack from a cave on the southern slope of Hill 148. Scattered rifle and machine gun fire went on all night long, as anxious Marines defended their hard-won positions.

  NAVY CROSS

  The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Edgar J. Crane (MCSN: 0-7017), United States Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company B, First Battalion, Second Marines (Reinforced), SECOND Marine Division, during initial landings on enemy Japanese-controlled territory in the Solomon Islands Area, 7 to 9 August 1942. After leading his men to the successful completion of a dangerous and important mission on Florida Island, Captain Crane withdrew his company and proceeded by water to reinforce the attack on Gavutu and Tanambogo Islands. Although menaced by the withering blasts of hostile weapons, he brought two of six boats in to attempt a landing but was forced by extremely heavy machine-gun fire to remain in the water for four hours before he was able to get ashore, completely unarmed. With the small number of men still under his command, Captain Crane obtained arms from friendly troops and continued action against the enemy. His aggressive fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty, maintained despite great personal risk, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

  The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to John J. Smith (0-8521), Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism while serving with the First Battalion, SECOND Marines (Reinforced), SECOND Marine Division, during initial landings on enemy Japanese-controlled territory in the Solomon Islands Area, 7 to 9 August 1942. When reinforcements were urgently needed elsewhere, Second Lieutenant Smith and his company withdrew from positions on Florida Island where a dangerous mission had just been completed, and proceeded by water to assist in the attack on Gavutu and Tanambogo Islands. Although menaced by the withering blasts of hostile weapons, he attempted a landing but was forced by extremely heavy machine-gun fire to remain in the water for four hours before he was able to get ashore. With the small number of men still with him, Second Lieutenant Smith immediately obtained arms from friendly troops and, although suffering a painful wound, participated in a vigorous action which forced the enemy to retire. His aggressive fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty, maintained despite great personal risk, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

  Reinforcing Gavutu

  The decision was reached late in the evening that Lt. Col. R. G. Hunt’s 3rd
Battalion, 2nd Marines would reinforce the Parachutists and to seize Tanambogo. Companies “L,” “K,” and “M” were to land on Gavutu and mop up the remaining Japanese. Company “I” was given the task of taking Tanambogo. Sergeant Warren Fitch recalled, “Company L was alerted at 0400 on the eighth to get ready to go ashore and to take what we needed for seventy two hours. At daybreak we loaded into landing boats.” Private First Class Richard N. Vorwaller of Company “M” was a member of a .30-caliber machine gun team. “Our heavy .30-caliber machine guns along with spare parts and boxes of ammunition were lowered into the waiting boats. Our packs held three days’ ‘C’ rations, a poncho, an extra pair of socks, and a belt of machine gun ammunition. We also carried a hundred rounds of .30-caliber ammo for our 30.06 bolt action Springfield rifles. We had one canteen of water, a bayonet, a fighting knife and a gas mask.”

  As the landing craft were filled, they formed up and headed for Gavutu. “None of us really knew what war was like,” Private First Class Vorwaller said. “We were not afraid, a little apprehensive maybe, but not really scared. … [An] older man opened the bolt of his rifle and fed a clip of shells into it. A man asked, ‘Are you loading your rifle?’ to which the other man answered, ‘Hell yes man! This is war!’ At his reply, everyone in our boat loaded his weapon.” Unlike the previous day, the 3rd Battalion’s approach to the island was not subjected to heavy fire. “When the boat hit the beach I was first out,” Sergeant Fitch said. “There were several Marines lying there and I landed in the middle of them, thinking to get news from them as to what the situation was. I looked to the right where there were four dead; I looked to the left there were also four dead.” Private First Class Robert C. Libby recalled, “Right after landing … I saw my first dead Japanese defender lying face down, with a rather large hole in the back of his head. Naturally, momentarily stunned, I stared and then moved on. … ”