ACT IV
1 "Phase II, Part II, Green Beach Landings," Special Action Report of the First Marines, Box 232, RG 127, NARA.
2 The Special Action Report of the First Marines states that the enemy hit G Company. However, Tatum's diary and Phillips's memoir make clear that How Company sustained the majority of the casualties.
3 This figure comes from Tatum's diary. The actual figure of enemy dead, according to Masters's report, was 83. The enemy wounded had been dragged away.
4 "Chock to Chock."
5 John McCarthy, in his memoir "Scouting Six at Midway," available at www.cv6.org, discusses these fuel-saving procedures.
6 "Chock to Chock."
7 Ibid.
8 "Phase II, Part II, Green Beach Landings," Special Action Report of the First Marines, Box 232, RG 127, NARA.
9 Robert Witty, Marines of the Margarita: The Story of Camp Pendleton, 1970, p. 10. A veteran made some of this book available to the author, but the publishing information was not included.
10 Charles W. Tatum, Iwo Jima: Red Blood Black Sand Pacific Apocalypse (Stockton, California: Chuck Tatum Productions, 2002), p. 36.
11 Howard M. Conner, The Spearhead: The WWII History of the Fifth Marine Division (Nashville, Tennessee: The Battery Press, 1950), p. 2.
12 Walter Bandyk interview, Headquarters Company, 27 Regiment, author's collection.
13 Interview with Lt. Col. Justin Duryea, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, Chuck Tatum Productions.
14 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 41; Chuck Tatum interviews, author's collection. Basilone's Service Book does not show he ever served in B Company, 1/27, but he was assigned to the battalion HQ for a period before being assigned to C/1/27.
15 "I'm Glad to Get Overseas Duty," by GySgt. John Basilone, USMC Archives.
16 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 33.
17 Lt. John Keith Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die (privately published, 1995), p. 89.
18 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 38.
19 Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection, 07B.
20 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 39.
21 John Basilone to Dear Mom and Pop, undated, Basilone Family Collection.
22 Letter to John Basilone, signature illegible, dated Tuesday 25th [January] 1944, Basilone Family Collection.
23 Proceedings and Debates of the 78th Congress, 2nd Session, Appendix, Vol. 90, Part 11, "General MacArthur's Role in the War Against Japan, Remarks by Hon. Carl Hatch," pp. A3943-A4906. Hatch quotes Governor Thomas Dewey of New York, who delivered the remarks cited here.
25 Senate of the United States, "Exchange and Treatment of Prisoners of War: Remarks of Hon. Elbert D. Thomas," 78th Congress, 1st Session, November 18, 1943, p. 1. Senator Thomas of Utah stated that "the office of practically every Senator is calling my office and asking questions regarding war prisoners held in the Far East."
26 "Promotion of Certain American Prisoners of War," Hearings Before the Committee of Military Affairs, United States Senate, 78th Congress, First and Second Sessions (October 15-December 1, 1943), pp. 1, 29.
27 Ibid. p. 11.
28 Lt. Col. W. E. Dyess, "Dyess--One Man Scourge of Jap Supply Fleet Off Bataan," Chicago Daily Tribune, February 2, 1944, p. 1.
29 "The Beasts of the Pacific," Chicago Daily Tribune, January 29, 1944, p. 10.
30 John H. Criders, "Ruin Japan!" The New York Times, January 29, 1944, p. 1; see also "War Bond Sales Soar Here in Reaction to Atrocities," The New York Times, January 29, 1944, p. 1.
31 "Promotion of Certain American Prisoners of War," Hearings Before the Committee of Military Affairs, p. 23.
32 Condit and Turnbladh, Hold High the Torch, p. 195.
33 "Chock to Chock."
34 After Action Report, VB-2, author's copy courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida.
35 Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection; Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, pp. 45-46.
36 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, p. 97; Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 33.
37 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 1.
38 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, pp. 95-96.
39 Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection.
40 William Douglas Lansford, "The Life and Death of 'Manila John,' " Leatherneck, October 2002, vol. 85, #10.
41 Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection.
42 Interview with Roy Elsner, Lucille Otis, and Clinton Watters, author's collection.
43 "Brother: Johnny Went Back to 'Those Kids' at War," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.
44 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 67.
45 Charles Tatum interview with author, author's collection.
46 Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection; Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 67. The line promotion is dated February 11 in Service Record Book, Medical Records, Basilone USMC Personnel File, NRC.
47 "Public Voucher for 6 Months Death Gratuity Pay," John Basilone Personnel File, NRC.
48 Sledge's letter announcing his arrival was dated February 17, 1943; the date of arrival listed in his USMC Personnel File is April 16, 1943.
49 Jack Hawkins interviews, author's collection; Grashio and Norling, Return to Freedom.
50 "I'm Glad to Get Overseas Duty," by GySgt. John Basilone, USMC Archives. The polished writing and use of obscure words make it obvious that Basilone did not write this article himself. The piece was not picked up immediately by any newspapers so it likely was a proactive effort on the part of the USMC, possibly at Basilone's instigation. The mention of the "girl back East" means it was written before he met Lena and after his promotion to gunnery sergeant.
51 John Basilone to Dearest Mother and Dad, undated letter, Basilone Family Collection. John begins it with a reference to his brother George's survival of the 4th Division's invasion of the Marshall Islands.
52 Clinton Watters interview, author's collection; C-1-27 Muster Roll, January 31, 1945.
53 Clinton Watters letter to author, July 5, 2007.
54 Ibid.; Watters letter to author, November 22, 2007.
55 "Basilone Legacy Lives On in Heart of WWII Veteran," undated news item in the Scout, the newspaper of the USMC base at Camp Pendleton (hereafter Lena Basilone interview, Scout Article); Lucille Otis interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection. All of the participants disagree as to the exact date of their meeting. Lena herself gave different statements. Her most powerful memory--of going on leave the day after she met him--has been tracked to her USMC Personnel File, which lists the date of that leave.
56 Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
57 Ibid.
58 Scout Article.
59 Cmdr. Harold L. Buell USNR, "Death of a Captain," Proceedings, February 1986, p. 92.
60 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, Box 953, RG 38, NARA.
61 Ibid.
62 Bush Memoir.
63 Ibid.
64 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 327.
65 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, Box 953, RG 38, NARA.
66 Scout Article.
67 Barbara Garner interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection.
68 Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
69 Lena Riggi Basilone Service File, NRC.
70 Witty, Marines of the Margarita.
71 "Reply to NPRC Inquiry," 24 July 1999, Lena Riggi Basilone Service File.
72 USMC Personnel Files of John Basilone and Lena Riggi Basilone.
73 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, quoting Lena Basilone.
74 Barbara Garner interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection.
75 Photograph of John with Lena and her friends, March 8, 1944, Lucille Stacy Otis Collection.
76 "Chock to Chock."
77 Ibid.
78 After Action Report, VB-2, entry of March 30, 1944, National Museum of Naval Aviation.
79 The After Action Reports of Bombing Two (VB-2) are difficult to decipher, since the times and dates of strikes do not coincide with the dates in Micheel's log book nor those of Hornet's War Diary, nor do they make sense (e.g., most strikes are listed as having occurred at midnight). The author concluded that this discrepancy was due to the VB-2 AAR practice of using GMT time, not the local time. The Hornet War Diary, which put times and dates in local time, and Micheel's log book, both of which the author considers reliable documents, were used.
80 After Action Report, VB-2.
81 Micheel USN Personnel File, NRC.
82 After Action Report, VB-2.
83 Bush Memoir; After Action Report, VB-2, entry of April 1, 1944.
84 Bush Memoir.
85 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 331.
86 Ibid. p. 332.
87 Cmdr. Harold L. Buell USNR, "Death of a Captain," Proceedings, February 1986, p. 94.
88 Ibid.
89 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 335.
90 Bush Memoir.
91 After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
92 Buell, Dauntless Helldivers, p. 230.
93 Bush Memoir.
94 After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
95 John Basilone to Dear Mother and All, April 22, 1944, Basilone Family Collection.
96 John Basilone letter, undated, Basilone Family Collection.
97 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 3.
98 Clinton Watters letters to author, July 5 and 10, 2007, author's collection; Calvin Anderson interview with author, May 2004.
99 William Douglas Lansford, "The Life and Death of 'Manila John,' " Leatherneck, October 2002, vol. 85, #10, p. 25.
100 Clinton Watters letter to author, May 22, 2007.
101 William "Bill" Lansford (HQ-1-27) interview, Playtone Collection; Jim Turner (A-1-27) interview with author, March 22, 2004; Calvin Anderson (C-1-27) interview with author; Charles Tatum (B- 1-27) interview, Playtone Collection.
102 Bush Memoir.
103 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, 1-30 April, 1944, Box 953, RG 38, NARA.
104 "Annex A and Annex B to ACA 1 Report 20-44," After Action Report, VB-2.
105 The Hornet War Diary for May 1-28, 1944, notes the explosion of the 100- pound bomb, but not the loose 500-pound bomb. This latter incident comes from the author's interview with Vernon Micheel and from the VB- 2 memoir of William "Billy" Bush.
106 Bush Memoir.
107 Hoffman's great biography of Colonel Puller, Chesty, stated that he held his first inspection after the replacements came in (see p. 261). John "Deacon" Tatum's diary on the date of Chesty's first inspection, however, was clear. Puller would not come through again for another five days.
108 Cmdr. Harold L. Buell USNR, "Death of a Captain," Proceedings, February 1986, p. 95.
109 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 339.
110 Cressman et al., A Glorious Page in Our History, pp. 214-216. Written by a group of leading historians of naval aviation in WWII, this book argues that Miles Browning was a master of tactics who had played an essential role at Midway, despite his personality problems. For an opposing view of Browning's abilities, see Buell's "Death of a Captain" article in Proceedings (February 1986). Buell repeats Clark's story about Browning almost running Hornet aground the first time he took it into that atoll. Clark Reynolds's biography of Jocko Clark, On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers, though, asserts that this was the admiral's misapprehension, not the captain's oversight.
111 Conner, The Spearhead, pp. 1, 5.
112 Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
113 Scout Article.
114 Ibid.
115 Romus Valton Burgin interviews with the author, 2003-2009, author's collection.
116 Merriell Allen Shelton USMC Personnel File, NRC.
117 Mike Jernigan, "Through Memories, Sledge Reveals the Horrors of Warfare," Auburn Alumnews, May 1990, pp. 9-10; Dr. Sidney Phillips interview with author, May 19, 2009.
118 Daily Diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, entry of June 6, 1944, author's collection.
119 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, Box 953, RG 38, NARA. In his fine biography of Admiral Clark, On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers, Clark Reynolds stated on p. 342 that USS Hornet sortied from Kwajalein, but on this point the carrier's War Diary was clear.
120 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 335.
121 Bush Memoir.
122 After Action Report, VB-2, author's copy courtesy of The National Museum of Naval Aviation.
123 Buell, Dauntless Helldivers, p. 212.
124 After Action Report, VB-2.
125 USS Hornet War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, NARA.
126 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 347. Hornet's War Diary makes it clear Clark returned at 1518, not 1600 as Reynolds has it.
127 USS Hornet War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, NARA.
128 John Basilone to Dearest Mother, undated, Basilone Family Collection.
129 Lee W. Merideth, Grey Ghost: The Story of the Aircraft Carrier Hornet (Sunnyvale, California: Rocklin Press, 2001), p. 43.
130 Bush Memoir; After Action Report, VB-2.
131 After Action Report, VB-2.
132 Ibid.
133 DFC Commendation of July 1947, Micheel Personnel File, NRC; After Action Report, VB- 2 (see map for strike location).
134 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
135 In On the Warpath (pp. 352-353) Reynolds made it clear that at least one pilot recalled hearing the admiral's idea. Although neither Micheel, nor Bush, nor Buell could recall fifty to sixty years later having heard of this idea, the author included it as a supposition because (a) pilots loved to gossip about such an important idea and so if one of them heard it, it likely passed quickly, (b) the idea itself would have been almost self-evident to veteran pilots, and (c) as difficult as it is for a man to recall details half a century after they occurred, it is even more difficult for him to recall events that did not occur.
136 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
137 "Chock to Chock."
138 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
139 Ibid.
140 Ibid.
141 The Hornet War Diary and the VB-2 After Action Report have some minor discrepancies as to numbers.
142 After Action Report, VB-2.
143 Official USN Flight Log Book of Vernon Micheel.
144 Buell, Dauntless Helldivers, p. 264.
145 Ibid. p. 261.
146 Ibid. pp. 263-264.
147 After Action Report, VB-2.
148 Ibid.
149 In his book On the Warpath, Reynolds states that these hits on Zuikakau were scored by Yorktown planes. He may be referring to information received later or it may have been a typographical error. The author is concerned with what Bombing Two knew at the time. The hits were entered into the After Action Report of VB-2.
150 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
151 Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.
152 Interview with Monsignor Paul Bradley, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated, Chuck Tatum Productions; see also "Father Paul's Quiet Heroism," by Judy Peet, Newark Star- Ledger, July 8, 2005, RPL; and "Retired Navy Chaplain Recalls Raising of Flag at Iwo Jima," AMS News, Summer 2002, RPL. Father Paul Bradley earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service with the 28th Marines on Iwo Jima.
153 Lena Basilone Interview, Scout Article.
154 John Basilone USMC Personnel File.
155 Lena Basilone interview; Scout Article.
156 "Guadalcanal Hero to Wed," AP story, July 8, 1944, USMC Historical Division file on John Basilone.
157 George W. Garand and Truman R. Strobridge, History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Western Pacific Operations, Volume IV (Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Division, 1971), p. 89.
158 Ibid., p. 52.
159 "Third Battalion," in the file "Headquarters, 1st Marine Division FMF in the field/station lists (25 Aug 1944)," Box 305, RG 127, NARA.
160 Ibid.
161 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 90.
162 Machine Gun Platoon Co. "C" Roster, 1945, copy courtesy of Clinton Watters; photographs of the Riggi-Basilone wedding ceremony courtesy of Lucille Stacy Otis, Barbara Garner, and Basilone Family Collection.
163 Wedding ceremony photographs, Basilone Family Collection and Barbara Garner Collection; Basilone marriage certificate, Lena Basilone USMC Personnel File, NRC; Lucille Otis interview, author's collection.
164 USMC Official Press Release, July 12, 1944, Official of Assistant Director of Public Relations (West Coast Area), USMC Official John Basilone File. This press release incorrectly listed Edward Johnston as a corporal. His rank on the Company C roster was sergeant.
165 Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.
166 Interview with Monsignor Paul Bradley, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.
167 Lucille Stacy Otis interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection; USMC Official Press Release, July 12, 1944, Official of Assistant Director of Public Relations (West Coast Area), USMC Official John Basilone File. While sources gave different lengths of their furlough--Lena herself has given several different accounts--the author used the information in the USMC Official Press Release printed the day after their marriage.
168 After Action Report, VB-2; USS Hornet War Diary, July 1-31, 1944; Vernon Micheel interview with author.
169 After Action Report, VB-2.
170 Merriell Allen Shelton USMC Personnel File.
171 Romus Valton Burgin interview, author's collection; USMC Personnel File courtesy of R. V. Burgin.
172 Gen. Gordon Gale interview with author. General Gayle commanded 2/5 during the Battle of Peleliu and later wrote a monograph on it.
173 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 91.
174 General Gayle interview, August 1, 2005, author's collection; Thomas Stanley to Eugene Sledge, "Thoughts on Bucky's Notes," August 17, 1981, SCAU.
175 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Eugene Sledge, December 16, 1979, SCAU; Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Novato, California: Presidio Press, 1981), p. 70 footnote.
176 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 103.
177 Eugene Sledge to Henry "Hank" Boyes, January 14, 1980, SCAU; Thomas Stanley, "Canal Men Who Made Peleliu," unpublished MS, September 15, 1980, SCAU.
178 Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980; R.V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection; William "Bill" Leyden interview, Playtone Collection.
179 Reynolds, On the Warpath, p. 383.
180 Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.
181 Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
182 Adolf Bursa interview, author's collection; William Lansford interview, author's collection.
183 Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary The Saga of Manila John, undated Chuck Tatum Productions.
184 Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video, www.militaryvideo.com.
185 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, p. 110.
186 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 13.
187 Ibid. p. 15.
188 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, pp. 112-113.
189 Appendix #1 Annex E to Operation Plan 1-[?], CT-5, Cont'd p. 3, file: B13- 1 5th Marine Regiment, administrative order 1-44 (11 August 1944), NARA.
190 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 95.
191 Report on Fitness of Officers of the USMC, Lt. Col. Austin Shofner USMC File, August 18, 1944, to September 20, 1944, signed by Colonel Harris.
192 "Operations of the Fighter-Bomber Group," Annex A, After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
193 F6F Hellcat, documentary, produced by Teleteam, Inc.
194 Captain Flagg, War Diary: Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
195 USMC Photo #57862, Still Pictures Branch, NARA.
196 Boyes letter to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU.
197 Conner, The Spearhead, pp. 15-16.
198 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 82.
199 Clinton Watters photographs and interviews with author.
200 Basilone letter, undated, Basilone Family Collection. This letter was written before September 15, since Lena's photo of George and John together in Hawaii was dated September 17, 1944.
201 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, September 1-30, 1944, NARA.
202 After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.
203 Sid Phillips letter to Mrs. Sledge, October 1, 1944, SCAU.
204 Sterling Mace (K-3-5) interview, author's collection.
205 This meeting is based on an entry in John Basilone's Service Record Book, stipulating his 20-minute flight on September 14; on the photograph of him and George that Lena had dated September 17; and on the undated clipping "Basilones Meet in the Pacific," from an unidentified newspaper, which described the meeting, in the Basilone Family Collection.
206 Pfc. George W. Basilone to Sgt. Lena Basilone, May 8, 1945, Basilone USMC Personnel File.
207 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
208 Appendix #1 Annex E to Operation Plan 1-[?], CT-5, Cont'd p. 3, file: B13- 1 5th Marine Regiment, administrative order 1-44 (11 August 1944), NARA.
209 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
210 R. V. Burgin interview with author.
211 Record of Operations of the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, FMD, During the Period 26 August 1944 to 7 November 1944, SCAU, original in NARA (hereafter 3/5 Record).
212 Eugene B. Sledge interview in "Combat Leadership," USMC training film, courtesy of the USMC.
213 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 57. Sledge wrote that his LVT stalled after a near-miss from an enemy shell. In his recorded interviews, and in the memories of R. V. Burgin, it was the coral reef that stalled their craft.
214 Dr. Eugene B. Sledge interview, in the documentary Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific, Kenwood Productions, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1991 (hereafter KPI). The unedited version of this interview was provided to the author by R. V. Burgin.
215 Dr. Eugene B. Sledge interview, Lou Reda Productions, used by permission (hereafter LRP).
216 3/5 Record; Captain Flagg War Diary: Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
217 Air Intelligence Group Excerpts from Narratives of Action--Palau, US Army Report, NARA.
218 LRP.
219 Thomas Stanley to Sledge, February 18, 1980, SCAU.
220 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
221 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
222 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
223 Photograph of 3/5 HQ on the morning of September 15, 1944, USMC Photo #95503, 127-GW-713, Still Pictures Branch, NARA.
224 Thomas Stanley to Sledge, December 17, 1981, SCAU.
225 D-2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
226 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
227 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU. Reconciling the many interviews and the official sources became easier when a distinction was drawn between the airfield and the airstrip.
228 Ibid
229 Ibid. Boyes earned a Silver Star for this action, and a copy of his citation (typed by Hank) is in the Sledge Collection. Sledge, however, wrote on p. 70 of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa that the marine who performed this act was "tragically . . . killed by a sniper." He may have been referring to the first individual who approached the tank.
230 D-2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 129, Box 299, NARA.
231 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 118.
232 3/5 Record, p. 3. The grid maps "Special Map--Oct. 4, Central Section," which were used by 3/5, were used by the author to chart the daily course of 3/5 during the battle for Peleliu. The Special Map was found in folder B12-3 1st Marine Div. Field Orders--Peleliu, Box 305, "Geographic Files, Peleliu," RG 127, NARA (hereafter Special Map).
233 3/5 Record; Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU.
234 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
235 Lieutenant Colonel Shofner to Commandant of the Marine Corps, 9 March 1950, RG 127, Box 6, NARA.
236 LRP.
237 KPI. There are a number of differences between the events he recounts in the Kenwood Productions documentary Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific as opposed to his book With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa and in his LFP interviews.
238 LRP. Dr. Sledge says this incident took place after his unit had been pulled back from its farthest point of penetration, but this could not be so. All other accounts have King being pulled back after nightfall.
239 Thomas Stanley to Lt. Col. James Rogers, August 21, 1980, SCAU.
240 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 69.
241 Thomas Stanley to Lt. Col. James Rogers, August 21, 1980, SCAU; Hank Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU; 3/5 Record.
242 Comments of Col. Harold Harris, p. 130, Box 2 of 5, RG 96, SCAU (hereafter Harris Comments); 3/5 Record.
243 Hank Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU; Naval Gunfire Report, Palaus [sic] Operation, p. 4, October 14, 1944, A4-8, Box 298, RG 127, NARA.
244 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
245 3/5 Record, p. 3.
246 Hank Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
247 KPI.
248 R. V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection; Richard Higgins interview, author's collection.
249 Harris Comments; 3/5 Record, p. 3.
250 KPI.
251 Sledge mentioned this decision in several letters he wrote during the completion of his manuscript, including his letter to Walter McIlhenny dated May 31, 1977 (SCAU).
252 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 80.
253 R. V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection. Bucky Harris also describes a "friendly fire" incident at this location in Harris Comments.
254 D- 2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
255 Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
256 G-2 Report No. 5, September 19, 1944, III Amphibious Corps, A4-16, Box 298, NARA.
257 Harris Comments, p. 132.
258 3/5 Record, p. 4; Special Map.
259 KPI.
260 Harris Comments.
261 Army Report of Japanese Defenses, Box 305, NARA; 3/5 Report, p. 4.
262 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, " To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU.
263 Photograph of Lt. Col. Austin Shofner on Peleliu, Peleliu Collection, Still Pictures Branch, NARA.
264 In USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 58, Garand and Strobridge say the jungle "cloaked the contours beneath and defied all attempts of pre- invasion aerial reconnaissance." See also General Harris to Stumpy Stanley, July 17, 1981, SCAU.
265 Harris Comments; Stanley to Sledge, " Thoughts on Bucky's Notes," August 17, 1981, SCAU.
266 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 94.
267 D-2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
268 Harris Comments; 3/5 Record.
269 G-2 Report No. 5, September 19, 1944, III Amphibious Corps, A4-16, Box 298, NARA.
270 Ibid.
271 3/5 Record, p. 5; R. V. Burgin interviews, author's collection.
272 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
273 Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU.
274 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection. Sledge wrote on p. 102 of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa that the lieutenant (Hillbilly Jones) called battalion HQ and spoke to Major Gustafson. It's possible, but it is outside the normal chain of command. This is what R. V. Burgin, who used a telephone regularly, recalled.
275 3/5 Record.
276 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, "To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU. Stanley and Sledge were both sharply critical of the USMC's casualty figures and went to great time and expense to come up with their own, based upon official records and buttressed by interviews with their comrades.
277 USS Hornet (CV- 12) War Diary, 1-30 September, 1944, NARA; After Action Report, VB- 2, The National Museum of Naval Aviation.
278 USS Hornet (CV-12) War Diary, 1-30 September, 1944, NARA.
279 Annex G--Phase II--Special Action Report--Palau Operation, p. 1, Box 298, RG 127, USMC Geographic Files, Peleliu.
280 Sledge to Walter McIlhenny, May 31, 1977, SCAU: "As a young Marine P.F.C., a 60mm mortarman in K-3-5, during World War II, I carried a book of Kipling's poems, which included his 'Prelude.' The theme of the poem was constantly in my mind [on Peleliu]."
281 3/5 Record, p. 6.
282 LRP.
283 Sledge to Stanley, January 16, 1984, SCAU.
284 G-2 Report No. 5, September 19, 1944, p. 3, III Amphibious Corps, Box 298, NARA.
285 Commanding General, III Amphibious Corps to CMC, 18 October 1944, "Defective Ammunition," Box 298, RG 127, USMC Geographic Files, Peleliu, NARA.
286 3/5 Record; Harris Comments, pp. 132-133.
287 Harris Comments, p. 134.
288 Unit Report, 26 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 25 September to 0800 26 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
289 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 103.
290 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 19.
291 Ibid.
292 Ibid. p. 23; Charles Tatum interview, Playtone Collection.
293 Gen. Gordon Gayle interview, November 22, 2006, author's collection; Thomas Stanley, "Peleliu Veterans--A Roll of Honor with K-3-5 at the End of Okinawa," unpublished MS, undated, SCAU.
294 Stanley to Sledge, August 17, 1981, SCAU.
295 3/5 Record, p. 6; Harris Comments, p. 134. Both of these accounts are clear about the battle. Sledge recalled it differently, but it's obvious he did so without consulting the 3/5 Record--and he also almost certainly received the Harris record too late in his writing process to include it.
296 Harris Comments, p. 134. Harris Comments disagree slightly with 3/5 Record; the author chose Harris's account, since the night obviously meant so much to him.
297 Harris Comments, pp. 134-135, 136.
298 Commanding General, III Amphibious Corps to CMC, 26 May 1945, p. 2, Army Intelligence Report, Box 306, NARA.
299 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 106.
300 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
301 Ibid.; Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
302 Unit Report, 26 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 26 September to 0800 27 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
303 William "Bill" Leyden interview, Playtone Collection. Bill Leyden could not say for sure when this event occurred. However, it had taken place on a hilltop or ridge. Since Starlight Hill was the only hill Bill encountered before he was wounded on Ngesebus, the correlation was strong enough to merit inclusion of the story here.
304 3/5 Record, p. 6.
305 Harris Comments, p. 135.
306 Unit Report, 28 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 27 September to 0800 28 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
307 Harris Comments, p. 136.
308 3/5 Record, p. 6.
309 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, " To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU.
310 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 104.
311 While not an official tally, this statistic comes from the manuscript "Chock to Chock." Written by the veterans of VB-2, it includes a list of the members and those who were killed in action.
312 3/5 Record.
313 Comments of 1st Division Monograph (Peleliu) by Lt. Col. L. W. Walt, USMC, RG 127, Box 6, NARA.
314 Ibid.
315 Unit Report, 29 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 28 September to 0800 29 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
316 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection.
317 Sledge, With the Old Breed, pp. 116-117.
318 Unit Report, 29 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 28 September to 0800 29 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
319 Naval Gunfire Report, Palaus [sic] Operation, pp. 5, 6, October 14, 1944, A4-8, Box 298.
320 Ordinance Report, Palau Operation, by Corps Ordinance Officer, p. 5, 24 October 1944, Box 298, NARA.
321 Unit Report, 29 September 1944, No. 11-44 0800 28 September to 0800 29 September, CT- 5, file A6-3.
322 3/5 Record, p. 9, Special Map.
323 Eugene Sledge was highly critical of the USMC's casualty figures. He and Thomas Stanley labored mightily to develop their own. In this case, Stanley came out with the numbers cited here. Sledge used the figure of eight KIA and twenty-four WIA for the company.
324 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 125.
325 R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection; Stanley to Sledge, March 1980 (day unknown), SCAU.
326 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
327 Harris Comments, p. 136.
328 Unit Report, 2 October 1944, No. 16-44 0800 1 October to 0800 2 October, CT- 5, file A6-3.
329 Harris Comments, p. 137.
330 1-7 Marines War Diary, p. 16.
331 Unit Report, 3 October 1944, No. 17-44 0800 2 October to 0800 3 October, CT-5, file A6-3; 1-7 Marines War Diary, p. 16; 3/5 Record, p. 11.
332 1-7 Marines War Diary, p. 18.
333 3/5 Record, p. 11.
334 Ordinance Report, Palau Operation, by Corps Ordinance Officer, p. 9, 24 October 1944, Box 298, NARA.
335 Special Map; 3/5 Record, p. 11.
336 1-7 Marines War Diary, p. 18.
337 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, December 16, 1979, SCAU.
338 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, " To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU.
339 D-2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
340 Sterling Mace interview, author's collection.
341 E. B. Sledge, "Lecture to the Squadron Officer School," 1993, SCAU.
342 3/5 Record, p. 11.
343 Eugene Sledge to Dear Mother and Father, February 5, 1945, SCAU.
344 1-7 Marines War Diary, pp. 19-20.
345 Sterling Mace (K-3-5) interview, author's collection.
346 Unit Report, 5 October 1944, No. 17-44 0800 4 October to 0800 5 October, CT- 5, file A6-3.
347 1-7 Marines War Diary, pp. 19-20.
348 3/5 Record; Thomas "Stumpy" Stanley, " To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU. Stanley compiled a different total for this day, as is often the case. His figures are seven WIA and one KIA.
349 Harris Comments, p. 137.
350 Report on Fitness, 18 August 1944 to 30 September 1944, signed by Colonel Harris, Shofner USMC File, NRC.
351 Harris Comments, p. 137; General Bucky to Stumpy Stanley, July 17, 1981, SCAU.
352 Field Order No. 1-44, CT-5, In the Field, 5 October 1944, Box 305, Peleliu, USMC Geographic Files, RG 127.
353 3/5 Record, p. 13; Unit Report, 8 October 1944, No. 20-44 0800 7 October to 0800 8 October, CT-5, file A6-3.
354 Unit Report, 9 October 1944, No. 21-44 0800 8 October to 0800 9 October, CT- 5, file A6-3.
355 Harris Comments, p. 138.
356 Stanley to Sledge, " Thoughts on Bucky's Notes," August 17, 1981, SCAU.
357 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, "To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU; Captain Flagg War Diary: Peleliu, RG 126, Box 299, NARA.
358 R. V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection; Stanley to Sledge, "Thoughts on Bucky's Notes," August 17, 1981, SCAU.
359 Frank O. Hough, The Assault on Peleliu (Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Branch, 1950), p. 162. This book states that 3/5 was near the division CP.
360 Gen. Gordon Gayle interview, author's collection.
361 Shofner, "WWII Memories," pp. 83-84. Shofner claimed that he developed this response. His claim is hard to prove, since it is obvious from the available testimony that many officers came up with the same solution. It is likely that the practice began with line company officers, who noticed the tourists in their zone of action.
362 Daily Diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, author's copy courtesy of Tatum Family.
363 G-2 Report No. 5, September 19, 1944, p. 3, III Amphibious Corps, A4-16, Box 298, NARA.
364 Derrick Wright, The Battle for Iwo Jima (Phoenix Mill, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999), p. vii.
365 Harris Comments, p. 141.
366 Shofner, "WWII Memories," pp. 82-83. Shofner's descriptions of this incident include a lot of rich detail. The author, having examined the memoir composed late in Shofner's life against the written record, concluded that some of his descriptions had become embroidered a bit.
367 Unit Report, 12 October 1944, No. 25-44 0800 11 October to 0800 12 October, CT-5, file A6-3.
368 The unit diary of 3/5 lists their location on October 12 as Wattie Ridge. The same location was listed in the USMC Historical Division's The Assault on Peleliu, p. 137, as "Waddie Ridge." This example, while not the most consequential, is apt for explaining the many small discrepancies found in the unit reports of 3/5.
369 Richard Higgins interview, author's collection.
370 Sledge to Walter McIlhenny, May 31, 1977, SCAU.
371 The representation of Lt. Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley's combat leadership, at odds with the way he is portrayed in Sledge's book, comes from the author's interviews with R. V. Burgin, Ray Wilson, Sterling Mace, and other veterans of K/3/5.
372 Unit Report, 12 October 1944, No. 25-44 0800 11 October to 0800 12 October, CT- 5, file A6-3. See also Harris Comments, pp. 138-139; the Fifth Regiment CO describes this process at some length.
373 Commanding General, III Amphibious Corps to CMC, 26 May 1945, RE: Army Intel Report: Peleliu, RG 127, Box 306, NARA.
374 Harris Comments, p. 140.
375 Unit Report, 13 October 1944, No. 26-44 0800 12 October to 0800 13 October, CT-5, file A6- 3, NARA. The unit report incorrectly names the ridge--its actual name was Wattie Ridge. The incorrect name is used here because that's what 3/5 called it on the day. The Assault on Peleliu by the USMC Historical Division, a fine reference work, reported that the 75-mm gun was established on Hill 140. The author chose to use Harris's report. The evidence indicates that as many as three 75-mm howitzers were placed on the ridges in this area, but distinguishing exact times and locations is impossible.
376 The casualty figure comes from the 3/5 record. It is just one of the many instances where it provided a different figure from from the one created by Thomas J. Stanley; see " To the Men of K-3-5," unpublished MS, October 17, 1980, SCAU.
377 D-2 Journal, 1st Marine Div., Peleliu, RG 127, Box 299, NARA.
378 Sledge to Henry "Hank" Boyes, July 25, 1970, SCAU; see also note 375 above.
379 3/5 Record; Unit Report, 15 October 1944, No. 28-44 0800 24 October to 0800 25 October, CT-5, file A6-3.
380 General Harris to Stumpy Stanley, July 17, 1981, SCAU.
381 Harris Comments, p. 141.
382 Harris to Stanley, July 17, 1981, SCAU; Harris Comments, pp. 141, 143.
383 Annex G--Phase II--Special Action Report--Palau Operation, p. 1, Box 298, USMC Geographic Files, Peleliu, RG 127.
384 3/5 Record, p. 16; Harvey Lund (K/3/5 corpsman) interview, author's collection.
385 Stanley to Harris, December 30, 1983, SCAU; Sledge to Stanley, January 16, 1984, SCAU.
386 Annex G--Phase II--Special Action Report--Palau Operation, p. 3, Box 298, USMC Geographic Files, Peleliu, RG 127.
387 Rudyard Kipling, "Prelude," Departmental Ditties, 1886.
388 Annex G--Phase II--Special Action Report--Palau Operation, p. 1, Box 298, USMC Geographic Files, Peleliu, RG 127.
389 KPI. In this interview, Sledge asserted that he and his friends knew that taking the ridges was unnecessary even as they were taking them. Given the date of MacArthur's landing, however, his assertion seems a trick of memory.
390 3/5 Record.
391 3/5 Record, p. 16, mentions the stragglers; R. V. Burgin interview, author's collection. In his book With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (p. 138), Sledge tells the story a bit differently.
392 Stanley to Sledge, October 7, 1980, SCAU.
393 Sledge to Henry "Hank" Boyes, July 25, 1970, SCAU.
394 5th Marine Regiment--Movement Order--Peleliu, No. 1-44 October 24, 1944, p. 1, B13-3, Box 305, RG 127, NARA.
395 3/5 Record.
396 Ibid.
397 Daily Diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, author's collection; Stanley to Sledge, December 10, 1982, SCAU.
398 Sledge, With the Old Breed, p. 164.
399 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, May 5, 1980, SCAU; Boyes to Sledge, December 16, 1979, SCAU.
400 "Americans Invade 2 Major Jap Island Bases," The Mobile Register, September 14, 1944, #133, p. 1.
401 Sledge to Walter McIlhenny, May 31, 1977, SCAU: " . . . right after we came off Peleliu I began writing notes on what my comrades and I experienced there."
402 St. Elmo Haney USMC File; Stanley to Sledge, November 30, 1983, SCAU. Hank Boyes said Haney left after two days. Sledge recalled him being on the ill- fated "war-dog patrol" a few days later.
403 Thomas J. "Stumpy" Stanley, " To All Hands," 1982, SCAU.
404 Henry A. "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980, SCAU.
405 Sam Menzelos (2d Lt. K/3/5) interview, author's collection.
406 Harry Bender (K/3/5) interview, author's collection.
407 USMC Photographs #106562, 106564, and 106565 and their captions (in the Still Pictures Branch of the National Archives) tell this story.
408 Correspondence of Andrew A. Haldane, Special Collections and Archives, Bowdoin College. The author thanks Steve Moore, Haldane's nephew, for providing him with copies of these documents.
409 Henry "Hank" Boyes to Sledge, December 16, 1979, SCAU.
410 Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 87.
411 Brig. Gen. Austin C. Shofner, USMC Personnel File, NRC. This file contains copies of his transfer orders. The description of his time with the US Army comes from Shofner's "WWII Memories," p. 82. A note about his memoirs is necessary. Written in 2000, the memoirs reflect the memories of a man who may have had too long a time to burnish them or, as has been suggested by others who knew him, of a man who had a failing memory. In either case, there are overstatements and misrepresentations that can be proven as such. Other assertions found in his memoirs can neither be proved nor disproved at this date. The author has included only those aspects that were independently verified.
412 Wells, Give Me Fifty Marines, p. 118.
413 Ibid. p. 134.
414 Conner, The Spearhead, p. 25; Garand and Strobridge, USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV, p. 483.
415 Tatum, Red Blood Black Sand, p. 112.
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.