Marine Vignettes By Gunny G
#9
AN OLD SALT'S
COURTMARTIAL
by Mike Adelt
December
5, 1997
*
Alright Marines, let the ol' gunny tell you a story. Pull up a footlocker
and sit your ass down!
I'd just come
back from a tour with the 1st MAW which had been all over the Pacific from
Iwakuni
to Atsugi to
Opama and Cubi Point in the Philippines to Oki, was a lot of fun. That
was back when
Nam was really starting.
Anyway, wound
up with a set of orders that directed me to Camp Gieger and ITR, this was
all back
about
1960. Was assigned to a barracks and like they all say, "walked in and
threw down my
seabag". Got assigned to a cubicle with an old Cpl E3,2 striper.
The new pay
grades had been assigned to include Lcpl E3, Sgt E5, etc. Didn't pay much
attention as
I was already
serving with hashmark Pvt's and PFC's, from what I thought was the "old
Corps".
Unpacked my
seabag and hung up my stuff in the locker. Thought myself lucky I had been
assigned
to a bottom
bunk, but then glanced around and realized in a four-man cubicle there
was only two of
us, me and that 2 stripe Cpl E3. Didn't think much more of it, was assigned
to other duties.
Sort of fell
in the groove of things, cross country chasing school coming up, troop
handling with new
recruits,
just sorta' gettin' adjusted, finding out where the good slopshoots were,
the rock 'n roll
bands in J'ville, and some other crazy stories, I'll relate later.
Anyway, use
to roll over every morning getting up at reville, seeing this ol' Cpl reach
over to the end
of his protruding
footlocker, grab an old fashion glass and take a swig. Knew then something
was
"different".
During the interim I had noticed when his wall locker was open, had a set
of greens with
Cpl E3 chevrons
but more hashmarks than I had ever seen in my life. But to continue, a
couple of
days
later I woke to find no Cpl, bunk still made, old fashion glass still in
appearance, locker is
locked. When
I came in from the field late that afternoon there were a couple of guys
from H&S
company emptying
and packing the old Cpl's lockers. At which time, they informed me the
old man
had broken
into the PX, was accused of stealing a couple of cases of Aqua Velva and
was now
ensconced in
the brig. Of course, this young Marine, said "Oh, shit, he's gone and a
drunk to boot",
drinking Aqua
Velva? And went on about my business sort of bearing thoughts of that old
man to my
memory. Wound
up he was court marshaled, got 6 6 and a kick, that's six months hard time,
six
months soft
time and a dishonorable discharge. Of course, I thought it was deserved,
just another
drunken crook.
How are we going to teach the new Marines what's right or wrong if the
old timers
can't live up to the code, and went on about my business, teaching new
Marines.
Couple
of months later, I was handed a review of the old Cpl's court marshal by
the convening
authority.
Seems those folks saw something that nobody else did; you see that old
Cpl. E3 was a
veteran of
the WWII and Korea. Not only that, he was a survivor of the Batan Death
March and
some three
and a half years of multiple Japanese concentration camps. He had more
decoration and
purple hearts
than I can mention here. He wound up being retired on the spot as a GySgt
E7 with all
pay
due and allowances. The court marshal was stricken off his record. We truly
are a Band of Brothers.
Semper
Fidelis
GySgt and Mrs. Mike Adelt, USMC/Ret.
Visit http://ddi.digital.net/~adelt
#10
Sgt Barnes' Vignette
By Richard W. Barnes
January 1, 1998
(Richard Barnes/1969 1stMAW HQ Danang (LZ-11) E-3
at time.)
*
Knowledge that
Nam was "for real" usually came abruptly with the first incoming experience.
It was
not long before
I no longer thought much about getting home alive. With over ten months
left, odds
just did not seem
that good. As a postal type that had not been assigned to a unit, I assisted
in normal
receipt of
mail from the air field for the wing units. Usually riding shotgun in 6x6
to the main field,
Marble Mountain,
I-Corps HQ. However, ever so often I would be volunteered to ride shotgun
on a
46 to Chu Lai with mail and military guardmail. The first was somewhat
amazing.
Along with
this mail, five boots were aboard . All had nice new, shiny starched cammies,
but only
three M-16s
among them. Yet every one had a camera slung around their neck. Also, not
one 16
had a mag in
it, nor did I notice any mag pouches on their belts. I wondered what they
were thinking
of me, as
I had fully loaded magazines at every location on my cammies that would
hold them, and
some taped other
places. As I turned my head I noticed the door gunners where looking at
them with
the same hopeless
look I had. I imagine we all knew this would be the only trip they took
with their
hands holding onto their camera and not the 16s.....rwb
blazer@onslowonline.net
#11
A Marine Lost A Sailor
By Harold F. Dangler
January 7, 1998
*
After Guam, we sailed for Bouganville, and the little island of Purita,
where A Co 4th Base Depot
was to set up an equipment storage dump for the troops.
Purita Island
is just about 1/2 half mile off Bouganville. This place received more enemy
action than
the main island,
probably because of the closeness of the Storage Depot which contained
rations,
ammo, fuel, etc. The enemy missed so often that WE got their payload.
After just
a few days there, I saw this young sailor and I asked..."Is there anything
I can do for you?"
His answer
was: "Yes, I jumped ship, and I want to be with you Marines, that's where
the action is!
Besides, I'm sixteen & 1/2 and the Navy"s sending me home, can I stay,
please!"
I remembered that
at 16 and 1/2 I wanted to enlist, but my mother said very clearly, "NO!!"
My Dad
talked her into it by my seventeenth birthday.
So, I told the young sailor that he would have to get permission from our
C.O. After getting
"temporary permission",
he became my responsibility, as ordered by the CO, for my information!
So,
he became one
of us, and slept next to me, later becoming drunk.We had an air raid that
night with
plenty of
"personal bombs." With help, I was able to get him to our shelter. After
it was over, he
stared
at me, and I angrily demanded of him, "What the ---are you---staring at?"
With a dopey
expression
on his face, he said " I see an Angel on your shoulder." During the night,
I felt a thud on
my chest...I
thought that it was him in a drunken stupor. But, it was a Vampire bat
with a broken
wing!
Looking right
into its eyes, I knocked it off, and yelled for my buddies and rifles.
We killed it with the
rifle butts,
and unrolled it. It had a wing spread of about 3 ft. on each side, with
gripping claws. Right
then and there, we nailed it to a board on top of our shelter.
The
next morning, there was no cot, and no sailor! I checked with the troops--no
salor! I then
checked with
the CO--no sailor! Though, this was a very profound experience for me,
it was not so
to the others. But it is still with me today!
The next day
brought another air raid, and another hit on the Supply Depot. It looked
like all the
fireworks I'd
ever seen all rolled into one. My company got a commendation for our our
action that
day,
putting out fires and saving lives, etc. It was awarded by Marine General
Roy S. Geiger.
Harold F. Dangler
Busting Attitude Barriers thru Involvement (B.A.B.I.)
EMail:hfdangler@tampabay.rr.com
Note: My friend, Harold F. Dangler ( Pfc USMCR 1942-1945) is a veteran
of WWII, including
Guadalcanal, and other Pacific campaigns. He would like to contact any
former members of I Co,
3rd Bn, 21st Marines, 3rdMarine Division.
-GyG
#12
THE INVASION THAT NEVER HAPPENED!
By Basil Duncan
January 7, 1998
*
The Top Brass
of our Military and Naval forces were busy formulating plans for the invasion
of the
Japanese homeland,
to take place in late 1945. The plans were so secret that only a very few
even
knew it was happening. There are even fewer people today who know anything
about those
extensive
plans, and fewer still who know how close we came to implementing them
and launching
the attack, which was code-named "OPERATION DOWNFALL."
In mid-1945
the plan was prepared in its final form and called for two massive attacks,
to be carried
out in succession, aimed at the very heart of the Japanese Empire.
The first invasion, code-named "Operatiion Olympic," called for combat
troops to land by
amphibious
assault in the early morning hours of November 1, 1945, on the beaches
of Kyushu, the
Southernmost
island of Japan. Preceding the actual invasion, there was to be one of
the heaviest and
most concentrated
naval ad aerial bombardments in the history of modern warfare. Plans called
for
14 combat
divisions of Army and Marine Corps personnel to land on this heavily fortified
island.
Four months
later, on March 1, 1946, there was to be a second invasion, code named
"Operation
Coronet,"
which would send 22 additiional divisions against one million Japanese
defenders on the
island of Honshu and the Tokyo Plain. Hopefully, this combined effort would
bring about the
unconditional surrender of Japan and the end of the war.
By and large,
this was going to be an all American operation, with one small exception.
Part of the
British Pacific Fleet was to participate in the bombardment. Other than
that, it was to be all
American.
The plan called
for the use of the entire United States Marine Corps, the entire U. S.
Navy in the
Pacific, the
7th Air Force, the 8th Air Force (recently sent over from Europe), the
20th Air Force
and the American
Far Eastern Air Force. There would be in excess of 1.5 million combat Marines
and Soldiiers,
with millions more in support, to carry out this massive invasion. There
would be 4.5
million American
servicemen, or over 40% of all Military and Navy still in uniform in 1945,
taking
part in the invasiion.
In our most
conservative estimates, there would be massive casualties. Admiral Leahy
estimated in
excess of 250,000
killed or wounded on Kyushu alone. General MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence,
General Charles
Willoughby, estimated that we would suffer one million (1,000,000) men
lost by late
1946. His own staff considered this to be a very conservative number.
Many of the
self-proclaimed experts, who were not even born when all this was taking
place, are
now trying
to sell the world on the idea that a Naval blockade and the use of massive
air power over
Japan would
have brought them to unconditional surrender. Of course, these educated
morons have
not the slightest
idea of the mind-set of World War II Japan, nor the fanaticism of their
military. It is
my personal
opinion that our politicians of today still don't know the Japanese and
have not the
slightest idea how to deal with them on their terms.
There is no doubt that a Naval blockade and massive air strikes >
Transfer interrupted!
tary and naval
minds of the time agreed that those two things alone would never bring
the war to an
end. Blockades
and air power destroy some parts of a nation, but they do not kill the
entire nation.
This type
of operation would have left whole armies intact. Little did we know at
the time just how
much was still intact in Japan, just waiting for our landing.
Both
General Eisenhower and General Ira C. Eaker, the Deputy Commander of the
Army Air
Forces, agreed
with the assessment of the commanders in the Pacific. So the plan was made.
On
May
25, 1945, the Combined Chiefs of Staff, after long deliberations, issued
orders to General
MacArthur, Admiral
Chester Nimitz and Army Air Force General "Hap" Arnold, to proceed with
the
invasiion of Kyushu. Target date was to be November 1, 1945.
On July 24,
1945, President Harry Truman approved the invasion plans. On July 26th,
the Allies
issued the
Potsdam Proclamation, which called for the unconditional surrender of Japan
or face total
destruction. Three days later, on July 29th, Domei, the Japanese government
news agency,
broadcast to the world that Japan would ignore the Potsdam Proclamation.
We also learned
that the intelligence section of the FCC monitored internal Japanese broadcasts,
which disclosed
that Japan had closed all schools in order to mobilize all its school children.
Japan
was arming
its civilian population, incluting its children, to throw against the invading
armies in the
initial attacks.
This would cause many casualties in the invading armies and allow the Japanese
regular
army to hit
the invaders with a hoped-for knock-out blow. Japan was going to be a nation
of fortified
caves and massive underground defenses.
The key to
victory with the "OPERATION DOWNFALL" rested with the success of "Operation
Olympia" at
Kyushu for, without success here, "Operation Coronet" might never be launched.
We
were depending
on our massive firepower for the success at Kyushu, as well as the operation
to be
launced on Honshu.
One of our
major concerns was the ability of Japan to launch massive "kamikaze" air
attacks. We
were
remembering the success of these at Okinawa, where we lost 32 ships sunk
and over 400
damaged. Our
top brass assumed that Japan had just about spent its air force, because
of the ability
of our fliers to fly, unmolested, over Japanese territory. If only they
had known.
What we did
not know was that, by the end of July, 1945, the Japanese had been saving
all aircraft,
fuel, and
pilots in reserve. They had been feverishly building new planes for the
decisive battle for
their homeland.
They had given up, for the time being, their suicide attacks in order to
preserve pilots
and planes to use against our invasion, which they knew was coming.
This Japanese
plan was known as "Ketsu-Go." The nation had been divided into districts
and in each
of these were
hidden airfields and hangars. Aircraft were being camouflaged and dispersed
in great
numbers.
Throughout
the island of Kyushu were hundreds of suicide units which would, for the
first time in the
history of
all forces in Japan, be operating under one unified command. On Kyushu,
there were 20
suicide take-off
strips with underground hangars, 35 camouflaged airfields, and 9 seaplane
bases.
Suicide was to be an all-out mission of all military and naval operations.
On the night
before the invasion, massive suicide strikes by 200 aircraft were to be
launced against
our fleet.
There were 58 additional airfields in Korea. Of course, we did not know
all this at the time
Allied intelligence
had estimated Japanese strength to be no more than 2,500 aircraft, of which
they
guessed only 300 would be used in suicide attacks. What a joke that was!!
In August, 1945,
unknown to
us, the Japanese still had 5,651 Army and 7,974 Navy aircraft, for a total
of 12,725.
Also, in July
alone, they built 1,131 new planes. Almost 100 new underground aircraft
plants were in
various stages of completion.
Japan was
also building new, much more effective, models of the "Okka" rocket-propelled
bomb,
which was
very much like the German V-1, but piloted to its target by a suicide pilot.
Hundreds of
these were ordered and were to be launched from caves in Kyushu against
our fleet.
On the Western
shores of Kyushu, the Marines would be facing the most brutal opposition
by three
full Japanese
divisions, the 6th Tank Brigade, the 125th Infantry Brigade and the Fourth
Artillery
Command, as
well as components of the 25th and 77th Divisions, also poised for counter-attacks.
Space does
not permit me to outline this very detailed plan of the Japanese, but it
is important to
remember that
Japan had 28 million people trained as the "National Volunteer Combat Force,"
to be
used in beach defense and guerilla warfare.
I don't know
about the rest but, as a member of the Second Marine Divisiion which was
to be in the
initial attack,
I will be forever thankful that President Truman had the guts to put more
importance on
the lives of
American servicemen than on politics. I also thank God in Heaven that none
of us were
called upon to make that sacrifice.
Anyone interested
in the full text of the "OPERATION DOWNFALL" plans may have a copy by
sending your request to "dunc1@writeme.com," and I will send it to you
as soon as possible.
May God continue to bless this great Nation, and may we find leaders with
more concern for
defending our nation than in getting re-elected.
SEMPER FI!
Basil Duncan
dunc1@writeme.com
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