Tarawa
Taking the slim protection that a blasted tree affords, this Marine picks-off the Japs in a pill box. A Jap in a pill box must be shot through the small opening he uses to sight through, but that didn't bother this Marine on Tarawa. November 1943. (Marine Corps)
“A million men cannot take Tarawa in 100 years.”
- Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki, Imperial Marine Japanese commander in charge of the defense of Tarawa
It took about 4,000 Marines and Sailors three days.
In: Images, Military History · Tagged with: US Marine Corps, World War II
Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker dies at 90
(St. Maries, Idaho)—In Italy’s Apennine Mountains 65 years ago, the men of Company C, 370th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division fought through enemy machine gun nests and bunkers in order to capture the German stronghold of Castle Aghinolfi.
The small castle overlooking a coastal highway was used by the Germans as an artillery observation post. Although three previous assaults on the objective had failed, Second Lt. Vernon J. Baker’s segregated company was ordered to attack again – using a similar approach as the previous assaults. To make matters worse, nearly three-quarters of Baker’s undermanned platoon were replacements, and had seen little or no combat.
At 5 a.m. on April 5, artillery pounded the German position and Charlie Company headed to their objective. Initially, they encountered little resistance, and within about two hours, Baker and his men were within 250 yards of the castle. As they looked for a suitable position to set up their machine gun, Baker saw an enemy telescope pointing out of a slit in the hill. He crawled up to the position and emptied the clip of his M1 Garand rifle into the hole, killing the observation post’s two occupants.
In: Articles, Military History · Tagged with: Medal of Honor, Vernon J. Baker, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
Vernon Baker interview
An interview with the late Medal of Honor recipient, Vernon J. Baker from 1997.
Watch the full episode. See more Dialogue.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Medal of Honor, Vernon J. Baker, World War II
Medal of Honor history: Modrzejewski and Pope
44 years ago, Capt. Robert J. Modrzejewski and his men of Company K, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, THIRD Marine Division were inserted by helicopter into an enemy-infested jungle near the De-Militarized Zone. Their mission was to set up a blocking position for a major enemy trail network.
Shortly after landing, the company encountered a reinforced enemy platoon in a well-organized, defensive position. Major Modrzejewski led his men in the successful seizure of the enemy redoubt, which contained large quantities of ammunition and supplies. That evening, a numerically superior enemy force counterattacked in an effort to retake the vital supply area, thus setting the pattern of activity for the next 2 1/2 days.
The citation states that Modrzejewski was “constantly present wherever the fighting was heaviest, despite numerous casualties, a dwindling supply of ammunition and the knowledge that they were surrounded…”
In September 1944, Marine Corps Captain Everett P. Pope earned the Medal of Honor for his valiant leadership against overwhelming odds on Peleliu. Pope and his men held the strategic hill against Japanese suicide attacks. When ammunition ran low, the Marines resorted to using rocks and bare fists.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Medal of Honor, Vietnam War, World War II
Medal of Honor history: Roberts and Barfoot
41 years ago in Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam, Sergeant Gordon R. Roberts’ platoon embarked on helicopters to assist another company who was surrounded and heavily outnumbered by the NVA. Once Roberts and his men arrived, they were pinned down by heavy automatic weapons and grenade fire. Roberts would gallantly charge and destroy four bunkers and later assist in rescuing wounded comrades.
Roberts is the only Medal of Honor recipient still serving in the Armed Forces.
66 years ago on May 23 near Carano, Italy, Technical Sergeant Van T. Barfoot and his element were heavily engaged by a well-fortified enemy that held the commanding ground. Barfoot crawled forward, destroying an enemy machine gun position with a grenade, causing another machine gun position to surrender, capturing more than a dozen prisoners. When the enemy counterattacked, Barfoot destroyed a tank with his bazooka, and he moved forward into enemy territory to destroy a German fieldpiece with a satchel charge. Upon returning, Barfoot then assisted two wounded men to safety.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Medal of Honor, Vietnam War, World War II
American hero John Finn passes away
Just before 8:00 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Chief Petty Officer John Finn awoke to the sound of airplanes flying overhead and gunfire. He quickly threw on some clothes, jumped in his car and headed for the base, keeping his speedometer below the base’s 20-mph speed limit.
“I got around, and I heard a plane come roaring in from astern of me. As I glanced up, the guy made a wing-over and I saw that big old red meatball, the rising sun insignia, on the underside of the wing,” Finn recalled in a 2003 interview. “Well, I threw it into second, and it was a wonder I didn’t run over every sailor in the air station.”
Although Japan had not yet declared war on the United States, Japanese aircraft carriers had launched the first wave of 183 aircraft in a “sneak attack” on the anchored U.S. fleet. Another wave of 170 planes would strike just after 8:30 a.m., in all killing 2345 military personnel, 57 civilians, damaging or destroying hundreds of aircraft, sinking four battleships, two destroyers, and damaging numerous other ships.
The 32 year-old Finn arrived at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station where the PBY Catalina seaplanes were based. All but six of the base’s 33 Catalinas were destroyed by the Japanese, and the only seaplanes that could still function were those that had been out on an anti-submarine patrol. Some of his men were inside aircraft that were on fire, shooting the planes’ machine guns at Japanese aircraft overhead. As men scrambled to improvise firing platforms for the machine guns, Finn commandeered a .50 caliber and mounted it on an instruction stand normally used for teaching gunnery.
In: Articles, Military History · Tagged with: John W. Finn, Medal of Honor, Pearl Harbor, World War II
Headed to Normandy
U.S. soldiers marching through streets of Britain enroute to their landing craft for the invasion of Europe (Source: U.S. Army Center of Military History)
In: Images, Military History · Tagged with: D-Day, World War II
‘Full Victory – Nothing else’
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the D-Day. `Full victory-nothing else' to paratroopers in England, just before they board their airplanes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe. (U.S. Army photo)
The man facing Ike is the late Wallace C. Strobel – then a 22 year-old First Lieutenant. Strobel spoke about the interesting circumstances surrounding the photo here.
In: Images, Military History · Tagged with: Dwight D. Eisenhower, World War II
This Week in US Military History
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s series at Human Events:
Mar. 2, 1943: Elements of the U.S. Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force intercept and all-but-destroy an entire Japanese troop-transport convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Several enemy ships, scores of enemy aircraft, and thousands of enemy soldiers will be sent to the bottom. Gen. Douglas MacArthur will remark that Bismarck Sea “cannot fail to go down in history as one of the most complete and annihilating combats of all time.” Japanese Navy Capt. Tameichi Hara will refer to the battle as “shocking” and “unbelievable.”
Mar. 3, 1776: A force of 250 Continental Marines and sailors under the command of Marine Capt. (future major) Samuel Nicholas land on New Providence in the British-held Bahamas and quickly seize Fort Montague in the first amphibious operation in American military history. The landing – largely unopposed (the British garrison spiking their own guns and fleeing) – nets for the Americans much-needed powder, shot, nearly 50 serviceable cannon, and a few mortars.
An avid foxhunter and the highest-ranking leatherneck in the American Revolution, Nicholas will lead Marines alongside Army forces in the future battles of (second) Trenton and Princeton. He is considered to be the first commandant of the Marine Corps.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Alamo, American Revolution, Ballad of the Green Berets, Barbary Wars, Boston Massacre, John Adams, Seabees, Star Spangled Banner, Tuskegee Airmen, US Army, US Army Air Forces, US Marine Corps, US Navy, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
65 years ago: The Battle of Iwo Jima
Marines raise the U.S. flag on Mount Siribachi on Feb. 23, 1945. Holding the flagpole are Sergeant H.O. Hansen, Platoon Sergeant E.I. Thomas, and First Lieutenant H.G. Schrier. In the foreground Private First Class J.R. Michaels stands guard with an M-1 Carbine. Corporal C.W. Lindberg is behind him. USMC Photo/SSgt. Louis R. Lowery
On Feb. 19, 1945, thousands of Marines landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima, the first U.S. assault on Japanese home islands. For over a month, the Marines fought an epic fight with Japanese troops before declaring the island secured on March 16, 1945. Of the thousands (estimates run as high as 22,000) of Japanese troops defending the island, only 216 were captured. The rest were either killed either in battle or by ritual suicide.
The intense fighting produced over 26,000 U.S. casualties. Nearly 7,000 Marines (and 300 sailors) were killed. After the battle, Admiral Chester Nimitz said, “Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
Indeed, 27 Medals of Honor were awarded to Marines and sailors for their actions at Iwo Jima. Unto the Breach will post each Honor citation on the anniversary of the action, so check back frequently.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Iwo Jima, Medal of Honor, World War II
