World War II Pacific Battlefield

In my last post I talked about the capture of "The Point" by Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines after a terrific fight.  Two platoons of the company conducted a frontal assault of the objective, while the third platoon attempted to take if from the flank.  This unlucky platoon ran into a heavily defended low coral ridge.  Japanese fire forced the Marines to take cover in a tank trap...which they didn't realize was enfiladed by an enemy machine gun.  Within minutes most of the platoon had been killed or wounded.

On my visit to the island, I explored this area and found the low ridge.  The tank trap is no longer there, having been filled in sometime after the battle.  I was told it was used a grave for Japanese bodies.  However, the ridge still contains shelters, rife and machine gun positions.  An intact concrete reinforced pillbox guards the ridge's left flank...obviously the position was not even scratched by the pre-landing naval gunfire.  Remember, the Navy said they had run out of targets and decided to cut back on the pre-D-Day bombardment.  More about this later.  In any event, the ridge stretches from the pillbox for perhaps two to three hundred yards, placing it directly in front of the 1st Regiment's landing beach.

The ridge is perhaps 8 to 10 feet high and is comprised of coral rock into which the Japanese carved personnel cave shelters and machine gun positions.  There is evidence of individual positions...piled up coral to form breastworks.  Battlefield debris is much in evidence...Japanese beer and saki bottles, mess kits, shrapnel, unexploded ordnance, including several Japanese hand grenades (don't kick the rocks!)...and in one trench, dozens of Coke bottles dated 1944 and marked as being made in San Francisco.  I was absolute fascinated to find a barbed wire dump.  It was obvious that a vehicle (probably an amtrac) had unloaded spools of barbed wire, stakes (the screw type) and it was never used.  The spools are still intact but badly rusted, as you can imagine.  I could imagine a working party unloading the wire and then leaving it for others to emplace.

There is a no digging policy on the island...but I noticed that someone had unearthed relics from the "Coke" trench that I referred to above.  They had piled the debris on a rock...remnants of a flashlight, a rifle grenade launcher, .30 caliber cartridges and fragments of food tins.  Poignant reminders of those who fought and died on and about the ridge.

Semper Fi, Dick  

About the Author

Colonel Richard D. Camp, USMC), “retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 after completing 26 years of service. During his career he served in a variety of command and staff assignments, including the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., Instructor, The Basic School, CO, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, MCRD San Diego, CO, Recruiting Station, Milwaukee, WI, CO, 12th Marine Corps District, San Francisco, CA, and Aide de Camp, CG Marine Corps Education Center. He served one tour in Vietnam as CO, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment.  You can find out more about Colonel Camp and his books at:

http://www.military-writers.com/marinecorps/richard_camp.html