This afternoon, I received two never before seen photographs of First Battalion officers in 1945. These great pictures are courtesy of Dr. Richards P. Lyon, the battalion’s assistant surgeon during the battle of Saipan, and chief medical officer while they prepared to invade Japan.
The first photo was taken at Camp Maui in 1945. Lieutenant (j.g.) Lyon is standing second from the left. To his right are Lieutenant Richard “Big Dick” Porter (the battalion surgeon), Major Irving Schechter (former commander of Company A, now battalion Operations Officer), and Captain Joe Swoyer, recently appointed commanding officer of Company B.
Dr. Lyon mentioned that Doc Porter was reassigned to a stateside berth after Iwo Jima (which was his fourth combat operation). With Porter’s departure, Dr. Lyon became the senior medical officer, assisted by Lt. (j.g.) James Owen. However, his seasoned pharmacist’s mates “made everything go,” and “because the Doc didn’t have to march and struggle through the boondocks, I found myself organizing basketball teams for officers and enlisted men.”
Swoyer, the “wild, effective forward” of Lyon’s team of “uncoachables” led the battalion team to the Maui Championships in 1945. He had been with the battalion since it was formed, from leading a platoon in Company D to the machine gunners of Baker Company. Promoted to the rank of captain right before Iwo Jima, Swoyer served as the company executive officer until March 1, 1945. As sister outfit Charlie Company attacked Iwo’s “Meat Grinder,” its acting commander, Captain Frederic Stott, went down with a broken leg. Swoyer hustled over from Company B to take command, stepped off a second assault at 1300 hours, and was himself wounded and out of action by 1302. He made a full recovery and rejoined the battalion on April 12, 1945, taking command of Baker Company and leading them through the rest of the war.
“Buck” Schechter and Doc Lyon were good friends during and after the war; Schechter’s wedding to Aimee Baldwin took place at Lyon’s home.
These are the surviving officers of First Battalion on their way back to Maui from the battle of Iwo Jima. Names for this picture are forthcoming, but there are a few interesting things to note about this picture – namely, the placement of the UNIS marking on the dungaree jackets. They are noticeable above the left front pocket (with the USMC stamp) and consist of a semicircle (for the Fourth Marine Division) and a three-digit number. In the front row at far left is an officer belonging to Battalion Headquarters (designated by the number 411 – 24th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 1st Company) while third from left in the back row is an Able Company officer (412 – 24th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 2nd Company) – probably Second Lieutenant William Springman. About half of the men in this photo are veterans of four campaigns, and most have been wounded and decorated multiple times. I’ll add the names and some description in a later post.