BATTLE NARRATIVE
Return. Iwo Jima: 26 – 28 February, Part III
Approximately one hundred and fifty replacements — from former drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Otto Brettrager down to seventeen-year-old volunteer Private Mills W. Miller — were assigned to the First Battalion, 24th Marines during their period in reserve on Iwo Jima.
It was not the first time the battalion received a large number of new men. They rebuilt their ranks at Camp Maui after suffering casualties on Namur. In the Marianas, new men intended for the 2nd Marine Division filled in the gaps; some arrived in the aftermath of Saipan, and others mid-battle on Tinian, to slug through the final days of the campaign. And in September 1944, scores of Marines arrived from the mainland to be melded into the unit. Four months of training and one week on Iwo made these new men “old salts,” and it would be their responsibility to teach the replacements enough to stay alive.
Sources vary on the exact date the replacements arrived. Battalion muster rolls indicate about half reported for duty on 24 February, while the other half joined on 28 February. This first date is unlikely, as 1/24 was engaged in heavy combat on February 24 and 25, and the replacements suffered no losses on this date. The battalion’s AAR states that the replacements arrived en masse on 27 February, which seems more plausible for a unit in reserve.[2] It is also not clear when the front-line platoons and squads actually absorbed the new men. Baker Company appears to have had a policy of using at least some of its replacements as stretcher-bearers before putting them on the firing line. This would help the new men acclimate to battlefield conditions. Replacements could also be sent wherever needed, which may explain why some combat veterans felt like new faces appeared daily. Corporal Alva Perry, for example, recalled that “we were getting replacements every day as we were losing men every day.”[3]
No matter when they arrived, each new man was taken up on the battalion’s muster rolls by D+9. Administrators tried to tailor each man’s assignment to his MOS, but with so many “basic” Marines and anti-tank crewmen (1/24 had no anti-tank weapons save the bazooka) this was not always possible. Private Wayne D. Thomas (521) was sent to Company A for a crash course in the mortarman’s craft.[4] Private Joseph Ziemba was directed to the assault platoon and handed a flamethrower. Private Robert Owensby would live the credo “every Marine a rifleman,” while his buddy James Parker became a machine gun ammo carrier. Both went to Charlie Company with Sergeant Philip R. Baldwin.[5]
Private James A. Moore “was sent forward to a dugout where there was a man with a typewriter and a file system. He asked for my name, rank, and serial number. Then, he handed me a “V” mail blank and told me to write home. ‘Remember, this might be your last letter ever to go out,’ he said.”[6] Moore was assigned to duty as a stretcher-bearer in Baker Company. Private Lawrence A. “Slats” Trower also wound up in Baker; the welcome he received from his new squad leader, Corporal Andrew Chorzempa, was brief but memorable: “If you know how to pray, start praying now.”[7] Trower became an assistant BARman. Privates Melvin Adalman, Rondall Baird, Andrew Donaldson, Lloyd Abbott, and dozens more were similarly assigned.
Name | MOS | Rank | Joined From | Assigned To |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander, Charles Willard Jr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Degen, William Christian | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Gardner, David Richard | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Gibson, Raleigh Cleon | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Liess, William John | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Lindstrom, George Wallace | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Lukac, John | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Mausser, Bernard Anton | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Miller, Paul LeRoy | 604 (Machine Gunner) | Corporal | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Miller, Robert Eugene | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Mooney, Herman Leroy | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Morgan, Irven Milton | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Nichols, Earl Elmore | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Oberheide, Harold Junior | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Oleson, Delbert Albert | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Opheim, Robert Elmer | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Oster, Ardell William | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Parsons, Harry Robert Jr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Philomeno, Ralph Samuel | 610 (AT Gunner) | Corporal | 24th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Hendricks, Roy L. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Herman, James Daniel Joseph | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Layne, Willard Russell | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Merola, Emilio Vincent | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Miller, Arthur N. Jr. | 745 (Rifleman) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Monahan, William Paul | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Stevens, James Harold | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Stewart, James Bernard | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Swann, Claud Thomas | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Tackett, Charles Luther | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Thomas, Wayne Devere | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Thomas, William Jr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Tommasiallo, Joseph | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Trapp, Lawrence Adam | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Travis, Paul | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Able Company |
Abbott, Lloyd Ervin | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Allison, Reuel Dring | 737 (Squad Leader) | Corporal | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Davis, James F. Sr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Donaldson, Andrew Thomas | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Elkins, James Arthur | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
French, Floyd Robert | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Fulton, Wilton C. | 812 (Heavy Weapons NCO) | Platoon Sergeant | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Gibson, Robert Charles | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Glidewell, Alva Dexter Jr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Goff, Marvin Verle | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Groger, Teddy Warren | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Hoffman, Henry Francis | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Hultin, LeRoy Edwin | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Jones, Clifford G. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
King, William Hugh | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Lewis, Elery Ward | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Maassen, Robert William | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Mackey, Hubert Joseph | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Mattsey, Walter Edwin | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Mauzey, Francis Lafayette | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Mills, Marsh Edward Jr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Moore, James Adolphus | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Phillips, Ben Ray | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Pierson, John Howard | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Plansky, Gilbert Wencil | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Timmons, Jack Douglas | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Trower, Lawrence Andrey | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Tveter, Ivar | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Umfress, Samuel Lamar | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Van Dusen, Leonard George | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Van Sickle, Robert Sheldon | 521 (Basic) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Vrana, Richard William | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Welborn, Hillyer Walter | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Wemple, Willard Washington | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Werre, George E. | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
White, Robert V. | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Adalman, Melvin Solomon | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Adam, Archie Morrison Jr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Aldinger, Charles Friedrich Jr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Allen, William Perry | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Bachulis, Peter Anthony | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Bailey, Jimmy Edward | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Baird, Rondall McDowell | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Banko, Charles | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Barnhill, Gernie Philip | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Bayes, Darrell DeLoy | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Beisel, George Hadden | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Bennett, Leslie Lloyd | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Betts, Jesse Thurmond | 606 (AA Machine Gunner) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Brettrager, Otto Joseph | 600 (Machine Gun NCO) | Gunnery Sergeant | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Burke, Robert Anthony | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Halliwell, Alfred John | 607 (Mortarman) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Miller, John Joseph | 745 (Rifleman) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Muise, William Francis | 737 (Squad Leader) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Musser, Henry Shank | 522 (Duty NCO) | Corporal | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Saville, Dennis | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Scaramellino, Anthony Joseph | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Schmidt, Robert Gerald | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Shugars, Edgar Leroy | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Skinner, William Edward | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Spaid, Gladstone C. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Spivey, James Lester | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Squicciarini, Rudolph | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Stankwytch, Joseph Knox | 060 (Cook) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Stanley, Lester Franklin | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Sundgren, Arthur William Jr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Baker Company |
Baldwin, Philip Russell | 812 (Heavy Weapons NCO) | Sergeant | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Fischer, Richard Francis | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Hawkins, Donald George | 605 (Heavy Machine Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Henrichs, Henry Hugh Jr. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Jarvis, James Leonard | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Kelly, Richard Harry | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Kuhl, Marvin Lensch | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Lee, Wallace A. | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Lomoro, Dominic William | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Miller, James Osborne | 604 (Machine Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Miller, Mills Wagner | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
More, Donald Freeman | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Noyes, Dale Henry | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Nurenberg, Lavern Clark | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Owens, Kenneth Eugene | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Owensby, Robert Lee | 610 (AT Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Parker, James Robert | 605 (Heavy Machine Gunner) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Steffy, James Earl | 414 (Carburetor Mechanic) | Corporal | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Tomasetti, Herman Philp | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Treppa, Ralph Gregory | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Warren, Tom Joe | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Weatherford, Paul | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
White, James Roland | 521 (Basic) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Kalb, Edmund Vincent Sr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Kopsitz, Joseph John Jr | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Stainforth, William Harold Jr. | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Stansky, Benjamin Raymond | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Starkey, LeRoy Elmer | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Steffey, William Arthur | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Swanson, Robert Harding | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Taylor, Allen Jacob | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Taylor, Lawrence Wilbert | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Williams, David J. Jr. | 745 (Rifleman) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | Charlie Company |
Dunphy, Charles Augustus | 014 (Mechanic) | Sergeant | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Hurst, Billy Joe | 997 (Amphibian Tractor Crew) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Jibben, Ronald Edward | 736 (Tank Crewman) | PFC | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Johnson, LaVerne Leon | 907 (Tank Armorer) | PFC | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Kirk, Earl Jr. | 997 (Amphibian Tractor Crew) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Kown, Hugh | 660 (Tank Mechanic) | PFC | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
LeClaire, Louis | 997 (Amphibian Tractor Crew) | Private | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Moffit, Dwight "A.", Jr. | 060 (Cook) | Assistant Cook | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Rappert, Julius Jr. | 014 (Mechanic) | Corporal | 24th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Kelley, John Joseph | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
McQuillan, Donald Paul | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Simmons, Edwin Gregory | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Simpson, Robert Edward | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
Ziemba, Joseph Francis | 521 (Basic) | Private | 30th Replacement Draft | HQ Company |
While the battalion as a whole was glad of the replacements, the individual receptions they received ran the gamut from vague friendliness to calculated indifference to veiled hostility. Corporal Robert D. Price of Able Company summed up the practical side: “They were so badly needed to help fill in the ranks and help carry a weapon, we didn’t have time [for socializing].”[8] Camaraderie extended to learning each other’s names, and sometimes men didn’t even get that far. One of Al Perry’s replacements was a tall, lanky seventeen-year-old who introduced himself as “Bones” – he never knew the kid’s real name.[9] PFC Stanley Cupps was assigned a replacement called Taylor. A lieutenant performed the brisk introduction: “Taylor, this is Cupps. Do what he tells you.” Taylor didn’t listen. “Taylor was peeking over the top, and I told him to get his head down. He said, ‘They can’t see me,’” recalled Cupps. No sooner had he spoken the words than a Japanese marksman drilled Taylor through the skull. “He lasted about half a minute. His name was Taylor. That’s all I know about him.” [10]
If the replacements needed any more reason to listen to veteran advice, they had only to look a few hundred yards to the rear.
Marines armed with bulldozers and shovels began a major construction project on 21 February. A site between Motoyama Airfield #1 and Yellow Beach Two was selected; the grade was steeper and the soil looser than they preferred, but space was at a premium, and they had little choice. They toiled for three days, ducking sniper fire and gingerly disarming booby traps and dud rounds. Eleven of them were wounded as they worked.[11] On the morning of D+5, a bulldozer dropped its blade and carved out the first of several forty-two-inch deep trenches. Men with shovels scooped holes in the trench floor: one foot deep, three feet apart. Into each was placed the body of a dead Marine. It took time to build decent roads the cemeteries, so stretcher-bearers hand-carried each man in a seemingly unending stream. By the time the cemetery opened, several hundred Marines were already awaiting burial.[12]
On 26 February, 2Lt. Stephen H. Opalenik, the former wrestler turned Mustang mortar leader, was buried in Row 4, Grave 173 of the 4th Marine Division Cemetery. A few minutes later, Corporal John M. Corcoran, the affable Able Company BARman hit by a friendly shell, was placed in a grave – then PFC Roland P. Jackson, the former high school football coach with a wife and young son at home. As 1/24 enjoyed its three-day respite in the rear, Graves Registration men buried sixteen members of the battalion. Many more awaited burial and still others were yet to die.
Fingerprinting a dead Marine. Taking prints helped confirm the identity of the deceased: a very low percentage of American casualties on Iwo went unidentified.
Every morning, the thunder of the pre-assault barrage wakened those who managed to sleep through the night. As the last rumble of artillery died away, there might be a brief period of comparative quiet before a sudden eruption of small arms fire signaled the meeting of American and Japanese infantry. Shortly after that, stretcher teams would appear with their bloody burdens. The majority of the sound and fury seemed to be coming from a low, craggy hill and a long, bowl-shaped ridge. At the time, 1/24 didn’t care to know the names of local landmarks – to them, “it was just hill after hill after hill” – but they would become intimately familiar with the boulders and crevices of this one small part of Iwo Jima in the days to come.[14]
“Such a state of relaxation couldn’t be prolonged indefinitely,” opined Captain Frederic Stott, “nor was it desired. We realized we would have to return to the line, and further delay would bring no new benefits.” The battalion was bedding down on D+9 when the anticipated orders arrived – they were to relieve a decimated unit of the 23rd Marines on the front line before dawn and be ready to continue the attack. “In a way, we welcomed the orders,” said Stott, and while he doubtless spoke for some of the First Battalion, many more faced a long and sleepless night, wondering what the morning would bring.[15]
[1] Major Charles L. Banks, “Final Report on IWO JIMA Operation, Battalion Landing Team 1/24,” in Annex George to Fourth Marine Division Report on Iwo Jima: RCT 24 Report (20 April, 1945), 139. Hereafter “Final Report.”
[2] Ibid., 140.
[3] Alva Perry, “The Men Of ‘A’ Company,” 2011.
[4] Interestingly, photographs of Thomas in his dress uniform reveal that he was an expert rifleman.
[5] Baldwin’s and Parker’s assignments are proof that MOS numbers were not ignored; Baldwin was an 812 (Heavy Weapons NCO) and Parker was a 605 (Heavy Machine Gunner)
[6] “James Moore” in Bruce M. Petty, Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War (McFarland & Company: Jefferson, NC, 2002), 109-110.
[7] Lawrence A. Trower, “Lawrence ‘Slats’ Trower, PFC,” in The Muted Trumpet’s Call: Stories of the Everyday Heroes of World War II ed. Chuck Knox (Chicago: Authorhouse, 2011), 140.
[8] Robert D. Price, oral history interview conducted by Thomas Swope, Robert D. Price Collection(AFC/2001/001/49660), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
[9] Perry.
[10] David Harper, “Month in Hell Lingers in Memory,” Tulsa World, 19 February, 1995. Accessed 15 February 2015. “Taylor” is unknown; the two battle replacements named Taylor were assigned to Charlie Company. Taylor may have been one of the otherwise unrecorded replacements referenced above.
[11] Headquarters, Fourth Marine Division, “Annex II: Medical Report,” in Annex Dog to Fourth Marine Division Report on Iwo Jima: Logistics (2o April, 1945), 313.
[12] And this was just the Fourth Marine Division cemetery. The Third and Fifth had their own, similarly built and backlogged. Some Marines waited weeks for burial – Eugene Morris and James Freeman, both killed on 25 February, were not interred until 12 March.
[13] Frederic A. Stott, “Ten Days on Iwo Jima,” Leatherneck Vol. 28, No. 5 (May, 1945); 18.
[14] “People are saying the Quarry, the Amphitheater, this and that – I didn’t have any idea where we were, you know? Nobody was saying ‘this is the Quarry,’ there was no road map.” William T. Quinn, interview conducted by the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, “Heroes of Iwo Jima: 70 Years Later,” 5 March 2015.
[15] Stott, “Ten Days,” 18.
Battalion Strength: Recapitulation
Casualties, Evacuations, Joinings & Transfers from D-Day through D-plus-9
KIA/DOW
WIA & EVAC*
WIA & PRESENT
TRANSFERRED
REPLACEMENTS
STRENGTH
Information was informative and well written. Does anyone have the same information on the 27th Replacement Draft? I do know that the 27th Replacement Draft was attached to the Fifth Marine Division. I’ve been looking for unit rosters and/or muster sheets to no avail. My father was in the 27th Replacement Draft. I’ve obtained his SRB and confirmed he was in the 27th Replacement Draft and attached to the 5th Mar.Div. In January 1945. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Damn, if your father was Joseph Arledge, he is listed on the roster of the 27th Replacement Draft in the 5th Marine Division official history.