BATTLE NARRATIVE
A Two-Day Southward Trek. Saipan: 12 July 1944
Part of Combat Team 24 today began making its way back down the island toward an area north of Aslito Airfield which has been designated as a bivouac area during reorganization. Moving slowly and on foot, these troops are seeking out and eliminating enemy stragglers and snipers overlooked or by-passed in the fast advance northward.[1]
Early on the morning of 12 July 1944, BLT 1-24 left their foxholes and deployed for their final combat assignment on Saipan. The plan seemed simple – start from the high ground and slowly sweep south, paying close attention to any caves, gullies, or ruined buildings that might harbor Japanese troops or civilians. This sort of “mopping up” was dull, stressful, and terrifying in equal measure. No organized resistance remained – but the bypassed enemy had nothing to lose, and it only took one determined sniper or machine gunner to end a Marine’s life. The battalion would move deliberately and cautiously – and respond to threats with overwhelming force.
They ran into trouble almost immediately. “We flushed several dozen well-provisioned enemy while in the initial stages of deployment,” wrote 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott, “once again with small casualties to ourselves.” The fight came as a surprise, but was overwhelmingly one-sided. Stott noted that the Japanese had appropriated American supplies – abandoned by necessity during the rapid advance – and some wielded American small arms and grenades. “A few men fell before our own weapons in Japanese hands,” he said.[2] Platoon Sergeant Elmo A. Burns and PFC Elmer W. Segraves were slightly wounded in the scrap. The Japanese, it may be assumed, perished to a man.
“The beginning of this day contained the major portion of the action,” continued Stott, “and throughout the remainder of it we advanced steadily, carefully combing the woods, detecting enemy periodically, and blasting caves with all the demolitions we could pack.” After a full day of hot and dangerous work, the battalion encamped in the field; one or two foreign intruders wandered into the lines after dark and were “quickly and finally dealt with.”[3]
As they made their way southward, BLT 1-24 re-crossed their old battlefields. The sights must have stirred memories still fresh in their minds and increased their desire to hurry up and be done with the job. Aside from Stott’s Saipan Under Fire, accounts of this mop-up operation are rare; we know little about what the battalion experienced on their march. However, combat correspondent Robert Sherrod – who spent time on the line with BLT 1-24 during the battle – likely spoke for them in On To Westward:
[1] “Report of RCT-24,” 28 August 1944, in Operations Report, 4th Marine Division, Saipan, Annex I (San Diego: Headquarters, 4th Marine Division, 3 October 1944). Hereafter RCT 24 Final Report.
[2] Frederic A. Stott, “Saipan Under Fire” (Andover: Frederic Stott, 1945), 23.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Robert Sherrod, On To Westward: War in the Central Pacific (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1945), 150. This is quite a statement from Sherrod, who is best known for his writing about the battle of Tarawa.
Battalion Daily Report
Casualties, Evacuations, Joinings & Transfers
KIA/DOW
WIA & EVAC*
SICK
JOINED
TRANSFERRED
STRENGTH
Out of an original landing strength of 888 officers and men.
* Does not include minor wounds not requiring evacuation from the line.
Name | Company | Rank | Role | Change | Cause | Disposition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burns, Elmo Arthur | Charlie | Platoon Sergeant | 1 Platoon NCO | Wounded In Action | Unknown (slight) | Not evacuated |
Ciecierski, Frank Walter | Charlie | Corporal | MG Squad Leader | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Fitzgerald, Paul Clifford | Charlie | Corporal | Squad Leader | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Fleischauer, Robert Frederick | Able | PFC | Messenger | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Able Company |
Harris, Robert Nelson | Able | PFC | BARman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Able Company |
Hicks, James Robert | Headquarters | Corporal | Intelligence NCO | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To HQ Company |
Hines, Joseph Martin | Charlie | PFC | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Hollingsworth, Reuben Nathaniel | Charlie | PFC | BARman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Holt, Wallace Morgan | Able | PFC | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Able Company |
Jiracek, Emil George Jr. | Charlie | PFC | Mortarman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Jordan, Hayword Louie | Charlie | PFC | BARman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Leonard, Walter William | Headquarters | HA1c | Corpsman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To HQ Company |
May, George Leroy | Baker | PFC | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Baker Company |
Mervosh, Mike Dush | Charlie | Sergeant | MG Section Leader | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Reeves, Robert Wayde | Charlie | PFC | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Risberg, Harold Anderson | Charlie | PFC | Basic | Sick | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown |
Ruiz, John A. | Able | PFC | Driver | Transferred | Intra-battalion | To HQ Company |
Segraves, Elmer William | Charlie | PFC | Basic | Wounded In Action | Unknown (slight) | Evacuated, destination unknown |
Seitz, Robert Fred | Baker | PFC | BARman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Baker Company |
Sempert, William Edward | Baker | PFC | Machine Gunner | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Baker Company |
Setina, Thomas Charles | Charlie | Private | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Sivertson, Robert Duane | Able | Private | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Able Company |
Stringer, Charlie Lemmons | Charlie | Private | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
Thomason, John H. | Baker | Private | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Baker Company |