World War II Photos:
Philip Emerson Wood, Jr.
Though hardly the textbook picture of a Marine officer, Philip Wood Junior nevertheless became one of the best-liked lieutenants in Able Company, 24th Marines. He recorded his transformation from Yale Law intellectual to combat leader in a series of letters to his mother and sister – his “Dear Girls” – and occasionally sent home pictures of his adventures, many of which are shown here.
Wood was killed in action at Saipan on July 5, 1944, while leading a volunteer patrol to rescue civilians held in a cave. A friend and fellow officer wrote:
“Just as we who lived with him as officers loved him, so also were his men devoted to him. It was no hero-worship due to athletic prowess, etc. such as sometimes occurs in the men-officer relationship. Rather it was a much deeper, natural response of a group of intelligent men to a leader in whom they believed and to whom they were devoted as much as he was to them.”
The galleries of Leo Ksiekievicz and the Weapons Platoon also depict some of the men who served with Philip Wood. All photos on this page are from the author’s collection.
- Served With: A/1/24th Marines
- Collection Timeline: 1942 – 1944
- Locations: Quantico, New River, Camp Pendleton, Camp Maui
I hope you all haven’t been worried, but honest to John, I haven’t had a minute. I have never worked so hard & long as I have this last week. Really, you have no conception (I didn’t) of how much one can do. Every minute of the day, and the day is 24 hours long.... And the climate – Lord – I have never been so hot, and it’s always this way. March for five minutes and your shirt is sodden with sweat, five more minutes and your pants are wringing wet. I have been perspiring so heavily that believe it or not, it runs down my legs and into my shoes so much that it squishes...
And Daddy was right – that bayonet practice is the worst of all – God!
Well, I really do feel like a Lieutenant at last – believe it or not, but I’ve been commanding my men (“my men”!) for three days now and what a bunch! Most of them are young kids, under twenty and some seventeen, and they are all as green as grass. Just got out of boot camp, and not one of them is even a PFC…. There is really a hell of a lot of work to this. I’m dog tired at the end of a day – it is really wearing to be on your toes every minute, as you must be with 40 men watching you all the time, making a hundred decisions a day. But so far, I am really enjoying it, much more than I have anything else in the Marine Corps. Because it requires so much, it just makes it that much more interesting.
Scenes from Camp Pendleton
Summer 1943
Captions in quotes are Phil Wood’s handwritten notes.
!["The company jeep. Harry [Reynolds] is driving."](https://i0.wp.com/1-24thmarines.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/pew_jeep.webp?fit=1454%2C900&ssl=1){kind=link}
Guadalcanal Diary
"Hollywood Marines"
“There is no substitute for the Marine. We’re getting stuff which has a snap and quality impossible to obtain anywhere but in a Marine encampment.” – Lewis Seiler
The 1943 film “Guadalcanal Diary” was primarily filmed at Camp Pendleton, California, with Marine units being used in battle scenes and as extras. Some even got small speaking parts, and could boast of sharing the screen with the likes of Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, and a then-unknown Richard Jaeckel. The First Battalion participated in the beach landing scene, an exciting and pyrotechnic-filled assault complete with air support. Battalion officers posed for a group picture with director Lewis Seiler; Phil Wood drew up the identification key.
Overseas: Namur, Maui, Saipan
Phil Wood left the United States on January 13, 1944, sailing across the Pacific aboard the transport USS DuPage. One month later, he was back aboard ship – this time the merchant steamer SS Robin Wentley – bound for a rest camp on Maui in the Territory of Hawaii. In that short span of time, he became a combat veteran – “I killed – yes, several times. I did not enjoy it. I had to force that single motion of my index finger up from my belly the first time, but then it became the natural reaction to a situation of danger” – saw some of his men die, and lost his close friend and singing partner 1Lt. Theodore K. Johnson.
During the spring at Camp Maui, Wood took command of the new 60mm mortar section and picked Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin as his second in command. The two were as different as night and day, but rapidly developed a close friendship. “Ervin was pretty much an individualist, not given to affection, and on first impression, not a top notch NCO,” wrote Phil’s friend Fred Stott. “But the mutual admiration and respect which grew between the two was obvious, and they were a strongly attached pair who worked together as well as any and better than most.” On Saipan, their connection would play out to a tragic and heroic end. “It was Sgt. Ervin who, when Phil lay fatally wounded in an exposed position, called out ‘Don’t worry, Phil, I’m coming for you!'” concluded Stott. “And Ervin went down to be killed at Phil’s side by the same Jap gun.”
We do a lot of singing, some evenings sitting out on deck for two or three hours at a time. Harry [Reynolds] and Ted [Johnson] can, between them, remember the words to all the old and middle-aged songs. “Dear Old Girl,” “I Wonder What’s Become Of Sally,” lullabies and college songs. We really do make up a damned good quartet. I can at least carry a melody, and the other three do the variations on the theme....
Able Company officers after Roi-Namur
“Your mustachio’d friend, Roy Wood, The Captain, Oz – his father just had a book published, “Say I Of Myself” – but it’s boring as the devil! And Smitty – David E. Smith. From Missouri, literally, but a good guy.” [Missing is executive officer Harry D. Reynolds, who had been wounded and evacuated.]
Dog Company officers after Roi-Namur
Back: 1Lt. Joseph D. Swoyer, Jr., Capt. George D. Webster, Capt. Earl R. Marquardt, 1Lt. Alexander Santilli
Front: 1Lt. James R. Donovan, 2Lt. William C. James, Jr., 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott, 2Lt. Charles R. Bechtol
Able Company, 60mm Mortar Section, Camp Maui
Third Row: Claude Henderson, Leo Ksiekievicz, John Franey, Tom Johnson, John Czepiel
Second Row: Wilbur Plitt, Edward Hackett, Donald Peters, Kenneth Whitehurst, Bartholomew Wanagaitis, Merle Geesaman, Ronald Bartels
First Row: Arthur Ervin, Howard Haff, Edward Lykins, Frank Gosiewski, Ronald Palmer, Joe Roff, William Imm
Not present: Philip Wood, Kenneth Shea, Dale Owings
Suddenly a group of wounded native civilians (Chamorros) came out of some caves forward of our lines. As always, Phil and Sgt. Ervin, his section sergeant, asked if they could take a patrol forward and help the natives back of our lines. He soon returned with many wounded women and children. There were many more in the caves, which the Jap soldiers wouldn’t let surrender. Phil returned to the caves with his patrol.
When Phil was about 30 yards away, the Japs opened fire. He was hit. Sgt. Ervin and a corpsman ran over to him and they were hit. All but two members of the patrol were casualties. Five died almost instantly. Phil, always first in combat, first in leadership, was also the first to die. I had been Phil’s Company Commander for over a year and a half, and during that time had never seen an officer that was better liked by both men and officers. Phil was a natural leader whose men would follow [him] anywhere. His death has shocked us all. We will never forget Phil. His spirit will always remain with Company A.
I visited Phil’s grave several times. He is buried in the Fourth Marine Cemetery on Saipan. Next to him lie his buddies.... He was buried with full military honors and the rites of his church.
Dear Gretchen:
I am fascinated to see this account of Phil and his family. I always think of him on Memorial Day. I hope you are well.
Best wishes,
Bill Busing from Swarthmore
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