BATTLE NARRATIVE
Occupation Of The Point. Saipan: 25 June 1944.
In profile, Saipan’s Kagman Peninsula appears like a low, flat saddle of land, framed by the Tapochau foothills to the west and a steep ridge to the east. At the peninsula’s shoreline, the Kagman headland rises 400 feet above the sea and dominates the surrounding fields and slopes. Steep cliffs descend to the water; caves, both natural and man-made, dot the escarpments. The heights running from Mount Kagman to Rorogattan looked like a formidable obstacle – and indeed might have been. “Kagman Peninsula could have been much more difficult had the Japanese chosen to make it so,” noted historian Carl Hoffman. “As with a man putting off a dental appointment, the show-down would come later.”[1]
As far as the 4th Marine Division was concerned, the eastern shore of Kagman had no other name than “the O-6 Line” – their objective for D-plus-10. The advance to the heights began early in the morning, and quickly met with promising news. Marines of BLT 1-24 preparing to leave their foxholes saw reconnaissance plane buzzing overhead, scouting out the ridgeline for any signs of a Japanese last stand. The first squads of Able Company moved out at 0835; five minutes later, a message arrived at headquarters: “Air reconnaissance shows no enemy activity on ridge.”[2]
Nor was there any on the flat ground of Kagman Peninsula as RCT-24 moved rapidly towards its goal. Exactly an hour after jumping off, BLT 1-24 reported “Front lines approximately 600 yards from base of ridge.” Just twenty minutes later, “A Co 400 yards, B Co 300 yards, C Co 250 yards from base of hill.” Reports arrived of Japanese bunkers along Brown Beach, observation towers overlooking railroad tracks, and camouflaged emplacements near the ridge itself – all seemingly abandoned. By 1015, BLT 2-24 secured their objective at Kagman Point, and BLT 1-24 was not far behind.[3] “By noon, occupation of the point was complete,” reported 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott, “and from the heights at the end of the peninsula, we gazed back with contentment over the land we had captured.”
This series of photographs by SSgt. Mark Kauffman of the 24th Marines depicts the advance across Kagman Peninsula.
Orders to dig in and hold positions arrived at 1430. With the sea on one side and their own recently conquered rear area on the other, BLT 1-24 enjoyed what passed for an afternoon off. “We gratefully settled down to bivouac on this level ground where digging was easy and the earth soft,” remarked Stott, “and we received ’10-in-1′ rations for chow.” These boxed goods, intended to feed ten men for one day or one man for ten days, were a most welcome change from the monotonous crackers and stews of “K” and “C” rations. A few adventuresome cooks were soon adding “impromptu additions to the menu” with “captured chickens, ducks, and even two or three pigs which failed to evade tackling Marines.” (Able Company’s senior mess sergeant, SSgt. Michael J. Graziadei, was one of the day’s few casualties. One wonders if the sprained ankle he received was the result of a foraging “tackle.”)
It was tempting to think that the end of the battle was nigh. “Scuttlebutt had circulated that, in view of the heavy casualties we had sustained plus the amount of ground covered, we were due to be withdrawn and held in reserve for the remainder of the operation,” Stott continued. “Of course, this same scuttlebutt could not agree as to the units which would take over the regimental or Divisional sector, or from where they would come, but we were to be withdrawn.” It was obviously just a rumor, but still Stott admitted, “we wanted to believe such thoughts, and there is always plenty of opportunity.”[5]
Rumors abounded among the fighting men on Saipan, ranging from the geopolitical (Stott reported “authoritative scuttlebutt” claiming Russia had declared war on Japan, a story that started around D-plus-2 and took several days to settle down) to matters of local interest. Corporal Robert L. Williams remembered a common refrain: Amelia Earhart was alive and well and a guest of the 2nd Marine Division.
While most of Saipan’s mysteries were nothing more than idle chatter, one unanswered question rattled around Charlie Company on 25 June: where was Bobby Thompson?
PFC Robert George Thompson was a 21-year-old “plank owner” (original member) of Charlie Company, 24th Marines since the New River days. A good Marine with a young man’s foibles – an incident involving alcohol and subsequent trespassing and destruction of property in California had to be handled by Captain Horace C. Parks – Thompson fought as a rifleman and sent most of his monthly pay home to his mother and little brother in Brooklyn. He was a familiar face in the company until 25 June 1944, when he was reported as missing in action.
It seems unusual that Thompson could simply disappear on such a quiet day. Oftentimes men listed as “missing” after combat turned up again after a short while, having become lost or separated in the confusion of battle. Still others, after receiving wounds in action, took off for the rear on their own and were “whereabouts unknown” until their records caught up to the hospital. In extremely rare cases, they went AWOL from their foxholes – deserting in the face of the enemy – or went off on solo missions for their own reasons.[7] Thompson’s buddies never saw him again; they did not know if he was killed or wounded or evacuated for other reasons. The reasons for Thompson’s absence were unexplained for many years.
In 2015, former Corporal Horace F. “Al” Allen spoke briefly of the last time he saw Bobby Thompson. “I seen him get hit,” he said. “He went down, and we had to fall back. I don’t know that anybody got to him; I was just about blinded by that point anyway.”[8] Corporal Allen, a flamethrower operator, suffered burns to his face and eyes and was evacuated from Saipan – on 18 June 1944, a full week before Thompson was reported missing. The two Marines were good buddies, and Allen had no doubt that Bobby was the man he saw fall.
The reason for the seven-day lapse has not been explained, and possibly will never be solved. In the week between Allen’s recollection and the official declaration, Charlie Company was involved in heavy combat–perhaps the other eyewitnesses to Thompson’s fate were themselves killed or wounded, or perhaps the overworked company clerks had no other opportunity to update their rolls, and the relative lack of activity on D+10 gave them a chance to check their paperwork against who was actually present.
Bobby Thompson was never seen alive again. Whether he was killed outright in the attack on D+3, or survived his wounds for a time will never be known. A Graves Registration team made the grisly discovery of his remains on D+20, by which time poor Thompson was long dead. They could find no dog tags, identifying marks, or papers on the body, and on 6 July he was buried as Unknown X-5 in the 27th Division Cemetery.[9]
[1] Carl W. Hoffman, Saipan: The Beginning of the End (Washington, DC: Headquarters, Historical Division US Marine Corps, 1950), 150.
[2] “Action Report: First Battalion, 24th Marines Record of Events, 15 June – 9 July 1944″ (24 August 1944), 1. Hereafter BLT 1-24 Report.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Frederic A. Stott, “Saipan Under Fire” (Andover: Frederic Stott, 1945), 12. Stott is comparing himself to the titular character of a 1937 satire of Boston bluebloods. The author, John Philips Marquand, was popular among the officers of First Battalion.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Robert L. Williams, “In My Own Words,” interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh, March 12, 2014.
[7] Examples of each case occurred in BLT 1-24 during the Saipan operation.
[8] Recollections of Horace Allen were related to the author at Camp Lejeune on 7 August 2015.
[9] Investigations by the WFI Research Group and the author have tentatively placed Thompson’s burial place as Section H, Row 9, Grave 144 of the Manila American Cemetery. Thompson had two false front teeth, an unusual dental feature, especially for a young man. Unknown X-5 also has two false front teeth, and matches many of Thompson’s physical characteristics. The case is currently awaiting further action by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong, Harvey Samuel | Baker | PFC | Ammo Carrier | Wounded In Action | Unknown (slight) | Evacuated, destination unknown |
| DeNicola, James Louis | Able | PFC | Fire Team Leader | Wounded In Action | Combat fatigue | Evacuated to USS Fremont |
| Graziadei, Michael Joseph | Able | Technical Sergeant | Mess Sergeant | Wounded In Action | Sprain, right ankle | Evacuated to USS Custer |
| Martin, Clarence Edward | Headquarters | PFC | Messenger | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To HQ Company |
| McCaleb, General "J." | Charlie | Private | Rifleman | Returned To Duty | From hospital | To Charlie Company |
| Puckett, Thomas Theo Jr. | Baker | PFC | Messenger | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, right lower leg | Evacuated to USS J. Franklin Bell |
| Riley, Blaine | Able | PFC | BARman | Died Of Wounds | Gunshot, right side (22 June) | Died of wounds aboard USS Relief |
| Thompson, Robert George | Charlie | PFC | Basic | Missing | Unknown | To MIA status |
| Tolnay, Rudolph Erwin | Headquarters | PFC | Radioman | Wounded In Action | Unknown (slight) | Not evacuated |
