BATTLE NARRATIVE
Considerable Harrassment. Saipan: 29 June 1944
Sunrise found the lines of BLT 1-24 largely unchanged from the night before. Captain Milton G. Cokin‘s Baker Company, tied in securely with a company from BLT 3-24, maintained the right flank with a reasonable feeling of security. Captain Irving Schechter‘s Able Company was a little more on edge, having spent the night with their left flank exposed and enemy troops within earshot. The two-company front stretched about 200 yards; beyond the leftmost foxhole – whose occupants must have passed an utterly sleepless night – was Japanese territory.
The Japanese were doing their best to extend those feelings of discomfort. Although the night passed quietly (save, of course, the evening ambush sprung on Charlie Company’s Third Platoon), the morning of 29 June brought a noticeable uptick in enemy activity. “Considerable harassment was encountered from enemy groups in rear areas,” reported the 24th Marines’ war diary – adding, rather pointedly, “these enemy groups were believed to have filtered in, during the previous night, through the 27th Division zone of action on our left.”[1]
General orders for D-plus-14 were the same as the previous day: hold positions and support the advance of the 27th Division “by fire.” The 24th Marines busied itself with combat and reconnaissance patrols, hoping to ferret out and pinpoint Japanese strongholds holding up their Army counterparts. There was nothing altruistic about these efforts: the faster the infantry moved, the sooner the Marines could get off the line. Security concerns were also top of mind, for if the Japanese discovered the gap on Able Company’s left, there was little to prevent a major breakthrough. Individual infiltrators and scattered squads were proving difficult enough to deal with; nobody wanted to face a Japanese platoon or company charging out of the woods.
Some enterprising Japanese machine gunners zeroed in on the Marine supply line – a series of partially obscured tracks barely wide enough for a jeep – and sent bullets whizzing around the quartermasters bringing food and ammo to the front line. Although “supply troops” conjures up pictures of rear-echelon non-combat personnel, the men who kept fighting units in fighting trim were no strangers to danger. In “Saipan Under Fire,” 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott paid tribute to the supply section:
Stott included a quote from Corporal Frankin C. Robbins, one of his favorites: “Give us a goddamn jeep and we’ll ‘borrow’ enough gas and gear to keep your [expletive] bellies and guns full!”[2] Robbins had no qualms about combat – he’d earned a Silver Star on Namur as one of the “Daring Dozen” – but on Saipan, he had his hands full with logistical issues. Rather than leave the quartermasters at risk, BLT 1-24 sent out a patrol to locate the troublesome guns. Stott himself took the lead and disappeared into the hills above Chacha.
Other patrols ventured forth, some looking for Japanese troops and others for friendly forces. Enemy tanks were spotted in Target Area 196B at 1010; five minutes later, a heavy mortar barrage landed nearby. Another patrol spotted Marines on the summit of Mount Tapochau; it was, as Stott recalled, the first visual contact between the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions thus far in the campaign. BLT 1-24 would have been much better pleased to see Army infantry – ideally, much closer and announcing their relief.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Stott and his patrol were staking out a cave up in the hills. They were situated in a ravine deep in the woods; although Army troops occupied the ground above and Marines held the ground below, the Japanese moved with impunity. Heavily laden ammo carriers hustled out of the “nerve center,” delivering their cargo to heavy guns in a gully below or to machine gunners perched in caves carved in the walls of the ravine. The Nambus rattled periodically, sending sheets of bullets against the struggling Marine supply troops. Stott counted between fifty and sixty enemy troops going about their business, and realized he’d found a command post. His recon squad was heavily outgunned, so Stott radioed back for assistance.
Any Marine in his mid- to late twenties was at risk of being called “Pop,” but Brengle, at forty years of age, “really was a Pop” – and had spent almost half his life in uniform. “Pop” Brengle was full of tips, tricks, and fatherly advice. “He was knowledgeable about a lot of things and we respected what he said,” said Mervosh. Brengle showed them how to suck on a pebble to relieve their thirst, and warned them about drinking from streams without first purifying the water. Marines would sooner drink the water from their machine guns than a natural source that failed Brengle’s taste test.[7] “One time as we were crossing a stream, he took his cup out and tasted the water,” continued Mervosh. “He said it was okay, and then we all drank water from the stream and filled our canteens. We didn’t know it, but just up the stream were twenty dead Japs, and we were drinking water that contained maggots.”[8] Brengle simply carried on with no ill effects. “Mike, if you live to be my age, you’ll be doing great,” he declared. “If I live to my next birthday, I’ll be doing great!” Mervosh retorted.[9]
Tough old “Pop” returned to duty a few days later. Less lucky was PFC Elmer E. Bennett, a twenty-five-year-old BARman from Wheeling, West Virginia. Shrapnel hit Bennett in the left side, inflicting mortal wounds. Stretcher bearers carried his body away for burial in the growing 4th Marine Division Cemetery.
Eventually, Captain Horace C. Parks requested fire support for his pinned men. The rocket troops returned to lay down a barrage in Target Area 196RS, with “perfect” results. Charlie Company kept an eye on their left flank for the rest of the afternoon, hoping to spot the first troops of the 106th Infantry – but this hope waned with the sunlight as evening approached. As they prepared for another night filling the gap in the Tapochau foothills, the Marines of BLT 1-24 despaired of ever seeing another soldier.
[1] Report of RCT 24, in Operations Report, 4th Marine Division, Saipan, Annex I (San Diego: Headquarters, Fourth Marine Division, 3 October 1944), 22.
[2] Frederic A. Stott, “Saipan Under Fire” (Andover: Frederic Stott, 1945), 13.
[3] “Action Report: First Battalion, 24th Marines Record of Events, 15 June – 9 July 1944″ (24 August 1944), 1. Hereafter BLT 1-24 Report.
[4] Anonoymous, “Lt. Stott Leads Attack on Jap Command Post,” The Boston Globe 24 July 1944.
[5] Stott, “Saipan Under Fire,” 13. Interestingly, Stott makes no mention of his role in this patrol.
[6] Mike Mervosh, oral history interview conducted by The National World War II Museum, “Oral History Part 1,” March 19, 2008.
[7] The M1917 Browning machine gun was a water-cooled weapon; the crew had to carry a heavy condensing can as part of their equipment. Mervosh recalled actually drinking from the can on a few occasions. “It was full of Cosmoline and the taste was horrible, but it was wet and that was all we cared about.”
[8] Gregg Stoner, Hardcore Iron Mike, Conqueror of Iwo Jima (Bloomington: iUniverse, 2015), 48.
[9] Gail Chatfield, By Dammit, We’re Marines! (San Diego: Methvin Publishing, 2008), 70. Mervosh observed his 21st birthday on June 14, 1944, one day before landing on Saipan.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennett, Elmer Eugene | Charlie | PFC | BARman | Killed In Action | Shrapnel, left side | Removed for burial |
| Brengle, Alfred Joseph | Charlie | Platoon Sergeant | MG Platoon NCO | Wounded In Action | Unknown (slight) | Evacuated, destination unknown |
| Logan, William Curtis | Charlie | PFC | Machine Gunner | Sick | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown |
| McMahan, Carl Thermen | Charlie | Sergeant | Squad Leader | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, left thight | Evacuated to USS Bountiful |
