Battle Narrative Saipan: D+6. June 21, 1944

BATTLE NARRATIVE

Position Static. Saipan: 21 June 1944.

D-plus-6 brought another day of respite to BLT 1-24. At 0730, LtCol. Austin R. Brunelli reported “all companies are digging in and reorganizing,” making the right flank impervious to assault. Aside from some patrols and “firing at targets of opportunity to the front with mortars and artillery,” the day was quiet.^[1] In the absence of combat “reorganizing” was the top priority. By their seventh day on Saipan, BLT 1-24 was operating at just under 75% of its fighting capability.

The twenty-first of June also marked the end of the battalion’s first week on Saipan. In seven days, the battalion lost nearly 25% of its fighting capability. Forty-eight men – a little more than a platoon – were dead, while about 180 others had suffered wounds requiring at least temporary evacuation. Only a handful of wounded men had returned to duty, and they were outnumbered by those who were not evacuated at all – slightly wounded, but wounded nonetheless. Captain Milton G. Cokin‘s Baker Company was in particularly rough shape; from 224 men present for duty on 15 June, they could now count 117 fit for fighting.^[2] No replacements were available, so Brunelli instructed Able Company (175 present) and Charlie Company (186 present) to provide Baker with “4 man fire groups and 5 man mortar squads” to even out the firepower.^[3]

As the reorganization took place, a battalion patrol returned to the CP with a handful of prisoners for questioning. They were almost certainly civilians; Japanese combat troops rarely offered to surrender, and such offers were not always accepted by Marines. “A number of times we did take civilian prisoners,” recalled Corporal Robert L. Williams. “The first thing we did was feed them and make sure they had plenty of water and were able to rest.”^[4] Less kindness was shown to military personnel. PFC John C. Gale, Jr., a scout with the intelligence section, was tasked with escorting a group of prisoners to a stockade on the beach. “Only two marines guarded more than 40 prisoners, but… it was a fairly simple task,” he explained. “The Japs are afraid of the raw blade of a bayonet…. Captured Jap soldiers straggle or march in funeral pace when Marine guards carry only a rifle. But when the Marines affix their bayonets, the Japs step along in jig time.”^[5]

The prisoners may have been escaping from the envelopment of Hill 500. This terrain feature, the tallest in the area, once served as a Japanese observation and command post. Now the last of the defenders were being overwhelmed by BLT 3-25 – and BLT 1-24 had a ringside seat for the action. Liaison officer 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott watched through binoculars as the hill “was overrun by noon. It provided superb vision for all the southern slopes of [Mount] Tapochau as well as the expanse of sugar cane fields extending eastward to Kagman Point.” The area had scarcely been secured before more Marines moved in – “artillery forward observers spotting for their guns, as well as infantry and tank leaders planning for a general attack on the coming day.”^[6]

Patrols spread out from the front lines and covered up to 1,500 yards without encountering any sizable enemy forces – although some worrying signs of activity were noted near Chacha Village on Kagman Point.^[7] At 1322, Baker Company sent out a 25-man patrol to investigate some bypassed gun emplacements and report on the effects of a mortar barrage. They approached with caution but found only ruins: the mortars were successful, and the area was abandoned. The patrol returned with zero casualties.

PFC Walter E. Bailey was perhaps the only man in the battalion who had a terrible day. During the battle of Namur, he’d narrowly escaped catastrophe when a Marine tank mistook his squad for the enemy and opened fire. The experience dramatically changed his attitude about the Corps and the tactics they employed. Working with tanks made him understandably wary, and he took every rational precaution to avoid their attention. As fate would have it, Bailey was hit on a quiet day – and, ironically, he believed friendly fire was to blame. A bullet creased his scalp, and Bailey was soon evacuated to the USS Lindenwald and on the path home to Lynn, Massachusetts. Many years after the war, he summed up the attitude of his buddies on Saipan: “We were young, we were in good shape, and we didn’t know any better.”^[8]

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Footnotes

[1] “Report of RCT-24,” 28 August 1944, in Operations Report, 4^th Marine Division, Saipan, Annex I (San Diego: Headquarters, 4^th Marine Division, 3 October 1944), 20.
[2] These calculations are based on a combination of USMC Casualty Cards and the June 1944 muster roll for First Battalion, 24^th Marines. While neither primary source is infallible (and in some cases, contradictory) the author believes these numbers to be reasonably accurate.
[3] “Action Report: First Battalion, 24^th Marines Record of Events, 15 June – 9 July 1944″ (24 August 1944).
[4] Robert L. Williams, “In My Own Words,” interview conducted by Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh, March 12, 2014.
[5] “Six Maryland Men See Rough Action,” The Baltimore Evening Sun, 24 July 1944.
[6] Frederic A. Stott, “Saipan Under Fire” (Andover: Frederic Stott, 1945), 7.
[7] Carl W. Hoffman, Saipan: The Beginning of the End (Washington, DC: Headquarters, Historical Division US Marine Corps, 1950), 120.
[8] Harold J. Goldberg, D-Day In The Pacific: The Battle of Saipan (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2007), 231.

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
Bailey, Walter Eugene	Charlie	PFC	BARman	Wounded In Action	Gunshot, scalp	Evacuated to USS Lindenwald
Copeck, Alexander Anthony	Charlie	PFC	Machine Gunner	Wounded In Action	Combat Fatigue	Evacuated, destination unknown