Battle Narrative Saipan: D+8. June 23, 1944.

BATTLE NARRATIVE

The Point Of Exhaustion. Saipan: 23 June 1944.

Few men slept well on the slopes of Hill 646.

The late afternoon fight and evening withdrawal left units disorganized and Marines dispirited. Although heroic efforts were made to connect all units on the line, many gaps still existed, including a dangerously large space between RCT-23 and BLT 1-24, where battered Able Company still held the flank. The Japanese declined to attack in force – they were exhausted, too – but fired rifles, machine guns, and knee mortars at the Americans all night.^[1] A distant fuel dump caught fire, and minutes later an ammunition stockpile went up with a muted roar. Heavy guns and antiaircraft weapons were heard, reported, and charted. None posed an immediate threat to the tired men of BLT 1-24, but they were a constant reminder of the danger that waited for the dawn. Unsurprisingly, “a morning survey showed we were fully as fatigued as on ‘D plus 3.‘”^[2]

The morning also brought welcome news. While Regimental Combat Team 24 would continue the advance to the O-5 line, BLT 1-24 was relieved from assault duty. They watched from their foxholes as BLTs 2-24 and 3-24 passed through the front line and disappeared into the woods and hills ahead. As the battle progressed northward, the sounds of fighting grew fainter and LtCol. Austin R. Brunelli‘s troops finally relaxed a little. “Having reached the point of exhaustion we received aid,” noted 1Lt. Frederic A. Stott, “and for the first time went into relief, remaining as located for the day, and devoting it entirely to eating and sleeping.”^[3]

Battalion clerks spent part of their day trying to count casualties and released an initial report: “as of this morning 282 (36 dead); 11 navy enlisted – 11 officers wounded and evacuated – 2 officers killed, 1 officer wounded.”^[4] The accuracy of this total is debatable, but still provides a glimpse at the scale of suffering within a single battalion. Lieutenant Stott made his own assessment: “Looking at the three rifle companies; Captain [Irving] Schechter had four effective officers in “A” Company (two of them slightly wounded), and Captains [Milton] Cokin and [Horace] Parks in “B” and “C” had but two each…. And the casualty rate among the men was as heavy as that indicated in the officers.”^[5]

Charlie Company’s officer cadre soon increased by one, as Stott joined to replace the late 1Lt. Thomas A. Schultz. He would serve out the rest of the campaign as the company executive officer.

Throughout the day, long columns of soldiers from the Army’s 27^th Infantry Division marched past BLT 1-24. After seizing Aslito Airfield and chasing Japanese forces on southern Saipan into the dead end of Nafutan Point, the soldiers were now redeploying to join in the northern advance. Lieutenant Stott recorded his impression:

Seemingly endless lines of dusty “dogfaces” came trudging up the winding road. We quickly learned that they were to take over a sector of the high ground between the two Marine divisions (the 2nd on the west and the 4th on the east coast) thus shortening our frontage in proportion to our effectives. Marine “love,” “admiration,” and “respect” for the Army is well known in all the branches of the service, but on that day the appearance of the soldiers brought nothing but thankful smiles to our faces. Combat is a quick leveler of many differences, and whenever we worked directly in conjunction with the Army troops, we had no complaint.^[6]

1Lt. Frederic A. Stott C/1/24th Marines

Over the course of the day, five Marines were evacuated with wounds or illness while two returned to duty. PFC John C. Pope was loafing by his gun when someone called out “Look who’s coming here!” Pope’s best friend, PFC James T. Rainey, was back from the hospital. Although still recovering from a severe concussion, Rainey “discharged” himself from the hospital, hitched a ride on a hospital jeep, and walked the rest of the way. Pope was a tower of conflicting emotions. “I was relieved to see him,” he said, “and at the same time, highly upset that he had put himself back in danger when it was not necessary. Whatever the feeling I had, I vented it by yelling at him.”

Rainey sat patiently through the tirade, and when Pope paused for breath, said “I was not going home without you, buddy.”

The entire gun pit fell silent. “I will never be able to describe how I felt at that moment,” said Pope. “The rest of the guys just looked on and said nothing. We took a rifle and helmet from a dead Marine and he promised to keep down, but after a while he was back on the gun.”

Jim Rainey was back physically, but his brush with death had changed him.

Jim began to act a little weird occasionally. He confided in me one morning that a man we knew was going to get killed that day. I asked him what made him say that, and he responded he could see some kind of light. Since then I have read that some people can see something called an aura over someone. I got after him good about that and told him to cut out that kind of talk.
“You don’t know what you are talking about. You can name any one of us and make that prediction and the chances are you will be right. After all we are in a war and see people killed most every day. If you get any more ideas like that, don’t tell me ‘cause I don’t want to hear that kind of stuff.”

I cannot attest to the accuracy or inaccuracy of his predictions. I honestly tried to forget, and he graciously did not bring it up again on Saipan.^[7]

PFC John C. Pope HQ/1/24th Marines

Rainey’s newfound ability would manifest itself again eight months later, on the island of Iwo Jima.

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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. Hereafter RCT 24 Final Report.
[2] Frederic A. Stott, “Saipan Under Fire” (Andover: Frederic Stott, 1945), 11.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Action Report: First Battalion, 24^th Marines Record of Events, 15 June – 9 July 1944″ (24 August 1944), 1. Hereafter BLT 1-24 Report. This estimate is a bit low, especially for the dead; post-battle reports indicate 52 killed in action or died of wounds as of this date.
[5] Stott, 11. Muster rolls suggest that Stott’s count is also slightly off: Schechter had five officers (Reynolds and Roy Wood slightly wounded); Cokin and Parks both had three. One wonders if Stott’s use of “effective” has a double meaning – not just “present” but also “useful” – given his tendency to gloss over officers he considered underwhelming, like Major Robert Fricke.
[6] Ibid.
[7] John C. Pope, Angel On My Shoulder, Kindle eBook.

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
Browning, Joe William	Charlie	Corporal	MG Squad Leader	Sick	Unknown	Evacuated, destination unknown
Carrington, Jackson David	Charlie	PFC	BARman	Wounded In Action	Unknown (serious)	Evacuated to USS Fremont
Donahue, John Walton Jr.	Able	Sergeant	MG Section Leader	Wounded In Action	Unknown (slight)	Evacuated, destination unknown
Grimes, Samuel King Jr.	Charlie	PFC	Messenger	Returned To Duty	From hospital	To Charlie Company
Hinkle, William Robert	Charlie	Corporal	Fire Team Leader	Wounded In Action	Blast concussion	Evacuated, destination unknown
Hurley, Thomas Milbourne	Able	Corporal	MG Squad Leader	Sick	Unknown	Evacuated, destination unknown
Rainey, James Thomas	Headquarters	PFC	Mortarman	Returned To Duty	From hospital	To HQ Company
Stott, Frederic Anness	Headquarters	First Lieutenant	Liaison	Inter-Battalion Transfer	To duty as Exec	To Charlie Company