BATTLE NARRATIVE
I Hate Waste! Tinian: 2 August 1944
Lieutenant Colonel Otto Lessing was not a happy commander on the morning of August 2, 1944. After struggling through thick jungle and nigh-impassible ridges the day before, his battalion managed to cut off a formidable Japanese strongpoint at the cost of two Marine dead and several more wounded. High cliffs between his CP and regimental headquarters made radio communication sketchy at best, and he effectively played telephone with Colonel Franklin Hart while trying to explain his situation and follow instructions. The last message he received left him seething: Hart wanted Able and Baker Companies to eliminate the strong point; a single company from the Third Battalion would take their place in the advance.
It was clear to Lessing that Hart had no idea as to how BLT 1-24 was deployed. The orders meant an early morning reshuffling of the entire command “by platoons and sections so that no sector would be left unguarded.” Hart gave no orders concerning Charlie Company, so Lessing decided to have them move up to cover the front line until the Third Battalion troops arrived. At first light, the companies started to move, relieving each other platoon by platoon, leaving no gaps in the line. It was a laborious and seemingly unnecessary movement, but executed “in conformity with the Combat Team order.” The Japanese fired at any and all movement, and Lessing bitterly noted that “the Landing Team CP suffered casualties” during this realignment.[1]
Lessing’s mood was not improved when he learned at 0630 – half an hour before jumping off – that the anticipated Third Battalion company would not be arriving. Instead, he was expected to be ready to attack along with BLT 2-24. “It was clear that Landing Team 2 would be at a serious disadvantage in attacking forward with the Landing Team on its right not advancing, and with two companies engaged in an assault 1,000 yards or so in the rear,” he wrote. Fortunately, Charlie Company was more or less in position, and Lessing prepped them to move forward at 0700. Rather belatedly, at 0655, Hart radioed final orders to that effect. At the top of the hour, right on schedule, BLT 1-24 attacked in two directions at once.[2]
“The attack on the strongpoint was made from the north, east, and south,” Lessing reported. “It was a complete success. Over 20 Japs were killed, their machine guns captured. Considerable intelligence data was found. Numerous mines [were] deactivated.” This mission was accomplished in foliage so thick that a lieutenant quite literally stumbled on a Japanese sniper and killed him “at a range of two feet.” The operation concluded with zero Marine casualties at 1400 hours. At almost the same moment, Charlie Company reported itself on the O-8 line, having faced “some heavy resistance” but suffering only a handful of wounded and one man, PFC Hayword L. Jordan, killed in action. The situation appeared well in hand, and Lessing personally accompanied four mop-up patrols to make sure the area was secure.[3] Importantly, the bodies of PFC Armand L. Guyot and Private Earle D. Tanner were recovered along with their BARs. Private Roland Jennings was present to bid farewell to his friend. “My last remembrance of Armand was rather disturbing,” he remembered. “Both Marines had been placed on canvas litters and loaded aboard a small utility trailer drawn by a jeep. The bodies were covered by ponchos which served as a shroud. The only thing visible was their combat boots protruding from the cover.”[4]
One final calamity befell Able Company on the afternoon of August 2. “I received orders to go into an area that meant certain disaster,” remembered Captain Irving Schechter. “I complained to Colonel Lessing, who sympathized with me, and even tried to get a hold put on the orders but was unsuccessful.” Schechter deployed his men, only to see Privates Frank E. Pratt and Thomas J. Slockbower fall with fatal wounds. An explosion amputated Private Lawrence A. Nolen’s left leg below the knee, while PFC Gust A. Pappas – whose gallantry helped stave off the massive banzai attack – suffered a compound fracture of his right humerus and pelvis. In total, eleven Able Company Marines became casualties; all but two were replacements.[5] “That was enough for me,” Schechter said. “I had the bodies put in ponchos and sent word back that I just didn’t have the clout to go any farther.”
Lessing arrived on the scene, full of concern. “Buck, what’s this?” he asked.
“Colonel,” Schechter replied, “that’s the bodies of the first men who tried to move into the area I told you about. We just don’t have to end up putting what’s left of my company into ponchos because someone back at the beach is a nut.”[6]
At that moment, Otto Lessing made a decision that would effectively end his combat career. Summoning a lineman, he placed a call to higher headquarters. When asked how things were going, Lessing took a deep breath. “Not so good,” he replied. “I’m staring at Marines who are covered with ponchos because of that stupid order I tried to get changed. I hate waste.”
His candor was not appreciated at Colonel Hart’s headquarters. “In the movies, Colonel Lessing would be a big hero, as he was to me,” related Schechter. “As it was, he was relieved of his command.”[7]
In his after-action report, submitted in response to Colonel Hart’s “dissatisfaction with the manner [in which] Landing Team 1 operated during the period 1 August to 3 August 1944,” Lessing laid out an argument citing conflicting orders, poor communication, and a lack of coordination with supporting units. He refused to pass the blame, and ended with an ultimatum.
If the [report] leaves any question as to whether my conduct of the operations of Landing Team 1 was proper, it is felt that my usefulness in this Division is at an end, and it is respectfully requested that I be transferred to some organization wherein my service can be of some value. [8]
Otto Lessing never led troops in combat again. On October 16, 1944, he was transferred to Headquarters, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, to become a member of the Board of Awards. Lessing resigned his commission in February 1946, and went on to a successful career as an oil engineer. Decades later, he still commanded the respect of the men he led on Tinian. “I don’t know if he’s still alive,” said Irving Schechter, who himself retired as a colonel after a distinguished career, “but if he is, I’d like him to know I salute him.”[9]
- Otto Lessing, “Report on Operations of Landing Team 1, Combat Team 24,: (25 August 1944), 3. Hereafter BLT 1-24 Report (Tinian).
- Ibid., 4.
- Ibid., 4-5.
- Jennings letter. Jennings maintained that Guyot and Tanner were actually killed on July 31, and “the Corps made a mistake on the KIA date.” In correspondence, he was very specific about the number of days he spent with Armand Guyot, even though it was “a moot point” nearly 70 years after the fact. LtCol. Lessing’s action report, casualty data, and muster rolls all seem to confirm the August 1 date. While I have chosen to relate the “official” series of events, it should be remembered that primary sources are not infallible, as the reader will see upon returning to the narrative.
- Lessing’s action report mentions “An enemy machine gun was captured but not until over a dozen men of Company B had been wounded.” Casualty reports suggest he meant to say “Company A.”
Berry, 228. Schechter states that three men were KIA in this incident; casualty reports indicate two. He may have included PFC Jordan, the Charlie Company KIA, in his total.
- Ibid.
- BLT 1-24 Report (Tinian), i.
- Berry, 228. Schechter was interviewed in 1982 and died in 1997; Lessing died in October 1999. It is not known if the two former comrades reconnected after the war.
Battalion Daily Report
Casualties, Evacuations, Joinings & Transfers
KIA/DOW
WIA & EVAC*
SICK
JOINED
TRANSFERRED
STRENGTH
Out of an original landing strength of 599 officers and men.
* Does not include minor wounds not requiring evacuation from the line.
| Name | Company | Rank | Role | Change | Cause | Disposition | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cawood, Virgil Eugene | Able | Corporal | Driver | Wounded In Action | Shrapnel, left arm | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Cowan, Hugh Curtis, Jr. | HQ | Sergeant | Squad Leader | Wounded In Action | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Davis, Richard Franklin | HQ | Sergeant | Lineman | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, right hip and back | Evacuated to USS Relief | Visit |
| Dunkelberg, James Gordon | HQ | Field Music First Class | Musician | Wounded In Action | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Fox, John Murray | Charlie | First Lieutenant | Mortar Section Leader | Returned To Duty | Visit | ||
| Griffin, James Arthur | Charlie | Corporal | Ammo Carrier | Wounded In Action | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Jordan, Hayword Louie | Charlie | PFC | BARman | Killed In Action | Multple shrapnel wounds | Removed for burial | Visit |
| Mauss, Ralph Merron | Baker | Private | Rifleman | Wounded In Action | Combat Fatigue | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Nichinson, Sol | Charlie | PFC | BARman | Sick | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Nolen, Lawrence Albert | Able | Private | BARman | Wounded In Action | Amputation, lower left leg | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Osburn, Lawrence Roger | Able | Private | Rifleman | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, upper right arm | Not evacuated | Visit |
| Pappas, Gust Alexander | Able | PFC | BARman | Wounded In Action | Compound fracture right humerus and pelvis | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Payne, Harvey Lee | Able | Private | Rifleman | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, left leg | Evacuated to USS Relief | Visit |
| Pearson, William Howard | Able | Private | Squad Leader | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, left leg, paralysis | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Peterson, Harris Edwin | Charlie | PFC | Rifleman | Wounded In Action | Shrapnel, right hip | Not evacuated | Visit |
| Powell, Richard James | Able | PFC | Mortarman | Wounded In Action | Compound fracture right tibia | Evacuated to USS Bountiful | Visit |
| Pratt, Frank Edward | Able | Private | Rifleman | Killed In Action | Gunshot, back | Removed for burial | Visit |
| Quimby, Jerome Edward | Able | PFC | Rifleman | Wounded In Action | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Ruby, Edward Richard | Charlie | Assistant Cook | Cook | Wounded In Action | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Schwabl, Herman Norbert Jr. | Able | PFC | Basic | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, both legs | Evacuated to USS Samaritan | Visit |
| Shelton, William Charles | Baker | Private | Rifleman | Sick | Unknown | Evacuated, destination unknown | Visit |
| Slockbower, Thomas Joseph | Able | Private | Machine Gunner | Killed In Action | Shrapnel, head | Removed for burial | Visit |
| Watkins, Robert Ernest | Baker | Corporal | BARman | Wounded In Action | Gunshot, right hand | Evacuated to USS Relief | Visit |
