War Stories II: Heroism in the Pacific

by Oliver North

  11–29 May

  Recovery of Attu Island

  Landings by the 7th Infantry Division are successful. Japanese troops fight desperately, and on 29 May, launch a futile 1,000-man suicide charge.

  30 May

  The New Fast Carriers Arrive

  The USS Essex, the first of twenty-four “fast carriers,” arrives in the central Pacific. These new ships will have a huge impact on the war.

  30 June

  “Operation Cartwheel” Begins

  American troops land at Rendova Island; the 43rd Division engages the enemy but Munda on New Georgia is not taken until August.

  22 July

  Black Sheep Squadron Formed

  A U.S. Marine fighter pilot is chosen to head a new squadron to provide air protection for Admiral Halsey’s task force. Major Gregory Boyington is the new leader. He is nicknamed “Pappy” by his squadron because at age thirty-one he’s the oldest man in the unit. The Black Sheep Squadron has many pilots who become “aces” in shooting down Japanese bombers and fighter planes.

  6–7 August

  “Island-Hopping” Begins

  Halsey skips Kolombangara for Vella Lavella en route to Bougainville. “Island-Hopping” strategy takes advantage of Pacific geography and lets American troops bypass the strongest Japanese garrisons, sealing them off by air and sea from getting supplies and reinforcements, while U.S. troops take more strategic islands.

  15–16 August

  U.S. Retakes Kiska Island

  American soldiers land at Kiska Island in the Aleutian chain and discover that the Japanese have evacuated their 5,000-man garrison.

  3 September

  Italy Surrenders

  After Fascist leader Mussolini is ousted and a new Italian government is formed, Italy surrenders to the Allies. A month later, Italy will declare war on Germany as the Allies occupy most of the country, except for Rome, which the Nazis still hold.

  1–2 November

  Invasion of Bougainville

  One “hop” in the “Island-Hopping” toward Rabaul lands U.S. troops on Bougainville.

  5 November

  U.S. Navy Hits Four Enemy Ships

  Task Force 38 air strikes against four Japanese heavy cruisers, with ninety-seven carrier aircraft in attack; the U.S. loses only eight. All four Japanese cruisers are heavily damaged. It will mark the last time heavy Japanese warships come to Rabaul.

  11 November

  Battle at Truk

  The Japanese fleet is crippled at this battle in the Pacific. The Japanese lose all their cruisers and half their fighter planes. It will require at least six months for Japan to train fresh pilots.

  20–24 November

  Battle of Tarawa

  Landings for this battle start with fighting that becomes so intense that the four-day battle is called “Bloody Tarawa.” U.S. Marine total casualties are 3,301, including more than 1,000 who are killed. In contrast, nearly 5,000 Japanese are killed; only thirteen surrender.

  1944

  29 January–23 February

  U.S. Attacks Marshall Islands

  Landings are made on Majuro Island, which is captured by U.S. Marines—the first Japanese territory to be taken by the United States. Kwajalein and Eniwetok islands are also taken. The invasion task force includes 297 ships with 84,000 troops. U.S. Navy ships and planes shoot down some 200 enemy aircraft and sink 15 enemy ships.

  17 February

  U.S. Task Force Attacks Truk

  American navy destroys 250 Japanese planes and sinks fifteen warships in a battle to isolate the Japanese supply port at Truk Island, dubbed “the Gibraltar of the East” because of its impregnability. But the U.S. raids leave the Japanese base vulnerable, isolated, and increasingly impotent as a source of supplies.

  6 June

  Allied Invasion of Europe

  After months of secret, intensive planning, the U.S. and its Allies launch a “D-Day” invasion of Normandy with thousands of naval ships and even more conscripted vessels to ferry the troops and matériel. There are terrific losses, yet it marks the turning point in the European theater.

  19–21 June

  Battle of the Philippine Sea

  This three-day battle, nicknamed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,” is one of the biggest battles of World War II. This “greatest carrier battle of the war” costs the U.S. only thirty planes. But Japan loses a total of 346 planes plus two carriers. Japanese naval air forces can never again engage the U.S. in the Pacific on “any terms other than suicidal.”

  15 June–9 July

  Battle of Saipan

  Saipan is “taken at a high price,” and as many as 3,000 Americans are killed. Lt. General Saito commits suicide after convincing his army and civilians (men, women, and children could push the total to as many as 22,000) to make one last suicidal charge at advancing Americans. Enemy troops and civilians jump off cliffs when American lines do not break. Nimitz sees the carnage, including thousands of civilian suicides, and believes that similar problems will face the U.S. if it invades Japan.

  18 July

  Japanese Retreat from Northeast India

  After heavy losses in the China-Burma-India theater, Japanese troops withdraw from the northeast India cities of Imphal and Kohima, and a month later all Japanese resistance is ended.

  21 July–8 August

  Battle of Guam

  Guam, largest of the three Mariana Islands, is liberated by U.S.Marines after nearly three years of Japanese occupation. Guam becomes Nimitz’s headquarters for the central Pacific offensive. More than 18,500 enemy soldiers are killed or captured. The Marines’ casualties are in the 1,000 range but only about 200 are killed.

  24 July–1 August

  Battle of Tinian

  The majority of 13,000 Japanese troops on the island are killed in the battle to take Tinian. Saipan is the staging area for taking the nearby island with its prized airfields. These airfields put our B-29s within striking range of the Japanese Home Islands. With a range of 1,500 miles they are a genuine threat. They could fly from Saipan to Tokyo and back in about 1,300 miles, and the Japanese know and fear this.

  26 July

  FDR Meets with MacArthur and Nimitz

  President Roosevelt schedules a meeting in Hawaii with Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur to finalize objectives for taking the war to the main islands of Japan. It is at this meeting that the U.S. decides to retake the Philippine Islands rather than isolating them and going to islands closer to Japan, such as Formosa.

  11–16 September

  Quebec Conference

  FDR and Churchill meet to discuss war strategy. Miscalculations render many plans a waste of time and they delay a number of postwar strategies, including the plan to invade and occupy Iwo Jima and Okinawa, primarily to provide air bases and staging areas for the bombings and invasion of Japan. Churchill insists that the Royal Navy be “in at the death” of Japan, alongside the U.S. Navy.

  15–21 September

  Operation Stalemate

  The invasion of Peleliu Island is part of a larger exercise dubbed Operation Stalemate as a component of an overall plan to take all of the Palau Islands. On 10–11 September the U.S. 3rd Fleet attacks the Palaus prior to the invasion. Marines suffer 6,500 casualties and the Army loses another 3,000. But for the Japanese it is even more terrible. Of the 10,000 troops of the original garrison, fewer than a hundred are alive at the end. Nearly 600 men of the 1st Marine Division and 81st Army Division receive awards for their heroism.

  15 September

  U.S. Invasion of Leyte Set

  The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve MacArthur’s plan for landings at Leyte on 20 October using the 7th Fleet and Admiral Halsey’s Navy Task Force 38. As a prelude to the invasion, Marine Rangers are to invade nearby islands. Japan is wary about the U.S. efforts to retake part of the Philippines. Weakened by the loss of most of their warships and two-thirds of their tankers, they fear a U.S. invasion. Japan starts to maintain a “Home Fleet
” with nine battleships and five carriers to patrol Japanese waters.

  10 October

  “Beginning of the End” for Japan

  As air raids by planes from 3rd Fleet carriers start on Formosa, Okinawa, and Luzon, Americans destroy at least 500 Japanese aircraft in a week. Despite heavy losses, the Japanese government reports instead that they sank fifteen American ships. Imperial General Headquarters, which invents the myth, actually believes its own propaganda.

  15–27 October

  Battle of Leyte Gulf

  U.S. Marine Rangers invade Suluan and Dinagat Islands near Leyte in preparation for the Leyte invasion. Three Japanese naval forces try to oppose the landings and engage the U.S. fleets. When it ends on 27 October, the Japanese naval forces are repulsed and the U.S. Navy is undisputed victor. No longer will the Imperial Navy be able to make any significant challenge against the U.S. fleet.

  25 October

  Kamikaze Attacks Begin

  The first “organized” kamikaze attack on U.S. escort carriers Santee and Swanee occurs during a battle off Samar. These frantic suicidal missions accelerate, as the Japanese grow more and more desperate.

  14 December

  Palawan Massacre

  On the island of Palawan, American POWs are burned alive by their Japanese guards. Japanese soldiers armed with guns, bayonets, grenades, and dynamite attack the POWs. They toss gasoline onto the American POWs and incinerate them while they are still alive. Altogether 151 prisoners are slaughtered.

  16–25 December

  Battle of the Bulge

  The U.S. and Germany go toe to toe in combat in the Ardennes in the Battle of the Bulge. On 17 December the Nazi SS massacres U.S. prisoners of war in Malmédy. On 26 December General George Patton and the U.S. 3rd Army come to the rescue of beleaguered troops in Bastogne. Germans finally withdraw in January.

  1945

  2–7 January

  “Burma Road” Reopened

  Chinese forces join to reopen the Burma Road, now renamed “Stilwell Road.”

  9 January

  Americans Return to Luzon

  General Walter Krueger’s 6th Army begins landings on Luzon at the same location that Japanese forces had landed in December 1941. The only resistance to the American invasion is continuing attacks from kamikaze pilots. They are also effective. Suicidal Japanese pilots damage more than forty U.S. ships, almost half of them seriously, and they sink five U.S. ships. Nearly 800 Americans are killed in kamikaze attacks, and 1,400 are wounded.

  13 January

  MacArthur Returns

  General MacArthur wades ashore on Leyte beachhead to fulfill his promise to the Filipino people, “I shall return.”

  29–31 January

  Rescue of Bataan POWs

  In a daring raid behind enemy lines, Colonel Horton Smith, Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci, Major Robert Lapham (a Bataan Death March survivor), Captain Robert Prince, and 121 volunteers execute a risky plan—the greatest prison escape ever attempted—rescuing 500 American POWs from a Japanese prison camp on Luzon.

  19 February–26 March

  Battle of Iwo Jima

  The battle for Iwo Jima is one of the most terrible of the Pacific war. It costs the Marines casualties of nearly 7,000 killed in action and 21,000 wounded. Japanese dead total 20,000 and only 1,000 survive to surrender or be captured.

  10 March

  Tokyo Firebombed

  In the start of “1,000 bombing runs” on Tokyo, some 334 American B-29s drop 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, resulting in 100,000 deaths and a million homeless.

  26 March–2 July

  Battle of Okinawa

  Okinawa, an island that has been in Japanese control for 5,000 years, is invaded when 458 American ships land almost 200,000 U.S. troops. American casualties total 68,000, including 16,000 soldiers, sailors, and Marines killed or missing in action and nearly 50,000 wounded. More than 131,000 Japanese troops die, along with some 150,000 Okinawan civilians. The battle is called “an awful warning” of what it will take to invade Japan’s homeland. Many push to drop the A-bomb.

  11 April

  Allies Liberate German Concentration Camps

  American forces liberate two of the most notorious German concentration camps of World War II—Belsen and Buchenwald. On 29 April they also liberate Dachau, another infamous prison camp.

  13 April

  FDR Dies of a Stroke

  Franklin D. Roosevelt dies during his fourth term as president. Some call it “Black Friday.” The new president, Harry Truman, keeps pushing FDR’s policies and war efforts.

  18 April

  Correspondent Ernie Pyle Killed in Action

  Veteran war correspondent Ernie Pyle heads to the Pacific theater after the war in Europe ends. He steps ashore on a small island just west of Okinawa. Traveling with a group of infantrymen, Pyle is killed by a sniper’s bullet. Saddened, the soldiers pay tribute to their fallen friend with a simple plaque reading: “At this spot, the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy, Ernie Pyle, 18 April 1945.”

  28 April

  Mussolini Killed

  Italy’s deposed fascist dictator, who was originally freed from an Allied prison by Germans, is captured by Italian partisans and killed. His body is hung upside down in a city square.

  2–4 May

  German Armies Surrender

  As the infamous Third Reich begins to crumble, German forces begin to see the futility of trying to stop the inevitable. In Italy, German armies surrender to the Allied forces, and two days later all German troops in Holland, Denmark, and northwest Germany also surrender. On 7 May the German High Command signs an unconditional surrender and the next day is proclaimed “V-E Day,” for Victory in Europe.

  15 June

  American Bombers Destroy Japanese Cities

  American B-29s begin destruction of sixty mid-sized cities in Japan. These attacks kill at least 250,000, more than will be killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Japanese militarists are not persuaded to surrender.

  18 June

  Truman Plans to Use A-Bomb

  President Truman approves “Operation Downfall,” the code name for dropping the atomic bomb. No one knows exactly what will happen, although the Joint Chiefs predict some 200,000 casualties.

  16 July

  First Successful A-Bomb Test

  American scientists working at the “Trinity” site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, conduct a successful test of a twenty-kiloton atomic bomb. Word is sent to Truman, who is on his way to attend the Potsdam Conference the next day.

  6 August

  First Fiery Destruction from A-Bomb

  Over the city of Hiroshima in Japan, the B-29 named Enola Gay drops the first atomic bomb to be used in war. “Little Boy” explodes with the destructive energy of fifteen kilotons and kills 140,000 and injures another 70,000.

  9 August

  A-Bomb Explodes at Nagasaki

  A twenty-two-kiloton “Fat Man” atomic bomb falls on Nagasaki after its B-29 crew is prevented from striking the primary target at another Japanese city. This blast kills 70,000 and leaves hundreds of thousands homeless. Russia, which had been discussing the possibility of joining Japan in the war, instead declares war on Japan.

  15 August

  War’s Over!

  Emperor Hirohito surrenders on a radio broadcast. The message is recorded the day before for broadcast the next day. During the night a military plot to unseat the emperor and seize the surrender recording is narrowly averted. A Japanese general, determined to defend his homeland to the last man, still has at least 5,000 kamikaze planes and men to fly them. They have more than a million men under arms throughout the island but the general suggests calling on twenty million Japanese to become kamikazes to kill American invaders with sticks, stones, spears, and pitchforks.

  2 September

  Japan Formally Surrenders

  Surrender documents are signed on the deck of the U.S. battleship Missouri anchored in the Pacific just out
side Tokyo, as over a thousand carrier-based American planes fly overhead. The Stars and Stripes that fly that day on the mast of the Missouri is the same flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked.

  GLOSSARY

  Amtrac: Amphibious tractor, used to ferry troops in assault landings ashore

  AP: Troopship (non-landing)

  AVG: American Volunteer Group (the “Flying Tigers” unit in China)

  AVT: Aircraft Carrier (Training)

  BOGEY: Unidentified (possibly enemy) aircraft

  CA: Heavy (armored) Cruiser

  CBI: China-Burma-India; an operational area for Allied Forces in WW II

  Chutai : Japanese word for “squadron”

  CL: Light Cruiser

  D-DAY: Day on which an operation is to commence and/or on which troops will depart (Day of Departure). See also H-Hour

  ECM: Electric Coding Machine

  A top-secret device for encrypting messages

  ETA: Estimated time of arrival

  GQ: General Quarters (battle stations)

  H-HOUR: Time at which an operation is to commence. See also D-Day

  HMS: His Majesty’s Ship (designation with ship’s name)

  HMAS: His Majesty’s Australian Ship (designation with ship’s name)

  HIGGINS BOAT: An amphibious landing craft. See also Amtrac

  HIKO : Japanese word for “air” that was generally used in describing something else, such as chutai hiko (air squadron)

  KIA: Killed in action

  LCC: Landing craft command ship

  LCI : Landing Craft Infantry

  Capable of carrying up to 200 infantrymen at 216 feet long

  LCM: Landing Craft Mechanized

  For carrying mechanized equipment

  LCT: Landing Craft Tank(s). See also LST

  LCVP: Landing craft carrying vehicle(s) and personnel

  LCVR: Landing craft carrying vehicle(s), ramped

  LHA: Amphibious Assault ship