World War II, Joe Dariano part 2
Jenkins, a medical corpsman came along, gave Joe a shot in the arm, some dope pills and redressed his wounds where needed. They could see many dead and dying soldiers all around them. The company runner, St. Charles, fell into the tank trap and died instantly from a shot through the heart. Jones, the flame thrower, climbed over the edge of the trap to try and burn out the machine gun nest that had them pinned down, but fell back into the bottom of the trap and died.
Throughout most of the hot hellish day, they were pinned down. Their camouflage paint burned their skins and their canteens were emptied. Machine guns pelted the trap, and snipers in the trees were another problem. Joe was helped to another part of the trap. They came across Lucarello, one of their guys sitting in the trench, glassy-eyed. The top of his head came off when they removed his helmet.
Jenkins scurried around the trap all day treating the wounded. He told them the “old” guy in their outfit, almost thirty years old, was dead. They had called him “Pop”. A Sherman tank came up to the edge of the trap and unloaded water and ammunition to the survivors. They drank and filled their canteens, and in a short time, they all vomited because the water had come from unwashed oil drums.
Late in the afternoon, they were able to make it to the beach, sheltered by a Sherman tank. Riley, who had a part of his calf shot off, kept falling and walked supported by his buddies. The tank could not avoid running over many dead Japanese bodies. Dead marines were all around. The beach was cluttered with destroyed amtracs lying partly sunk in the shallow water. Some had bodies hanging out of them.
Other amtracs and boats were bringing in supplies and taking the wounded back to the ships. Riley made to the ship that night, but Joe and two others spent a sleepless night in a hole near the beach. Shooting and shelling continued all night. “Wars don’t stop at night.”
The next morning, the rest of the wounded were moved to the ship. Joe, after a two hour trip was hoisted aboard the USS Warren. In an operating room his head was shaved and the wound stitched. A chunk of his collar bone was taken out and a drainage tube was placed where a bullet had gone through his shoulder. His ear required five stitches.
After sleeping on real sheets and a real pillow, he awakened in the sack of a naval officer and was treated to an ice cold bottle of Coca Cola, his first ice cold drink in many months. After a few days, he was transferred to the USS Samaritan, a hospital ship. His bunk was topside since there were so many casualties.
On September 23, l944, they were awakened shortly after midnight. The ship had run aground on an uncharted reef. After a couple of days, tugs pulled them off the reef and slowly they moved to Banika, a twelve day trip. There were four or five sea burials each day.
Joe stayed about two weeks at the naval hospital on Banika where his wounds, except for his shoulder, had healed. On October 12th he left Banika for Pavuvu. He was glad to see 12 guys from his second platoon. He soon learned to his dismay that out of the original 45 men in his platoon, 16 were killed and over twenty wounded. He also learned that two of his good buddies that he had gone overseas with were killed at Peleliu.
During their absence from Pavuvu, the rear echelon had built showers and toilet facilities. The muddy streets were “paved” with coral and large tents were erected. The natives had built a nice chapel out of bamboo with a palm thatched roof. Protestant services and Mass were held each Sunday.
After a few weeks of rest, training resumed. Replacements were brought in from the states. The “K” company was brought back up to its former strength. Joe was promoted to corporal on December 20, 1944, the same day he reported to sick bay to have a fragment of a bullet removed from his shoulder. They spent the entire month of January practicing ship to shore landings on nearby islands.
Late in February, troop ships arrived. The First Marine Division packed all their personal and non-combatant belongings into sea bags with their names and serial numbers on them. They left Pavuvu for good aboard the USS New Kent.
About five days later at night, they pulled into the Ulithi Island group and dropped anchor. At daylight, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, tankers, and transport ships filled the horizon. Joe went cruising in a small boat to look at the fleet. They saw close up the Battleships, the USS Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Mexico, the heavy cruiser, the USS Atlanta and aircraft carriers, USS Yorktown, Enterprise and Franklin. The USS Franklin was on fire and listed badly.
Later that afternoon they went to the beautiful little island of Mog-mog, where they drank their allotment of three beers. The white sandy beaches and tropical vegetation showed no sign of war except for the warships anchored off shore.
In a few days they found themselves at sea. It was announced that they were to invade Okinawa. Joe crossed the equator for the fourth time and found the weather chilly as they moved further north.
After a lot of shelling by the naval big guns and much airplane activity, they hit the beach on Easter Sunday morning, April 1, l945. As they moved in on the beach, the air was filled with smoke and planes and the deafening sound of the big guns.
There was no enemy fire! They moved through a large hole in the twelve foot sea wall and regrouped. They reached an airfield called Yontan and were told to dig in on one of the runways. The digging went slowly through the crushed coral. Finally they deepened their foxholes until their heads were just below ground level. There was no sleep that night as they crouched, two men in each foxhole. The next morning the runway was strafed by a lone Japanese plane that was downed by antiaircraft fire at the end of the airstrip.
On the third night enemy planes bombed and strafed our ships. After their bombs were dropped, the planes would crash into a ship, Kamikaze style. Kamikaze means “divine wind”. Foley and Joe counted over 50 of these planes either shot down or crashed. The next day U.S. carrier planes landed on the airstrip. In the week that followed they enlarged and improved their foxholes. There still was no sight of the enemy troops.
To be continued
– Percy