The Pacific (87 page)

122
Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, RPL.

123
Hoffman,
Chesty
, p. 181.

124
"Sergeant Basilone Tells Story of Exploit That Made Him a Hero, Gives Buddies Credit,"
Somerset Messenger-Gazette
, September 9, 1943, p. 1, Basilone Family Collection (hereafter "Basilone Tells Story").

125
Dog Company 1/7 Muster Roll, October 1-31, 1942, USMC, NARA.

126
"Basilone Tells Story."

127
"Platoon Sergeant John Basilone," undated MS, RPL.

128
Puller 1/7 Reports; Marshall Moore letter to Gary W. Cozzens, USMC Archives.

129
Marshall Moore letter to Gary W. Cozzens, USMC Archives.

130
"Basilone Tells Story." See also "Recap of October 24-25 '42," unpublished MS by John Basilone, RPL (hereafter JB MS); this document seems authentic to the author based upon its content and its style.

131
Puller 1/7 Reports.

132
"The Hero on the Cover,"
Collier's
, June 24, 1944 (hereafter
Collier's
"The Hero").

133
The account of this action is drawn from an assembly of all the interviews John Basilone gave to reporters, principally an interview with a USMC reporter on Guadalcanal, as quoted in
The Old Breed: A History of the First Marine Division in World War II
by George MacMillan (Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1949), p. 107; see also "Basilone Tells Story" and JB MS. Discrepancies between these accounts exist. Other sources will be cited as necessary.

134
Map of 1/7 Lines, October 23-25, by George McGillivray, author's collection.

135
The information given by Marshall Moore in a letter to Eric Hammel dated 1963 differs slightly on this point from his statements in his letter to Gary Cozzens dated 1986, USMC Archives.

136
MacMillan,
The Old Breed
, p. 107. MacMillan is quoting a USMC reporter who interviewed John Basilone soon after the battle.

137
PBC Articles.

138
JB MS; PBC Articles; "Marine Hero Visits Buddies at Manville," undated Johns- Manville Corporate Publication, Basilone Family Collection.

139
JB MS; "Basilone Tells Story."

140
JB MS.

141
Citation letter for John Basilone by Col. Lewis Puller.

142
"Appreciates a Hero," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

143
Navy Cross Citation for Pvt. Billie Joe Crumpton, SPOT AWARD, Serial 777, signed by the Secretary of the Navy on August 17, 1943.

144
Collier's
" The Hero." This was written while Basilone was still in Camp Pendleton, California; it is therefore likely the reporter spoke to him.

145
Ibid.

146
TM 9-1005-212-25 (Machine Gun, Caliber .30: Browning, M1919A4),
Department of the Army Technical Manual, by James Jones, June 1969.

147
Collier's
"The Hero."

148
JB MS; "Hero Praises His Buddies," September 4, 1943,
Somerset Messenger-Gazette
, Basilone Family Collection.

149
"Basilone Tells Story."

150
Navy Cross Citation for Pvt. Billie Joe Crumpton; Muster Roll of D-1-7, 1 October to 31 October 1942, NARA.

151
Collier's
"The Hero."

152
MacMillan,
The Old Breed
, p. 107.

153
Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.

154
Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, RPL.

155
JB MS.

156
Lewis Puller letter of October 31, 1942, to the Commanding Officer, First Marine Division, Basilone Personnel File, author's collection.

157
"Basilone Tells Story."

158
Lewis Puller letter of October 31, 1942, to the Commanding Officer, First Marine Division, Basilone Personnel File, NRC.

159
Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," undated column in unidentified newspaper, RPL.

160
"Marine Hero to Appear Here" and "Welcoming Committee," undated clippings from unidentified newspapers, Basilone Family Collection.

161
Collier's
"The Hero."

162
James Golden, Boot Staff Writer, "Platoon Sergeant Basilone Held His Ground," undated article [circa October 1943] in unidentified publication, USMC Historical Division File (hereafter Golden Article). It is known that Golden wrote for
Parade
magazine and conducted his interview with John for, in his own words, "a popular syndicate."

163
Golden Article.

164
Puller 1/7 Reports; Marshall Moore to Gary W. Cozzens, USMC Archives.

165
JB MS.

166
JB MS; "Basilone Tells Story." In his interviews, Basilone's numbers changed somewhat. Colonel Puller's report cites different figures; Basilone's recollection is used here.

167
Lewis Puller Medal of Honor letter, 31 October 1942; Puller 1/7 Reports; Muster Roll C-1-7, 1 October 1942 to 31 October 1942, NARA.

168
MacMillan,
The Old Breed
, p. 107.

169
Manuel Berkowitz interview, Playtone Collection.

170
Marshall Moore to Gary W. Cozzens, courtesy of Gary W. Cozzens.

171
Navy Commendation Citation Medal; Cozzens, "Suicide Charlie," unpublished MS, p. 4.

172
D-1-7 Muster Roll October 31, 1942, NARA.

173
Colamarino, "Marine Earned Navy Cross Despite Faulty Machine Gun,"
Marine Corps Times
.

174
Micheel Navy Personnel File; Ray Davis Recommendation for Micheel Navy Cross, February 1943.

175
Miller,
The Cactus Air Force
, p. 179.

176
MAG23 War Diaries, August 20-November 16, 1942, Cactus Air Force, Box 14, 1054, RG 127, NARA.

177
Charles Kelly letter to Gary W. Cozzens, courtesy of Gary W. Cozzens.

178
Summary of Operations of the First Battalion, Seventh Marines, period 3-8 November, 1942, RG 127, Box 43, NARA (hereafter included in subsequent citations for Puller 1/7 Reports).

179
Marshall Moore letter to Gary W. Cozzens, courtesy of Gary W. Cozzens; Charles Kelly correspondence with Eric Hammel, USMC Archives.

180
"Basilone Tells Story."

181
Ibid.

182
Richard Greer letter to John Basilone, November 27, 1943, Basilone Family Collection.

183
"Basilone Tells Story"; Clarence Angevine interview, Playtone Collection.

184
Albert Masco interview, author's collection.

185
"Prisoners of Japan,"
Life
, p. 99.

186
John Basilone USMC Personnel Record.

187
Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions of Eugene Sledge's life story are based upon the lengthy letters he wrote his parents every few days from 1942 to 1946; interviews of him (courtesy of Lou Reda Productions, Kenwood Productions, and the USMC Archives); interviews with the men with whom he served; and his USMC Personnel File, NRC. The letters of Eugene Sledge are a part of the Eugene B. Sledge Collection, Auburn University Special Collections and Archives (hereafter SCAU), and are used here by permission.

188
Cressman et al.,
A Glorious Page in Our History
, p. 108.

189
Reinforced Regimental General Order Number 1-42 "Possession of Army Clothing," 28 December 1942, NARA.

190
"Prisoners of Japan,"
Life
, p. 99.

ACT III

1
USMC Personnel File of James Pierpont Morgan.

2
Micheel Navy Cross Citation, Micheel US Navy Personnel File.

3
Capt. M. H. McCoy USN, "Report on Period of Captivity," for the Commandant of the USMC, March 1946, Shofner USMC Personnel File, NRC.

4
"Prisoners of Japan,"
Life
, p. 105.

5
Richard Greer (D- 1-7) interview with author, March 30, 2004, author's collection.

6
Richard Greer interview, Playtone Collection.

7
"Prisoners of Japan,"
Life
, p. 106.

8
Ibid.

9
Leckie,
Helmet for My Pillow
, p. 161.

10
Capt. M. H. McCoy USN, "Report on Period of Captivity," for the Commandant of the USMC, March 1946, Personnel File of Austin Shofner, NRC.

11
Michael Dobervich to Dear Shof and Family, December 4, 1995, SCAU. Mellnik gave a different version in the three published accounts he either wrote or to which he contributed. (All three of these accounts are cited elsewhere in this volume.) The account by Dobervich and Shofner was supported by Grashio in his book (cited elsewhere); by Hawkins in interviews with the author; and by McCoy, in the letter he wrote during the war that is in Shofner's official USMC file (cited elsewhere).

12
In
On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers
, Clark Reynolds stated that the air group came aboard on May 6 (p. 191); I prefer to rely upon Micheel's flight log.

13
Richard Greer to John Basilone, November 27, 1943, Basilone Family Collection.

14
USMC Personnel File of James P. Morgan, NRC.

15
Mitchell Paige,
A Marine Named Mitch
(Palo Alto, California: Content Management Corporation, 1975), p. 175.

16
"Appreciates a Hero," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

17
Col. Mitchell Paige, a marine of great character and achievement, was bothered by the moniker hung on John Basilone--the first enlisted marine to win the Medal of Honor. Paige believed he had been the first. For more on this see
Leatherneck
magazine, "Mitchell Paige: Forgotten Hero," by Tom Bartlett, October 1992. The action for which Basilone earned the Medal of Honor, however, occurred the night before Paige's action. Furthermore, at the moment he received the decoration in May 1943, Paige was an officer, not an NCO. Paige based his claim upon the date on which his paperwork went through; this seems like an unfortunate bit of hairsplitting to the author. The truth is neither Paige nor Basilone was the first enlisted man in WWII to receive the Medal of Honor, as will be seen.

18
PBC Articles.

19
Official USMC photographs and captions (#56749, 56785, 56971, 56974, 56786, 56588, 56987), Still Pictures Branch, NARA.

20
"Appreciates a Hero," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

21
"Basilone's Company 'Most Decorated' Marine Unit," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection.

22
USMC Photograph #56532, RPL.

23
Clinton Watters letter to author, November 22 , 2007.

24
Clark G. Reynolds,
On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers
(Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005), p. 192.

25
The Fighting Lady
, a documentary filmed aboard the ship in 1943-1944, by 20th Century Fox, as cited in Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 196.

26
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 197.

27
"USS
Hornet
(CV-12), Report of Shakedown Cruise in Chesapeake Bay, Bermuda Area and en-route 28 December 1943 to 1 February 1944," Box 1038, RG 38, NARA.

28
"Raritan Marine Gets Top Medal Killed 38 Japs on Guadalcanal," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection; "Raritan Remembers Sgt. John Basilone,"
Somerset Messenger-Gazette
, September 25, 1986, Basilone Family Collection.

29
"Congressional Medal Given Basilone for Heroism as Guadalcanal Marine," June 24, 1943, clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection.

30
"'Just Did Duty'--Basilone," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

31
"Many Letters," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

32
"Marine Held Off Entire Jap Regiment for 3 Days," AP story, June 24, 1943, clipping from unidentified newspaper, Basilone Family Collection.

33
"Sidelights," undated clipping from
Raritan Valley News
, RPL.

34
Richard Greer interview with author; Sgt. Thomas J. McAllister to Mary G. Basilone, May 25, 1985, Basilone Family Collection. While Mitchell Paige, in his book
A Marine Named Mitch
, recalled that Basilone was pleased by the prospect of going home, I have deferred to the memory of the men who knew him best.

35
"'Just Did Duty'--Basilone," undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, RPL.

36
USMC Personnel File, John Basilone.

37
Report of Action 7 and 8 August 1942, August 22, 1942,
Enterprise
Air Group, Enclosure A, by CO of VB-6, RG 38, Box 351, NARA; see also Harold L. Buell,
Dauntless Helldivers
(New York: Orion Books, 1991), p. 100.

38
Harold L. Buell interview with author.

39
Buell,
Dauntless Helldivers
, p. 205.

40
William "Billy" Bush, "Memories: Bombing Squadron Two," unpublished MS, March 2002 (hereafter Bush Memoir), not paginated, author's copy courtesy of Vernon Micheel.

41
Edwin Wenzel et al., "Chock to Chock . . . Being a Chronicle of Bombing Two from June 1, 1943, to November 1, 1944" (privately published MS, limited edition of 200 copies, not paginated), courtesy of Vernon Micheel (hereafter "Chock to Chock").

42
Dickinson,
The Flying Guns
, p. 147.