The Pacific (90 page)

66
Scout
Article.

67
Barbara Garner interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection.

68
Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video,
www.militaryvideo.com
.

69
Lena Riggi Basilone Service File, NRC.

70
Witty,
Marines of the Margarita
.

71
"Reply to NPRC Inquiry," 24 July 1999, Lena Riggi Basilone Service File.

72
USMC Personnel Files of John Basilone and Lena Riggi Basilone.

73
Tatum,
Red Blood Black Sand
, quoting Lena Basilone.

74
Barbara Garner interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection.

75
Photograph of John with Lena and her friends, March 8, 1944, Lucille Stacy Otis Collection.

76
"Chock to Chock."

77
Ibid.

78
After Action Report, VB-2, entry of March 30, 1944, National Museum of Naval Aviation.

79
The After Action Reports of Bombing Two (VB-2) are difficult to decipher, since the times and dates of strikes do not coincide with the dates in Micheel's log book nor those of
Hornet
's War Diary, nor do they make sense (e.g., most strikes are listed as having occurred at midnight). The author concluded that this discrepancy was due to the VB-2 AAR practice of using GMT time, not the local time. The
Hornet
War Diary, which put times and dates in local time, and Micheel's log book, both of which the author considers reliable documents, were used.

80
After Action Report, VB-2.

81
Micheel USN Personnel File, NRC.

82
After Action Report, VB-2.

83
Bush Memoir; After Action Report, VB-2, entry of April 1, 1944.

84
Bush Memoir.

85
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 331.

86
Ibid. p. 332.

87
Cmdr. Harold L. Buell USNR, "Death of a Captain,"
Proceedings
, February 1986, p. 94.

88
Ibid.

89
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 335.

90
Bush Memoir.

91
After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

92
Buell,
Dauntless Helldivers
, p. 230.

93
Bush Memoir.

94
After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

95
John Basilone to Dear Mother and All, April 22, 1944, Basilone Family Collection.

96
John Basilone letter, undated, Basilone Family Collection.

97
Conner,
The Spearhead
, p. 3.

98
Clinton Watters letters to author, July 5 and 10, 2007, author's collection; Calvin Anderson interview with author, May 2004.

99
William Douglas Lansford, "The Life and Death of 'Manila John,' "
Leatherneck
, October 2002, vol. 85, #10, p. 25.

100
Clinton Watters letter to author, May 22, 2007.

101
William "Bill" Lansford (HQ-1-27) interview, Playtone Collection; Jim Turner (A-1-27) interview with author, March 22, 2004; Calvin Anderson (C-1-27) interview with author; Charles Tatum (B- 1-27) interview, Playtone Collection.

102
Bush Memoir.

103
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, 1-30 April, 1944, Box 953, RG 38, NARA.

104
"Annex A and Annex B to ACA 1 Report 20-44," After Action Report, VB-2.

105
The
Hornet
War Diary for May 1-28, 1944, notes the explosion of the 100- pound bomb, but not the loose 500-pound bomb. This latter incident comes from the author's interview with Vernon Micheel and from the VB- 2 memoir of William "Billy" Bush.

106
Bush Memoir.

107
Hoffman's great biography of Colonel Puller,
Chesty
, stated that he held his first inspection after the replacements came in (see p. 261). John "Deacon" Tatum's diary on the date of Chesty's first inspection, however, was clear. Puller would not come through again for another five days.

108
Cmdr. Harold L. Buell USNR, "Death of a Captain,"
Proceedings
, February 1986, p. 95.

109
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 339.

110
Cressman et al.,
A Glorious Page in Our History
, pp. 214-216. Written by a group of leading historians of naval aviation in WWII, this book argues that Miles Browning was a master of tactics who had played an essential role at Midway, despite his personality problems. For an opposing view of Browning's abilities, see Buell's "Death of a Captain" article in
Proceedings
(February 1986). Buell repeats Clark's story about Browning almost running
Hornet
aground the first time he took it into that atoll. Clark Reynolds's biography of Jocko Clark,
On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers
, though, asserts that this was the admiral's misapprehension, not the captain's oversight.

111
Conner,
The Spearhead
, pp. 1, 5.

112
Lena Basilone interview, Traditions Military Video,
www.militaryvideo.com
.

113
Scout
Article.

114
Ibid.

115
Romus Valton Burgin interviews with the author, 2003-2009, author's collection.

116
Merriell Allen Shelton USMC Personnel File, NRC.

117
Mike Jernigan, "Through Memories, Sledge Reveals the Horrors of Warfare,"
Auburn Alumnews
, May 1990, pp. 9-10; Dr. Sidney Phillips interview with author, May 19, 2009.

118
Daily Diary of John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum, entry of June 6, 1944, author's collection.

119
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, Box 953, RG 38, NARA. In his fine biography of Admiral Clark,
On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers
, Clark Reynolds stated on p. 342 that USS
Hornet
sortied from Kwajalein, but on this point the carrier's War Diary was clear.

120
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 335.

121
Bush Memoir.

122
After Action Report, VB-2, author's copy courtesy of The National Museum of Naval Aviation.

123
Buell,
Dauntless Helldivers
, p. 212.

124
After Action Report, VB-2.

125
USS
Hornet
War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, NARA.

126
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 347.
Hornet
's War Diary makes it clear Clark returned at 1518, not 1600 as Reynolds has it.

127
USS
Hornet
War Diary, 1-30 June, 1944, NARA.

128
John Basilone to Dearest Mother, undated, Basilone Family Collection.

129
Lee W. Merideth,
Grey Ghost: The Story of the Aircraft Carrier
Hornet (Sunnyvale, California: Rocklin Press, 2001), p. 43.

130
Bush Memoir; After Action Report, VB-2.

131
After Action Report, VB-2.

132
Ibid.

133
DFC Commendation of July 1947, Micheel Personnel File, NRC; After Action Report, VB- 2 (see map for strike location).

134
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

135
In
On the Warpath
(pp. 352-353) Reynolds made it clear that at least one pilot recalled hearing the admiral's idea. Although neither Micheel, nor Bush, nor Buell could recall fifty to sixty years later having heard of this idea, the author included it as a supposition because (a) pilots loved to gossip about such an important idea and so if one of them heard it, it likely passed quickly, (b) the idea itself would have been almost self-evident to veteran pilots, and (c) as difficult as it is for a man to recall details half a century after they occurred, it is even more difficult for him to recall events that did not occur.

136
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

137
"Chock to Chock."

138
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

139
Ibid.

140
Ibid.

141
The
Hornet
War Diary and the VB-2 After Action Report have some minor discrepancies as to numbers.

142
After Action Report, VB-2.

143
Official USN Flight Log Book of Vernon Micheel.

144
Buell,
Dauntless Helldivers
, p. 264.

145
Ibid. p. 261.

146
Ibid. pp. 263-264.

147
After Action Report, VB-2.

148
Ibid.

149
In his book
On the Warpath
, Reynolds states that these hits on
Zuikakau
were scored by
Yorktown
planes. He may be referring to information received later or it may have been a typographical error. The author is concerned with what Bombing Two knew at the time. The hits were entered into the After Action Report of VB-2.

150
USS
Hornet
(CV-12) War Diary, June 1-30, 1944; After Action Report, VB-2, NARA.

151
Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary
The Saga of Manila John,
undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.

152
Interview with Monsignor Paul Bradley, in the documentary
The Saga of Manila John,
undated, Chuck Tatum Productions; see also "Father Paul's Quiet Heroism," by Judy Peet,
Newark Star- Ledger
, July 8, 2005, RPL; and "Retired Navy Chaplain Recalls Raising of Flag at Iwo Jima,"
AMS News
, Summer 2002, RPL. Father Paul Bradley earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service with the 28th Marines on Iwo Jima.

153
Lena Basilone Interview,
Scout
Article.

154
John Basilone USMC Personnel File.

155
Lena Basilone interview;
Scout
Article.

156
"Guadalcanal Hero to Wed," AP story, July 8, 1944, USMC Historical Division file on John Basilone.

157
George W. Garand and Truman R. Strobridge,
History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Western Pacific Operations, Volume IV
(Washington, D.C.: USMC Historical Division, 1971), p. 89.

158
Ibid., p. 52.

159
"Third Battalion," in the file "Headquarters, 1st Marine Division FMF in the field/station lists (25 Aug 1944)," Box 305, RG 127, NARA.

160
Ibid.

161
Garand and Strobridge,
USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV
, p. 90.

162
Machine Gun Platoon Co. "C" Roster, 1945, copy courtesy of Clinton Watters; photographs of the Riggi-Basilone wedding ceremony courtesy of Lucille Stacy Otis, Barbara Garner, and Basilone Family Collection.

163
Wedding ceremony photographs, Basilone Family Collection and Barbara Garner Collection; Basilone marriage certificate, Lena Basilone USMC Personnel File, NRC; Lucille Otis interview, author's collection.

164
USMC Official Press Release, July 12, 1944, Official of Assistant Director of Public Relations (West Coast Area), USMC Official John Basilone File. This press release incorrectly listed Edward Johnston as a corporal. His rank on the Company C roster was sergeant.

165
Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary
The Saga of Manila John,
undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.

166
Interview with Monsignor Paul Bradley, in the documentary
The Saga of Manila John,
undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.

167
Lucille Stacy Otis interview with Dustin Spence, author's collection; USMC Official Press Release, July 12, 1944, Official of Assistant Director of Public Relations (West Coast Area), USMC Official John Basilone File. While sources gave different lengths of their furlough--Lena herself has given several different accounts--the author used the information in the USMC Official Press Release printed the day after their marriage.

168
After Action Report, VB-2; USS
Hornet
War Diary, July 1-31, 1944; Vernon Micheel interview with author.

169
After Action Report, VB-2.

170
Merriell Allen Shelton USMC Personnel File.

171
Romus Valton Burgin interview, author's collection; USMC Personnel File courtesy of R. V. Burgin.

172
Gen. Gordon Gale interview with author. General Gayle commanded 2/5 during the Battle of Peleliu and later wrote a monograph on it.

173
Garand and Strobridge,
USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV
, p. 91.

174
General Gayle interview, August 1, 2005, author's collection; Thomas Stanley to Eugene Sledge, "Thoughts on Bucky's Notes," August 17, 1981, SCAU.

175
Henry "Hank" Boyes to Eugene Sledge, December 16, 1979, SCAU; Eugene Sledge,
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa
(Novato, California: Presidio Press, 1981), p. 70 footnote.

176
Garand and Strobridge,
USMC Operations in WWII, Vol. IV
, p. 103.

177
Eugene Sledge to Henry "Hank" Boyes, January 14, 1980, SCAU; Thomas Stanley, "Canal Men Who Made Peleliu," unpublished MS, September 15, 1980, SCAU.

178
Boyes to Sledge, January 28, 1980; R.V. Burgin interview, Playtone Collection; William "Bill" Leyden interview, Playtone Collection.

179
Reynolds,
On the Warpath
, p. 383.

180
Interview with Lena Basilone, in the documentary
The Saga of Manila John,
undated, Chuck Tatum Productions.