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Forever 18 years old: The Story of the Boy from Lynn, Massachusetts who landed at Iwo Jima

devildog34

By devildog34,
in MEDALS & DECORATIONS

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devildog34

devildog34

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Born October 6, 1926, Roger was born to the son of a carpenter in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of five children and had a modest upbringing. Like most American families the 1930s presented serious challenges to raising a family. Roger was like most American boys, he enjoyed playing football, baseball and hockey. With the Lynn, Massachusetts wood preserve and nearby ball parks and water reserves only a stones throw from his boyhood house on Pennybrook St., Frey Park and Breed Pond offered all the adventure and mischief a young adventurous boy could want. In school Roger seemed to thrive in wood shop and metal working classes and seemed to have a knack for all things technical like math, geometry, algebra and like disciplines. After completing two years of high school, Roger left in 1943 and began work as a sheet metal worker's helper where he worked in the vast Essex county, Massachusetts shipbuilding industry during the war. By the time he turned 17 and after only two months as a sheet metal workers assistant, Roger who by now had grown into a lanky 6-foot 133lb young man, sought parental permission to join the Marines. A month after his 17th birthday, he enlisted in Boston, Massachusetts and was sent to Parris Island, SC by December 1943. After boot camp, Roger was assigned to Company A Signal Battalion Training corps at Camp Lejeune to begin training as a radar operator. Due to the needs for combat replacements, however, Roger was sent to New River, NC, where he was attached to the 67th Replacement Battalion in June 1944. On August 16, 1944, Roger was assigned to Company K 3rd Battalion 25th Marines in Maui, Hawaii who had been there since March following their daunting combat experience at Saipan and Tinian. By August, the 25th Marines and the rest of the 4th Division were in the midst of an intense training regime in workup for whatever combat awaited them. After joining them, Roger was trained on the M1919A4 air-cooled light machine guns as well as the water-cooled guns and was quickly re-designated as a machine gunner by October 1944.

 

By January 1945 after a few longer-than-usual liberty calls, the men of the 25th Marines had to know something must be up and by January after several rehearsed landings, the entire division set out to return to the war from their Hawaiian paradise. From January 22-28th the 4th Division began the embarkation process and the LSTs and LSMs accompanying them departed the waters around Hawaii heading west to a destination unknown to the mud-crunching grunts of the line companies. On February 5, 1945, the division's armada was briefly anchored off the coast of Eniwetok before setting sail for the Mariana's where they arrived just off the western shores of Tinian on February 13th- a haunting return for many of the Division's vets who's memories would forever be seared by the combat they had experienced at places like Saipan and Tinian. Heading north from the Mariana's the nearly 800-ship convoy was an unprecedented site for most of the men. Topside classes and briefings held on the crowded ships' decks seemed to dominate the long seafaring days. It was here that most of the men learned of their objective- Iwo Jima which was essentially a stationary aircraft carrier for the Japanese. The island had a substantial number of fighters on their two airfields (a third under construction) as well as a radar installation allowing the Japanese mainland approximately two-hours advanced notice of incoming American bombers who were flying without fighter escort by the time they reached the skies over Japan. For the Army Air force crews, missions over Japan were as dangerous as anything they could imagine. The key to their success would lay in the acquisition of Iwo Jima and to that, the task fell to the 18, 19, and 20 year old Marines who would provide the flesh to clash with the fortified enemy steel.

 

On D day minus three the naval bombardment of the objective began- a far cry from the requested 10-day bombardment requested by General Holland Smith. Since late the previous war, navy aerial bombardment of key targets on the island had been underway. By February 18th, the day before the landing, two battle ships the USS Tennessee and the Idaho added materially to the bombardment of the island with their massive 14-inch 1,200 and 1,500lb shells. The bombardment was somewhat effective but fell far short due to the short duration allocated by senior naval commanders. The price for this would be paid in blood.

 

On the morning of February 19, 1945 at approximately 2:48 a.m, the Marines of Company K 3rd Battalion 25th Marines aboard LST 684 were summoned from their cramped sleeping quarters and directed topside for chow- steak and eggs, a signature pre-battle ritual for the Marines before heading into battle. After chow, the men who were back in their quarters assembling the last bit of gear were instructed by the ships PA system to the loading stations where the landing craft alongside the the LST awaited them. The thunderous concussion of the pre-invasion bombardment was felt as adjacent battle ships unleashed hellacious fury upon the distant sliver of black that was Iwo Jima seen along the distant horizon. By 6:40 a.m., the heavy guns of the USS North Carolina, USS Washington, USS New York, USS Texas, USS Arkansas, USS Nevada pulverized the comparative stillness of the morning as they fired salvo after salvo of heavy shells followed shortly by other vessels who fired rockets upon objectives on the island. The concentrated bombardment lasted about an hour and twenty minutes and was only temporarily halted to clear the way for 120 fighters strafing and bombing final key targets on the island.

 

The morning light was faint as the Marines of K Company ascended the sides of the LST along the cargo nets into the landing crafts that bobbed and meandered in the turbulent tides. Laden with full packs draped over the top by shelter halves and encumbered by boxes of ammunition and their .30 caliber machine guns and tripods, members of Rogers platoon crammed into the packed landing craft as the coxswain revved the engine that churned up the dark turquoise waters into a foamy wake.

 

By 8:00 a.m., as the last salvo of shells lifted from the armada of ships plastering the island, the last of the landing craft has moved into the circling rendezvous to await the completion of the air bombardment. By 8:30 a.m., the ensign was dropped signaling the convoy of landing vessels slated for the first wave to move clear of the departure line and churned forward at full speed nearly 4,000 yards toward the distant black mass from which huge billows of smoke arose. At approximately 300 yards additional waves followed. Following the aerial bombardment, the navy commenced firing again but lifted the range to inundate designated targets further inland. The 2,700lb shells fired from the huge 16-ince guns of the USS North Carolina and USS Washington were a terrifying spectacle and reinforced notions that the pre-landing bombardment was devastating the enemy.

 

As they approached to within 400 yards of the beach head, the initial waves of the 25th Marines veered toward Blue Beach 1 and 2 on the right of the nearly 3,500 meters of beach head on Iwo Jima. The left half of Blue Beach 1 was the designated landing point for 1st Battalion 25th Marines. Shortly after hitting the beach head, 1st Battalion was joined by 3rd Battalion whose right flank spilled over into Blue Beach 2, the most extreme right flank of the entire V amphibious corps landing. Naturally they were subjected to murderous fire from the right and front. Mortars and small arms fire greeted the two battalion of Colonel John R. Lanigan's 25th Marines. The course heavy sand swallowed feet and presented significant challenges for gear-laden men to move with the haste needed to press beyond beach head, up the terraces and advance inland. Nonetheless, the Marines were driven inland by beach masters screaming for the initial waves to press forward- a seeming death sentence given the volume of small arms fire screeching and cracking all around them.

 

Lieutenant Justice M. Chambers commanding the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines was up front with his men as they pressed forward and swung slightly to the right to meet the blistering fire enfilading the right flank of the landing. Chambers quickly realized that the vulnerable right flank his battalion held was very likely the key to attaining and holding the beach head and he quickly organized efforts to move against the ridges and high ground where the blistering enemy machine gun and mortar fire emanated- an effort that would last for nearly 8 hours and earn Chambers the Medal of Honor.

 

In their efforts to press the attack against formidable Japanese positions inland and to the right, the 3rd Battalion committed more and more men which spread pulled them away from the 1st Battalion on the left at Blue Beach and therefore created nearly a 100-meter gap between the two battalions developed which extinguished a vital liaison. To fill this gap, the 2nd Battalion was brought ashore and move inland to address the murderous fire fronting the regiment. As the morning and early afternoon progressed, it was clear that the right flank of the landing was the most heavily contested on the island and quickly became one of the most vital. The 3rd Battalion, much relieved by the arrival of the 2nd Battalion on the left, pressed vigorously on the rock quarry to the right and the source of the heaviest enemy fire- a murderous honey comb of concealed pillboxes and mortar positions that exacted a horrible toll on the 3rd Battalion. Casualties mounted and Roger's platoon commander, 1st Lt. George Linzenbold, left the platoon to take command of the Company.

 

In the middle of this nightmare was Roger whose machine gun crew was pressed into action during the morning. Upon locating a well-concealed enemy machine gun position, Roger's crew immediately emplaced their light .30 caliber machine gun to provide suppressive fire on this position and as they engaged the enemy, a blistering machine gun battle quickly developed. The gunners of Roger's crew blazed away going through numerous belts of ammunition in a very short amount of time. The ground behind them and around them exploded with plumes of dirt kicked up by the distant enemy gunners who unleased an equal volume of fire their way. After a short exchange that began only two hours after the company landed, most of the platoon's machine gun ammunition had been exhausted. Roger's squad had been relatively isolated from the rest of the platoon during this exchange making the already perilous ammunition shortage that much more critical. Private First Class Richard E. Elger, a member of Roger's squad remembered, "As memory recalls it, it happened about two hours after we hit the beach and we had used most of our ammunition, our squad leader asked for volunteers to return for more ammunition." Roger immediately stepped up to volunteer. Elger recalled that Roger, "volunteered knowing that he had only one chance in a million to return alive through the beach of explosions. I consider this act was courageously and heroically performed since it was almost sure suicide and that it was upholding with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps."

 

As Roger raced back toward the beach for more boxes of .30 caliber ammunition, the torrent of incoming mortars continued to blanket the beach. The incoming fire was heavy enough that even the discarded boxes of ammunition fell victim and as Roger raced around looking for intact boxes of discarded ammunition, an incoming mortar exploded at his feet and riddled the eighteen year old with numerous shell fragments. The blast knocked him backwards and Roger was likely dead before his flaccid body fell still. The battle for the right flank of the beach head continued throughout the day and cost the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines dearly. Before the sun set on the first day at Iwo Jima, the 3rd Battalion had only 150 effectives. 22 of the battalion's officers had become casualties. The total casualties for 3rd Battalion 25th Marines on D-day at Iwo Jima was 750 Marines killed and wounded. Among those was Roger whose remains would not be recovered for burial for nine more days. He was eventually buried in grave 380 Row 8 of the 4th Marine Division Cemetery.

 

Back in Lynn, Massachusetts, Roger's parents were not notified of the devastating news on 24 March. In 1947, Roger's remains were returned to the United States where his mother and father requested that they be turned over to the Goodrich funeral home in his hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts. He was laid to rest in the Pine Grove cemetery in Lynn.

 

72 years later, young Roger will forever remain the 18 year old boy who landed on that death-laden beach head on Iwo Jima and in a thunderous momentary violent blast fell into eternity. With his parents and siblings long gone, the awesome responsibility of remembering and perpetuating Roger's story falls to us. His valor, while noted in his service records and confirmed by several comrades who were there, all of whom are also gone, appears to have never been acted upon. It, again, becomes the responsibility of those of us who refuse to let his memory and story die with the passage of time and I am honored to do so here today on the 72nd anniversary of his sudden and tragic end. God bless Roger. Semper Fidelis.

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