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Iwo Jima and the story of 3 lives lost in taking the meat grinder

devildog34

By devildog34,
in MEDALS & DECORATIONS

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devildog34

devildog34

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I want to include the story of a 4th young man who gave it all at the meat grinder 67 years ago today.

 

On the 19th of February, the 1st Battalion 25th Marines landed in the first wave at Blue Beach 1. The landing was of course heavily resisted and most of the 1st Battalion was stalled on the beaches. Advancing inland against the quarry to the east of blue beach. By the 25th of February the 4th Division's objective was the main line of enemy defenses spanning from the quarry and east boat basin up through Minami point, and folding back east towards the southern fringe of the 3rd airfield which was under construction.

 

Among the ranks of Company C 1st Bn 25th Marines, was 21-year old Corporal Edward Martin of Newport, Kentucky. Martin had attended school through the 8th grade then went on to trade school where he worked with sheet metal at the the NYA course in Covington, KY. He was a lifeguard during the summer. All the while he worked odd jobs during his vacation time and after school. These jobs included working a news stand. Martin was described by his younger brother as a man with an infectious sense of humor and quite an artist.In the summer of 1942, he joined the Marine Corps at the age of 18. On his enlistment screening he expressed a desire to join the paratroopers or assistant BAR gunner. He went through boot camp at the Parris Island, SC beginning August 26, 1942. Upon completing boot camp he was transferred to New River, NC to under go infantry training. He was then assigned to Charlie Co. 1st Bn 25th Marines. In January of 1944, Martin and the rest of C Co. was enroute for the Marshall Islands. On January 31st in the predawn hours landing craft loaded down with men of the 4th division began to move towards the various islands in the Roi Namur atoll. Charlie Company and Able Company of the 25th Marines were tasked with landing on the island of Mallu (known as Ivan) at 9:52. Three Japanese were taken prisoner and 13 killed. The capture of the island was to open it up for the 14th Marines to bring 105mm guns ashore to provide artillery support for the main assault on Roi and Namur. The two companies along with the 4th battalion of the 14th Marines landed and secured the island by 11:15am.

 

In May of 1944, the 4th Marine Division of which the 25th Marines were a part of left Maui, Hawaii bound for the pacific theater. On board LST 275, Martin and the men of Co. C landed at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Island and from their boarded LST's bound for the Mariana Islands. On June 16, 1944, Martin and the rest of Company C landed at Saipan. Driving south toward Aslito Airfield, the 25th Marines began to bog down by D+3. The next day, the Division, with the 25th on its left flank resumed the advance against the isolated Japanese pocket of resistance. During the assault on June 19, 1944 Pfc. Martin suffered a gunshot wound throug the right thigh. He was evacuated to a temporary Naval hospital until August when he returned to his company on Tinian after the island had been secured and in time to sail back to Hawaii. By this time Edward's 18-year old kid brother, Vernon Martin had joined the Marine Corps and been assigned to L Co. 3rd Bn 9th Marines who was with a mortar section in Hawaii. On January10, 1945, Edward Martin, now a Corporal set sail from Pearl Harbor for Eniwetok. The next day the 25th Marines boarded LST's and sailed to Saipan where they rendevouzed with the 5th Division and left February 15, 1945 bound for Iwo Jima.

 

On February 26, 1945, the 1st Bn 25th Marines were ordered by Division commander Clifton B. Cates to relieve 3rd battalion 24th Marines. The 1st Battalion 25th Marines was to, along with the rest of the regiment was to attack east. The 1st Battalion approached the open terrain southwest of the amphitheater. The attack was to be made behind an artillery barrage 250 yards infront of them and move 100 meters every 5 minutes. As soon as the advance began, horrendous fire was encountered by 1st battalion from the Amphitheater. 3rd Battalion 24th Marines who'd switched places that morning with 1st Bn 25th Marines ran into a crescendo of fire from Turkey knob. Tanks were brought forward from Co. A 4th Tank battalion but drew withering mortar fire and became bogged down. Company C of the 1st Battalion 25th Marines sent one platoon supported by a tank around its right flank to envelop the enemy at Turkey Knob and silence some of the intense opposition. As the platoon worked toward the Knob, Japanese mortars shifted their fire and caught it in a barrage that killed several men, including the platoon leader. With its commander gone and hostile mortar and machine-gun fire increasing, the unit withdrew, using a smoke screen to cover evacuation of casualties. When the 1st Battalion 25th Marines passed through Company K 3rd Battalion 23rd Marines, with Company C in the lead, it immediately received a blast of heavy and accurate fire. Japanese weapons on and around Hill 382 poured a deadly barrage against the lead company's front, while other hostile fire struck the left flank from positions in the 3d Division's zone where 1st battalion 9th Marines fought for control of the northern portion of the airfield and commanding ground beyond. Successive mine fields on the taxiway of Airfield Number 2 and in the vicinity of the radio weather station, between the field and Hill 382, limited employment of tanks in close support of the infantry. But Shermans of Company C shuttled back and forth between rearming points and the front lines to blast enemy installations on the hill. Two tanks were destroyed by land mines and a third damaged during this day-long action.

 

February 27th saw little change in the defense of the Japanese given the massive amount of man power thrust against it. Nothing was different. The men of the 4th Division would once again be slammed into the caldron. On the right of the attack, 2nd battalion 23rd Marines moved slowly forward up the corridor in column of companies against heavy fire from camouflaged bunkers and pillboxes. By 1200 Company G had pushed forward 200 yards, but then enemy fire hit Marines from both sides and halted the advance. At this time one platoon of Company F was committed on the right to gain the rising ground along the regimental boundary. This maneuver proved only partially successful as 1st Battalion 25th Marines (on RCT 23's right), was unable to seize and hold the elevation, and the platoon found itself face to face with enemy troops protected in emplacements concealed by heavy brush not more than 15 to 25 yards to the front. This platoon held the ground it gained and remained in these positions on 2nd battalion 23rd Marine's right flank.

 

The 25th Marines moved out again at 8:15 on February 28, 1945, D-plus-9, with the same scheme of maneuver as the day before. The 1st Battalion passed through the right flank of RCT 23, with Companies A, C, and I 3rd Battalion 24th Marines in column, to attack Turkey Knob from the north, while Company B stayed on the low ground southwest of the Knob to assault eastward around the base of the Amphitheater to contact other elements of the battalion, thus completing a double envelopment.

 

Following a preparation by artillery and rockets, the lead company advanced rapidly across open ground where it had received such heavy fire the previous day, and penetrated about 50 yards into a patch of woods just north of the Knob. As Marines reached this point, the enemy loosed a terrific mortar and rocket barrage, and machine guns directed a withering fire from high ground to the battalion's front and exposed left flank. Artillery observers with the 1st Battalion called counterbattery missions, but the Japanese fire did not abate. By 1200 the situation became critical. Company A and one platoon from Company C had suffered heavy casualties and were unable to advance. But the successful double envelopment of the Knob depended upon the woods being held at any cost to enable Company B to make contact at that point.

 

At 12:15pm the rest of Company C moved into the woods followed by Company I, and at the same time Company B, with two tanks attached, jumped off in its attack against the high ground east of Turkey Knob. As Company B moved out, enemy troops, well established and dug in on the high ground, threw mines and grenades down on the Marines, and machine guns enfiladed the entire front. A mine soon disabled one of the tanks, and at 1630 Company B fell back to its former position. During this attack, two other tanks worked forward to the front lines of Company A (northwest of Turkey Knob) and fired against the thick walls of the large concrete communications installation atop the Knob. The 75mm shells had little effect, however, and no further advance was made.

 

By 4:45pm it became apparent that there would be no junction between the two enveloping forces and that the advance positions of the three companies above the Amphitheater could not be held during the night. Therefore, using smoke to cover their movement, these units withdrew to the morning line of departure.

 

On D-plus-10, South of Grid Line 74, the 25th Marines jumped off at 8:30am with the 1st Battalion, on the left, making the main effort and another attempt to eliminate the salient around the Amphitheater and Turkey Knob. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were to hold their present place on the line until the bulge had been eliminated. The 1st Battalion's plan of attack was the same as on the previous day: to effect a double envelopment of Turkey Knob by moving three companies along the high ground (from the northwest) above the Amphitheater to attack southeast against the Knob while Company B assaulted from the low ground south of this fortress to make a junction with the other prong of the attack. Company C led the attack this time, replacing Company A as the spearhead, with I and K 3rd Bn 23rd Marines following in that order. By 10:00am these three units had crossed the open area and entered the woods but met the same rain of fire that had mauled them the day before. Artillery forward observers again called counterbattery fire, and air spot was requested. Marine artillery had little immediate effect on the hostile mortars, however, and aerial observers could not locate the origin of the enemy barrage. Company B jumped off at noon in the face of a steady fusillade from machine guns and rifles, accompanied by frequent volleys of rifle grenades and mortar shells. All afternoon Marines pressed the attack, but Company B failed to gain the elevation to tie in with Company C north of the Knob. As a result, all units were once more ordered to withdraw from their exposed locations to morning positions. As the depleted companies started to pull back the enemy laid down a heavy barrage all along the front, and Marines called for a smoke screen to cover the withdrawal and evacuation of casualties.

 

 

March 2nd Dawned in much the same as the exhausting days before it had. The attempts to take Hill 382 plagued the 24th Marines. Hoping to catch the enemy off guard, the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, jumped off at 6:30, without normal preparatory fires, to infiltrate and again seize the high ground north of Turkey Knob. With no change in plans, Charlie Company 1st Battalion 25th Marines and Item Company 3rd Battalion 23rd Marine were to envelop from the northwest while Company B moved up from the south. For the first few minutes things went well. Then, at approximately 6:50, the enemy opened up with rocket and mortar barrages and close-in fire from machine guns. Marine retaliation was swift, as friendly artillery and mortars lashed out in reply, and eight tanks rumbled forward to support the attack. One thousand gallons of flame thrower fuel and many 75mm shells were hurled against the large communications blockhouse that dominated Turkey Knob, but could not crush enemy resistance.

 

By March 3rd, the 1st Battalion 25th Marines was sent southwest to get out of the line for a brief rest and to refit with replacements. It would remain there however they were subjected to horrendous artillery and mortar fire. Sometime during the day of March 4, 1945, enemy artillery mortar and artillery fire pounded Company C's position. One round exploded near Corporal Edward Martin. He was struck in the head by shell fragments. He was evacuated immediately but died shortly. The young corporal who'd survived nearly 7 days of hell in the caldron of the meat grinder was killed by an enemy shell while he was further from the danger than at any other point on the island, a true testimant to the fact that Iwo Jima held no safe ground in February and March 1945. He was buried later that day in the 4th Division cemetery. His brother who was desperately fighting for his life just north of his brother's position did not know that his brother lay at rest in the cemetery merely 700 meters behind the line. Vernon Martin would fight on until he was wounded in the left hip by a gunshot wound 4 days after his brother was killed.

 

Edward Martin, the artist of Company C was returned to his home in Kentucky where he was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky in 1948. God bless you and Semper Fi.

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devildog34

devildog34

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Here is a photo of Edward receiving his purple heart for the wounds he suffered at Saipan. This is undoubtedly the same purple heart in previous post.

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