BATTLE FOR THE MARIANAS

[Music] SP ET for [Music] the prior to World War II the US area of control in the far Pacific was limited the island of Guam and the Mariana group had been under American rule since the US vict Victory on the Spanish American war in 1898 for some 40 years the guamanians LED relatively peaceful uneventful lives as American subjects but only 100 miles from Guam the Japanese were conducting a different kind of administration on tinian and cpan and the other Marianas the Islanders worked hard for their Asiatic Masters in the late 1930s the Western Pacific was dominated by the rapidly expanding Japanese empire that expansion continued to the bursting point the war with Japan had several memorable turning points all directly affecting the final outcome in the struggle for the Marianas and the summer of 1944 the enemy's leaders realized that if US forces were successful at cpan Japan could prepare itself for eventual defeat in Hawaii the troops scheduled to see action in the Marianas prepared to embark on the journey to the Target General Ralph Smith commanded the Army's 27th division one of the three divisions earmarked for the campaign on sipon during the last days of May 1944 the men became part of the northern troops and Landing Force assigned to the sipon operation by the 1st of June the last elements of the divisions which would oppose the enemy on sipon were aboard ship and operation forager was begun [Music] while the Attack Force was on Route word of The Landings on the beaches of Normandy came through but the assault forces on the ships were occupied with their own Invasion a campaign just as vital to final victory in the Pacific as the Normandy invasion was to the European Triumph 3 days before D-Day On Sian Scout planes flew reconnaissance mission to search out any enemy Naval [Music] Force the men were briefed thoroughly on the principal features of the landing area the task force neared the objective Before Dawn on D-Day the carrier planes were ready for their last pre-invasion [Music] strikes [Music] [Music] D-Day morning June 15th was bright clear and hot us planes continued to work over the Target in the teeth of enemy flank from all appearances the battle ahead looked like a tough [Music] one at dawn the warships provided a staccato introduction to The Invasion [Music] the Navy had a wide range of targets to concentrate [Music] on the naval guns worked overtime now and then they had to be cooled off before going back into action with h hour less than an hour away the assault force of Marines who were to carve out the beach head on sipan prepared for one more Landing against a carefully entrenched Enemy No matter how often a marine went ashore against heavy enemy opposition each new Landing seemed just as tough or tougher than the last even veterans like Marine private at First Class Harry Jackson of Pitchfork Wyoming never got really used to the feeling that went with going in on an enemy beach after a couple of tough Landings you couldn't help figuring that the law of averages was working against you in a way it was a good feeling to be on Solid Ground again but that meant you were wide open even though your buddies were all around you felt all alone on a beach-like San [Music] at least on this one the men got into the beach that hard ball in the pit of your stomach never left until you saw the first guy near you get hit that did it you wanted to even the score for the guys who got it cpan was rough right from the word go and this time there was a lot more Island to take than there was on some of those atols [Music] the first few hours on the island gave us a good idea of what the campaign was going to be like somebody said the 2,000 Marines got hit that first day nobody doubted it they finally called for some more support from the cans offshore and the Zoomies gave us a hand once in a while [Music] too after the first couple of days we had a pretty good idea the place was ours with no IPS ands or butts then we moved on in to take over a real chunk of the island but it wasn't any cinch those tanks were handy to have around sometimes you'd be able to save a guy who got hit bad using the tank as a shield speaking of things that were handy to have around those Rockets weren't just Whistling Dixie by D-Day plus three we taken ASO Airfield the enemy's most important air base on the island the Japs had really had it at ASO they pulled out awful fast by June 18th the sizable area had been seized by The Assault Marines of the second and fourth divisions assisted beginning on the second day by GIS of the Army's 27 division after ASO field had been taken by the soldiers landbased planes and considerable numbers could be used in support of the Drive North on the [Music] island the three divisions two Marine One Army worked to breast up the island [Music] [Music] On Sian both sides use tanks in general American mediums proved superior to the Japanese variety in one pitched battle lasting 3 and 1/2 hours 31 enemy tanks were knocked out the enemy Counterattack had been successfully beaten off but the fight to gain control of the Southern sector of Sian had taken its toll of assault troops during the first week of the campaign the US invasion Force suffered some 6,000 casualties in the campaign to gain control of this valuable Cornerstone of the enemy's defense perimeter the day before D-Day the US Naval Force off saan learned that a Japanese fleet was moving into the Philippine Sea off sipan's West Coast to contest The Invasion the enemy Naval Force raced East from the Philippines but was met by a strong us Armada in the Philippine Sea us carrier pilots could scarcely wait for this chance to close with the Japanese Fleet [Music] [Music] the pilots headed straight for the enemy Force the Japanese ships were prepared for a battle but but not for the one that was shaping up in the Philippine Sea the Japanese gun Crews looked forward to a good day shooting the enemy fleet was well set for the engagement when the first Contact was [Music] made but the US planes swarmed all over the Japanese Fleet [Music] enemy planes fought back [Music] desperately the enemy Air Group began losing it planes in some numbers the US Air compliment suffered some casualties too but the enemy was overwhelmingly beaten in the two-day battle in the Philippine Sea which came to be known as the Mariana's turkey shoot the enemy threat to the beach Head On Sian was completely dissipated of the 216 American planes which pursued the fleet fleeing enemy ships about half return safely to their home [Music] carrier not all escaped [Music] unscathed some Pilots were born lucky some of the men who made a US Victory possible had fought their last battle for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen unto almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed and we commit his body to the deep inure and certain hope of the Resurrection un eternal life amen once more the Pacific received its dead in the battle off the Marianas the enemy not only failed in its intended purpose but suffered one of the most humiliating defeats it had ever experienced on Shore at Sian the campaign was gaining momentum the toughest objective on the island was tapao a 1500t mountain whose dominated the whole of sipan that Crest had to be seized from the enemy at any [Music] cost Marines and soldiers pushed the attack up its slopes for several days but the joint assault by the Marines and Army troops was not well synchronized in overall command of the ground campaign on sipan Marine General Holland Smith was dissatisfied with the cautious forward advance of the Army troops on June 24th the general lived up to his nickname Howland mad and fired the Army Commander the controversy over the Marine General's action raged as fiercely as the battle itself [Music] at the same time along the west coast of the island Marines of the second division pressed into the outskirts of garapan capital city of the Marianas and got their first taste of street fighting [Music] thousands of Tomorrow whose homes had been demolished walked into the American lines at the first opportunity us fighting men made certain that the natives were out of Harm's Way many tomorrow had been hiding in C aves for more than a week with little food and water some were on the edge of starvation when they came into American hands some chamaro no one knows how many were killed in the violent battle for their Island Home the natives of sipan would not soon forget the summer of 1944 by July 7th US forces had seized the major part of the island early that morning the Japanese made a largescale bansai charge against the US position the frenzy Japanese drove deep into American lines into territory held by US Artillery the charge was finally stopped in a bitter hand-to-hand struggle more than 2,000 Japanese were killed faced with the loss of their Island base they had chosen to die as a tribute to their emperor in the tradition of the Bushido code enemy resistance on cyan had been almost completely eliminated most of the 30,000 enemy troops had been killed or captured virtually all of Sian almost to the northern tip at marpie point was now in US possession before starting to clean out the remaining area American forces waited while one last appeal was made to the enemy troops to surrender any natives hold up in the area were advised to come into the American lines immediately several dozen chamaro were convinced that they would not be tortured and killed as the enemy had told them and took advantage of the last opportunity to move into the US held territory finally the attack was launched against the last piece of enemy held ground on sipan [Music] a few more enemy soldiers joined their ancestors in the closing days of the battle the number of enemy prisoners was swelled to more than a thousand but for every Japanese soldier who surrendered there were many more who refused to give up [Music] some of the natives chose suicide on July 9th the US controlled all of saan on the southern tip of the island US Artillery pounded tinon 3 mil distant after 2 weeks breather the two Marine divisions assaulted tinian the Second Marine Division in an effective faint drew the enemy's attention to the southern beaches while fourth division Marines went ashore to the north and drove down the island against scattered resistance back from their fake Landing second division Marines followed the fourth division Marines ashore on the northwest coast the carefully executed diversionary movement had succeeded in fooling the enemy and throwing his defensive forces off balance the second division Marines also landed against little or no opposition tenan has been termed by some military historians the perfect operation the Drive South by the two Marine divisions was as well coordinated as The Invasion [Music] maneuver the enemy's defense of tinian lasted for only 9 days aware that their Elite Army units on sipan had been wiped out the Japanese forces on tinian almost seemed reconciled to their eventual defeat to the south of Sian and tinian another us amphibious Force had moved into position for the assault on Guam on July 21st Navy warships provided the customary Overture to The [Music] Invasion Guam was one of the first areas seized by the enemy in December 1941 Marines of the third division and the first provisional Brigade made the assault on the island opposition to The Landing was moderate to heavy the fight to regain Guam looked as though it would be a bloody one after 2 and a half dark years the long awaited liberation of America's Island Outpost was finally at hand as the campaign continued the assault Marines were reinforced by the Army's 77th division on Guam the Marines and soldiers worked together well in a closely knit [Music] operation the battle against the stubborn enemy on Guam lasted for 21 days the three major islands in the Marianas had been successfully seized the Marines were especially gratified at retaking the old Marine Corps base on the island the natives jamaro who had grown up under American rule until 1941 were again safely in US Hands by late September Guam had been pretty thoroughly cleaned out the capital city GA had been hit hard during the bitter struggle for the island Guam's recent history had been superimposed on the evidences of its Spanish Heritage on Guam as at sipan and tenian the battle for the island was concluded with a familiar ceremony on all three islands in the Marianas some 5,000 Marines and soldiers lost their lives in the campaign designed to hasten material materially the end of the war with Japan but for these thousands the war was already at an end with the major islands and the strategically important Marianas in US possession the high brass charged with directing the conduct of the Pacific War moved into the area to prepare for The Knockout blows against Japan itself and the most important items in the planning for the delivery of those knockout blows were the Marian air strips on every newly one island in the Pacific readying the air strip was always a top priority assignment but in the Marianas that job had a special urgency for from the improved airfields on sipan tinian and Guam America's new super fortresses the powerful b29 would soon take off on Mission against the enemy's home Islands on the Asiatic Mainland the conduct of the war against Japan was complicated by quite different problems China Burma and India comprised one of the Forgotten areas of the war ofage in the for freedom andice [Music] [Music] for