Read an interesting account. The guy said it was so bad they threw everything out of the tank except one canteen of water and 1 C ration per crew man. They packed in 110 rounds of 75mm ammo plus 10 or 12 under something on the floor. They could not change their machine gun barrels because they got so hot the tracers started exploding just in front of the muzzle. They just packed 2 extra complete machine guns into the tank and swapped them out. They loaded 45 cans of 30 caliber ammo for the machine guns and often shot it all up in a day....11,000 round total through two guns. If they didn't shoot it all up they gave the left overs to the Marines on the line and gave any left over 75mm rounds to the other tanks. The next day it was the same thing all over again.

There must be a huge trail of empty brass cases on Iwo Jima....

My step father was on iwo jima ,guadal canal, pelilu. okinawa.

he wouldnt,couldnt talk about it.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:

There must be a huge trail of empty brass cases on Iwo Jima....

Yes, there is. Empty and not so empty.

My father served aboard the USS Evans (DD552) as a gunners mate from it's commissioning in '42 to it's decommission at Mare Island due to battle damage in May '45. The ship saw action at Saipan, Palau, The Phillipines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

The following is from a Naval Publication describing the Evans' support/action at Iwo Jima.

"In mid February we joined the escort for the 4th Marine Division en route to Iwo. "D" Day, February 19th was cool and sunny, as we took station north of the island, awaiting our turn on the firing line...

At noon the next day The Fightin' Bob took it's place in the firing line after a rugged night...

It was a tired crew that manned stations that day for the tedious work of bombardment. We blasted away for the remainder of the day and right on into the night alternating on guns so men could eat and crews rest...

The hours of incessant slamming followed far into the night. Then about 3 a.m. in the morning near the edge of a desparately held airfield, the Japs counter attacked. Over the fire control circuit came the word, "all guns rapid fire," and the Evans sent tons of steel and explosives a scant two hundred yards ahead of our own front lines, helping the 4th Marine Division break up the attack. By six a.m. our ammunition was running low, and a relief arrived at seven. We had expended over 1900 rounds of 5 inch shells. Stacks of empty powder cases covered the decks and jammed passageways below. Blast shields had torn loose, and the paint had blistered and burned on the guns..."

My dad's twin brother was in the 5th Marine division and was on the other side of the airstrip from the 4th Marine Division.
My dad was in the 2nd Marine Division on 3 islands, one of them Saipan. Your dad's ship probably provided fire support for both my dad's and my uncle's units.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
My dad's twin brother was in the 5th Marine division and was on the other side of the airstrip from the 4th Marine Division.
My dad was in the 2nd Marine Division on 3 islands, one of them Saipan. Your dad's ship probably provided fire support for both my dad's and my uncle's units.

Small world, eh?

WWll, the War we wanted to win, and we won...

My hat is off to the Combat Veterans of WWll.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
My dad's twin brother was in the 5th Marine division and was on the other side of the airstrip from the 4th Marine Division.
My dad was in the 2nd Marine Division on 3 islands, one of them Saipan. Your dad's ship probably provided fire support for both my dad's and my uncle's units.

Small world, eh?

x2

My grandfather was on tinian, Saipan, and Okinawa. He passed this last spring, or as I like to say his NRA membership expired. He was a Marine, I think the 5th marine division, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, when I was a young child I was watching a documentary on the naval battle for Okinawa and the waves of Kamakazi attacks. My grandfather started to tell the story as it unfolded on the television, his words narrated the program just as (or before) the narrator was telling it. I asked how he knew such details of the naval battle, he replied "I was there". I guess the the LST that he was on witnessed the entire battle. I remember him telling the story with so much meaning and detail, I muted the television and let him talk. God I miss that man.

One thing he mentioned was most of the Kamakazi's would get a good aim on the ships, but would let go and the planes would pull out of the dive just before impact. Of all the Kamakazi's in the air, very few would hit their mark. He got recalled for Korea and served on the front lines. After he died I got his fighting knife, it sat above his desk for as long as i can remember, I wish I would have asked about the knife but I'm glad I didn't.

My grandmother said that he lived those battles his entire life. She said that he would relive them in his sleep, and always jumped if he heard a loud noise.

Rub Line,

My dad died in '99, he didn't talk all that much about the war until his later years. The story your grandfather told about the Kamakazis...my dad talked of them also, his ship took four.

You can read the rest of the story here:

http://www.ussevans.org/

I happened to run into an older gent one time at a range in the SF Bay Area. He was eying my Garand and said it brought back memories of his time in the Corps in the South Pacific. I mentioned my dad was on a tin can that (along with another) almost went down from Kamikazis at Okinawa and gave him a quick synopsis of what happened. I wasn't very far into it when he looked at me and said, "Yeah, that was the Evans and the Hadley. I was wounded and saw the whole battle from the beach. They brought a lot of the wounded from those ships to our aid station. The boys on those boats had some balls!"

That's another part of a small world.

If I remember correctly, he introduced himself as Al Porter. I told him I had been a Vietnam Marine. He looked at me, grinned, and said "Semper Fi, welcome home, brother!"

Damn, I felt good!