D+4

June 19, 1944

...the campaign seemed to be one continuing drive during the day and waiting to see what the Japanese would do at night.

- Captain Irving Schechter, 1982, quoted in Henry Berry's "Semper Fi, Mac."

...we were an exhausted battalion, far under strength, and temporarily incapable of accomplishing impressive results. Our exertions had worn us out, and time and rest were needed for the creation of a new reservoir of reserve strength. Our "first wind" was gone, and the adjustment had not been made for the continuation of the attack, either physically or mentally.

- Captain Frederic Stott, 1/24, "Saipan Under Fire."

The "continuing drive" was costing the Marines more and more men.

A typical experience for the 23rd Marines was remembered by Carl Matthews, G/2/23.

During their advance north of Lake Susupe, Matthews' 2nd Platoon was ordered across an open field. There was no cover, and Japanese troops were waiting. The platoon was hit hard, and those who were able raced for the cover of a small ravine.

Matthews watched as PFC Wendell Nightengale, one of the BAR gunners, tried to crawl back to the ravine. He had been badly hit, and bullets were tearing up the ground all around him. Richard Freeby, another member of the platoon, abandoned the safety of the ravine and raced forward, grabbed Nightengale, and began dragging the wounded man to cover. They were the only moving targets in the field, and the Japanese concentrated all their fire on the struggling Marines. Nightengale was hit again - this time fatally.

Freeby, realizing that nothing else could be done for his friend, dropped Nightengale's body and ran back to cover.

[It was] the greatest act of bravery I had ever seen or ever hope to see. He had risked his own life in an attempt to save the life of his friend. And he cried when he realized he had failed.

G Company suffered heavily throughout the day. Artillery and mortar fire blasted the grove of trees where Japanese fire still spat forth at anyone who dared show his head. At 1500, the advance resumed - and this time the Marines would not be denied.

The remaining men of G Company raced over the bodies of their dead comrades who lay on the open field, swearing vengeance with every step, determined to make the Japanese pay dearly for what had happened. Every bush that moved became the recipient of hundreds of rounds of small arms fire. Any warm body was met with a hail of bullets fired by angry Marines. One older man, emerging from a hole in the ground, was shoved back into the hole by the force of bullets hitting his body. Concussion grenades were tossed into the hole. It was over in a few minutes, but we has all aged a lifetime....

Lt. Leary removed one of Nightengale's dog tags, the other was left for the burial detail. We placed a bayonet attached to a rifle in the ground, and hung Nightengale's steel helmet on the butt of the rifle. We had performed the procedure as we had been instructed and raced to catch up with the 2nd Platoon. Several days later we were given a day of rest and on our way to the beach passed the areas where Nightengale had been killed. His body was still there, waiting for the burial detail.

- Carl Matthews, quoted in Harry Goldberg's "D-Day In The Pacific."

Up and down the line, other men like Nightengale were lost, while others like Matthews, Freeby, and Leary continued on. (Matthews and Freeby would survive the war; 1st Lieutanant James Leary never left Saipan).

Even on a "quiet" day, Marines and Imperial troops were falling, bleeding, and dying.

Through D+4, each regiment of the 4th Marine Division realigned itself along the O-3 line and in some places overrunning it by several hundred yards. 1/24 moved very little, a welcome change from their previous frantic pace.

[A] badly needed rest materialized the following day, on which no attempt was made to advance or do aught else but supply the companies. It was not a rest in the sense of rehabilitation, but it was a relief of pressure and a chance for relaxation. It was the pause which rebuilds mentally rather than physically. And the Japanese, their local resources expended on the abortive counterattack, seemed content to husband their remaining strength in seclusion and intervened not at all.

- Captain Frederic Stott, 1/24, "Saipan Under Fire"

Far out at sea, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" was blowing the Japanese Navy and carrier planes to shreds. Marines who were understandably angered to see the Navy vanish from the coast of Saipan would reap the benefits: Japanese air support dwindled to almost nothing, and American dominance of sea & skies meant that the enemy was well and truly cut off from his homeland.

Marine ingenuity in the face of danger, though, was the greatest insurance that the battle would be won, even if it came in strange forms:
Personally I feel that one of the most beneficial events of the day was a bit of larceny on some captured liquor stores. Having noticed several buildings crammed with cases, on the preceding day, we obtained a reconnaissance car, a willing crew of volunteers, and departed. It was well we arrived early in the day, or the idea was not unique to our battalion, and in addition higher authority was beginning to install the restraining hand of the MP. However, we walked brazenly in by an indecisive guard and hastily loaded the vehicle with some twenty cases of beer and wine, took off for the front lines, and dispensed with all of it to the rifle companies 'ere intervention could occur. Some brands of Jap beer and wine have no superior, and the bottle-per-man ration was the perfect answer to many a thirsty prayer. "The best since the 'Babalu' and L.A." was the general consensus.

Our 81mm mortar platoon also used the day advantageously to augment their string of labor-saving oxen, complete with carts. Saipan boasted large numbers of these powerful heavy brutes, and by nightfall the platoon "owned" a train of half a dozen two-wheeled carts with the necessary oxen. The sight of a platoon advancing with this primitive baggage train was reminiscent of many an old-time battle painting--minus the camp followers. Improvised whips and cattle calls soon appeared, and a few of the "experts" even rode their steeds in the attack--as long as all was quiet! At night they were picketed, bit occasionally broke loose, and one midnight we awoke to find two of them pawing up the center of a company C.P., their horns locked. For the moment it was more fearsome than the Japs, and some man was carted away suffering from distinctive hoofprints. But the animals' worth was amply demonstrated by the heavy volume of accurate fire which was never lacking when called for, and which would have been almost an impossibility without the train.

- Captain Frederic Stott, 1/24, "Saipan Under Fire."

ABLE COMPANY CASUALTIES, JUNE 19, 1944
Killed:
Corporal Thomas Francis McKay. Elizabeth, NJ. Age 20. Gunshot wound, chest. Killed while attempting to rescue a wounded Marine.
PFC Henry Niles Woods. Evansville, IL. Age 19. Gunshot wound, head.

Wounded:
PFC Winston McKay Cabe
PFC John J. Franey, Jr.
Private James William Jackson
Private Walker Hamilton

Total: 6