Tinian: Jig Day

H-Hour plus four minutes. LVTs heading back from shore have just deposited E/2/24 on beach White One; A/1/24 are in the vehicles moving towards land.

It rained.

The 4th Marine division, who had embarked on troop ships the day before, were less concerned with the weather than with the imminent landing. They had been badly battered in the Saipan campaign just weeks ago, and though they'd had a period of relative peace after completing their mopping up obligations, they were nowhere close to the strength they'd enjoyed during the previous fight. Al Perry estimated that by the end of the fighting on Saipan, A Company had lost 40% of their men, leaving them with a total strength of about 155. Perry also recalled that he had physically lost about 30 pounds and was numbed by the loss of so many friends killed and wounded. (Perry, on the other hand, had been keeping a tally of different losses. In a Marine Corps Times article written in 2004, he took "no pleasure in remembering that, as a teenage Marine, he made a notch in the stock of his BAR for each Japanese he believed he killed, a total that reached about 135.") The ranks of the 24th Marines were somewhat augmented by the arrival of 9 officers and 244 enlisted men, all replacements, who arrived fresh faced and presumably somewhat in awe of the rangy, dirty veterans. The replacements were spread throughout the Regiment as needed.

A Company's efforts had not gone unnoticed. Captain Schechter found himself summoned to Regimental HQ a few days after the fighting ceased on Saipan.

In anticipation of this move our regimental commander, Colonel Hart, called me into his tent.

"Schechter," he said, "I like the way your company operates. I'd like to have Company A lead the assault on Tinian. How would you like to go in?"

"Well, Colonel," I said, "I'd like to land with my entire company in one wave. This way I'll have my riflemen, mortars and machine gunners all ashore at the same time."

"Schechter, that sounds like a good idea. I think I'll land the whole regiment in company waves."

And I believe that's the way we landed. It worked.

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

In the end, it was decided that A Company would be the second company to land on the beach. E Company would be the first to touch ground on Beach White One, a miniscule strip of sand barely 60 yards long. This beach, along with Beach White Two, were selected for their proximity to Saipan and also by virtue of the fact that a landing here appeared next to impossible - so much so that the Japanese left only a token force of defenders and concentrated their main efforts on the beaches near Tinian Town, farther to the south along the west coast of the island. Accordingly, American planners created a diversion force to keep the Japanese occupied, while throwing artillery based on Saipan against the White Beach defenses.


A Company awoke on June 24th to the now familiar steak-and-eggs breakfast that accompanied an assault landing. Everyone was fervently hoping that they were not in for a repeat of Saipan. E Company climbed down the nets into their tracked LVTs - a reef offshore of the beaches made landing by boat impossible - and chugged towards Tinian at 0717, beginning a 3,000 yard voyage under the guns of their support ships. Some of the defenders on the beach scrambled for their weapons, and incoming fire - estimated by various accounts at .50 caliber, 20mm, and 40mm - began whipping among the boats, but was not concentrated enough to cause much damage. Besides, the awesome firepower of a pair of battleships, assorted smaller warships, coastal artillery, and landing craft equipped with cannon and rockets was more than enough to answer any desultory shots taken by the defenders.

E Company touched sand at 0750. The Marines vaulted over the sides of the amphtracks, which about-faced and paddled back out to sea - the beachhead was far too narrow for them to stay put. A brief, nasty firefight erupted on the beach as Japanese soldiers hidden in coral crevasses angrily protested the landing, but they were eliminated in a matter of minutes. A Company plowed ashore about four minutes later (each of the fifteen successive waves was scheduled to land at intervals of four to ten minutes; the waves consisted of eight LVTs each carrying a company or equivalent sized unit), just as E Company was reporting that they had cleared the obstacles and were preparing to move inland.

Interestingly, none of the Marines were carrying their combat packs. These had been left behind on Saipan, and the invaders landed with their pockets stuffed with emergency rations, utensils, extra socks, and bug repellent. Ponchos were tucked into ammunition belts. This was due in part to the planned progress of the invasion - this would not be a fast, hard drive as had been attempted on Saipan. Knowing that the troops were weakened, the generals had decided to allow two weeks for the capture of Tinian. This afforded a more leisurely pace for the Marines and meant that extra time and care could be taken in the attack to minimize casualties. As a result, the Marines would theoretically never outpace their means of supply, and would not have to carry their bulky equipment with them.

A Company was tasked with securing the left flank of the Regiment and holding their position until the rest of the battalion could be landed. As soon as they landed, the company smartly wheeled 90 degrees to the left and quickly came under fire.

Several Japanese soldiers appeared out of nowhere to greet us with small arms fire. And, once again, that phrase called "pure luck" showed up for me.

As I waded in, I turned to give some orders to my radio operator only to see the poor guy floating in the surf. He had been hit in the head with a bullet.... The Japs would almost always go for the man with the visible equipment. That's the way it was.

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

Another casualty was veteran sergeant Michael Frihauf of Rossford, Ohio (holding the BAR) . He had won the Bronze Star on Namur and survived the fighting on Saipan only to be shot by a sniper while in mid conversation with Al Perry.

Nevertheless, A Company had walked ashore standing up, a marked difference over their last landing. Defenses in the area were limited - the RCT 24 report indicates that only one bunker was encountered, and that had been hastily built out of natural chunks of coral, with a poor field of fire. Some other small emplacements were cleared out, and soon the two assault companies had their objectives under control, and by 0846 all of First and Second battalions had cleared the beaches and were moving inland. The entire process had lasted less than an hour.

First Battalion did run into some difficulty that carried unwelcome memories of Saipan - Japanese troops hidden in caves and in thick underbrush kept peppering the Marines with scattered rifle and MG fire. Mortars and light artillery (often antiaircraft guns firing laterally) dropped sporadically into the area around the beach. LVT(A)s, floating offshore, helped suppress some of the hidden enemy, and flamethrowing tanks (M3A1 light tanks, known as "Ronsons" for the manufacturer of their flame equipment, had their 37mm main guns replaced by a large flamethrower) lent a hand, but the battalion was stopped short of their objective and prepared their positions for the night at 1600.

Second Battalion, on the right, reached the O-1 line, and Third Battalion waited in reserve.

The other regimental combat teams landed, the 25th and 23rd Marines, also faced problems. The 25th hit the slightly larger White Two, which featured two blockhouses and several mines, as well as booby-trapped watches and cases of beer. The Japanese knew the American tendency to collect souvenirs, and were hoping to capitalize on it, but the ruse was seen through and the traps were handled by engineers. The 23rd, the last regiment to deploy, moved in to cover the very right flank of the line. A battalion of the 8th Marines landed as well, and moved into support of the 24th.

Compared to the landing on Saipan (and it was difficult not to compare the two; Saipan was just three miles away across the channel) the landing forces made a stunning achievement while losing 15 killed and 225 wounded. The diversionary force had taken some hits as well; Japanese batteries had hit several of the warships, temporarily disabling two of them and causing some carnage. The wisdom of attacking the smaller beaches was readily apparent in light of the reception afforded to the diversionary force. These Marines, all 2nd Division men, sailed back North and would eventually land in support of the 4th Division.

At the day's end, the Marine front stretched 2,900 yards end to end, forming a bulge that was nearly a mile deep in places. They had managed to land over 15,600 fighting men, tanks, artillery, and vehicles. Already, the Japanese were outgunned and outnumbered (their garrison never numbered much over 9,100, and that was before any casualties taken on July 24). However, disparate numbers had never deterred the Japanese from attacking Marines, and positions were chosen on the virtue of their defensive traits rather than proximity to the objective line. Past experience had taught the Marines that if a serious counterattack was forthcoming, it would usually be on the first night. Accordingly, all units halted between 1600 and 1630. The front lines dug in deep, placing grenades, extra ammo, and their fighting knives within easy reach. Machine guns fired bursts of tracers to check that they interlocked, artillery was registered on likely approaches, and mortars deployed to fire illumination as needed.

As my company was the first one ashore, I was asked to give a priority for equipment. I expected a counterattack from the Nips so I asked for plenty of barbed wire, which turned out to be an excellent choice.

On our second night ashore we took the barbed wire and strung it up in front of the company. I also set up two 37 millimeter guns that could fire canisters when and if the Japs came at us.

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

Al Perry and two buddies, Leon Roquet and Wallace Holt, dug themselves a foxhole. Along with the rest of Company A, they peered into the gathering blackness. Occasionally, someone on the line fired at a Japanese soldier creeping through the brush, and once a heavy artillery concentration descended upon two foolish enemy scouts who climbed into a building in plain sight of the Marines and began sketching the front lines. Everyone knew something was coming, and soon; the only question was where on the line the blow would fall.

Able Company Casualties, July 24, 1944

Killed:
Sergeant Michael Anthony Frihauf. Rossville, OH. Age 25. Bullet wounds, fragment wound, back.
PFC Theodore Droszcz. Age 27.

Wounded:
2nd Lt. Paul J. Rossi
Corporal Howard F. Haff
Corporal Donald R. Hart
Corporal Claude Thomas Henderson, Jr. (fatal)
PFC Donald E. Peters

Total: 7