Page 72 - Mastheads Aug-Dec 1944
P. 72
PAGE2 THE MASTHEAD, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1944 ---------------------------------------
"All Ship-wrecked Gobs
ASTHEAD G Contact Public Relations ~~~
* * Island publlee.tlon distributed every Saturday without
Offlolw Treasure * * cost to the e. Office Immediately" 11111 'll'H IE 111 EW !
offleers, enlisted men, and employees of Treasure Island. All communications and
contrlbutlMI should be directed to The l!:ditor, Welfare and Recreation Department, Because of the large per cent of
Tree1ure !■land, Sau Franclseo, Oallfornla. Phone: EXbrook 8931, Extension 59. s lives lost in the Navy due to Marine Pfc. LeRoy Sturch, 19,
of McCrory, Ark., is "pretty sure"
OOMMODORE R. W. OARY, USN aquatic hazards, the Physical In-
, Oommander U, S. Naval Training and Distribution Oenter he got his share of Japs on Saipan
You can depend upon GI Joe to structors School, U .S.N.T.C., Bain-
and wishes he had accounted for
LT. OOMMANDER R. S. KIMBELL, US:NR take advantage of any situation bridge, Md., under swimming more of the enemy before shell
Director cf Welfare and Recreation
where he can get "the long green officer Adolph Kiefer, is seeking ad- fragments knocked him out of that
STANLEY SOLOMON, Y2c, USNR vanced information from ship-
stuff with the short f-uture" by uti- epic battle for control of the key
Editor wrecked survivors. Data obtained
lizing his capitalistic resources. island in the Marianas.
CLYDE F. BABB, Slc, USNR, Associate Editor will be used to improve teaching
Robert E. Johnson, YSc, Managing Editor Rex N. Olsen, Y8c, Feature Editor Such was th e case of Pvt. Leon methods, life-saving equipment and Sturch went through the battle
Carolyn N. Brown, Y2c, WAVES Editor George J. Schechter, YSc, Stall' Artist Stewart, who took advantage of of Tarawa without getting a
an old Army tradition-that a for the safety of all men going to scratch, but his brother, Elja, was
TREASURE ISLAND, S. F., CALIF., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1944 newly_ commissioned officer must sea. wounded there and preceded him
Many of you torpedoed seamen
give a dollar bill to the first , en- back to this country. He has been
EDITORIAL- listed ma,n who is lucky enough to are the key to the closed door on a patient in the Treasure Island
deep sea mysteries and_ your first
salute him. · Hospital.
hand information would be a guid-
The incident, as it is related, oc- One of the first wounded returned
ing light on the future of you and
curred at a building at Chanute your buddies. from Saipan by air transport, the
• • • Field, Illinois. When Pvt. Stewart This matter will be treated as Arkansas Leatherneck, who par-
saw coming toward him a big group ticipated for 13 day.s
(With Apologies to "The Leatherneck") of officers who had just been com- confidential and has the approval in the battle, told
of the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
missioned second lieutenants, he Best considered form to use, be- how he shot three
Take any man in our outfit. We'll call him Mac. You prob- decided to be the first to give the
low: Japs "in about five
ably know hundreds like him. He's just an American who has "old trim touch to the hat brim." 1. Name, rate, age, type of ship minutes" one night
The resourceful private used one
been doing a job he hates and doing it to the best of his ability. and battle area. when they infil-
hand to salute and the other to 2. Hours of training, ashore and
After being overseas 22 months, Mac is to get his chance in collect, thus when he had finished afloat you have had in life-saving, trated into American
combat. Inwardly or outwardly he has been wanting that for a with the line of new officers, he swimming, survival techniques, life lines and attempted
was $70 the richer. This is just an- raft drills, etc. to use the bayonet on some Ma-
long while. But now that the time draws near, he is scared. Death other case where preparation met rines in their foxholes.
3. Short paragraph on how past
and pain terrify him, but more than anything he's afraid of being with opportunity; however, his life-saving and swimming helped "It was about 11 o'clock one
soldier buddies prefer to call it you. night and it was pretty dark, too,
afraid luck. 4. Suggestions for improvement where we were," said Pfc. Sturch.
Aboard the transport, on the endless trip of waiting, Mac has on equipment, training of personnel "We were in our foxholes just back
plenty of chance to take stock of himself. Three decks down jn the If you have noticed the WA VE and instruction you did not get that of a ditch where we were watching
for some Japs to come out of a
Officers wearing a star on the would have helped you.
relentless heat of his hold, he thinks of home and wonders if he'll sleeve of their uniform, you were 5. Relate in own words, reactions canefield where their snipers had
ever see the corner drug store again. At the first sign of activity, wrong if you thought they were out and experience from ship sinking. been bothering us during the day.
of uniform and it was wise if you "Suddenly I heard a noise from
the general quarters alarm sounded and Mac marched down to the a foxhole occupied by a Marine
did not report them to the SP, for
holds with the others, to wait and listen behind locked doors, officers of the Women's Reserve named Robertson from Oklahoma.
who are classified W-V(S) are au- Disabled Sailors It was the click of his Browning
praying for their lives, perhaps. Automatic rifle. When the rifle
thorized to wear a blue star above
A lot of human interest pieces have been written about "Life the sleeve braid on their uniforms To Release Waves failed to fire, for some reason,
Robertson hollered. I saw a figure
aboard our ship." They don't tell how Mac tosses fretfully on a by the Bureau of Naval Personnel. standing almost over Robertson's
The ruling affects all WA VE Of- For Overseas Duty
sweat-drene::hed blanket and wonders if his body will still be in ficers except those of the staff WAVES who have dreamed of foxhole and I fired because I knew
one piece in a couple of days. The pre-invasion bombardment is corps, for whom existing staff in- going overseas for duty will get a none of our men were supposed to
signia has already been authorized. be standing up.
raging. The correspondents liken the show to a Fourth of July chance to serve outside of the "A second figure made a leap at
United States on a volunteer basis,
firew<;>rks display. But the young lieutenant platoon leader and his a Marine named Yates from Ken-
Perhaps the news item which according to the provisions of the tucky and again I let go with my
boatload of assault troops hear the roar and rumble and don't see will follow will be considered a recent legislation. Browning automatic. That Jap fell.
Although the Navy's program is
much. They are hunched down in the landing craft, rocking and waste of space by native Califor- continuously expanding, the "About that time someone in an-
pitching at rendezvous .. . nians but it may strike the interest WAVES quota of 100,000 for this other foxhole yelled for a corps-
of those concerned who are merely man. I edged my way toward the
The tanks move inland and spread death and destruction passing through the so-called "Sun- year has been cut to 75,000, as of foxhole where the yelling was com-
among the ·fleeing Japs. Their performance will make a great shine State." November 31, for the stated reason ing from and about the time I got
According to the Bureau of Naval that returning disabled servicemen close enough to distinguish what
story, much better than the account of one tank which went to the are filling billets in limited service.
Personnel, you may wear mufflers was happening another dark figure
The WAVES' purpose was to re-
bottom when its lighter capsized. Four men were trapped 60 feet with your overcoat-if you are a arose and threw a grenade into
lease men for combat. Some of the foxhole. It seemed to explode
down and drowned without ever learning how "easjly" the beach- Chief Petty Officer. those are now coming back to re-
Under a recent addition to uni- almost on the back of the corps-
head was made. lease WAVES. man.
form regulations, Chief Petty Of-
Organized resistance ends. Already aboard ship accounts are ficers may wear mufflers provided "The figure wheeled and started
to run. I let that Jap have it and
being radioed out and tomorrow's communiques will tell of the that they are made of white silk, She: "Marry you? Why you he went down. It all happened in
rayon _or wool, plain or ribbed, haven't enough money to keep me
smashing triumph. Back on the island darkness joins hands with woven or knitted, to be of ap- in clothes." about five minutes' time."
The Arkansan landed on Saipan
the Japs to make night a hell for Mac and his comrades. He hears proximately commercial size. Blue He: "Honey, that doesn't take on D-day last June 15 and was
wool mufflers may be worn at sea. money. That takes will power."
the Jap rapping the cap of a grenade and the suspense is awful. wounded 13 days later by shell
Tony kills himself by falling on a Jap hand grenad~ so that his JUST A MINUTE, MAC! fragments in a somewhat unusual
manner.
foxhole buddy can go on living. Windy loses his leg and lies alone "We had just finished a short
on the rock and sand all through the long dark hours. They were push and had dug in along a road
when I was hit," he explained.
both sqtiadmates of Mac's.
"Some of our jeeps were heading
The commentator terms it a bloodless conqueit and the strat- up the road and the Japs opened
egy which won the battle is explained back home. All Mac knows r up on them with knee mortars.
One of the shells landed on one of
is the hell his particular platoon encountered on the ridge. To- the jeeps as it was passing the fox-
morrow he must make his aching muscles perform the ugly job of hole I was in and fragments got
me in the left hand and right knee.
grave-digging. The jeep driver was killed.
"Where will we strike next?" That question is being posed "Except for the hot artillery fjre
the Japs poured on us at Saipan,
in the national magazines. And, meanwhile, Mac has moved close
I would say the Tarawa battle was
to an enemy base, helping garrison a small forgotten island and worse, but I had more close· calls
defend it against Jap bombings. at s ·aipan. Those Japs really made
it hot for us with their artillery
Palm Sunday services are held throughout the Christian and it was their artillery that
world. That is the day Mac went out on another operation against caused most of our casualties."
the Japs. It was only a mino-r one, but a bullet ripped into his A son of Elja E. Sturch, Sr., of
McCrory, Pfc. Sturch enlisted in
shoulder before the enemy force was wiped out. Mac has re- July, 1942, and went overseas the
covered by now. At another steaming base he drags his body over following March. He served in New
Zealand and Australia before tak-
the hills during the day and does a stretch of guard duty at night. ing part in the battles for Tarawa
Yesterday afternoon he took time out from the daily conditioning and Saipan.
program and at simple ceremonies outside his tent row received tWMro \ l
r
the Order of the Purple Heart for wounds incurred in combat with StOP MY I Gather your kisses while you may,
IJ OHP ALLOWNT; For time brings only sorrow.
the enemy. The girls who are so free today,
Are chaperones tomorrow.
Don't forget that contribution to the War Chest to help sup-
port the vital services of our fighting forces, our Allies and the No one in Physical Training
~el;llth and welfare agencies of the Community Chest. Remember has yet equaled the record number
of knee bends required in an all
Mac. night crap game,