On the 76th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima this 19th of February 2021, I will be discussing my book “Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan’s Holocaust and the Pacific War” on WW2 TV at 1pm Central Time (the link is below). USMC Commandants, Gen. Al Gray and Gen. Charles Krulak, have both endorsed my work and written Forewords for it. Moreover, former CENTCOM commander, USMC Gen. Anthony Zinni, and well-known Marine Corps historian, USMC Col. Jon Hoffman, have also written reviews and endorsed my work. Many Marines will know Hoffman from his famous biography of Chesty Puller called “Chesty.” I believe “Flamethrower” is one of the most thoroughly documented works on the battle of Iwo Jima and Guam of the Pacific War. Moreover, it documents the numerous controversies surrounding the Japanese garrison commander, Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who was a war criminal (facts Clint Eastwood left out of the movie “Letters from Iwo Jima”). Kuribayashi’s horrible career is also put into context of Japan’s Holocaust which claimed a minimum of 22 million lives (twice as many as Hitler slaughtered). Moreover, “Flamethrower” unfortunately documents that USMC Medal of Honor recipient, Woody Williams, probably one of the most famous living Marines today, should not have received the Medal of Honor for the package put in for him. In fact, the Marine Corps of WWII at its highest levels, from USMC Commandant, Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, Fleet Marine Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Roy Geiger, and Pacific Fleet Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Chester Nimitz, and their boards, all REFUSED to endorse Woody’s award due to the lack of evidence. It was pushed through for political reasons, and not because Woody merited the award. When one studies Woody’s life and the medal, one learns that Vandegrift, Geiger and Nimitz all had justification to be suspicious of Woody’s MOH package because Woody has shown himself to have spouted numerous Sea Tales and mistruths about his past throughout his life, not only about his combat exploits, but also about his person and biography. Woody has shown himself to be very worried about these facts since he has filed a Federal lawsuit against me, trying to prevent the publication of this book, something he has been unsuccessful in doing. It is hard to violate our U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment that guarantees the Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. Many of these issues mentioned here will be discussed during the one-hour interview on the 19th of February.  Click here to watch.

Sincerely Yours and Semper Fi,

Bryan Mark Rigg, PhD

American victory on Iwo Jima came at a terrible cost. Almost 7,000 Marines and Sailors lost their lives over the 36-day battle. To put the battle in context for its brutality, more men died in this battle than all the deaths the U.S. has suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq in almost two decades of war since 2001. Additionally, more than 19,000 were wounded there. Since most Marine line officers led from the front, they were often the first to get wounded or killed. As a result, sergeants and corporals found themselves leading their entire platoon on Iwo Jima after just a few days in battle.  According to Marine Corps historians, USMC Lt. Colonel Robert Burrell, by the Battle of Iwo Jima, “the Marine rifleman had developed into such a finely honed instrument of destruction that squad leaders, platoon commanders, and company commanders wielded the majority of combat power.” During training, all Marines often role-played others’ Enlistment

John J. Wlach enlisted in the Marine Corps on 28 July 1942. He was born on 25 January 1921 in New York City to Jewish parents and loved baseball and the New York Yankees. He had blue eyes, light brown hair, stood 5’9” and weighed 170 pounds, all muscle. He fought on Bougainville and Guam, and was wounded on Banzai Ridge on 24 July 1944 taking shrapnel to his left leg. After Guam’s battle, he was assigned the 3rd Squad Leader, in 3rd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division.  They trained for months preparing for the next battle, Iwo Jima.  His outfit landed on Iwo on the 21st of February. The next day, his company commander, USMC Capt. Gerald Kirby, was killed in action. And after Kirby’s death, Wlach’s lieutenants and platoon leaders started dropping like flies too. 

After Wlach and what remained of his platoon broke through the defensive line near Airport No.1 on 23 February 1945, they encountered intense opposition on the rising hills on the Motoyama Plateau north of the first airfield and en route to their next objective: Airfield No. 2, defended by Colonel Masuo Ikeda’s 145th Regiment of the Imperial Japanese forces. This was Iwo Jima’s garrison commander, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s “most powerful” unit; it manned the strongest area of the general’s defense and had undergone years of combat experience in China. While the Leathernecks fought Ikeda’s forces, Corporal John Wlach, now in charge of 3rd Platoon, helped secure the left flank above Airfield No. 1. 

By now, Wlach had taken over his platoon when its leader was taken out of the lines after suffering several wounds. Due to casualties, the platoon had gone from 45 to 19 men. Facing what he and his men called Hand Grenade Hill, they encountered over 200 grenades flying around them within a period of 15 minutes. As a former “crack amateur and semi-pro baseball player,” Wlach, without hesitation, picked up several of the grenades and “pegged” them back at the Japanese before they exploded. His snappy and quick responses with the grenades, as if he was fielding line-drive grounders at a baseball game, mesmerized his comrades. He was using both hands to grab these flying or rolling bombs and then flung them back at the Imperial Japanese forces attacking them with their own weapons playing Russian roulette every time not knowing where the “fuse timer” was on these hand-held bombs before they exploded. When he was not busy with Japanese grenades, he pulled the numerous grenades attached to his web-gear on his front and threw his grenades into openings on the slope facing them full of Japanese tunnels.  

Legacy

USMC PFC Cecil Matheney, and eye witness, commented: “Wlach is the guy who’s mainly responsible for taking that hill. He was a wild man, but he kept his head. He kept the boys right up on the skirmish line.” Wlach exposed himself to fire, and, irritated that several men nearby were scared and not following him, he stood up in clear view in the middle of the crazy battle and screamed commands. He also did this to draw enemy fire so his Marines knew where to attack. 

Matheney continued:

“You see, we had gotten in front of these Japs almost before we knew it. They were so well concealed—even their pillboxes—that we’d have never known they were there if they hadn’t opened up. But Johnny didn’t let us get caught with our breeches down. He snapped us right out of our stunned surprise and had us going just as though we had been there for hours.”

Seeing some Marines were allowing fear to stymie action, he stood up on a mound and yelled, “Come on, you fellows, the only thing that can happen to you is to get killed!” With that declaration, his men took the hill reported Marine Corps correspondent Disk Dashiell. 

According to one report, Wlach took out around 30 Japanese soldiers and did not lose one of his 19 men in this action, a remarkable feat when one knows where he was and what he was up against. Since no officer witnessed any of his feats and most of his line officers were wounded or dead from his company, no one put him in for high awards. His regimental command did put him in for a Bronze Star with V, but the paperwork got lost or the command failed to follow up on it and it never happened. He did get a commendation from the 3rd Marine Division commander, USMC Major Gen. Graves B. Erskine, which read in part: “His extreme coolness under fire, heroic action and skillful leadership were an inspiration to this entire company and contributed materially to the success of the attack.” Moreover, the division did name a street at its base on Guam after him, but he never received any medals.

He asked the archive to look into it in 1997, remembering being told in 1946 while he was in the hospital that he was going to get a valorous decoration (the documents in the archive do indeed prove this!). Although he never got his medal, he had something few people ever get—the full confidence and respect of his brother Marines who would go to Hell and back with him at their head. That is one of the most honored statuses any Marine can ever obtain and is more priceless than any medals. 

Death

On March 1, Wlach’s luck ran out and he suffered horrible gunshot wounds to his arm and chest and was medevacked to a hospital ship. He had one year of rehabilitation, mostly at Earle New Jersey Naval Ammo Depot, until he was healthy enough to be discharged in February 1946. 

For more about the forgotten heroes of Iwo Jima, visit a href=”https://bryanmarkrigg.com/”>bryanmarkrigg.com. 

Background

USMC Lt. General Graves Blanchard Erskine (the “Big E” or “Blood and Guts”) was born on 28 June 1897 in Columbia, Louisiana and descended from strong Southern roots—his maternal grandfather had fought for the Confederacy. He was also proud of his Scottish roots that came from the vicinity of Glasgow. His clan’s motto is “Je Pense Plus” (I think more). Erskine’s military life proves that he lived according to his family’s motto and “thought more.” He was one of the smartest generals the Marine Corps has ever produced.

School and Enlistment

Before World War I, he graduated from high school at the age of 15, where he was class valedictorian. Thereafter, he served in the Louisiana State Guard rising to the rank of sergeant while studying for his bachelor’s, which he received from Louisiana State University in 1917. In that year, he entered the Marines and in 1918, he deployed to France and fought at Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry and St. Mihiel. In one battle, he took shrapnel to his hip and leg, but refused to leave his unit. However, his luck ran out on 15 September, when a bullet shattered his lower right leg—one bone was sticking six inches out of his body. He received the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. After recovering, he rose through the ranks. He spent time overseas in Haiti, Nicaragua, Japan and China (American Legation in Beijing 1935-37). Soon after his time in China in 1937, he joined the staff of then Brigadier General Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith to help develop amphibious warfare, eventually becoming Smith’s Chief of Staff. When World War II broke out, he helped train Marine and Army officers about amphibious warfare and oversaw the training of the Army units that assaulted the island of Attu, Alaska in May 1943 to take it back from the Japanese. 

Colonel Erskine developed much of the guts of how a nation should conduct amphibious warfare. Erskine explored the details of how Marines should be berthed on a ship before an assault, how amphibious tractors (amtracs) should be used ahead of Higgins boat landings, and how the men should deploy on the beach once leaving their crafts. He developed the procedures on how to ascertain when the beachhead was secured enough by the amtracs and Higgins-borne troops ashore (called Erskine’s “amphibious blitzkrieg”) in order to then bring to the beaches the LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry—158-foot vessels) that could deploy up to 200 troops and all their equipment and LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank—382 foot vessels) that could land tanks, jeeps, artillery batteries and trucks from their bow-butterfly doors to provide a second wave of overwhelming power against the enemy. 

Moving Up The Ranks

Erskine became Smith’s right-hand-man and as Chief of Staff, Erskine ran the outfit behind the scenes allowing Smith to keep amphibious operations in Marine hands by looking after the politics. 

As Smith’s Chief of Staff, Erskine had one of the most important jobs in the Corps. When Brigadier General Mike Edson took over Erskine’s role as Chief of Staff of Amphibious Warfare Operations once Erskine took over the 3rd Marine Division in late 1944, Edson wrote of this billet that it “was easily the fourth, and maybe the third, most important post in the entire Marine Corps and the success or failure of the Corps [resided in this position].” In short, Erskine was largely responsible for developing the operational warfare for the new and more powerful Marine Corps that destroyed Japanese-held islands throughout World War II—his fingerprints, if not his whole stamp of approval, were on most of all the major island campaigns.  

Erskine’s handsome and muscled face and body looked like an advertising ideal for the Corps. Standing at a lean 6’0”, he loved physical fitness and was very strong. He had a sharp tongue and behind his clear, green eyes lurked a mind full of curiosity ripe with critical analysis. 

His keen mind was apparent in his military strategy. He was recommended for a Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his role planning the assaults at Saipan and Tinian. In the end, the award was downgraded to a Legion of Merit, which he received from US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. 

After Saipan and Tinian, now Lieutenant General Holland Smith ordered Major General Erskine to assume command of the 3rd Marine Division and when Erskine did so in October 1944, he found it was “in rather poor condition” and “not functioning as a division” because it was divided up into three regimental combat teams. There was no central 3rd MarDiv command controlling all regiments; instead, all three regiments acted independently with 3rd MarDiv support behind them. Erskine felt the division “should be a very highly integrated organization, and it should be absolutely sensitive to the division headquarters,” so Erskine reorganized the command structure. Instead of troops being divided into “four parts” of three combat teams and a fourth comprised of artillery and medical support, Erskine made everything unified under his command. One of his officers claimed his nickname was “Flamethrower” and if you did not “stand up to him, you were a dead duck.”  Anyone showing fear of Erskine would be dismissed. Junior officers had to know everything about their unit’s weapons or there was hell to pay. He wanted hard, driven men under his command who could tell him the unvarnished truth. 

“Toughen Up”

During training, Erskine conducted forced marches and personally led them. At 46, the 6’0” and 200-pound Erskine carried the same gear and frequently led his division in “humping.” “I wish he would slow down,” Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams said. “He was so tall that for every step he took, I had to take two. He really believed in conditioning….” Hiking was the best way to “toughen up a soldier” in Erskine’s opinion. He also conducted several exercises with live ammunition and, although there were accidents, he insisted such exercises saved men when the enemy bullets started flying.  

Iwo Jima

When Iwo Jima began on 19 February 1945, Erskine’s division was sitting out at sea in reserve in case things got bad on the island. Well, after just one day, the situation got real bad on the island and two of his regiments (the 21st and 9th Marines) hit the shores on 21 February. The first few days, these regiments were attached to the 4th Marine Division, commanded by Major General Clifton Cates, and helped the 4th MarDiv secure its gains and supported its badly mauled units. The 3rd MarDiv remained under Cates until Erskine arrived three days later and officially took back command on 25 February. Erskine was in the heat of battle: “Our headquarters…was not over 500 yards, I don’t think, from the front line. We’d frequently get a spray of machine gun fire.” While in his Command Post, Erskine’s signal officer was talking on the phone when suddenly he grabbed his carbine and shot two attacking “Japs” right before they entered. Erskine believed, if you were not on the front lines, you cannot lead Marines properly. 

After one week on the island, Erskine’s 3rd MarDiv played one of the most important roles on Iwo. It spearheaded the middle thrust up the island “confronting the hostile main [enemy] battle position,” taking over the main airfields and destroying key fortifications. It was the most heavily fortified part of the island. Although it may have been given this vital role because the 5th and 4th Marine Divisions had suffered so many casualties the first days of battle when the 3rd MarDiv sat safely off shore, and thus had rested men, it now had the responsibility of taking the island’s airfields that stretched across Iwo’s middle. Since Imperial Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi had placed most of his defenses in the interior, Erskine faced a large burden for victory, a burden he skillfully bore. 

Erskine’s modus operandi was to explore the enemy’s defenses and, as soon as he sensed a weak spot, he brought all the fire power he had to hit the enemy at the spot of least resistance. According to Marine Corps sources, when he gained momentum, “he exploited the situation by committing reserves at the flanks and through the gaps.” By seizing the initiative and moving forward past the two airfields and beyond “the shambles that was Motoyama Village,” Erskine’s division “cut its way through the main line of resistance into the guts of Iwo Jima.” Erskine maintained momentum up “a narrow front and envelop[ed] the bypassed enemy positions from the rear rather than utilize frontal assault up the entire zone of action. These ideas were a distinct departure from assault doctrine used in most previous Marine campaigns.” 
At this time, reports about how well the Marine divisions progressed made it back to Washington. In President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s last address to Congress on 1 March 1945, he said, “The Japs now know what it means to hear that the United States Marines have landed.” When he said this, Congress erupted in applause. He then claimed Iwo was “well in hand.” There was pride in what the Marines were accomplishing on Iwo Jima. 
Eventually, Erskine’s split the Japanese garrison in half and helped secure the island.  Smith said that Erskine was the general who broke the back of General Kuribayashi on Iwo Jima. After the island was secured, Erskine gave a dedication at the 3rd MarDiv’s cemetery. With tears in his eyes, he said:

“There is nothing I can say which is wholly adequate to the occasion…Only the accumulated praise of time will pay proper tribute to our valiant dead. Long after those who lament their immediate loss are themselves dead, these men will be mourned by the nation. They are the nation’s loss…Victory was never in doubt. Its cost was. The enemy could have displaced every cubic inch of volcanic ash on this fortress with concrete pillboxes and blockhouses, which he nearly did, and still victory would not have been in doubt…Let the world count our crosses…Then when they understand the significance of the fighting for Iwo…let them wonder at how few there are…Let us do away with names, with ranks and rates and unit designations, here. Do away with terms, regular, reserve, veteran, boot, old timer, replacement. They are categorizing words which belong only in the adjutant’s dull vocabulary. Here lie only…Marines.” 

Legacy

According to General Anthony Zinni, Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from 1997 to 2000, Erskine was one of the Corps’ most brilliant general officers during World War II. Historian Robert Burrell agrees with this study’s assessment as well as Zinni’s observation writing that Erskine was “one of the most experienced and intelligent Marine officers of the Pacific.” After the war, Erskine, in describing what he did during the war, simply stated if any nation threatened his country and killed “his Marines,” he would destroy it—and he was a major player in helping “destroy” Japan. 

For his leadership on Iwo, Erskine was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal endorsed by President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. This medal is given to those who have exhibited extraordinary service with great responsibility. His citation read in part: 

“For exceptionally meritorious service… in a duty of great responsibility as Commanding General of the [3rd MarDiv], prior to and during the seizure of enemy Japanese-held Iwo…Inculcating in the officers and men of his regiments his own indomitable spirit of determination…Erskine welded his organization into a formidable fighting command… he deployed his units in support of the assault divisions according to plan, quickly assumed control of a difficult sector of the line and waged fierce battle against the fanatic Japanese garrisons. A bold tactician, he maintained his division well in the forefront of the assault, pushing the relentless advance inch by inch through the enemy’s intricate network of defenses to make tortuous but steady progress over the fire-swept terrain, blasting strongly fortified gun positions and fighting off repeated counterattacks as he moved his battalions inexorably forward. Ultimately breaking through to the north coast…he succeeded in splitting the defending Japanese forces into two disorganized and vulnerable groups. Constantly rallying his tried, depleted units…Erskine by his undaunted valor, tenacious perseverance and resolute fortitude in the face of overwhelming odds, inspired his stouthearted Marines in heroic effort…. His dynamic leadership and decisive conduct throughout were important factors in the successful conclusion of the…Campaign.”
 

It was rare for generals in WWII to lead their men from the front, but Erskine was in the fighting lines during combat from 24-28 February. He knew the best way to lead was to get to the front to “see what is happening,” and he proved this was not just empty bravado. He had been shot up by Germans attacking their machine gun nests at Thiaucourt in 1918, and had faced one of the most skillful Japanese generals of WWII and helped beat him. His DSM citation notes he knew firsthand what his Marines had to do in order to secure victory, and he was right there pushing his men forward. Leadership and energy trickle down the ranks and most men in a unit reflect their leader. On an island where Marines proved they were an elite force, Erskine showed that his 3rd MarDiv performed above the average. The 3rd MarDiv Marines’ unique status was forged in the cauldron of fighting against the best on the island and learning how to defeat them. The cost was high—most who landed with the 3rd MarDiv on 21 February were no longer in the ranks by 1 April when its cemetery was full.  In pushing his men, Erskine’s forces suffered heavy casualties, and he and others had solemn moments reflecting on the battle. When Erskine spoke at the cemetery where thousands of his boys lay, he had no idea he would be so praised as in his DSM citation. Erskine’s Marines and those of the other two divisions, according to Secretary of the Navy Forrestal, had just taken a critical step “in the sequence of doom for Japan.” U.S. Army Air Force General Curtis LeMay said, “Having Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Guam, Saipan and other islands in the chain as airbases, really won the war for us…without them, it would’ve taken another year or longer to win, maybe 100,000 more American lives lost, until we dropped the atomic bombs.” And due to Erskine’s brilliant planning of the amphibious attacks on Saipan and Tinian and his combat leadership on Iwo, he helped generals like LeMay accomplish their goals of bringing the war to a quick end through air power. 

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot celebrates when Moses received the Torah (Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch) from God on Mount Sinai in Egypt. Often the Ten Commandments are highlighted during this holiday, as shown in numerous movies and paintings with Moses marching down from Mt. Sinai with two stone tablets in his hands, each with five laws inscribed on them by the finger of God. As a secular historian, I want to explore the Ten Commandments and analyze them from a humanistic point of view. To remind people what they are again, here they are written out using the King James Translation. 

Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou Shalt not murder (sometimes it says “Thou shalt not kill”).
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet one’s neighbor’s house, wife, slaves, animals or anything else.

Most historians do not believe Moses really existed. They show that he is most likely a mythological figure representing the father of the Jewish nation. If he lived, scholars place his life span from 1304-1237 B.C.E. His contribution, the Ten Commandments, can be looked at as being a group of proclamations to unite a diverse group under one God and create unity by defining what would become the Jewish people, as compared to others around them. These mandates created the foundation of a nation with rules all agreed to follow forming communal behavior, rituals and culture. Many also view these commandments as mankind’s first attempt to create the rule of law and hence, why the Ten Commandments are often displayed outside of court houses throughout America. However, in today’s world, what do these Ten Commandments actually mean and how should one look at them historically?

The first three commandments actually violate our Constitution and our First Amendment. We Americans embrace religious pluralism and the freedom of religion and speech. So telling others they cannot have any other gods but the Jewish God is not respectful to Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Protestants and Catholics. <

First Commandment

The First Commandment admits there are other “gods,” so it is sort of strange to think of Judaism being a monotheistic religion (there is only one God) when it has in its first commandment an admission that there are many other gods. Nonetheless, this first commandment is ignored in America because it violates the Constitution, which says every citizen is free to pursue his own faith and worship any god he or she so desires. This religious pluralism has worked in the favor of Jewish Americans. In 1790, President George Washington pledged to American Jews, who feared anti-Semitism from their Christian neighbors, to give: “To bigotry no sanction; to persecution no assistance.” And worried about different types of Christians persecuting one another, Thomas Jefferson swore to make sure our country followed the mandate that there would be a separation of church and state. Noticing this, I have come to greatly admire the wisdom of America’s founders, who recognized the danger of combining religion with civil government, as the fusion is harmful to both religious freedom and good governance.

Second Commandment

The Second Commandment claims one should not worship any graven image, but this law, if enforced, would persecute the Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists who have many images of their gods and saints. In fact, most Christians violate this with their artwork of a blond, blue-eyed Jesus in numerous paintings, sculptures and stained glass windows that adorn most churches throughout the world. So, this commandment is rarely followed, especially by Christians.

Third Commandment

The Third Commandment is disobeyed by everyone who utters “Jesus Christ” or “God-damn it” in times of extreme stress—a common occurrence. If this commandment was enforced and punishable under the law of the land, most Americans would have criminal records.

So the first three commandments are rules or laws that create a religious dictatorship, and not an environment of tolerance of other religions. Such an analysis is often overlooked by many people who say these commandments give us morality. In short, they violate moral teaching. 

Fourth Commandment

The Fourth Commandment about the Sabbath is rarely kept by anybody these days. Moreover, many people have different opinions of when the Sabbath falls—is it Friday nightfall to Saturday nightfall, or is it just Sunday? Also, there are many ways people observe the Sabbath, from not using electricity to conducting certain types of prayers. In short, there is no uniformity of correct conduct about how to honor the Sabbath. Some Orthodox Jews say that if all the Jews in the world kept the Sabbath, then the Messiah would come. However, since there are so many ways to honor the Sabbath in Jewish teachings, no one, to my knowledge, has been able to codify which type of Sabbath observance is necessary to make the Messiah happy. Orthodox Jews who espouse such beliefs promote their lofty goals for all Jews, but there is no consensus.

Fifth Commandment

The Fifth Commandment also is not honored universally. Although many parents deserve respect and do all they can to help their kids be better than themselves, there are some parents who are horrible and should never be honored. There is no certificate one gets, like a driver’s license, in order to have the privilege of being a parent, so there are many people who have no business having children, but they do anyway. Just because they reproduce doesn’t necessarily mean they deserve respect and reverence—not all children should honor their parents. According to some evidence out there, Adolf Hitler sired a son while stationed in France during World War I—should his son have honored Hitler? Absolutely not. He should have ridiculed and shunned him.

Sixth Commandment

The Sixth Commandment is something that most civilized nations have embraced. Committing murder or killing someone is, in general, wrong. However, even this law is not followed to the letter. If you kill in self-defense or kill to prevent harm to others, then that often is tolerated, even praised. So, although in general we have laws against murder, killing others under certain criteria is endorsed or sanctioned. And of course, America sent out armies to kill German Nazis and Imperial Japanese, all fascist warmongers, so murdering these people during war conditions was encouraged and welcomed. Clearly, certain forms of murder or killing is sanctioned by civilized nations.

Seventh Commandment

The Seventh Commandment, that one should not commit adultery, is a good ideal for society to preserve the family, but a large percentage of people have a difficult time following this mandate. Moreover, the definition of it is somewhat clouded throughout the Bible. Did Jacob commit adultery by having two wives (Rachel and Leah) and two concubines? These four women helped him produce the 12 Tribes of Israel, but no one who is devoutly religious usually calls him an adulterer. Did Abraham commit adultery when he slept with Hagar, his slave girl? Even though he had the permission of his wife, Sarah, he still went outside the boundaries of marriage and had sex with a woman who was not his wife. The definitions of adultery have been fluid throughout time. Presently, adultery is no longer punished under the law—although it used to be. Society no longer agrees that this commandment should be enforced by the legal system.

Eighth Commandment

The Eighth Commandment is basically universally understood and the legal system supports it—stealing other people’s things is wrong and illegal.

Ninth Commandment

The Ninth Commandment is also universally understood and the legal system also supports it. You are not allowed to perjure yourself when on the witness stand giving testimony (just ask President Bill Clinton about this one).

Tenth Commandment

The Tenth Commandment about not coveting your neighbor’s animals and women (sad that women are at the same level as cows and sheep) violates human nature. Looking at others more wealthy and successful than ourselves and wanting to be like them (having a nice home, a nice car and a good education) is something that inspires people to be ambitious and industrious. It is the capitalistic way, so to speak, and this law would violate what makes our economy run. It also puts women in an inferior position to men, equating them with animals and slaves and showing the world that this law looks at women as property. This law is universally also ignored.

The Ten Commandments and History

Often these commandments are touted as being unique in the history of mankind. However, when Moses received the law from his God, it was not unique in the ancient world. Almost 500 years before Moses made his way to the top of Mt. Sinai to get his people’s laws, the Babylonian leader Hammurabi got his laws and rules for his people from the god Shamash (1754 B.C.E)—called the Code of Hammurabi. So, in many respects, Moses was the same as a lot of ancient leaders. In fact, maybe the Israelites felt left out at this point, and they copied what happened to Hammurabi and the Babylonians—a case of plagiarism. 

As I read these Ten Commandments today, I wonder, as a humanist and Holocaust scholar, why didn’t these commandments ban slavery (it actually sanctions them) or embrace equal rights for women? Moreover, why were there no prohibitions against mass-murder and protections for children? (Didn’t God foresee the child abuse scandal of the Catholic Church?) But then I read Numbers 31, where the Israelites enter into the Holy Land and kill citizens of other lands (justifying their slaughter because they were heathens), enslaved their women (rape) and killed their children (outright crimes against humanity). So many of the prohibitions I would have liked to have seen in these Ten Commandments were not mentioned because the Israelites were about to do all those things in the next chapter as they entered the Land of Milk and Honey. So, when I look at these Commandments, they were obviously just for the Israelites and did not apply to how to treat others outside the tribe.

Studying the Ten Commandments, one can come away with many ways to look at them from a historical view. It is also interesting to look at how they have influenced modern society. People in debates often use the Ten Commandants as the cornerstone of morality (how would we know right from wrong, many argue, without these Commandments?) However, most of these commandments actually violate moral society and American ideals. Of course, there are Talmudic and apologetic explanations of these laws that get around the religious bigotry, the slavery, the chauvinism and exclusivity of these mandates, but when they are looked at in their simplest form, they really have no place in a constitutional democracy like the United States. 

As we learn about this Jewish holiday, maybe we should praise the ideal of what the Ten Commandments tried to do (create a unified society) by providing an ideal for our founders in their pursuit to create a better and more improved nation. They took this inspiration and created something better—the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, which honors free speech (you can use God’s name in vain), freedom of the press (you can criticize your gods and leaders, both political and religious), and freedom of religion (you can have as many gods as you want or no gods at all). We Americans take strength in these laws and the way of life they provide us. It is ironic that in the U.S. courts today, the Ten Commandments would be thrown out as unconstitutional, even though some courthouses have replicas of the Ten Commandments outside their halls. Most judges, lawyers and citizens do not live by them and if they did, we would have a much darker, and more intolerant society. 

Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipients

As I studied the 27 Medals of Honor given to those who fought at Iwo Jima, I never raised any skeptical eyebrows for the 26 given to Marines and Corpsmen once I learned how difficult and tough the fighting was on this small isle in the Pacific. However, I always felt somewhat puzzled about how one of the Medals of Honor was given to a captain of a tiny ship that participated in the action against the Japanese garrison two days before the invasion commenced. However, when I reviewed the Naval officer’s personnel file in the National Archives, it became one of the few folders I read multiple times and over a few days. I was astounded by the bravery and leadership this man displayed under fire and I was also surprised that much of the information that I read about him, apparently, had not been published. A lot can be found on U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Rufus G. Herring on the internet, but the information below tells a story about him that few have ever read. During this time that we reflect on those men and women who secured our freedoms against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan 75 years ago, I want people to know more about Herring and his sacrifice for our nation. In order to do so, I must give some background on how America attacked Japanese-held islands, especially Iwo Jima, so that one can truly appreciate what Herring did.

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s Orders

As with other islands during the Pacific War, Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs or Navy Frogmen) cleared the offshore waters at Iwo on 17 February to remove obstacles that would prevent the landing. The Japanese garrison commander, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, had given strict orders not to fire on the Americans until the Marines were on the beach en masse. In a rare violation of his orders, several 5-inch “trigger-happy Nipponese gun crews” hidden deep inside Mt. Suribachi fired at the support vessels for the Frogmen, mistakenly thinking they represented the main landing. They hit the cruiser USS Pensacola with numerous rounds, killing 17 and wounding 120 of her sailors. Japanese gunfire further eviscerated the 14 gunboats (LCIs (G)) supporting the Frogmen. These LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) vessels were 158-feet long, 23-feet wide and weighed around 350 tons carrying a crew of between 25-60 men—on this day, the gunboats had roughly 60 men each since they were there to defend the Frogman operation and not carry troops. To give perspective, these ships were between 1,000 to 1,200 yards away from the beach being hit by weapons capable of hitting targets miles away (5-inch guns can hit targets within 13 nautical miles, for example).

Enemy fire sank landing craft LCI (G) 474. LCI (G) 473 became disabled from the hits it took and had to be towed out of battle. LCI (G) 441 took several shell strikes losing 40 percent of its crew in combat, but its captain, Lt. j.g. Forrest W. Bell engaged the enemy and kept fighting, later receiving the Navy Cross for his actions. The Japanese killed or wounded 30 percent of LCI (G) 466’s crew and LCI (G) 449 suffered 60 percent dead and injured. Most of the ships were on fire or flooding, but their officers and men kept them in the fight by counter-flooding compartments, keeping the ships under steam and returning fire with their cannons, rockets and machineguns (most of these boats had two 40mm guns, four 20mm guns, six .50-calibre machineguns and ten MK7 rocket launchers).

Herring’s Heroics

On LCI (G) 449, Lt. j.g. Rufus G. Herring bravely captained his ship near Yellow Beach 1 and directed counterfire against positions on the beach (he and his crew had participated in the battles of Saipan, Tinian and Guam, so they knew each other well and were very familiar with their ship’s capabilities). The second round of shells from the Japanese shore batteries that came at him and his men shattered his vessel and knocked out most of his guns hitting his LCI with 5-inch shells, large mortars of 37mm and 25mm and machinegun fire. In less than a minute, two large fires spread throughout the ship and Herring’s crew had suffered 20 dead and 19 wounded (some dead bodies were on fire). His pilothouse was shattered and one of his crewmen was seen still seated in his chair behind the radio, but now headless. The decks of his ship were covered with spent shells, shrapnel, blood, guts and body parts. Although Herring had lost consciousness twice, almost lost his left arm from being hit in the shoulder by shrapnel (surviving a blast most likely by a 37mm shell blowing him out of the conning tower and onto the lower deck), lost partial use of his right foot due to shrapnel, lost the hearing in his left ear (“perforation of the left drum”), lost copious amounts of blood, and lost 60 percent of his crew as they received the brunt of the onslaught by the Japanese shore batteries, he never relinquished command and continued to shout orders to put out the fires and carry on the fight. When he was unable to fight any longer, he successfully steered his vessel out of the line of fire using his one good arm. A large shell fragment protruded like a bizarre, and mutated dorsal fin from his shoulder. Doctors later wrote of his arm/shoulder injuries: “The wounds included a large avulsed wound of the deltoid area, a deep 4” laceration along the posterior left axillary border, a 3” laceration of lateral aspect of left arm, another over the 5th metacarpal dorsal aspect left hand and other lacerations and puncture wounds.” In layman’s terms: “he was fucked up!”

Leaning against the ship’s rail, Herring took the helm since the helmsman had become a casualty, maintained communication with the engine room and piloted his ship away from the battle to safety, saving what remained of his men and LCI (G) 449 (he did not give up the ship). Once he safely had his ship moored next to the 450-foot minelayer USS Terror (CM 5), and he made sure two medical officers and two Corpsmen took care of his men, he lost consciousness again. For his heroics, Herring would later receive the Medal of Honor.

When the Japanese opened fire on the gunboats, giving away their positions, they exhibited their only instance of breaking fire discipline earmarked for invasion forces except for antiaircraft units that continually tried to take down planes.

On this day, the U.S. Navy deployed 14 LCIs and many of its gunships, as just described, took direct hits and much damage. The flotilla suffered 202 casualties with 47 of them being KIAs or MIAs (25 percent of the sailors of this tiny fleet became casualties). The U.S. Navy “would lose more ships and men than on D-Day in Europe” assaulting Iwo this day, according to Marine sources. Even so, every ship did its best to support one another and fight back; in fact,14 ships fired a total of 9,000 rounds of 40mm, 12,000 rounds of 20mm and 350 rockets against the Imperial Japanese on the beaches. Seeing their “little brothers” taking so much punishment, the fleet started to move its battleships and cruisers in close to the beach.

After the U.S. Navy located those enemy guns and calculated distances and placement, its big ships unleashed a fury of shells. The USS Nevada, a survivor of Pearl Harbor, instantly “began counterbattery against the weapons firing at the gunboats.” Nevada and many others “fired back with a vengeance and snuffed out the concrete casemates one-by-one,” according to the National Archives.

Costly Forbidden Firing

The forbidden firing was one of the few errors against Kuribayashi’s orders his men made. This error, although killing several sailors on the unfortunate gunboats, saved thousands of Marines’ lives since the Japanese guns would have taken a “very heavy toll of men and supplies from the outset of the ship-to-shore movement.” In fact, “this was unquestionably the most significant role ever played by the bold underwater swimmers and their close-covering gunboats in the course of the Pacific War.” Unlike the almost three dozen amtracs that were sunk assaulting Guam, it was estimated that only five amtracs were sunk assaulting Iwo in the early waves, another benefit of having located and destroyed these Mt. Suribachi guns. While these sailors and Frogmen did not know it, they had become attractive bait and when the Japanese bit, they allowed the Navy ships to make the beach a little easier to assault than it otherwise would have been two days later. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Marines had Herring and many of his brother Sailors to thank for making their jobs a little easier in conquering one of the toughest Japanese held islands they would ever experience.
For more about the heroes of Iwo Jima, visit bryanmarkrigg.com.

Our society has come a long way from 1986 when I was 15 and from 2001 when Falwell and Robertson made their hateful statements. Gays have always been part of the human fabric—science tells us that 10 percent of the human population is homosexual. The only country that does not have gays is Russia, according to its leader Vladimir Putin (a remarkable sociological event in the history of humanity!).

The Military and Sexual Orientation

For the longest time, our military outlawed homosexuals and punished those “guilty” of performing such crimes as “homosexual acts.” Only in 2011, did President Barack Obama make it legal for gays to openly serve in our military. We, as a society, have always known that gays have served in our military. Why people hate these individuals so much and have persecuted them throughout time is hard for me to understand. The Nazis killed thousands of homosexuals alongside Jews, Socialists, the mentally handicapped, Communists, and a host of others. They were deemed degenerate and unworthy of life (Leben unwürdig). Society has indeed come a long way since 1945, but we still have further to go.

In honor of Pride Month, I want to share the story of a hard-chargin’, and intellectual Marine from World War II who was one of the drill instructors of Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams, and who was persecuted for being a sexual minority.

I first came across USMC Sgt. Lawrence Pepin in the archives at the museum’s archive at San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot. I was searching for educational manuals from World War II and found a very thorough manual written by him on how to educate and treat recruits while they went through Boot Camp. I was taken with Pepin’s command of the English language, his grasp of the past and his thoroughness of exploring all topics from sociology, psychology, history, sex education to the Marine Corps, all of which showed this man spent a lot of time with books and thinking deeply about many issues. He had some of the best marks I have ever seen a Marine NCO ever receive, almost always perfect scores in Military Effectiveness, Neatness and Military Bearing, Intelligence, Obedience and Sobriety. And getting back to his manual, here are some issues Pepin discussed while a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego.

Times Have Changed

At the in-processing, Marines were told by Pepin that in the civilian world, they had freedom to do what they liked. However, Pepin told them things had changed. He started getting the men in the mindset for becoming Marines saying: “All of this was and always will be due to our great American way of living and our democratic form of government of which we will allow no other foreign sources to interfere.” To preserve the freedom they had as civilians, they had to fight Fascist warmongers throughout the world. This required giving up some of their freedoms and turning themselves over to the Marine Corps and its chain of command. They had to trust their NCOs and when told to do so something, they had to respond immediately and without question.

He gave lectures on Japanese tactics, mindsets and insignia. And since Pepin had fought the Japanese at Tulagi and Guadalcanal for three months in the fall of 1942, he knew whereof he spoke. He had been injured in combat and had received the Purple Heart, so when he instructed the men on how to fight the Japanese, they respected everything he said.

And Pepin spent a lot of time on Marine Corps language and curiosities—how to stand at attention, how to march, how to speak, how to call things, how to respond to adversity, etc. He also instructed them on what they should eat and what constituted healthy food—he even instructed them to tell their parents not to send them candy, cookies or gum because “sweets will make you sick.”

Safety First

And from the volume of material Pepin wrote about the following subject matter, he seemed to be very keen on giving the men lectures on sex education and venereal diseases. Pepin gave a heavy dose of morality saying if they contracted a disease and later gave it to a woman whom they loved, perhaps a wife, then they might her harm her health later if they were irresponsible with their sexual exploits now. “Doctors claim that 80 percent of the operations for removal of ovaries and other organs are due to a husband having had gonorrhea at some previous time. A case of gonorrhea may thus cause untold trouble for an innocent woman.” A detailed description was given of the diseases one could contract from prostitutes and women who were “unclean.” Pepin continued:

“It is to be realized that you are young and human, and being human, you may occasionally fall from grace; therefore [you must] take the proper precautions to prevent serious consequences if you do happen to slip sometime. There are certain things which will assist in preventing venereal disease. First: if by any chance you should be playing around with a woman that you think is producing only for you, remember that the woman who is producing for you is apt to be producing for someone else when you are not around. Therefore, take precautions the same as you would if you were playing around with a whore…the best precaution is the use of the condom, commonly known as ‘rubber.’”

Pepin then described how to clean the penis properly with soap and “sanitube” medical cream. He gave a parting shot explaining this information was given not to be abused:

“Do not think that these preventive precautions have been told you in order…to indulge your lives without restraining…Stay away from free and easy women. Stick to decent ones…Statistics show that all women who are easy contract venereal disease some time or other. In some localities 90% of these women already have venereal disease in some form.”

Pepin was obsessed with talking about sex, but Marines in the past had proven that such education was crucial to have in order to stay healthy when deployed to foreign lands and in foreign ports. Since these men were going to train or travel for months without having a woman’s comfort, it was imperative the Corps instruct them on these matters so that when they finally did have access to women on leave, they do it responsibly. More importantly, this information was useful sociologically because it would be the first time many received any sort of sex education, having come from rural and conservative backgrounds.

“They showed us movies with pictures of what these diseases looked like on men’s bodies,” Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams said. “Moreover, they showed us what diseases like genital warts, syphilis and other diseases on a woman looked like and I wasn’t about to stick my pecker into any of those.” Clearly, those instructions made a huge impression. The Corps was interested in this matter to ensure that when called upon, Marines could fight without any discomfort from sexually transmitted diseases. The 4th Marines in Shanghai, a unit of over 1,000 men, had a venereal disease rate of 35 percent in 1940, so the Corps needed to educate its men on these issues.

When not instructing men about the Japanese enemy, food, weapons or sex education, Pepin also went over ethics, morality and religion. He wrote, “Remember that there are no atheists in foxholes. God doesn’t want you to wait until you are over there to get close to him, no, he wants you all the time. Remember, ‘A strong mind is a clean mind and a clean mind is through Love of God.’”
After going through the MCRD file in San Diego, I was looking forward to going to St. Louis to look up Pepin’s file in the National Archives for Military Personnel Records, which I did a few months later. When I got it, I was impressed at first with what I saw. He was fluent in French and English, and had had a colorful career before entering the Corps in 1938 having performed as a contortionist, an acrobat and a burlesque actor. He had completed high school with high marks, attended some college courses and was interested in studying business administration later. He had completed Sea School, Scout-Sniper course and the Troop Leaders Course by 1945. But right at the beginning of his file, it was also noted prominently that he was dishonorably discharged from the Marines. What had he possibly done?

Imprisonment

Soon after World War II came to end, Sgt. Lawrence Pepin, was found having sex with US Navy Sailor Wendell D. Willey. Both were arrested on 25 October 1945. Pepin’s rank was reduced to private, was tried, and then found guilty of misconduct on 12 December 1945 and sentenced to five years of imprisonment for “Scandalous Conduct Tending to the Destruction of Good Morals.” He was eventually dishonorably discharged and left prison on 21 December 1946 after spending 14 months behind bars (luckily the sentence was reduced and he was released back to society). Although wounded in battle at Guadalcanal after fighting there for three months, having been shot through the hip, and suffering malaria and dysentery on Tulgai, his prior combat service and sacrifices did not help him. Moreover, he was a Scout-Sniper and a graduate of the elite Troop Leaders Course, but even with this distinguished pedigree in addition to his combat record, he was viewed as “corrupting the morals of society” and unworthy of further service. Although he had shown incredible intelligence writing up many of the chapters in the training manual for recruits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, and coming up with two inventions that improved the M-1 rifle and the gear to take care of it, his intelligent service and contributions were ignored.

Pepin’s Contributions

Interestingly, his contributions to the Marine Corps also were also significant from a weapons’ viewpoint. At the time of his discharge, he had already received $10,000 ($142,438.33 in 2020) in royalties for a combination rifle rod which could fit into the butt plate of a M-1 rifle and had been adopted by the Marine Corps. Since he was earning around $1,100 a year as a sergeant at the time, this windfall of money was probably very welcome. It was expected that the Army was about to adopt Pepin’s invention as well, which would have increased his royalties to $100,000 ($1,424,383.33 in 2020). So, although he had to leave the service for sexual misconduct, Pepin bequeathed tens of thousands of men with better equipment with which to defend themselves, thereby strengthening the average Rifleman. Although he was a wealthy man, he wanted to remain in the Marine Corps and be “rehabilitated”—even requesting immediate sea duty. His request for re-instatement was denied and he left the Corps, probably the richest sergeant the Marine Corps had ever had to make his fortune in service to his nation as an NCO.
Now the story of Pepin makes one ask several tough questions. Does a person’s sexual orientation make him or her a bad warrior? Well, when one studies Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar or Pepin, one can say no. When I was in the Israeli Army in 1998, gays had had a tradition of serving inside the Israeli Defense Force for decades, but when I was in the Marine Corps, there was a lot of homo-erotic banter, but most Marines at that time, if asked, would say they would not want homosexuals in their ranks—and of course, it was illegal at the time to be openly gay and serving. Now, the law protects gay American servicemen and women, and their comrades have to accept them in their units whether they like them or not. In the end, maybe the major problem throughout time is that anyone different, whether a person with a different political persuasion or religious conviction or physical attraction, has usually always been persecuted. However, in America we value diversity and my conclusion is we have bigger problems in the world like how do we stop radical Islamic terrorists, solve world hunger, enforce women’s rights and defend against dangerous regimes like North Korea or China than to worry about what men and women do behind closed doors with consenting adults. If a lesbian or gay man kills my enemies, then I think I can embrace them as comrades. And as mentioned before, now the law of the land requires that I do so.

I think Pepin was treated unfairly. He wanted to stay in the Marine Corps. He was a proud Marine. He continued to insist on his innocence (sadly, one might add) saying he was only leaning over to pick up a bottle when the police found him performing oral sex on another man. In conclusion, in honoring Pride Month, I think we all need to think of Pepin and whether or not 14 months in the brig was justifiable. What inventions and other services could he have rendered the Corps had he been left alone to live his life as he saw fit just as long as it did not bother anyone else? So, Semper Fi, Pepin. Thank you for your service to our nation.

For more information, visit bryanmarkrigg.com.

Evolution and Skin Color

According to many leading evolutionary biologists, the bipedal species of homo sapiens probably evolved in its present form around 200,000 years ago. However, skin color variation probably did not happen until around 20,000 years ago within this group. Why? Well, the answer is quite simple. Skin variation is a natural, observable byproduct of evolution, according to Darwin’s theories of adaptability, evolutionary change and natural selection. As homo sapiens moved north into regions now known as Sweden or Finland, they developed lighter skin in order to absorb Vitamin D more readily so the body could better heal itself and cell function could maintain itself at maximum capacity, since there is so much less sunlight in northern regions. However, homo sapien cousins to the south in the Middle East and Africa developed darker skin to protect themselves from the sunlight—natural sunscreen so to speak. People living in both these regions shared the same grandparents (one group stayed where they had evolved from and the other group pulled up their tents and migrated north). In fact, according to some scientists, we can trace the human race to six “Eves,” or six female mitochondrial groups that started this tribe that eventually split into groups of humans who went north and humans who stayed in Africa (the homeland of all humans). 

With this knowledge, why do people hate other people with different skin color? Academically, and morally one might add, it makes no sense whatsoever. There have been two places where I have seen racism disappear. One area was football, which I played all the way to the college level (there, your athleticism and ability to be a good teammate were all that mattered—not your skin color). The second place where I saw racism disappear was when I was in the Israeli Defense Force and the United States Marine Corps. 

My Experience

When I was at OCS, I had men in my platoon who were Hispanic, Black, White, Asian, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Atheist, Republican and Democrat, all willing to die for each other and excited to call one another comrades and Brother Marines. We sometimes joked, but there was a strong element of truth to the matter, that there is only one color in the Marine Corps—Green. The non-commissioned officers who trained us, and who were the gatekeepers to the halls of the Marine Corps for us officer candidates, were diverse in their ethnicities and backgrounds. Platoon Gunnery Sergeant Hill was a big man with very dark skin and a speech impediment (I also have one, so I related to him). However, he commanded our unit with confidence, authority and strength. We all looked up to him (figuratively and literally, since he stood 6’3” or 6’4”). Sergeant Instructor Staff Sergeant Wilson was a muscle-bound, light-skinned African-American, denoting that he probably had some Caucasian background. This linebacker-looking NCO was the type of drill instructor who had mastered the game at OCS and was one of the funniest, most sarcastic, and caring DIs we had. Then we had Sergeant Instructor Staff Sergeant Lawson. He was a good old White boy with strong Southern roots, who did not take shit from anyone, encouraged strong candidates and was brutal with weak ones. In short, at Officer Candidate School, our extremely diverse unit was trained and guided but three men who were extremely different and we all respected each other and later, would all fight to the death for each other when the War on Terror broke out in 2001. I wish all Americans could go through Marine Corps Boot Camp or Officer Candidate School before being able to vote and be a citizen. These institutions, including those in the other branches of the service, help young men and women open their eyes to the differences we have as humans and Americans and learn to respect those differences instead of fearing them.

Sadly, our military has not always been tolerant. During World War II, we had segregated units. Nonetheless, everyone who could, served, and I believe their interaction helped motivate President Harry S. Truman to integrate the services in 1948. It was brave Black servicemen, like the Tuskegee Airmen; and Japanese-Americans, like those in the 442nd Army Regiment; who showed many Americans that we all bleed the same color and come from a nation that says all men are equal under the law, due the same considerations. 

Now, I am not so naïve to think we have a society in the military that is perfect, but it sure as hell is better than 1945. And one reason why it is better than 1945 was due to African-Americans proving themselves as strong, patriotic and brave warriors, including the Marines who were trained under segregated conditions in Montford Point, N.C. The following story of a Medal of Honor Recipient from Iwo Jima and his Black Marines is a story few know today, but it should be better known (sad I have to say Black Marines instead of just Marines, but I am putting this story into its historical context). I am one of the few historians to my knowledge to have looked at this Medal of Honor recipient’s personnel file and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. So, in the midst of the racial mess we find ourselves in right now in America, let the following story give us strength for what American should be based on this inspiration from the past.

Iwo Jima

At the end of the battle of Iwo Jima, some of the American Marines, Army Airforce pilots, and Navy Seabees in the rear echelons started to become lackadaisical about security measures. In their opinion, all the fighting was to the far north of the island and the Japanese garrison had been largely destroyed and those few soldiers who were still fighting were running out of ammunition, food and water. The island seemed well in hand. However, many failed to truly understand that this 8-square-mile island had 11 miles of tunnels under its surface and the Japanese knew how to use them and perform infiltration attacks. However, these Americans on the southern tip of the island didn’t believe the Japanese would attack. They were sadly wrong.

On 26 March, a hidden underground barrack behind the advancing lines of the Marines just north of Airfield No. 2 housed almost 300 Japanese plotting a massive attack. They had used their underground tunnel system to travel from the north to infiltrate the rear areas. From their position behind the lines, they had the element of surprise and were poised to hit the Americans. 

In the early morning around 0200 on 26 March, a Japanese commander (some think the garrison commander General Tadamichi Kuribayashi), cunningly picked an area west of the second airfield in the island’s middle where there were many non-combat U.S. troops. Sleeping comfortably in their tents were pilots, crewmen, supply troops, shore parties, antiaircraft gunners and Seabees. Emerging from underground, the Japanese sliced through tents, killing many who were not armed or accustomed to this type of warfare. Most pilots carried only pistols, and many died in their cots not knowing what hit them. Unlike concurrent Banzais in areas that were not behind enemy lines, these Japanese were silent when they struck. As they attacked, they screamed, slashed, fired and threw grenades to kill as many Americans as they could. The spearhead of this attack also hit the 5th Pioneer Battalion full of Montford Point Marines (since the prejudice of the time dictated Black troops could not fight well, they were in logistical units behind the areas of combat). However, Marines have always been trained as combat troops as epitomized by the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps Al Gray’s declaration: “Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All other conditions are secondary.” 

The Montford Point Marines knew fire team tactics and proper weapon handling. Thus, their White officer, 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin was able to organize a skirmish line largely manned by his men. Martin, a 34-year-old reserve officer, counterattacked along with the Black Marines beside him, overrunning a machinegun position and killing four Japanese with his pistol while “yelling abuse at them,” according to records. Seeing the Japanese using a ridge to hide themselves in order to mass another charge, Martin “let out a yell to ‘Follow me; I can hold the bastards for a while.’ Then I heard him yell, ‘Come on out you little yellow bastards or I’m coming in and get you,’ and before any of us below could move, he had run down towards the rear of the ridge.” 

Several Black Leathernecks followed Martin and joined his charge, attacking and killing the stunned Japanese, many of whom were wielding swords. Many Japanese had never seen a Black man before, and seeing these young, strong, determined warriors yelling and fighting must have shocked them. 

Martin was hit in the head and buttocks with shrapnel, but refused to leave the battle, standing shoulder to shoulder with his Black comrades as they fought. A grenade finally killed Martin as he led his men from the front. For his heroic leadership, he would receive the Medal of Honor posthumously. His Montford Point Marines fought tenaciously and two of the Marines, Pvt. James Davis and Pvt. James M. Whitlock, received Bronze Stars. The Marine Corps shore party commander noted that he “was highly gratified with the performance of these Colored Troops… while in direct action against the enemy for the first time. Proper security prevented their being taken unawares, and they conducted themselves with marked coolness and courage.” What? Black Marines acting with cool heads and bravery? You bet your ass they did. As one sees, occasionally in war, racism disappears and merit trumps all, especially in the moments of life and death.

Such events like with these “Negro” troops prove that indeed that only one title matters: “Marine.” Their actions in 1945 helped our society and our military to become stronger and more diverse. We still have a long way to go, but the racism and problems we face today are nothing like they were back in 1945 with the country was segregated and the evil Jim Crow laws awaited these heroic Black Jarheads returning to in the States after the war. Let us take strength that if these men could fight in a Corps that discriminated against them to support our Democracy in the hope they would see a better future of Civil Rights (which they did) and against an Imperial Japanese enemy that was one of the most racist foes America had ever faced, then we today can rise above the craziness we see now and fight for a more just society. 

Let’s not forget what rabbi and US Navy Lt. Roland Gittelsohn, one of the first Jewish chaplains ever assigned to the Marine Corps, said in his dedication at the 5th Marine Corps Divisional cemetery on Iwo Jima:

“Here before us lie the bodies of comrades and friends. Men who until yesterday or last week laughed with us…Men who fought with us and feared with us… Here lie officers and men, Negroes and whites, rich men and poor—together. Here are Protestants, Catholics, and Jews—together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color…Among these men there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. Whosoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother, or who thinks himself superior to those who happen to be in the minority, makes of this ceremony and the bloody sacrifice it commemorates, an empty, hollow mockery. To this then, as our solemn sacred duty, do we the living now dedicate ourselves: To the right of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, of White men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the democracy for which all of them have here paid the price…We here solemnly swear this shall not be in vain. Out of this and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come, we promise, the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere. AMEN.”

Come Together

Let us go forward, and remember the sacrifice Black (African-Americans), White (Caucasians), Yellow (Asian), Red (Native American) and Green (Marines) made 75 years ago and make American the purest democracy we can. We are indeed the sons of men everywhere. We are all sons and daughters of the same tribe and should never forget our origins. We are all Green—we are all part of one race, the human race and should never forget it. 

For more information, visit bryanmarkrigg.com.

D-Day

Today, June 6 is the 76th anniversary of D-Day and, besides thanking the Sailors and Soldiers who made this operation happen, I also hope you thanked a World War II Marine veteran, because without the amphibious warfare technology developed by the Marine Corps, the landing in Normandy that started the major push into Europe to bring down Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich would have been severely delayed—if not impossible.

What Made The Landings Possible

Too often, when students and historians study D-Day and the victory over Hitler’s Fortress Europe, they focus on the landings at Omaha and Utah beaches, the Airborne assaults in Normandy, the march of General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army to Germany, or the Battle of the Bulge. Of course, these were major events and worthy of intense study and commemoration. However, few people know that the major reason why the Allies were able to land millions of men against beaches defended by tenacious, well-equipped and well-trained Axis troops was because the U.S. Marine Corps had developed the tactics, technology and experience to employ American power using Higgins boats, amtracs, LSTs (Landing Ships, Tank) and a host of other craft. The Corps worked intensely with the U.S. Navy and Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner to make this happen—and, although we Marines hate to admit this, it was only natural that we worked with the U.S. Navy to develop these ships and tactics for attacking from the sea because we are indeed under the Department of the Navy.

Ending The War

One of the major reasons why the war in Europe, and the Pacific for that matter, came to an end in 1945, and not 1947 or 1948 or even later, was because of the Marine Corps’ focus on amphibious warfare doctrine throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Although the smallest service in the U.S. during the 20s and 30s, the Corps had one of the most important jobs: to develop what would become one of the most commonly used forms of operation by the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII: Amphibious warfare.

Lt. Gen. Holland “Howlin’ Mad” Smith

To accomplish the feat of perfecting amphibious warfare, the U.S. entrusted much of the preparation for their ocean campaigns to one of the most hot-tempered, tough, perfectionist Marine generals in history, USMC Lt. Gen. Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith. He was one of the fathers of Marine Corps amphibious warfare. His ideas and foresight about Higgins boats and ship-to-shore tactics were critical for victory against the combined Axis forces, especially when D-Day launched against the Nazi Army stationed in northern France.

Amphibious Operations

After World War I, Smith and his fellow Marines took an acute interest in the major amphibious operations of the Great War, led by the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. These amphibious landings against the Ottomans at Gallipoli from 1915 to 1916 were disasters. The poorly equipped, poorly supported and poorly trained Commonwealth attackers suffered 97,000 wounded and 44,000 dead in a losing effort. The Marines learned from studying Gallipoli how not to attack from the sea.

Although Marines had practiced attacking from the sea throughout the Corps’ existence, conducting 160 assault landings before WWII, these operations needed new equipment and tactics. The Corps had a long way to go to perfect techniques that could conduct a successful assault on heavily fortified enemy beaches. Few nations had focused on this at the time, making the U.S. Marines unique.

Before Pearl Harbor, under Smith’s leadership the Marines conducted several landings on the East Coast from U.S Navy destroyers. Those early landings were fiascos, but the Marines learned valuable lessons, especially with problems with ship-to-shore troop deployment. Andrew Jackson Higgins, an inventor from New Orleans and a friend of “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, came up with a solution for conducting ship-to-shore operations that was fast, efficient and simple: the Higgins boat. It was a 36-feet long amphibious craft designed to move men and supplies from large ships to the beach. It could carry 36 men and had a forward ramp that allowed troops to run out of the boat instead of climbing over its sides, a development strongly influenced by Smith’s subordinate, USMC 1st Lt. Victor H. Krulak (he would become a lieutenant general in the 1960s). In fact, USMC Commandant and General Charles C. Krulak (the godson of “Howlin’ Mad” Smith), commenting on his father’s work with Higgins, said, “It was my father who brought to light the importance of the bow launch landing craft and the ability to back off the beach.”

Higgins Boats

First Lt. Victor Krulak’s reports about similar boats he observed the Japanese use outside of Shanghai in 1937 were actually the deciding factor in educating the by then “Full-Bird” Colonel Smith about the importance of Higgins’ boat design and how it could shape amphibious warfare. With Krulak and Higgins’ prodding and education, Smith realized that the Higgins boat was critical to the Marines’ future success. He, in turn, educated and then convinced U.S. Navy Admiral Ernest King (head of the U.S. Navy) that the Marines needed those boats (the U.S. Army would need these boats too, but it wasn’t yet realized).

America would build 23,358 of these Higgins boats, and the Marines brought this craft to the U.S. Armed Forces, which became one of the most important pieces of technology used in WWII and would carry the bulk of the burden for successful amphibious operations around the globe. Smith said without this boat, “landings on Japanese-held beaches in large numbers would have been unthinkable”—or even impossible.

By the time of Guadalcanal and the North Africa landings (Operation Torch), the Marines had advanced greatly in building out the operational know-how and techniques for America’s missions against the Axis powers.
The Marine doctrine was adopted by the U.S. Army, which republished it in manuals, having never developed an amphibious warfare doctrine of its own. The Marines trained Army officers, who then spread out around the world conducting landings in Alaska, North Africa, Italy, France (D-Day especially), and the Philippines—to name a few. USMC Commandant and General Alexander A. Vandegrift said after the war, “Despite its outstanding record as a combat force in the past war, the Marine Corps’ far greater contribution to victory was doctrinal: that is, the fact that the basic amphibious doctrines which carried Allied troops over every beachhead of World War II had been largely shaped—often in the face of uninterested or doubting military orthodoxy—by U.S. Marines.”

Lt. Victor H. Krulak

Victor H. Krulak, when he was a member of Smith’s staff, not only helped in the development of the Higgins Boats, but also with amtracs as well. These landing crafts, called “alligators,” were floating tanks or heavily armored treaded vehicles that could land on beaches and drive inland after being dropped into the sea via a ship off shore (20,000 of these were produced during WWII). These two “boats” carried the bulk of the burden for amphibious warfare. You could not have one without the other when conducting landings, because amtracs protected Higgins boats, and Higgins boats brought the riflemen necessary to provide amtracs the support they needed once full ground combat commenced (which, when hitting an enemy beach, happened almost immediately).

After the war, Victor Krulak quoted a study that was even more to the point than Vandegrift’s assessment about the Marine’s main mission throughout the 1920s and 1930s, writing, “Had the Marine Corps not so devoted itself [to amphibious warfare], there would have been no amphibious doctrine for the Army to follow when the threat of war appeared and the Army, when it evidenced its first sustained interest in the amphibious problem in 1940, would have found itself twenty years late.”

Think about D-Day alone—the Germans had one million troops along or near France’s hundreds of miles of northern coastline when D-Day commenced. In order to defend these forces under Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and General Johannes Blaskowitz, America needed forces that could hit elements of this vast Wehrmacht force manning the numerous defensive beaches, penetrate the enemy’s lines quickly and outflank them to the north and south. The forces that landed at Normandy on D-Day did this and many of the procedures they used, as well as the amtracs, Higgins boats and LSTs deployed, had been developed by the United States Marine Corps.

USMC Lt. Gen. Graves B. Erskine

I want to call out the incredible contributions of USMC Lt. Gen. Graves B. Erskine, who USMC Gen. Anthony Zinni says was the most brilliant Marine Flag Officer of WWII. Although Smith was the visionary of amphibious warfare, it was his Chief of Staff Colonel Erskine who developed much of the guts of how it should be conducted. Erskine explored the details of how Marines and Soldiers should be berthed on a ship before an assault, how amphibious tractors (amtracs) should be used ahead of Higgins boat landings, and how the men should deploy on the beach once leaving their crafts. He developed the procedures on how to ascertain when the beachhead was secured enough by the amtracs and Higgins-borne troops to then bring to the beaches the LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry—158-foot vessels). The LCIs then could deploy up to 200 troops and all their equipment, and be followed by LSTs(Landing Ships, Tank—382-foot vessels) that could land tanks, jeeps, artillery batteries and trucks from their bow-butterfly doors to provide a second wave of overwhelming power against the enemy. Erskine was Smith’s right-hand man. If Smith was one of the fathers of amphibious warfare, then Erskine was the brain-child visionary who developed that warfare. He would help train and then oversee all the Army officers who conducted the amphibious landings on the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska in 1943.

In the end, Erskine was largely responsible for developing operational warfare for the new and more powerful Marine Corps that destroyed Nazi-fortified beaches at Normandy and Japanese-held islands throughout WWII—his fingerprints, if not his whole stamp of approval, were on most of all the major island campaigns in the Pacific.

“Won the war for us”

By D-Day, no organization in the world could conduct amphibious warfare like the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. It is difficult to point to one particular historical event that made the difference in the war; however, amphibious warfare was one of the major reasons Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan fell when they did. As historians Philip A. Crowl and Jeter A. Isely concluded: “The most important contribution of the U.S. Marines to the history of modern warfare rests in their having perfected the doctrine and techniques of amphibious warfare [in order] to cross and secure a very energetically defended beach.”

As Supreme Allied Commander at Normandy (D-Day), General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, said, the boat “won the war for us.” Without it and the Marine contribution to its creation and use, the Allied powers would never have succeeded on D-Day, an operation that sounded the death knell for Nazi Germany 76 years ago this month.

For more about the Second World War, visit bryanmarkrigg.com.