I just received a lot of my father's "Militaria" from my mother. Dad's medals, uniform, old photos, etc. He served in the 77th Infantry Division in WWII. Among his belongings, was a booklet entitled "Your Victory" that was published in late 1945 and signed by Robert C. Richardson, Jr., Lieutenant General, USA Commanding. The 77th was nicknamed "The 77th Marine Division" by the U.S. Marines who fought alongside them...my father was WIA on this campaign and received a CIB, Purple Heart and Bronze Star for actions there. Dad passed away 17 years ago and I'm currently reconstructing his service since he never would say much about it...even when I pressed him. I'm reprinting a passage from this book here...the part that he underlined. Dad was in this fight...I sure wish he'd have talked about it. He was a great guy who loved America...he was an immigrant. I clearly remember people asking him what nationality he was when they heard his Scottish accent and he ALWAYS answered "I'm an American". Here we go...sorry for the extreme length of this post but it's pretty moving to me knowing that Dad was there...hope it's in the correct spot.... "During the fighting for Machinato, we took Ie Shima. The 77th Division took it in 5 days, from 16 April to 21 April, and lost only 94 killed. Among the Yank dead was Ernie Pyle. There wasn't one man in the 77th who didn't think he knew Ernie Pyle about as well as you could know a guy. They knew him so well because he had been writing for and to infantrymen all through Africa and Italy and all the way to the shores of Ie Shima. He was a skinny little guy with a helmet too big for him (a wad of toilet paper tucked in the top of it), trudging along with a typewriter and a prayer. He was killed in a ditch on Ie Shima by Jap machinegun fire. The 77th first put up a plain wooden marker, later a white stone over his grave. The inscription said, simply: AT THIS SPOT THE 77TH INFANTRY DIVISION LOST A BUDDY. ERNIE PYLE 18APRIL1945. And the guys were still talking about Pyle when elements of the 6th Marine Division hit the outskirts of Naha on the Okinawa line. For two days before we hit the Naha-Shuri-Yonabaru line, the Japs were shooting the works in the sky in a desperate attempt to cut down our drive. Air raids by night were heavy. The ack-ack of 40's and 90's were defeaning at night. The skies were alive with flame and Japs were splashing. The 93rd AAA Gun Battalion on Ie Shima set a new record for AA sharpshooting. In one flaming four minute period the long range guns knocked four Betty bombers into the drink--a plane a minute. In the same night of furious activity, this outfit bagged 15 planes. It was a fine outfit. An angry one. A few nights before, a Jap bomber had scored a direct hit on one of the gun emplacements in Battery D, killing the entire crew of 13 men. There were 12 AA oufits on Okinawa and 4 on Ie Shima, all landing D-Day, or a few days later. The AA was little publicized and hard working. To dig in their guns, they had to fight like Infantrymen, had to use their carbines and "grease guns" as well as man the big sky pointing artillery. The drive into the Naha-Shuri-Yonabaru line began on 12 MAY and almost the full striking force of the 10th Army hurled men and tanks against the stubborn Jap line. The 6th Marine Division battled for Naha. On the Army's left front, the 96th Infantry Division executed a flanking movement to the west of Conical Hill. The 77th Infantry Division held the center. By 14May, the battle was still in a state of flux. We had killed more than 45,000 of the enemy, captured almost 500. Artillery roared day and night. Your own artillery made you jump as much as the enemys. Companies were wiped out and new companies took their place. On one perimeter tip, 14 men of the 77th Division stood off 8 Jap banzai attacks in one night. At times, there were as many as two and three men in a single foxhole with as many as 8 uninvited Japs. The Jap used his favorite weapon, the silent saber, and, when he had to, a pistol. The men on the perimeter sometimes lost their positions during the night---but they always gained them back. It was the longest night in the world for the men holding the tip, but they held it. In the morning, there were over 160 dead Japs lying in broken, bloody heaps around the perimeter. We lost but fractions of that number---and the next morning we slugged ahead".
