One Square Mile of Hell by John Wukovits

Author:John Wukovits [Wukovits, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I Never Saw Such a Man”

The men of F Company may have been in the vanguard at Red 2, but elsewhere on the beach other individuals moved inland and, by their actions, helped carve out a small toehold. By themselves they did not win the battle; combined with similar moves by other men, the individuals led to victory.

S. Sgt. William J. Bordelon, like Montague and Seng a graduate of Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, was one. After leading survivors of his smashed amtrac to shore, Bordelon ignored the heavy fire that came from close by, stood up, and hurled two dynamite charges into pillboxes that pinned down the Marines. Though he was wounded in his left arm and cut in the face by shrapnel, Bordelon knocked out both positions.

When another Japanese gun continued to confine the Marines to the beach, Bordelon crawled over the seawall to the Japanese gun, shoved a third charge through its firing slit, and silenced the position.

Bordelon, now wounded a third time, returned to the wall and grabbed more dynamite. As he prepared to throw it, the charge exploded and mangled his hand, but Bordelon refused treatment. Bordelon told other Marines that since he was the highest-ranking man on that sector of beach, he had a duty to be an example to his men.

After sprinting into the water to help pull an injured Marine ashore, Bordelon attacked and destroyed a fourth Japanese position, in the process dragging another wounded Marine back to safety. As he rose to fire yet another grenade launcher, Japanese fire cut Bordelon down.

“Bill was the bravest Marine I ever saw,” stated one man who fought at his side. “He was also the finest leader of men in and out of combat .”20 Bordelon’s actions inspired other men to leave the seawall and head inland. For his heroics, Bordelon earned the Medal of Honor, becoming the first enlisted man to be so honored. The battle’s first three hours had taken three of Central Catholic High School’s boys.

Not far from the scene of Bordelon’s exploits, 1st Lt. Phillip J. Doyle climbed on top of the seawall, charged a pillbox, tossed in a hand grenade, then jumped in the pillbox and killed four dazed Japanese with his bayonet.

“In those hellish hours, the heroism of the Marines, officers and enlisted men alike, was beyond belief,” wrote news correspondent Richard Johnston. “Time after time, they unflinchingly charged Japanese positions, ignoring the deadly fire and refusing to halt until wounded beyond human ability to carry on.”21

After leading his scout-snipers in the opening action along the pier, Lieutenant Hawkins spent the rest of the day in a landing craft at the reef off Red 2, vainly trying to commandeer an amtrac to take him ashore. Finally, around 4:15, the frustrated Hawkins found an accommodating amtrac. As the craft moved from the reef, Hawkins manned one of the machine guns and fired toward shore, completely exposed in the unshielded amtrac. “I’ll never forget the picture of him standing

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.