Shaw, Art - 82 Days on Okinawa by Shaw Art

Author:Shaw, Art [Shaw, Art]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

30

Nonstop!

The 382nd struggled through a long, dangerous night. Somewhere around midnight, a voice called out to one of the guards, saying they had a message for the company commander.

The guard demanded identity.

The man said he was with the Nineteenth and needed to talk with the commander about hooking up.

The guard asked when.

The voice said tomorrow and that they were pressed for time.

The guard insisted they come out with hands up.

Three men stepped out of the bush. In the black of night, all the guard could see was them standing there with their hands behind their heads.

The guard told them to follow him.

They fell in behind him. The soldier obligingly led them to the commander’s tent.

The men were still shrouded by the black of night.

The soldier stuck his head in the door and said three men from the Nineteenth were there.

The colonel stood up and said that didn’t make any sense. He started to step forward.

The flap on the tent jerked open and three Japanese stood in the light. The first one swung a pistol and fired. The colonel and the guard dropped to their knees and shot repeatedly. The three infiltrators lay dead on the ground.

The colonel roared his indignation.

The guard mumbled that they spoke perfect English.

The colonel screamed that the guard was an idiot that had nearly got everyone killed. He told him to get his worthless ass back out there on patrol.

The soldier rushed from the tent. Others dragged the three bodies away.

* * *

That’s the kind of night we had. Have to hand it to the Japanese. They certainly tried a clever move. If their first man hadn’t been such a lousy shot, no telling what would have come next.

Early in the morning on April 20, a group of Japanese came crawling up on C Company of the First Battalion. When they opened fire, three soldiers leaped to the defense of the unit. Sergeants Bill Ballard and James Cochran and PFC John MacKennis Jr. instantly moved to the perimeter of their camp to keep the attackers at bay. With the fury of a tornado, the exchange ripped through the dark.

Ballard motioned for a man behind him to get closer. The soldier crawled forward.

An explosion sent shock waves through the bushes.

Sergeant Ballard realized he didn’t have many grenades. He asked the men to form a human chain and keep passing them up to him.

The sergeant hurled another grenade in front of him. For a minute, the explosion stopped the gunfire. Sergeant Cochran and PFC John MacKennis scooted away from Ballard and began throwing grenades. In turn, the Japanese threw their own grenades. Because the three American soldiers kept blasting them, the Japanese didn’t get any closer.

Ballard shouted to keep them coming. The enemy was taking it in the face.

The explosions went back and forth for what seemed forever. Eventually, the enemy’s grenades stopped coming. The machine guns slowed and quit.

Cochran yelled that he thought they’d run out of ammunition.

Ballard shouted to fix bayonets and get ready.

The three frontline soldiers charged into the bushes.

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