WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:15.640 Our guest this week on Veterans Chronicles is Don Mates, a veteran of World 2 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.879 War Two. He served in the third Division of the US Marine Corps. 3 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:21.800 Is a veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Don, thank you very 4 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:25.039 much for your time with us today. Glad to be here. Let's start, 5 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.399 obviously at the very beginning. Where were you born and raised? I 6 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:34.920 was born in Clemand, Ohio, February ten, nineteen twenty six. Calvin 7 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.920 Coolidge its president. And did your family have a history of military service? 8 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:44.200 I any, No, no, but I had two brothers that served, 9 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:47.479 one in the Navy, one in the Air Force. And of course I 10 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:52.240 served in the US Marine Corps during World War Two. They were younger than 11 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:59.640 me, and they served after in the Korean in Vietnam. And are you 12 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.319 did you enlisted? I enlisted? Why did you choose the Marine Corps? 13 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:11.319 In nineteen forty three, a recruiter came to John Hay High School in Cleveland, 14 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:17.000 Ohio, and he said, you're seventeen years old. You're gonna turn 15 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:23.439 eighteen, They're gonna draft you. Why don't you enlist in the Marines. 16 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:29.599 We'll let you graduate from high school. You can pick what job you wanted 17 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:34.319 in the Marine Corps and I said that I'd consider it, and UH my 18 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:40.079 parents had a sign and they signed and UH. He told me that when 19 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:45.200 he asked me before I signed, w UH what I would like to do 20 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.000 in the Marines, And I asked him, I'd like to first get the 21 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:55.599 UH dress blue uniform. And he told me that they only issued the dress 22 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:02.480 blue uniform to seagoing Marines bands, marine Corps band, the UH Drum and 23 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:09.199 Bugle Corps, and to embassy guards. And I told him that I got 24 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:15.919 seasick and that I didn't play an instrument. Could I be an embassy guard? 25 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.520 And he says, well, he said, you're six foot two, 26 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:23.639 you're in shape. He said, uh, I'll put that down as your 27 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:27.360 first choice. And he said to me, where would you like to serve? 28 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:30.840 And I said, uh, well, UH, I knew that Portugal 29 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:37.639 was UH neutral, and I knew they had two colonies and the one was 30 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:43.520 Goa in India and one was Macau in China. And Macau interested me because 31 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.800 of the gambling and the nightlife. They went with it, and he says, 32 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:52.560 well, then I'll put down Macau as your first choice, and Portugal 33 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:58.319 is er second choice. Well, I wanna tell you to this day, 34 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:04.000 I'm looking for that recruiter. That's how I joined the Marines. I joined 35 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.280 it for the uniform, which I never did get till the end of the 36 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:12.360 war. Did you ever get to Macau there? Forgot? I haven't been 37 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.599 there yet. So that's how I ended up in the Marines. Well, 38 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:23.159 where did you do your training? I did my UH boot camp uh training 39 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:29.039 in Paris Island from Paris Island, UH because it helped that I was an 40 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:35.319 a eagle scout and they signed me to a very high sounding job and it 41 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:43.000 was a combat intelligence school. Basically combat intelligence school is uh nothing but a 42 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:50.039 scout and observer and UH that lasted eight weeks and they taught you how to 43 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:54.520 operate a five sixty radio, They taught you demolitions, they touch a UH 44 00:03:54.719 --> 00:04:00.759 map reading, and they taught you a little Japanese which was useless. The 45 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:06.439 uh night time patrolling which actually when it was in combat, we did do 46 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:12.360 that rubber boat reconnaissance, which we never did. The frogmen and the Navy 47 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:17.920 did that, and UH that's where I was trained. We also UH would 48 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:25.319 taught uh uh how to operate a fifty caliber and twenty five caliber machine gun, 49 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:32.480 bar Browning automatic rifle, and of course the M one rifle, which 50 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:39.920 uh every marine UH had, even the cooks and bakers. Was there any 51 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.759 particular part of that that you found the most interesting or hoped you would be 52 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:49.399 doing when you were deployed. I was really brainwashed during World War Two by 53 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:59.199 the movies, UH, by the newspapers, radio magazines, posters, and 54 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.920 UH. I really uh believed that the Japanese were super evil and they we 55 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:11.120 were super good. I was just I don't wanna say snowed, but I 56 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:16.920 was just a psychologically affected uh, never dreaming uh what I was getting into. 57 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.839 It was the propaganda that uh that got to me. And I was 58 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:27.279 just looking forward to uh uh being a marine and going into combat, never 59 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:32.519 dreaming that anything could happen. So after training, how much of a time 60 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.480 span was there between that and being di Oh? After training it was? 61 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:42.040 Uh? I immediately went overseas. But even going overseas, I left uh 62 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:48.959 Norfolk on uh the UH ship called the Florence Nightingale and our ru uh. 63 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:53.319 We were going through the Panama Canal, but our first stop was in Cuba 64 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:59.160 where we got liberty. And Cuba was quite a place for liberty and in 65 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.759 the nineteen fours, and then we stopped in Panama, which was got liberty 66 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:08.959 in Panama. And then I went to a replacement depot in Hawaii and I 67 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.920 thought, my god, Uh, this is just a marvelous uh exactly what 68 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.639 I expected. It wasn't a uh, you know, celebrity cruise, but 69 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:21.800 it was uh. The Navy treated you royally. You could sleep on deck 70 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:27.040 and you could eat anytime you wanted, or have coffee anytime you wanted. 71 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.639 All you had to do was stand in line. So it was uh, 72 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:34.360 it was just uh up until that point, it was marvelous. And it 73 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:42.480 got even better when they sent me to Guam, w which was being liberated 74 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.279 by the third Marine Division. They sent me by UH with four other or 75 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:53.279 three other uh replacements, and we went by aircraft carrier and uh, the 76 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:58.439 sh that's like, uh, that's like a cruise. I mean even at 77 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:00.839 an a ice cream bar. There e everything but a night club on the 78 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:06.480 ship. And uh, I that was a eight day short term cruise. 79 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:16.560 And then the proverbial hit the fan when I uh landed at Guam, and 80 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:20.720 then I knew that, uh, it wasn't like the movies. Where are 81 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.720 we on the calendar? At this point, we're into uh uh uh they 82 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:31.959 invaded in July. They celebrate July twenty fourth as uh uh the day that 83 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:41.000 they were that we invaded and the Japanese lost control and UH there July twenty 84 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:46.120 fourth is our July fourth and uh uh I hit about the July twenty eighth, 85 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:53.199 and I was immediately sent to the reconnaissance company that I had trained for, 86 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:58.600 and we were sent not into the lines I. We were sent to 87 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.399 the northern end of the eyeland and the big fighting was in the southern end 88 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:07.800 of the island. We were sent to a Titian point and uh that's where 89 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:13.319 we did our uh fighting and as where we went into our combat. After 90 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:20.439 we set up uh booby traps and ambushes and uh as they were being driven 91 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.199 north, we were up there waiting for UH as they came up from the 92 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:31.199 south, the Japanese and UH. It was uh it wasn't a pretty picture. 93 00:08:31.440 --> 00:08:39.799 What type of action were you witnessing. It was mostly patrolling and at 94 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:43.679 that point they hadn't been that far north. Uh the j uh the Japanese, 95 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.159 but you still had to be aware of booby traps and you had to 96 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:52.360 be aware of mines and uh. As the Japanese fled north, there was 97 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:58.519 no taking prisoners on either side. It was uh killed or be killed. 98 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:05.039 We got into some uh firefights, We got into a lot of uh grenade 99 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:09.320 throwing. Uh. We didn't have any heavy artillery, but we had a 100 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:18.840 twenty five millimeter and fifty millimeter uh machine guns. Uh. The only the 101 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:26.519 only good point about Retidian Point was the rations were uh uh k rations and 102 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.960 sea rations were nothing to ride home about. But uh what we did was 103 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.960 we would throw grenades into the ocean and we'd stun the fish, and then 104 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:43.120 we'd take the nose replacement amstrip go out and get the fish and uh we'd 105 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:48.919 eat either fresh fish raw, and and we ate anything that came up except 106 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:54.320 if it had spikes on it that was poisonous, or we'd have a uh 107 00:09:54.360 --> 00:10:00.320 we'd have a fish ry. And uh that was the only uh pleasurable part 108 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:05.080 about fighting up a Retadian point was we could uh we could break loose a 109 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:09.039 little bit just about a minute left before we take our our first break. 110 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.360 How difficult was it to adjust to combat. You'd obviously gone through a lot 111 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.480 of training, but when you hit the real thing. I Uh, well, 112 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:22.320 you you realize it's not like the movies. It's the old story where 113 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.720 there were a hundred of us there. And if they asked for a hundred 114 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:30.799 volunteers and they told that only two of you were coming back and there were 115 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:35.279 ninety eight casualties, well you looked around to see who the other lucky fellow 116 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:39.120 was. You never dreamed or you never dreamt that anything would happen to you. 117 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:46.360 So when something happened you to one of your buddies, uh, it 118 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.600 comes as a shock, and it's uh, you become anxious, you become 119 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.080 uh stressed. There's a a smell. There's a couple smells that you don't 120 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:03.440 get over. And that's a smell of fresh blood coming out of somebody. 121 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:07.279 If somebody's artery is cut and the blood gushes out, there's nothing you can 122 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:13.080 do about it. That an odor of sweet blood stays with you. And 123 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:20.320 the other odor that you is that of a decaying body. We never buried 124 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:26.399 the Japanese, and their bodies just decayed. Even to this day, if 125 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:33.440 I drive by a cemetery and if they're using recycled water, I think I 126 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:37.480 can smell the dead bodies. Those are two smells you never get over with. 127 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:41.799 Don. Let's pause right there. When we come back, we'll hear 128 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:43.559 more of your story about your service in World War Two in the Pacific and 129 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:48.200 specifically Ewojima. We're talking with Don mates, veteran of the third Infantry Division 130 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.639 of the US Marine Corps, veteran of Ewogima. This is Veterans Chronicles sixty 131 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:58.080 Seconds of Service. This sixty Seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile. 132 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:03.200 T Mobile offers exclusive disco for a veteran and military families and are proud supporters 133 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:07.639 of the National Defense Network. Visit t mobile dot com slash military to learn 134 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.679 more about how they support our military community. From Fort Lauderdale, new homes 135 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:15.559 for veterans are coming to Broward County. Two new apartment buildings will be dedicated 136 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.200 to housing those who have served our country, in part thanks to a big 137 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.799 donation. Last Monday, US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz was joined by United Way 138 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:28.600 of Broward County leaders, staff and veterans to announce more than one million dollars 139 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.679 in funding that she was instrumental and securing in the House appropriations process to support 140 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.200 the purchase of critical veteran housing. She said, it's cruel to leave a 141 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.519 vulnerable person like a veteran, thrown to the wolves out in the community. 142 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:45.799 Today's sixty Seconds of Service is brought to you by Previgen. Prevagen is the 143 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.399 number one pharmacist recommended memory support brand. You can find Prevagen and the Vitamin 144 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:54.320 Aisle in stores everywhere. Our guest on Veterans Chronicles this week is Don Mates. 145 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:58.039 He's a veteran of the US Marine Corps in World War Two, veteran 146 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:00.399 of Guam, as we heard in the last segment, as well well as 147 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:05.240 EO Jima, which we'll get to shortly. Don, you were just talking 148 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.840 about your service on Guam and some of the memories and even the sense that 149 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.320 will stay with you for the rest of your life at this point. How 150 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:16.960 much bonding had you done with your group and had at this point had you 151 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.720 met Jimmy Trimble, who will talk about a lot more as time goes on. 152 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.080 Jimmy Trimble and I met in the States. The bonding that goes on 153 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:33.519 in the Marine Corps stays with you till the day you die. I volunteer 154 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:39.799 at a BA hospital in Florida in West Palm Beach, and if I see 155 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:46.200 a marine standing in line waiting, I'll pull him out of line and get 156 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:52.039 him to his appointment immediately, and the commander of the military order the purple 157 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:58.399 heart. I make a special effort, not that I don't help as many 158 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.399 people as I can, but I'm make a special effort with the Marines. 159 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.240 And it's true, there's no such thing as an ex marine on the marine, 160 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:13.120 always a marine. And Jimmy and I became close, very close, 161 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:18.799 because one way were tent mates after going was secure, and two he was 162 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:24.759 a He was a major League baseball pitcher. He had signed with the Washington 163 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:31.879 Senators and in nineteen forty three Clark Griffith gave him a five thousand dollar signing 164 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:39.279 bonus and send him to Duke and paid for his college. He didn't send 165 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.440 him to a farm team. He wanted'em to he would play for the 166 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:46.279 Duke baseball team. Well, Jimmy kept the five thousand dollars, went to 167 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:50.519 Duke for about a week, and then enlisted the Marines. Jimmy and I 168 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:56.519 went through Combat Intelligence school together, We went overseas together. We were the 169 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:01.919 best of buddies. We were tent mates. And because he was an outstanding 170 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:11.360 pitcher, and UH our commanding General Erskine Graves was a baseball nut, and 171 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:18.320 we had six marine divisions in uh the Pacific, and among the six divisions 172 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:26.399 there was a round robin World Series and General Graves wanted to win that world 173 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:35.200 series and uh lo and behold really uh uh when Jimmy pitched the uh winning 174 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:43.120 game and we won the UH Marine Corps World Series, he became a uh 175 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.679 a favorite of the General and the General said to him, I want you 176 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:52.039 to be my bodyguard, and he says, pick whoever you want, and 177 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:58.159 of course Jimmy picked me. So I just tagged along and uh got some 178 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:03.320 of the Jimmy's glory rubbed off on me, and we became uh bodyguards for 179 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:11.120 General Hurskin, which just meant uh when he was in his tent sleeping, 180 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.039 we were outside when he was in the seat. When he was awake, 181 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.480 we were awake when he he he was asleep, we took turn sleeping. 182 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:23.639 Uh. So uh that's how I ended up with Tremble and uh uh being 183 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:30.240 my fast buddy and also my combat buddy. You team up in a foxhole, 184 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:37.519 yeah, and Tremble was uh in the foxhole with me, where were 185 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.519 you and what did you do between Guam and February of nineteen forty five when 186 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:47.480 you went to Ewogima. Well, the first thing we did was uh uh 187 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:52.320 we trained uh. But because of the job that I had and I didn't 188 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.720 have to do when he practiced landings, the most I had to do was 189 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:06.599 an occasional patrol to look for gray Japanese. The UH third Reconnaissance Company consisted 190 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:12.000 of four platoons one platoon. The fourth platoon was spun off even though it 191 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:19.119 was part of the reconnaissance company and was assigned to General Graves. General Graves 192 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:26.079 want didn't want information coming up through the chain of command when he wanted to 193 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:30.960 know something, whether it was on the island Aguam or about a patrol. 194 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:37.839 He wanted a first hand report from the participants, so our platoon was assigned 195 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:42.720 to him. Specifically, we were at his beck and call what the Swiss 196 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:51.519 Guard is to the Pope. We were d General uh Graves, so UH 197 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:56.640 we didn't participate in all the UH rugged training that the other UH troops did. 198 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:02.200 We were in shape, but we uh we had a pretty easy cause 199 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:07.720 of our position. By the time the Battle of Ewojima started, obviously the 200 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.160 Allies were doing very very well in the Pacific. Did you have a pretty 201 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.359 good sense of that where you were, that that the tide of the war 202 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.759 in the Pacific was clearly in your favor. Yeah, well, well, 203 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:26.039 of course we were taking Ireland after Ireland, and uh we were uh basically 204 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:37.160 uh inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese. And to be truthful, I personally 205 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.079 didn't have the big picture. I had no idea that MacArthur was going to 206 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:48.799 swing to the east and come up through the Philippines, and that was where 207 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.480 he was headed, and then we were to go to the west and do 208 00:18:52.039 --> 00:19:00.039 island hopping. Napoleon once said that the s s the soldier in hi his 209 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:06.839 army. His view of the big picture was the pack on the back of 210 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.720 the soldier in front of him. And that's sort of the covered my view 211 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:17.920 of World War Two. I I I I didn't really have a big picture. 212 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.319 All I knew was what my job was and w what I knew was 213 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:27.000 going on where I was at. I had no idea of the stepping stones 214 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:32.200 and that Okinawa would be next, and that they were planning to invade Japan, 215 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:37.440 and that n Pelleloo and Tarboro were taken because of the airfields, and 216 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:42.240 uh N, none of that came through to me. I found out about 217 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:48.720 the Elogiman Gorm after I got out and I read all about it. I 218 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.920 found out what I was involved in. But when you're a private pushing to 219 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:56.720 become a PFC making thirty dollars a month, y you just concerned where your 220 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:02.000 next meal is coming from, what it's gonna be, and who was the 221 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:06.039 unfortunate fellow that's going to get shot instead of you. Don. We'll pause 222 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:08.039 right there when we come back our final segment and we'll learn all about your 223 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:12.880 role in the Battle of Ewojima right after this on Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg 224 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:17.079 Corumbus. This is Veterans Chronicles. We're honored to be joined today in studio 225 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.799 by Don Mates, a veteran of World War Two veteran of the US Marine 226 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.720 Corps, Sir. Just before the break, we were leading right up to 227 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:29.079 the beginning of the Battle of iwo Jima, which began on February nineteenth. 228 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:33.279 You went ashore on the twenty fourth. What was the state of the battle 229 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:41.279 at that point and describe coming ashore. First, we were sent ashore to 230 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:48.519 set up sleeping quarters and a CP for General Lursman. And when we landed 231 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:56.680 on the beach, it was just absolute chaos. I thought I had seen 232 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:03.640 quite a bit in Guang but this was came as a shock. They hadn't 233 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:08.640 yet start to bury any of the bodies. They were bloated. There were 234 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:14.480 maggots, there were parts of bodies. There were people UH learnings that were 235 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:21.400 had no head, missing legs. There was broken equipment. There was a 236 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:26.440 wounded lined up on the beach like a railway ties. It was I. 237 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.759 I. It was just utter chaos, and it seemed like the one with 238 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:40.440 the loudest voice was the one that was in command. We set up our 239 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:48.960 skin UH and again it's his bodyguard trembled and I. The Japanese had UH 240 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:56.000 spigot mortars, and UH. A spiggot mortar is bigger than a fifty five 241 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:03.680 gallon oil drum. It's just lit with explosives. It's a rocket propelled and 242 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:12.079 it tumbles after the rocket burns out. It reminded me of the UH road 243 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:18.720 Runner and cartoons. You may see it occasionally now on TV. The kids 244 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.559 may where the road runner looks up and a piano is gonna fall on him 245 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:29.200 and crushes him. There a truck runs him over and he's flattened out. 246 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:34.680 Well, that's how you felt when you saw this tumbling fifty five gallon oil 247 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:41.640 drum coming towards you. It it it blew a tremendous hole in the ground, 248 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:47.920 and there wasn't much shrapnel, but the concussion was horrible, and you'd 249 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:52.200 if you were close enough, you'd you'd bleed from the ears, You bleed 250 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:57.720 from the nose. Your brain really got rattled. Uh and one landed near 251 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:06.000 her skin and he Up until that point, uh uh, the Recoon company 252 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:10.480 had not been well. The You could get shot anywhere anywhere. It was 253 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.880 two by four. They put thirty thousand of us ashore and there were twenty 254 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.680 one thousand of them, so you just throw a grenade anywhere and you hit 255 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:25.920 something. In fact, when we got ashore, the uh uh I threw 256 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:33.079 a Foster's grenade into a spider hole or or t spider trap, and uh 257 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:37.799 uh tremble yelled to me. He says, look behind you, and the 258 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:45.240 smoke from the Foster's grenade came out behind me. And the they had seventeen 259 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:52.519 miles of tunnels throughout and they could scurry everywhere. UH. They figured the 260 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.119 battle would last three days, and of course it lasted from February nineteenth til 261 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:02.799 March twenty seventh. Anyway, Erskine wanted to find out where they Spagott mortars 262 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.039 were coming from. They were coming night and day, and he said that 263 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:12.680 you could see him better at night. So he asked for our Lieutenant Stack 264 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:21.160 and her company commander Oscar selgo within at john Sack. He asked for UH 265 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:26.960 eight volunteers. I'll never forget him. There was Orange Garrett. He was 266 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:30.480 the old man of the outfit. He was twenty four, had two children. 267 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:37.519 It's tremble. There was me. There was a corporal Reid, he 268 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:41.480 was in charge of the patrol. There was McCluskey, never did find his 269 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:48.400 body. UH. There Wasntzel he he died of wounds. There was Jim 270 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:52.200 White, and there was Lee Blanchard. Lee Blanchard stayed in the Marines and 271 00:24:52.279 --> 00:25:00.880 became a colonel the UH. And we set out on February twenty eighth to 272 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:07.720 look for these UH Spiggott mortars and see where they were coming from. UH. 273 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.319 And then we had a radio with us. McCluskey was the radio man 274 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:17.599 and we strung the wire and we went to a ridge. Between there were 275 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:23.200 two hills three six two and three eight two. There was a ridge line 276 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:29.920 and we went to the top to the ridge line and it overlooked an open 277 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.720 mind sulfur pit. When a shell would come and land in the sulfur pit, 278 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.920 it would ignite the sulfur. It was a big open pit and off 279 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:45.880 to the right was the village of Moriyama where the civilians had lived and I 280 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.680 don't know how they did it, but they raised pineapples Amajima and the volcanic 281 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:59.279 ashes unbelievable. We sat up around uh six o'clock in the evening and we 282 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:02.440 set up two two men on the top of the ridge with the radio. 283 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:11.200 Then we dropped down fifty feets. On top was the reed and McCluskey neck 284 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:18.839 came Netzel Uh and uh Orange Garrett, then came a Tremble and me and 285 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:26.359 down at the bottom was Jim White and Lee blanchn Well. At midnight we 286 00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:33.720 were to shift every six hours and there was always to be one man uh 287 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.799 awake and one man to sleep. Well. Nobody ever did go to sleep, 288 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:48.599 because just before we were to switch the Japanese started to infiltrate and come 289 00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:56.519 up the ridge. Now years ago they made a movie, Sherlock Holmes movie. 290 00:26:56.519 --> 00:27:00.240 It was called A Hound of Baskervilles and n n I. I think 291 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:08.279 they remade it with Robert Downey on a on some series and BBC. But 292 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:15.519 but the story was on the moors in Scotland. This this fog would come 293 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.559 up at night and there was a huge hound that was in this fog and 294 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:26.279 he would come bounding out and kill people. And Sherlock Holmes was called him 295 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:33.359 to solve the problem. Anyway, That's how I felt on hill three six 296 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.599 two and on the ridge in three eight to two. I was waiting for 297 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:41.839 this hound to come bounding out of the sulfur fumes. But what came out 298 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:48.119 of the sulfur fumes were the Japanese who were coming at us. Now, 299 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:52.039 mind you, there are eight of us and we behind us, behind us, 300 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:56.920 and we're in front of a mortar platoon, so we were right there 301 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:03.000 in the front lines. And the Japanese he's had something that uh few of 302 00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:07.960 us have seen, uh Un eu Jima. Not all outfits had it. 303 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:14.279 They had on the back of their neck. They had a little pin phosphorus 304 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:21.240 pin and with just a little moonlight or starlight, their officer could see his 305 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.319 men and how they moved. We couldn't see the pin cause it was on 306 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:30.599 the back of their neck. But what happened was, at one point, 307 00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:36.160 a little bit after midnight, we turned around and if you turned around and 308 00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:40.480 looked and you saw the pins, then we knew we were in big trouble. 309 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:48.920 A battle lasted about hand to hand combat, about three hours, and 310 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:55.160 thank god we had grenades the way we did. But what happened was, 311 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:00.359 as I said, uh Reid, he was married, you know, had 312 00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:04.559 been stationed in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He was bayonetted. McClusky 313 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:11.599 did ever found his body nets he died of wounds received Garrett. For some 314 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:19.920 reason, the Japanese bayoneted him and they took his rifle and left their rifle. 315 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:29.960 Just something symbolic. Tremble and I, uh did the best we could 316 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:33.839 to hold him off, and as I said, the grenades came in handy. 317 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:38.480 There was no talking. There was just screaming and hollering and pointing out 318 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:45.000 and at one point a little left two o'clock, Jimmy Tremble hollered grenades. 319 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:52.480 Now, the Japanese grenades didn't have a pin flyhander like we did there. 320 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.480 They're grenades which were much smaller in ours and much weaker. Some at the 321 00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:02.720 end of the war in Okanaw in parts of Whima were made out of uh. 322 00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:06.039 Of course, there was the the O the iron, then there was 323 00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:10.240 the UH the ones they made out of UH glass, and then they had 324 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:14.839 him even made out of clay like pottery, because they were running out of 325 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:21.319 uh uh minerals. And anyway, he and they and what they would do 326 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:23.599 is to ignite him. They would hit him together. And when you heard 327 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:27.440 that click, you know grenades were coming. I didn't hear the click, 328 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:34.680 but Trembles did, and he hollered grenades before that they got close enough to 329 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:42.240 bag at him in the shoulder. And coming at me was another Japanese UH 330 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:48.079 soldier. He was crawling and he had in his hand what I thought was 331 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:55.839 a stick of dynamite or plastique. It was oblong and dark, and he 332 00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.200 was crawling towards me. Well, anyway, the trembles wound wasn't that bad, 333 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:04.759 and he kept firing, and I sh shot and blew away the Japanese 334 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:10.200 who got within a couple of feet of me, and uh I just reached 335 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:11.759 over and grabbed what he had in his hand, and it was a wooden 336 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:18.119 box and I stuck in my pocket. Well, anyway, grenades came flying 337 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:23.319 in right near the fox. Only one came in the foxhole and uh peppered 338 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:30.599 Jimmy's back and broke both of my legs and uh uh I came very close 339 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:36.000 to uh. When I looked down, the my crotch was just a bloody 340 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:41.680 mess, and uh uh I pulled myself out of the hole and tremble. 341 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:47.960 He was still alive, and I reached in to help pull him out. 342 00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:53.880 At the same time, the Japanese had a looked like a baseball base. 343 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:59.599 It was made out of canvas and was about the same size as a baseball 344 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:05.160 base, maybe fifteen inches square, And in each corner was a magnet and 345 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:08.599 it was loaded with explosive and they would put that on a tank and try 346 00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:14.119 to blow the tank. Well, the soldier had this strap to his body 347 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:20.039 and he climbed in the hole. Of course I saw what he had on 348 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:28.519 I rolled away. He pulled the cord the mine went. They called it 349 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:34.920 Mine ninety and m uh grenade ninety the Japanese did, and the Japanese just 350 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:39.039 evaporated and uh Tremble was the whole. He was blown in half. The 351 00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:46.559 lower part of his body just separated completely. I was very fortunate that t 352 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:51.680 two behind me, White and Blanchard. They came out of their hole. 353 00:32:53.000 --> 00:33:00.440 W Blanchard picked me up, carried me back. White put on the uh 354 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:07.400 tourniquets. He took my my belt, took his belt, and he did 355 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:12.240 something that he wasn't supposed to do. He took his bandages and and did 356 00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:16.319 both my legs with my bandage and his bandages, and put on sulfa drugs. 357 00:33:17.079 --> 00:33:22.359 And by this time it got to be about four thirty and uh A 358 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:28.359 Corman came along and gave me a a shot of morphine. And I can 359 00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:34.720 understand to this day how somebody becomes a a heroin addict because that morphine. 360 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:42.400 Even though I was banged up pretty good, that morphine just spreads a warm 361 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:49.000 feeling over you and you just completely relax and the pain goes away. It's 362 00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:53.240 just marvelous. And they put a mark on your head like they do for 363 00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:59.559 Catholics on on Wednesday, ash Wednesday. They so they put a mark on 364 00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:01.599 your head, so they know that you had a morphine shot, and you 365 00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:08.599 don't get too many of'em. Anyway, L Corman gave me some plasma 366 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:14.960 and they they carried me w uh away down to ah They would call on 367 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:20.559 TV a mash unit, a medical unit where they uh bandaged me up and 368 00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:27.320 uh try to set my legs, but they it was just too much and 369 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:30.719 they uh shipped me. I was there twenty four hours and they shipped me 370 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:37.320 down to the shore. They put me about the hospital ships were all crowded, 371 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:42.599 and they put me on a troop ship, put me in the kitchen, 372 00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:47.199 and that's where they operated on me and uh bound me up. That's 373 00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:52.519 where I got a a shot of penicillin. And it turned out that I'm 374 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:57.039 allergic to penicillin. And every time I go in the hospital, I I 375 00:34:57.159 --> 00:35:01.079 put big signs all over allergic to penace. Cause I went into a coma 376 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:06.159 for ten or eleven days and your blood pressure drops down to nothing and your 377 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:10.159 skin just peels right off. And I woke up on Saipan in an army 378 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.920 house building a tent. From there, they flew me uh Johnson Island, 379 00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:21.920 where the media air art is supposed to be. And then from Johnson Island 380 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:28.320 they flew me to Hawaii and by this time it was April first, and 381 00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:32.440 uh that was I remember that it was Easter. Sunday also was the day 382 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:38.400 that they've invaded Okinawa. The hospital was so crowded in Hawaii that meet. 383 00:35:38.519 --> 00:35:44.800 They put me in the uh VD ORG cause it was Sunday. Everybody if 384 00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:49.400 that ward w was mobile. They then went to the movies, went to 385 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:52.679 eat, went for a walk. Uh and uh i uh, I was 386 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:59.800 there alone and they they said that a congressman was coming through well under normal 387 00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:02.679 can conditions. Uh, the seventeen or eighteen year old. I wouldn't have 388 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:09.960 any idea who my congressman was, but I remember in newsreels that Franklin Roosevelt, 389 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:15.719 who was in a wheelchair, every time he came to address Congress, 390 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:20.519 he would stop and talk to a congressman who was a new wheelchair. And 391 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:23.079 that's how I His name was Crosley, and that's how and that was my 392 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:28.760 congressman, and that's how I knew when I saw the congressman that it was 393 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:34.079 Congressman Crosley. And he came over and he said, Uh, how would 394 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:36.480 you like to go. Ask me where I was, and I told ye. 395 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:38.760 My congressman on in Cleveland east side. He said, how would you 396 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:43.960 like to go home? I said sure. He says, I, i'd 397 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.920 you like to go to day? I said, I sure would. Well, 398 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:50.599 I didn't go that day. I went the next day and I was 399 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:58.159 on the first plane that flew from uh uh that had evil uh uh casualties 400 00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:00.719 on it and flew into Oakland Naval Hospital. From there, I went to 401 00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:07.639 Sun Valley Rehab rom there I went to Great Lakes. From there, I 402 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:12.239 went to the Marine hospital in Cleveland. There's no such thing as the Marine 403 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:16.920 U S Marine Hospital. This was a merchant Marine hospital. And I recuperated 404 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:23.599 there and uh life went on after that. You had several more surgeries from 405 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:29.559 what I understand. UH my last yeah, uh my last operation ended in 406 00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:35.360 nineteen eighty two and uh two women operated on me. And what saved me 407 00:37:35.559 --> 00:37:38.960 was that's when the cat scan came out. Before that, when they would 408 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:47.119 operate for shrapnel, they would pokey you and then they would glue a paper 409 00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:52.480 clip to where they thought the shrapnel, but they didn't know how deep it 410 00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:55.800 was. And you know how a cat scan works. It's one X ray 411 00:37:55.840 --> 00:38:01.800 after another and they could three D it and they can. They were able 412 00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:08.519 to spot what was really troubling me and take out the pieces the that uh 413 00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:14.800 were embedded and weren't moving. And I haven't been back. I haven't had 414 00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:20.039 an operation since. There are little pieces of volcanic ash that come out, 415 00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:22.440 but it's just like a pimple. I can with my finger then I can 416 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:29.440 flick it out. And uh, I did have braces. I got rid 417 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:37.079 of'em one by one and uh that unfortunately, uh uh I I did 418 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:42.239 get some gangreene infection that held me up for a while. And back in 419 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:46.000 nineteen forty five, in nineteen forty six, you gotta remember, therapy was 420 00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:53.320 pad rest. If they could get you in a whirlpool bath and they would 421 00:38:53.320 --> 00:38:58.039 give you a back rub with Jergon's lotion. That was it. There was 422 00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:01.239 no getting out of bed right after the operation. That there was no moving 423 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:06.920 after the cast came off the all bedress. So it took me a little 424 00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:10.800 while to get organized. Last question here in our last minute or so maybe 425 00:39:10.840 --> 00:39:15.440 two minutes. Since that time, you've also been very active in honoring the 426 00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:20.920 memory of Jimmy Trimble, both at the American Veteran Center and elsewhere talk about 427 00:39:20.920 --> 00:39:22.840 how you UH took on that role and then what it means to you. 428 00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:30.599 Well. With the American Veteran Center and with the UH UH Saint Albans where 429 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:36.480 where he went to UH prep school. UH, we started a scholarship and 430 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:42.000 we the l last count that we had raised was two hundred and fifty thousand 431 00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:45.960 dollars. And it's for a UH I hope we UH marine, but they'll 432 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:52.639 take any son of a serviceman. UH. Then w UH. We also 433 00:39:52.760 --> 00:40:00.159 instigated the U UH Young Marine Award UH every year an annual award that UH 434 00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:07.360 that I donate to and the American Vetteror Center and I the U S and 435 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:12.719 the outstanding Women Young Marine and men Young Marine. And this is not the 436 00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:15.159 real marines. These are like the boy Scout Marines, right, and they're 437 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:21.920 honored at the banquet and UH and the American Veteran Center holds every year. 438 00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:27.679 I just continue tribute. I'm they headed the Military Order of the Purple Heart 439 00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:32.960 in UH westwom Beach, Florida. I have the second largest UH. I 440 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:39.119 have four hundred and fourteen members and the the biggest award I ever got side 441 00:40:39.159 --> 00:40:45.760 of Purple Heart was two thousand and nine. I UH received from the Pentagon 442 00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:52.519 UH the uh UH World War Two Service and Community Service Award. Bob Feller 443 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:58.760 got one. I got one. Hugh O'Brien, I got one too. 444 00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:04.599 I'm here today, I feel like a million dollars. Don Mates, veteran 445 00:41:04.679 --> 00:41:07.519 of World War Two Battle of Guam and Iwo Jima. US Marine Corps veteran, 446 00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:12.480 Third Division. I'm Greg Corumbas. This has been Veterans Chronicles