A Growing Menace...

 

 

"War is hell. There is no glamour, no glory - it is just plain hell"

George had just put the tractor back in the barn. That would be the last time he would be sitting on it for a while. The fall harvest was in and the fields were tilled. The crop was ready and so was George. Having just turned 18, he was going into town tomorrow to enlist in the Army. George had wanted to go last year, shortly after turning 17. His dad said no - he would not sign for him. Besides, with his dad's continued hip problems, George was needed on the farm. George knew that if he left to go fight, his folks would have a hardship on the farm. But this was important - Hitler was a menace to the world and so was Japan.

It was 1944. The war was not going well for either side, really. The Russians had bogged down the Nazis on the western front, and last month in June, the allies really caught Hitler with his pants down on D-Day. The battle in the Pacific was something else. It seemed like the Japs were dug in on every island from Hawaii to Tokyo. They were brutal, relentless fighters and would often fight to the death rather than surrender. It seemed to George there was plenty of war left and he could not be late to the "party". After enlisting, George went though a very abbreviated training camp, and then it was off to the Pacific.

It was mid-July and George was on a troop ship heading west. Rumor had it they were going to Guam. This was going to be a tough fight, but not as tough as the future fights will be. The closer the allies got to the homeland of Japan, the stronger the resistance will be. However, Guam is very important. If the allies could take Guam back from the Japs, the next step would be something much closer to Japan. In all likelihood, the next step could be at the doorstep of Tokyo - the prize of Okinawa.

George was part of the 77th Infantry Division. They had a proud heritage going back to World War I. The time had come to land on Guam and take back what should belong to America. The Marines, with their landing craft, hit on one part of the island. The Army with no equipment like landing craft, had to wade ashore on another beach head. 

For the first time in his life, George was being shot at. He was scared - as with many young men his age, he was scared to die. He knew on the other side of the gunfire was a young man from another country who was trying to kill him. Just as George would need to try and kill the person firing the gun. As he was making his way across the coral and through a hail of bullets, something hit George in the face. "Am I shot?" he wondered. No - it was a piece of skull bone from the man in front of him. The soldier directly in front of him had just been shot in the head. George froze as he looked at seconds ago had been a living, breathing man. The right side of his head was gone and the wound was turning the water around him red with blood.

"Move, move, move!" the voice behind him said. George continued to struggle through the coral until they hit the beach. He was numb with fear, but kept going. The gunfire was intense and George looked for anything to take shelter behind. The only thing available on that beach were the bodies of U.S. soldiers who had just been killed.

The battle for Guam lasted for weeks until in August the last of the Japanese were killed. In true fashion, surrender was not in their DNA - only death. The loses to the division were heavy, but there was no time to reflect on the dead. With Guam now secured, the next stop was going to be something that was even a bigger prize -  an island on the Ryukyu Chain called Okinawa.

George and most of the division stayed on Guam until early 1945. Their job was to ensure the Japs had been totally removed from the island. In addition, Guam needed to be re-established as a forward operating base for the upcoming battles. The division had been notified to get ready for a new operation - code named Iceberg. The allies were going to Okinawa and the battle was going to be taken to the Emperor's doorstep.

The battle for Okinawa started in April of 1945. It was huge. It turned out being the largest amphibious assault of the war. It was like the battle for Guam, only on steroids. The Japs had known this battle was coming, and were dug in like nobody's business. It was a long, and bloody affair - lasting almost three months. However, in the end, after very heavy loses on both sides, the island fell to the allies.

George did not live to see that great victory. On the second day of the campaign, he stepped on a land mine and was killed. He would never again have the chance to smell the fresh air of an Iowa spring. He would never again be able to play cribbage with his dad after a full day of farm work. He would never be able to inherit the farm, as his dad had promised so many times. No, George died on a beach, full of sand, coral and blood, to ensure the land he loved to much remained free.

It is for this Memorial Day we remember our fallen heroes such as George. Young men and women who gave all for the rest of us. Young people who never really had a chance to live the American dream they fought and died for. Thank you George - and thank all of the brave souls which gave us the gift we can never repay.