America's Deadliest Day of WWII [17:32]

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Poignant and fascinating.

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Chapter 1: The Deadliest Day Defined

The Second World War was an incredibly bloody war, and there were many days that saw an awful lot of death. Fighting on the Eastern Front, sometimes in a battle, thousands of men could die in a single day. But as for the United States, from when we entered the war in December of 1941 to the end of the war in 1945, an average of 300 Americans a day died as a result of the war. When you think of deadliest days for America in the war, you might think of Pearl Harbor when an estimated 2,400 Americans died, or June 6th, D-Day, when an estimated 2,500 Americans died. But if you’re trying to pick out the deadliest day of the war, October 24th, 1944 might not occur to you, but on that day, an estimated 2,600 Americans lost their lives as a result of the Second World War. From Italy to France to the Philippines to Washington, D.C., very probably the single deadliest day of the Second World War for the United States of America. It’s history that deserves to be remembered.

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Chapter 2: Global Reach of the War

In late October 1944, American forces were engaged across the globe. Troops that had landed in Italy months earlier were fighting their way north, while soldiers who had landed in France during and after the D-Day landings in Operation Dragoon were engaged across hundreds of miles of front in France and Western Europe. In the Pacific, the American campaign to retake the Philippines began on October 20th when American troops landed on Lee. Rona Simmons, in her book, No Average Day, which chronicles the stories of many of the Americans who died on October 24th, shows the breadth of the war effort and the countless dangers that American service members faced. Petty Officer Margaret Nancy Newower, who joined the Naval Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, or WAVES, died on October 24th from injuries after being hit by a car two days prior, still in the United States.

Many more died in accidents. 15,000 service members died in air training accidents while in the United States during the war. 28 died on October 24th. Aviator deaths occurred all over the world as well. Pilot Jervis Halum was killed in an attack on an airfield on the island of Yap. The colorlessly named Red Butt, a B-24 Liberator hunting enemy shipping off the coast of Borneo, disappeared that day, her crew never to be found. Others were killed in flying missions in the Netherlands and a reconnaissance F-5 plane flown by Clare Barsley disappeared over the Philippines. On ADAC Island in Alaska, 41-year-old Naval Serviceman George McCelroy fell dead of a heart attack.

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Chapter 3: Fighting in Europe

In Italy, the 88th Infantry Division was pushing the Germans north towards the Po Valley. On October 22nd, part of the 351st Regiment was moving forward to secure the flanks of the 349th through the constant rain and ankle-deep mud. On October 23rd, G Company of the 351st surprised German troops in the small town of Vedriano with considerable success. They captured a column of 40 Germans and after a short fight captured the town, according to the regimental history. Just as quickly, the Germans counterattacked and Company G was quickly surrounded in the town while other elements of the 351st attempted to reach them. On October 24th, while the fighting was fiercest, a radio message was intercepted. “Attack Vedriano. Bedriano is decisive.” The rest of the division, facing intense German attacks itself, could only listen to the rattle of small arms fire dwindle and fade away.

Late in the afternoon, another radio message was intercepted. “Vedriano retaken. 80 Americans captured.” At least 16 Americans were killed in Bedriano, according to Rona Simmons in the book, No Average Day. In the Voge Mountains of eastern France, the 36th Division was in the opening operations of pushing out deeply entrenched Germans in the mountains. The 141st Regiment was moving forward on the 24th and quickly. Bruce Estus, one of the men of the 141st, recalled that we kept telling the long tall Texan we had for commander that our flanks weren’t keeping up with us. Exposed German elements swiftly cut off the 270 men of the 141st, dubbed the Lost Battalion. It took days for other elements of the 36th and the famed 442nd Nissi Regiment made up of Japanese Americans to rescue them. On the 24th, at least casualties were light.

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Chapter 4: Conflict in the Pacific

By far the greatest number of casualties on October 21st occurred in the Pacific. The landing on Lee on October 20th sparked one of the largest naval battles in history as the Japanese surface fleet engaged nearly everything they had in the hopes of dislodging the American landing in what became the battle of Lee Gulf. While the landing on Lee was lightly opposed compared to the landings at Omaha Beach, there were injuries and deaths. In the landing ship tank 452, James Dunn was wounded on the 21st and died of his wounds on the 24th. At least 34 others were killed in the fighting on Lee on October 24th. In the effort to dislodge the American beachhead, repeated attacks came from Japanese air forces. The first true kamikaze attacks are generally considered to have occurred on October 25th, but numerous planes did hit American ships on the 24th. Whether those attacks were deliberate or accidental is unknown.

Near the island, the fleet tug USS Soma was moored next to the Liberty ship Augustus Thomas to take on freshwater when a flight of Japanese Mitsubishi GM4 Betty bombers attacked. A flaming bomber struck the starboard side of the ship amidships, penetrating the deck house, wiping out the forward engine room bulkhead and causing significant damage. It was followed by several explosions, and the tug rapidly took on water. Numerous ships moved in to try to extinguish fires and rescue crew, but the ship was ultimately abandoned. LCL 1065 was hit by another plane around the same time in the same vicinity. 20 servicemen were killed between the two ships.

On October 23rd, the American submarines Darter and Dace detected Admiral Kurita’s center force which included the super battleships Yamato and Musashi along with three other battleships, 10 heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 15 destroyers in the Palawan Passage. Darter and Dace attacked the formation, sinking the heavy cruisers Itago and Maya. Task group 38.2, two best positioned to try and intercept center force with aircraft on October 24th had only the Essex-class carrier Intrepid along with the smaller Independence-class light carriers Independence and Cabat. The Essex-class Bunker Hill had been detached for overhaul the day before. In the battle of the Sibuyan Sea, planes from the three carriers hit the Japanese fleet, hitting several of the battleships, including the Yamato. Planes from Intrepid took part in the series of strikes that sunk the Musashi. Numerous American planes were shot down and the hundreds of sorties that flew against center force.

Kurita’s force withdrew north leading Holly to believe that the fleet was dealt with. However, center force did an about-face appearing off of Samar on October 25th. Waves of Japanese planes were simultaneously attacking American forces, but American fighters took down most of the enemy ships. David McCampbell in an F6F Hellcat shot down nine planes in the action and earned a Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, they did not intercept all of the Japanese planes.

A Yokosuka D4Y Judy slipped through and at 9:38 a.m. struck the Independence-class light carrier Princeton with a bomb. An event covered in detail in another episode of the History Guy. The bomb crashed through the flight deck, exploding several decks down among a flight of TBM Avengers that were already fueled for another sortie. The ship was rocked with an enormous explosion. Bruce Harwood, the Princeton’s air officer, immediately began moving people out of the endangered areas of the ship.

Captain William Buracker would later say that Bruce had been conspicuous all day long, going into places where he might have been killed at any time. Meanwhile, the cruisers Birmingham and Reno along with destroyers Irwin and Morrison moved to aid the stricken carrier. Princeton’s engines were out, and she repeatedly struck the other ships. By 1:30 p.m., the fires had largely been controlled, but reports of air and submarine activity forced the ships to disperse. Two hours later, Princeton was still floating and not listing. The danger seemed to have passed.

Birmingham approached, preparing to tow the ship. At 3:23 p.m., Princeton suddenly exploded, blowing off much of the Princeton’s stern. Huge chunks of fiery metal rained into Birmingham into crowds of sailors on deck. Prospective commanding officer John Hoskins of Princeton was badly injured and ultimately lost his right foot. Even as he was being carried off the ship, he asked Captain Buracker permission to leave the ship.

Sir Harwood, still hard at work dealing with damage to the ship, was killed in the explosion. Buracker said of him, “Like every man on the ship, he thought of saving it first and not a personal danger.” Buracker was awarded the Navy Cross and the Legion of Merit for his actions that day. Harwood already had a Navy Cross and a gold star and was posthumously awarded a second gold star for his actions on the Princeton.

The explosion was devastating. The Birmingham’s chaplain said that all of these casualties were not only suffering from shock, but from major wounds. This was one occasion that was not figuratively, but literally a time when the decks ran red with blood. Captain Thomas of the Birmingham was thrown by the explosion and broke his arm, but remained in command until he physically couldn’t stand any longer. Executive Officer Wilson Folk took command of the ship. The Princeton was too badly damaged to save.

Her remaining crew were evacuated and the assembled ships prepared to scuttle her. That action became something of a farce. Irwin tried to sink the carrier with torpedoes, but missed repeatedly. Twice the torpedo actually porpoised and turned back on the destroyer. Deciding that the torpedo tubes must have been damaged in the collisions with the Princeton, Reno took over, firing two torpedoes that hit one of the remaining magazines and sank the ship. In all, 349 sailors were killed or missing, 108 of Princeton’s crew, surprisingly light given the intensity of the damage, and 237 from the Birmingham.

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Chapter 5: The Hell Ship Tragedy

The largest single loss of life event of that day, however, took place further north in the Luzon Strait between the Philippines and Formosa. When the Japanese captured the Philippines in 1942, they took tens of thousands of prisoners, including 60,000 Filipinos and more than 20,000 Americans, both soldiers and civilians. Many thousands of them would be transported to other islands such as Formosa or the Japanese home islands to be used for slave labor as the country’s work needs became desperate. Thousands would make that journey on the infamous hell ships in crowded holds of transport ships with little water, food, or air. General Jonathan Waywright, who commanded the Philippine defense after MacArthur left, said of his time in one that there was so little air in the place that many of us feared death by suffocation.

On October 12th, nearly 1,800 American prisoners were loaded onto the Arasan Maru in Manila headed for Formosa. American attacks on Japanese shipping and Manila itself were frequent. So the Arasan headed first for Palawan where it spent several days avoiding American air sorties. On October 20th, it briefly returned to Manila before heading north with a convoy of 13 other merchant vessels, three destroyers, and a fleet supply ship. Arasan was one of the slowest ships and lagged behind the rest of the convoy. As the prisoners in the holds suffered, the destroyers picked up signals from US submarines and ordered the convoy to disperse. A group of submarines, including the USS Sawfish, USS Seadragon, USS Snook, and USS Shark had detected the convoy and began hunting.

Sawfish sank one of the ships at 5:30 on the 23rd, and throughout the night, Sea Dragon sank three more. Two others were sunk by USS Icefish and USS Drum. The Arasan Maru escaped notice on the 23rd, making its slow way to Formosa alone. At around 5:00 p.m., PS on the ship noticed the Japanese crew jumped into action. Several Americans were on deck preparing food, and one reported seeing the telltale ripple of a torpedo missing the ship by inches. The Japanese herded the PS below deck. Soon, a torpedo struck the ship, blowing a hole in the empty number three hold. Someone yelled, “Hit her again!” The ship buckled, beginning to break apart. The engines immediately stopped.

Postwar descriptions usually say that no one was injured by the torpedo, but survivor Calvin Graph claimed that he saw hundreds of dead and dying men after the strike. The ship was quickly taking on water, and Japanese sailors opened the hatch to the deck, only to cut the rope ladder with a knife and slam it shut. As the men began to panic, several were able to shimmy up parts of the ship to reach the deck, where they found a rope that they could use to reattach the ladder. Hundreds of prisoners quickly made their way on deck. The Japanese guards and crew were already hastily fleeing the ship in lifeboats and leaving the prisoners. As the ship sank, starving men descended on the meal that was still mid-preparation.

The convoy’s destroyers were close enough to respond and moved to release depth charges to destroy the American submarine. Soon an oil slick and debris floated to the surface. The destroyers turned to rescue the crew of the Arasan Maru, but they simply abandoned the PS to their fate. Split in two, the Arasan Maru remained afloat for two hours. Corporal Glenn Oliver remembered that he could see people still on the ship when it went down. “I could see people against the skyline just standing there.”

There were a small number of life vests, but for most of the survivors, their best choice was to hang on to debris in rough seas. The vests too weren’t meant to keep someone afloat for long. As the hours passed and the night grew dark, the PS of the Arasan Maru could do nothing but await their fate. Nearly all of them died. Of almost 1,800 prisoners, only nine would survive the sinking, and only eight ever returned to the United States.

Bill Overbeck, a civilian prisoner, attempted to get into a Japanese lifeboat and was beaten back. But after the Japanese crewman had been rescued, they left the lifeboat. Overbeck climbed in and found 10 gallons of fresh water and a sail. Others joined him: Avery Wilbur, Tom Chichy, Calvin Graph, and Don Meyer. When they looked for others in the morning, there were none to be found. Rigging up a sail, they set sail for the Chinese mainland where they were rescued by a Chinese ship and eventually reached a US outpost. Four others survived and were picked up by Japanese ships.

It’s not certain which submarine actually sank the PS ship. Many sources credit that the USS Shark, which was in the area in which it itself disappeared that night, most likely destroyed by the depth charges dropped by the Japanese destroyers. Others, including the P Research Network, Japan, credit the USS Snook based on Japanese records. Snook’s reports of the day record several hits, but also record contact with Shark in the same area. The Naval Submarine League, on the other hand, concludes that credit must go to the Shark. 87 crew disappeared with the USS Shark.

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Chapter 6: Legacy and Remembrance

The sheer scale of death in the Second World War was truly horrifying. In big battles in the East like Stalingrad, as many as 5,000 troops might die in a single day. And of course, tens of thousands of people died in things like the firebombing of Tokyo or when we dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In many ways, the US was spared the worst part of the death of that war. But the estimated 2,600 that died on October 24th, 1944 is probably the single deadliest day of the war for the United States, although that depends upon how you counted. And of course, many of the records are not as accurate as we wish that they would be.

But the next day, October 25th, the headlines on the New York Times talked about the brewing battle in Leyte. They talked about war games throughout the world. They talked about the upcoming election, but they really didn’t mention any of those people who had died the day before. It took many years before we realized how deadly that day was for the United States. For most of the people at home, it was simply another day of the war. Although for the dead and their families, it was anything but.

Just a note, if you want to hear more stories about those Americans that died on the deadliest day of the Second World War, I really recommend the book No Average Day by Rona Simmons. Well worth your read and something that we relied heavily on in creating this episode.

I hope you enjoyed watching this episode of The History Guy. And if you did, please feel free to like and subscribe and share The History Guy with your friends. And if you also believe that history deserves to be remembered, then you can support The History Guy as a member on YouTube, a supporter on our community at Locals, or as a patron on Patreon. You can also check out our great merchandise shop or book a special message from The History Guy on Cameo.

Oh, that heavy. Goodness. How big are you?

My dad’s ship was part of landing the 36th Infantry Division in Operation Dragoon and years later I was with the 36th Infantry Division parachuting out of Luftwaffe aircraft, and also training in France.

Patton was right . The Soviet Union—not Nazi Germany—was the true threat to Europe .

My uncle died on the 25th in Leyte. It was the 24th here.

In the movies you see the guys coming off the boats and someone in the background is hit and dies on the beach. That was my uncle. His war lasted about five minutes.

Thx. A lot got burned to ashes, figuratively as well as literally. There was a bit of a reprieve around here for horses in agricultural roles (and related things like shoeing), because tractors and even trucks could not be had. A cousin of my mother’s talked about a guy in a different but somewhat nearby part of The Boonies who was expecting delivery of a new Ford pickup, and got a letter instead from the War Dep’t — it had been commandeered, and they paid him rent on it for the duration of the war. He never got the truck, but used the extra money to start a business after the war.

Luckily we had a later President who took care of that.

I’m not sure people realize we were still taking high casualties even into 1945 as our troops were penetrating deeper and deeper into Germany. The Germans still fought hard - or at least plenty of them did - all the way to the end.