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Posted on 02/25/2004 12:01:38 AM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.
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More Famous Flag-Raising On Iwo Jima Shortly after the first flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Lieutenant Colonel Chandler W. Johnson, the Battalion commander, told Second Lieutenant Albert T. Tuttle, Assistant Operations Officer, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, to go down to one of the ships on the beach and get a large battle flag - "large enough that the men at the other end of the island can see it. It will lift their spirits also." Lieutenant Tuttle went on board LST 779, beached near the base of the volcano and obtained a larger set of colors. Ironically, the flag from LST 779 which would soon fly over the first captured Japanese territory had been salvaged from Pearl Harbor, probably from some decommissioned destroyer or destroyer escort.  This is the original photograph by Joe Rosenthal. It was later cropped to become the photo we all know. When Tuttle returned to the command post with the larger flag. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson directed him to give the flag to Private First Class Rene A. Gagnon, the Colonel's runner from Company E. Gagnon was headed up the hill with replacement batteries that Lieutenant Schrier had requested for his radio. As Gagnon was carrying this second and larger (96 by 56 inches) flag up the slopes of Suribachi, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal was just beginning his hard climb up the mountain. Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon H. Block, Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley and Private First Class Ira H. Hayes also accompanied this set of colors up Suribachi's slopes with Gagnon. When the men arrived at the top, Lieutenant Schrier decided that the new flag should be raised as the original one was lowered. Sergeant Strank, Corporal Block, Private First Class Hayes and Private First Class Sousley fastened the larger colors to a second pipe and then tried to set the makeshift staff in the rugged ground. Since the four men appeared to be having difficulty in getting the pipe firmly planted, two onlookers, Private First Class Gagnon and Pharmacist's Mate Second Class John H. Bradley came to their aid.  Easy Company take the flags up Mt. Suribachi. Easy Company had been fighting 4 days. They had 40% casualties to date All six were struggling to raise the flag when Rosenthal snapped a picture of the scene. According to Rosenthal, luck played an important part in the taking of his famous photograph. The Associated Press photographer arrived at the summit just as Lieutenant Schrier was preparing to take down the first flag. At first, Rosenthal hoped to photograph the lowering of the first flag together with the raising of the larger flag. When he discovered that he would not have time to line up both pictures, he decided to concentrate on the second flag raising. He backed off about 35 feet, only to discover that because of the sloping ground, he could not see what was happening. He piled up some loose stones, mounted them and focused on the band of Marines. Just as Rosenthal was training his camera on the men, Lieutenant Schrier walked into his line of vision. Rosenthal later recalled that just as Schrier moved away, Sergeant Bill Genaust, the Marine motion picture photographer, "came across in front of me and over to my right...He said 'I'm not in your way, am I, Joe?' And I said, 'Oh, no." I turned from him and out of the corner of my eye I said, 'Hey Bill, there it goes!' By being polite to each other we damn near missed the shot. I swung my camera around and held it until I could guess that this was the peak of the action and shot."  Joe Rosenthal Rosenthal took 18 photographs on Iwo Jima that eventful day. Among them was a shot posed by men of the 28th Marines around the flag. When queried a few days later by his wire service picture editor as to whether "the flag raising picture" was posed, Rosenthal, unaware of which picture had had the sensational reception in the United States, thought the editor meant the one which actually had been posed. Out of Rosenthal's affirmative reply to the editor grew the misconception that the flag raising picture was posed. The testimony of Rosenthal himself and of eyewitnesses who survived the battle, however, attest that the flag raising photograph was in no way rigged. As Rosenthal put it, "Had I posed that shot, I would, of course, had ruined it. I'd have picked fewer men...I would also have made them turn their heads so that they could be identified for AP members throughout the country and nothing like the existing picture would have resulted."  Four of the Flag Raisers (Bradley, Hayes, Sousley & Strank) appear with their jubilant buddies. Strank, Sousley and many of these boys would soon be dead. As it was, "the photo" became perhaps the most famous single photograph ever taken. It won:
 and on a U.S. postage stamp.  And it was forever immortalized in the largest bronze statue in the world - the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 10 November 1954, the 179th anniversary of the Marine Corps.  The popularity of Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the Iwo Jima flag raising caused Brigadier General Robert L. Denig, Director of the Marine Corps Division of Public Information, to try to learn the identity of the six flag raisers. Nor was General Denig the only person interested in learning the names of these men. President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested that the six Marines be located and returned to the United States. The President felt that the safe return of the flag raisers would prove a boon to national morale.  Here's Rosenthal snapping a posed shot minutes after the second flag raising First of the flag raisers to return was Private First Class Rene A. Gagnon. Using an enlargement of the Rosenthal photo, he identified Sergeant Michael Strank, Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley, both of whom had been killed in action, and Pharmacist's Mate Second Class John H, Bradley. He also numbered among the flag raisers Sergeant Henry O. Hansen, who was subsequently killed during the Iwo operation. A year passed before Gagnon realized that the Marine he had believed to be Hansen actually was another victim of the fight on Iwo Jima - Corporal Harlon Block. Ironically, Hansen had taken part in the earlier, less celebrated flag raising on Iwo Jima and was killed by a sniper a few days later while being treated for wounds by Pharmacist's Mate Bradley. Gagnon at first refused to give the name of the sixth flag raiser. He insisted that he had promised to keep the man's name a secret. Finally, Gagnon revealed that the man was Private First Class Ira H. Hayes.  Mt. Suribachi, the 550-foot volcanic cone at the islands southern tip, dominates both possible landing beaches. From here, Japanese gunners zeroed in on every inch of the landing beach. Blockhouses and pillboxes flanked the landing areas. Within, more heavy weapons stood ready to blast the attacking Marines. Machine guns criss-crossed the beaches with deadly interlocking fire. Rockets, anti-boat and anti-tank guns were also trained on the beaches. Every Marine, everywhere on the island was always in range of Japanese guns. Bradley, who had been wounded on 12 March 1945, was ordered back to the United States and participated with Hayes and Gagnon in a war bond drive. Because of the haste with which their bond-selling tour was organized, none of the surviving flag raisers seemed to have had time to examine closely the Rosenthal picture. At any rate, Hayes did not mention his doubts concerning the identity of any of the deceased flag raisers until the winter of 1946. He then claimed that the person at the base of the flagstaff was Corporal Harlon Block. An investigation proved him correct and the list of flag raisers was altered. The Iwo Jima flag raisers, as shown in the Rosenthal photograph left to right, are:  "The strength to persist, the courage to endure."
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Block was inducted into the regular Marine Corps through the Selective Service System at San Antonio on 18 February 1943 and transferred to the Recruit Depot at San Diego. Upon completion of recruit training, he was assigned to the Parachute Training School at San Diego on 14 April, where he completed the course in six weeks. He qualified as a parachutist on 22 May and was promoted to private first class on the same day. Block was assigned to the Parachute Replacement Battalion at the same camp.
Arriving at New Caledonia on 15 November 1943, Private First Class Block joined Headquarters and Service Company of the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment, I Marine Amphibious Corps. He saw combat as a rifleman during the latter part of the Bougainville campaign when he landed on that island on 21 December.
Following the securing of Mount Suribachi on 23 February, Corporal Block moved northward with this company. On 1 March, he was killed as the 28th Marines was attacking toward Nishi Ridge. The Marine's body was buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima in Plot 4, Row 6, Grave 912, and was later returned to the United States for private burial at Weslaco, Texas.
Corporal Block was entitled to the following decorations and medals: Purple Heart (awarded posthumously), Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two stars (for the Consolidation of the Northern Solomons and Iwo Jima), American Campaign medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Following boot camp at Farragut, Idaho, Seaman Bradley was assigned to the Hospital Corps School there. Upon the completion of that course, he was transferred to the Naval Hospital at Oakland, California. Assigned to the Fleet Marine Force in January 1944, Pharmacist's Mate Bradley attended Field Medical School - standard training for corpsmen prior to serving with the Marines.
Bradley's awards include the Navy Cross, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star (for Iwo Jima), and the World War II Victory Medal.
The longest surviving member of the six who raised the second flag on Iwo Jima, Bradley died at the age of 70 on 11 January 1994 in his home town of Antigo, Wisconsin.
From Parris Island, Private First Class Gagnon, promoted on 16 July 1943, was transferred to the Marine Guard Company at Charleston, South Carolina, Navy Yard. He remained there for eight months and then joined the Military Police Company of the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California. Four days later, on 8 April, he was transferred to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines.
After training at Camp Pendleton and in Hawaii, Gagnon landed with his unit on Iwo Jima on 19 February. After Iwo Jima was secured, he was ordered to Washington, D.C. arriving on 7 April. Together with the other two survivors of the flag raising, Pharmacist's Mate John Bradley and Private First Class Ira Hayes, he was assigned to temporary duty with the Finance Division, U.S. Treasury Department, for appearances in connection with the Seventh War Loan Drive.
He finished the tour on 5 July and was ordered to San Diego for further transfer overseas. Private First Class Gagnon was married to Miss Pauline Georgette Harnois, of Hooksett, New Hampshire, in Baltimore, Maryland, on 7 July.
On duty with the U.S. occupation forces in China for nearly five months, Private First Class Gagnon boarded ship at Tsingtao at the end of March 1946, and sailed for San Diego, arriving on 20 April.
With nine days short of three years' service in the Marine Corps Reserve, of which 14 months was spent overseas, Gagnon was promoted to corporal and discharged on 27 April 1946. He was entitled to wear the Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star (for Iwo Jima), the World War II Victory Medal, and the China Service Medal.
Corporal Gagnon died on 12 October 1979 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was buried at Mount Calvary Mausoleum. At his widow's request, Gagnon's remains were reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery on 7 July 1981.
On 26 August 1942, Ira Hayes enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Phoenix for the duration of the National Emergency. Following boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at San Diego, Hayes was assigned to the Parachute Training School at Camp Gillespie, Marine Corps Base, San Diego. Graduated one month later, the Arizonan was qualified as a parachutist on 30 November and promoted to private first class the next day. On 2 December, he joined Company B, 3d Parachute Battalion, Divisional Special Troops, 3d Marine Division, at Camp Elliott, California, with which he sailed for Noumea, New Caledonia, on 14 March 1943.
In April, Hayes' unit was redesignated Company K, 3d Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. In October Hayes sailed for Vella Lavella, arriving on the 14th. Here, he took part in the campaign and occupation of that island until 3 December when he moved north to Bougainville, arriving on the 4th. The campaign there was already underway, but the parachutists had a full share of fighting before they left on 15 January 1944.
Hayes was ordered to return to the United States where he landed at San Diego on 14 February 1944, after slightly more than 11 months overseas and two campaigns. The parachute units were disbanded in February, and Hayes was transferred to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, of the 5th Marine Division, then at Camp Pendleton, California.
In September, Hayes sailed with his company for Hawaii for more training. He sailed from Hawaii in January en route to Iwo Jima where he landed on D-day (19 February 1945) and remained during the fighting until 26 March. Then he embarked for Hawaii where he boarded a plane for the U.S. on 15 April. On the 19th, he joined Company C, 1st Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.
With the end of the war, Corporal Hayes and his company left Hilo and landed at Sasebo, Japan, on 22 September to participate in the occupation of Japan. On 25 October, Corporal Hayes boarded his eleventh and last ship to return to his homeland for the third time. Landing at San Francisco on 9 November, he was honorably discharged on 1 December.
Corporal Hayes was awarded a Letter of Commendation with Commendation Ribbon by the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, Lieutenant General Roy S. Geiger, for his "meritorious and efficient performance of duty while serving with a Marine infantry battalion during operations against the enemy on Vella Lavella and Bougainville, British Solomon Islands, from 15 August to 15 December 1943, and on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 February to 27 March 1945."
The list of the Corporal's decorations and medals includes the Commendation Ribbon with "V" combat device, Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four stars (for Vella Lavella, Bougainville, Consolidation of the Northern Solomons, and Iwo Jima), American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
The former Marine died at Bapchule on 24 January 1955. He was buried on 2 February 1955 at Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 34, Plot 470A.
Sousley entered the Marine Corps Reserve on 5 January 1944 through the Selective Service System and was sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, for his boot training. Upon completion of recruit training, he was assigned to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, of the 5th Marine Division, then at Camp Pendleton, California. Private Sousley joined the company on 15 March as an automatic rifleman and remained with the same unit in the same specialty until he met his death. In September, Private Sousley sailed with his company from San Diego for Hilo, Hawaii, where it arrived on 24 September. The young Marine was promoted to private first class on 22 November 1944.
In the latter part of January 1945, after extensive training and maneuvers, Sousley sailed for Iwo Jima where he landed with his company on D-day, 19 February. Sousley survived the battle for Suribachi and moved northward with his regiment. On 21 March, Private First Class Sousley was killed during the fighting around Kitano Point.
Private First Class Sousley was awarded the following decorations and medals; Purple Heart (posthumously), Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star (for Iwo Jima), and World War II Victory Medal.
Michael Strank enlisted in the regular Marine Corps for four years at Pittsburgh on 6 October 1939. He was assigned to the Recruit Depot at Parris Island where, after completing recruit training in December, Private Strank was transferred to Headquarters Company, Post Troops, at the same base.
Transferred to Provisional Company W at Parris Island on 17 January 1941, Strank, now a private first class, sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arriving on the 23d. Strank was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Brigade (on 1 February, the 1st Marine Brigade was redesignated the 1st Marine Division). On 8 April, now assigned to Company K, he returned to the States and proceeded to Parris Island. In September, Strank moved with the division to New River, North Carolina (now known as Camp Lejeune). He was promoted to corporal on 23 April 1941, and was advanced to sergeant on 26 January 1942.
With the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, early in April 1942, he journeyed cross-country to San Diego, California, from whence he sailed on the 12th. On 31 May, he landed on Uvea, largest of the Wallis Islands.
On return from leave, Sergeant Strank was assigned to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division. After extensive training at Camp Pendleton and in Hawaii, Strank landed on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945.
After the fall of Mount Surbachi, he moved northward with his unit. On 1 March, while attacking Japanese positions in northern Iwo Jima, he was fatally wounded by enemy artillery fire. He was buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery with the last rites of the Catholic Church. On 13 January 1949, his remains were reinterred in Grave 7179, Section 12, Arlington National Cemetery.
Sergeant Strank was entitled to the following decorations and medals: Purple Heart (awarded posthumously), Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima), American Defense Service Medal with base clasp (for his service in Cuba before the war), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four stars (for Pavuvu, Bougainville, Consolidation of the Northern Solomons, and Iwo Jima), and the World War II Victory Medal.
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| 'The raising of that flag on Suribachi menas a Marine Corps for the next 500 years!' -- James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 February 1945 'In that moment, Rosenthal's camera recorded the soul of a nation.' -- Editors of US Camera Magazine 'It was like shooting a football game. You never knew what you got on film.' -- Joe Rosenthal, Photographer
Over the years, the flag raising has come to symbolize the spirit of the Corps to all Marines. On November 10, 1954, a bronze monument of the flag raising, sculpted by Felix de Weldon and located in Arlington National Cemetery, was dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of their country. Then Vice President Richard M. Nixon said, "This statue symbolizes the hopes and dreams of America, and the real purpose of our foreign policy. We realize that to retain freedom for ourselves, we must be concerned when people in other parts of the world may lose theirs. There is no greater challenge to statesmanship than to find a way that such sacrifices as this statue represents are not necessary in the future, and to build the kind of world in which people can be free, in which nations can be independent, and in which people can live together in peace and friendship." Rosenthal, like Genaust, had been overlooked by the powers that award wartime honors. Felix deWeldon's bronze sculpture of the flag raising, located near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, is a replica of Rosenthal's photograph. Even so, the sculpture did not contain a credit line for Rosenthal when it was unveiled in 1954. Distressed by the oversight, Rosenthal's many San Francisco friends, backed by Congressman John Burton, began a campaign to have his name placed on the magnificent, 100-ton work of art. An act of Congress, signed by President Reagan, finally allowed Rosenthal's name to be inscribed on the statue 30 years after it was erected. Another controversy involved the fact that the flag raising photographed by Rosenthal and Genaust was not the first to take place atop extinct volcano Mount Suribachi on 23 Feb. 1945. When the first flag went up about 1030, the sight electrified tens of thousands of battle-weary Marines fighting on the island. They shouted and cheered because the flag atop 556-foot-high Suribachi meant they were a big step closer to victory. The first flag was too small, so a second, larger flag was sent to replace it. When it rose 90 minutes later, there were no cheers. The armada of warships offshore didn't sound their sirens, bells and whistles. By then, the vicious fight to the death had resumed. Before it was over, nearly 6,000 Marines were killed or died of wounds and more than 17,000 additional Marines were wounded—one of the war's bloodiest tolls. In some ways it was the war's strangest battle, with nearly 100,000 troops fighting on an island only 4½ miles long. The estimated 23,000 Japanese were mostly underground in tunnels and caves, and Marines of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Marine Divisions attacked to dig them out. Critics and art scholars studying the photographs of the second flag raising declared them works of highest art. Some wrote that if it weren't for Rosenthal and Genaust, the Iwo Jima battle to this day would not hold such a grip on the nation's consciousness. During the war, flags went up on every island the United States fought over, but none ever captured such a dramatic scene as the Rosenthal/Genaust pictures, largely because theirs were unplanned rather than posed and ceremonial like most other flag raisings. War is unfair ... life is unfair ... and art, itself, can be unfair toward those who are a part of it. The six men who raised the second flag will be honored by name for generations to come as the heroes of Mount Suribachi. They were Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley, PFC Ira H. Hayes, Navy Pharmacist's Mate 2d Class John H. Bradley, Corporal Harlon H. Block, PFC Rene A. Gagnon and Sgt Michael Strank. Before the battle ended, three of the six (Strank, Sousley and Block) were dead—never learning of their fame. Photographed by Marine Sgt Louis R. Lowery, the six men who raised the first flag were not just forgotten; some of them were never mentioned. They were Sgt Henry O. Hansen, Platoon Sergeant Ernest I. Thomas Jr., PFC Louis C. Charlo, First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, PFC James R. Michels and Cpl Charles W. Lindberg. Three of them (Thomas, Hansen and Charlo) were later killed in action. Of the 40 men in the patrol who raised both flags, 36 were dead or wounded before the Battle of Iwo Jima ended. After the war, Rosenthal—a man of highest ethics—was surprised and disappointed when the nation's news media accused him of posing his prize-winning photo. The criticism went on for years. It didn't stop until photo experts who viewed the Genaust film declared it proved conclusively there was no way for Rosenthal to have posed the six men. Rosenthal, now nearly 90 years old, rarely discusses his photo and its controversial aftermath. "If I'd posed it," he said, "I would've ruined it." |
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de Havilland "Mosquito"
Today's classic warship, USS New Jersey (BB-62)
Iowa class battleship
displacement. 45,000
length. 887'7"
beam. 108'1"
draft. 28'11"
speed. 33 k.
complement. 1921
armament. 9 16", 20 5"
The USS New Jersey (BB-62) was launched 7 December 1942 by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. Charles Edison, wife of Governor Edison of New Jersey, former Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned at Philadelphia 23 May 1943, Captain Carl F. Holden in command.
New Jersey completed fitting out and trained her initial crew in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. On 7 January 1944 she passed through the Panama Canal war-bound for Funafuti, Ellice Islands. She reported there 22 January for duty with the Fifth Fleet, and three days later rendezvoused with Task Group 58.2 for the assault on the Marshall Islands. New Jersey screened the carriers from enemy attack as their aircraft flew strikes against Kwajalein and Eniwetok 29 January-2 February, softening up the latter for its invasion and supporting the troops who landed 31 January.
New Jersey began her distinguished career as a flagship 4 February in Majuro Lagoon when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the Fifth Fleet, broke his flag from her main. Her first action as a flagship was a bold two-day surface and air strike by her task force against the supposedly impregnable Japanese fleet base on Truk in the Carolines. This blow was coordinated with the assault on Kwajalein, and effectively interdicted Japanese naval retaliation to the conquest of the Marshalls. On 17 and 18 February; the task force accounted for two Japanese light cruisers, four destroyers, three auxiliary cruisers, two submarine tenders, two submarine chasers, an armed trawler, a plane ferry, and 23 other auxiliaries, not including small craft. New Jersey destroyed a trawler and, with other ships, sank destroyer Maikaze, as well as firing on an enemy plane which attacked her formation. The task force returned to the Marshalls 19 February.
Between 17 March and 10 April, New Jersey first sailed with Rear Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's flagship Lexington (CV-16) for an air and surface bombardment of Mille, then rejoined Task Group 58.2 for a strike against shipping in the Palaus, and bombarded Woleai. Upon his return to Majuro, Admiral Spruance transferred his flag to Indianapolis (CA-35).
New Jersey's next war cruise, 13 April-4 May, began and ended at Majuro. She screened the carrier striking force which gave air support to the invasion of Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay and Humboldt, Bay, New Guinea, 22 April, then bombed shipping and shore installations at Truk 29-30 April. New Jersey and her formation splashed two enemy torpedo bombers at Truk. Her sixteen-inch salvos pounded Ponape 1 May, destroying fuel tanks, badly damaging the airfield, and demolishing a headquarters building.
After rehearsing in the Marshalls for the invasion of the Marianas, New Jersey put to sea 6 June in the screening and bombardment group of Admiral Mitscher's Task Force. On the second day of preinvasion air strikes, 12 June, New Jersey downed an enemy torpedo bomber, and during the next two days her heavy guns battered Saipan and Tinian, throwing steel against the beaches the marines would charge 15 June.
The Japanese response to the Marianas operation was an order to its Mobile Fleet; it must attack and annihilate the American invasion force. Shadowing American submarines tracked the Japanese fleet into the Philippine Sea as Admiral Spruance joined his task force with Admiral Mitscher's to meet the enemy. New Jersey took station in the protective screen around the carriers on 19 June as American and Japanese pilots dueled in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. That day and the next were to pronounce the doom of Japanese naval aviation; in this "Marianas Turkey Shoot," the Japanese lost some 400 planes. This loss of trained pilots and aircraft was equaled in disaster by the sinking of three Japanese carriers by submarines and aircraft, and the damaging of two carriers and a battleship. The anti- aircraft fire of New Jersey and the other screening ships proved virtually impenetrable. Only two American ships were damaged, and those but slightly. In this overwhelming victory but 17 American planes were lost to combat.
New Jersey's final contribution to the conquest of the Marianas was in strikes on Guam and the Palaus from which she sailed for Pearl Harbor, arriving 9 August. Here she broke the flag of Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., 24 August, becoming flagship of the Third Fleet. For the eight months after she sailed from Pearl Harbor 30 August New Jersey was based at Ulithi. In this climactic span of the Pacific War, fast carrier task forces ranged the waters off the Philippines, Okinawa, and Formosa, striking again and again at airfields, shipping, shore bases, invasion beaches. New Jersey offered the essential protection required by these forces, always ready to repel enemy air or surface attack.
In September the targets were in the Visayas and the southern Philippines, then Manila and Cavite, Panay, Negros, Leyte, and Cebu. Early in October raids to destroy enemy air power based on Okinawa and Formosa were begun in preparation for the Leyte landings 20 October.
This invasion brought on the desperate, almost suicidal, last great sortie of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its plan for the Battle for Leyte Gulf included a feint by a northern force of planeless heavy attack carriers to draw away the battleships, cruisers and fast carriers with which Admiral Halsey was protecting the landings. This was to allow the Japanese Center Force to enter the gulf through San Bernadino Strait. At the opening of the battle planes from the carriers guarded by New Jersey struck hard at both the Japanese Southern and Center Forces, sinking a battleship 23 October. The next day Halsey shaped his course north after the decoy force had been spotted. Planes from his carriers sank four of the Japanese carriers, as well as a destroyer and a cruiser, while New Jersey steamed south at flank speed to meet the newly developed threat of the Center force. It had been turned back in a stunning defeat when she arrived.
New Jersey rejoined her fast carriers near San Bernadino 27 October for strikes on central and southern Luzon. Two days later, the force was under suicide attack. In a melee of anti- aircraft fire from the ships and combat air patrol, New Jersey shot down a plane whose pilot maneuvered it into Intrepid's (CV- 11) port gun galleries, while machine gun fire from Intrepid wounded three of New Jersey's men. During a similar action 25 November three Japanese planes were splashed by the combined fire of the force, part of one flaming onto Hancock's (CV-19) flight deck. Intrepid was again attacked, shot down one would-be suicide, but was crashed by another despite hits scored on the attacker by New Jersey gunners. New Jersey shot down a plane diving on Cabot (CVL-28) and hit another which smashed into Cabot's port bow.
In December, New Jersey sailed with the Lexington task group for air attacks on Luzon 14-16 December; then found herself in the furious typhoon which sank three destroyers. Skillful seamanship brought her through undamaged. She returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve to be met by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. New Jersey ranged far and wide from 30 December to 25 January 1945 on her last cruise as Admiral Halsey's flagship. She guarded the carriers in their strikes on Formosa, Okinawa, and Luzon, on the coast of Indo-China, Hong Kong, Swatow and Amoy, and again on Formosa and Okinawa. At Ulithi 27 January Admiral Halsey lowered his flag in New Jersey, but it was replaced two days later by that of Rear Admiral Oscar Badger commanding Battleship Division Seven.
In support of the assault on Iwo Jima, New Jersey screened the Essex (CV-9) group in air attacks on the island 19-21 February, and gave the same crucial service for the first major carrier raid on Tokyo 25 February, a raid aimed specifically at aircraft production. During the next two days, Okinawa was attacked from the air by the same striking force.
New Jersey was directly engaged in the conquest of Okinawa from 14 March until 16 April. As the carriers prepared for the invasion with strikes there and on Honshu, New Jersey fought off air raids, used her seaplanes to rescue downed pilots, defended the carriers from suicide planes, shooting down at least three and assisting in the destruction of others. On 24 March she again carried out the vital battleship role of heavy bombardment, preparing the invasion beaches for the assault a week later.
During the final months of the war, New Jersey was overhauled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, from which she sailed 4 July for San Pedro, Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok bound for Guam. Here on 14 August she once again became flagship of the Fifth Fleet under Admiral Spruance. Brief stays at Manila and Okinawa preceded her arrival in Tokyo Bay 17 September, where she served as flagship for the successive commanders of Naval Forces in Japanese waters until relieved 28 January 1946 by Iowa (BB-61). New Jersey took aboard nearly a thousand homeward-bound troops with whom she arrived at San Francisco 10 February.
After west coast operations and a normal overhaul at Puget Sound, New Jersey's keel once more cut the Atlantic as she came home to Bayonne, New Jersey, for a rousing fourth birthday part 23 May 1947. Present were Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, former Governor Walter E. Edge and other dignitaries.
Between 7 June and 26 August, New Jersey formed part of the first training squadron to cruise Northern European waters since the beginning of World War II. Over two thousand Naval Academy and NROTC midshipmen received sea-going experience under the command of Admiral Richard L. Connoly, Commander Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, who broke his flag in New Jersey at Rosyth, Scotland 23 June. She was the scene of official receptions at Oslo, where King Haakon VII of Norway inspected the crew 2 July, and at Portsmouth, England. The training fleet was westward bound 18 July for exercises in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic.
After serving at New York as flagship for Rear Admiral Heber H. McClean, Commander, Battleship Division One, 12 September-18 October, New Jersey was inactivated at the New York Naval Shipyard. She was decommissioned at Bayonne 30 June 1948 and assigned to the New York Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
New Jersey was recommissioned at Bayonne 21 November 1950, Captain David M. Tyree in command. In the Caribbean she welded her crew into an efficient body which would meet with distinction the demanding requirements of the Korean War. She sailed from Norfolk 16 April 1951 and arrived from Japan off the east coast of Korea 17 May. Vice Admiral Harold M. Martin, commanding the Seventh Fleet. placed his flag in New Jersey for the next six months.
New Jersey's guns opened the first shore bombardment of her Korean carrier at Wonsan 20 May. During her two tours of duty in Korean waters, she was again and again to play the part of seaborne mobile artillery. In direct support to United Nations troops; or in preparation for ground actions, in interdicting Communist supply and communication routes, or in destroying supplies and troop positions, New Jersey hurled a weight of steel, fire far beyond the capacity of land artillery, moved rapidly and free from major attack from one target to another, and at the same time could be immediately available to guard aircraft carriers should they require her protection. It was on this first such mission at Wonsan that she received her only combat casualties of the Korean War. One of her men was killed and two severely wounded when she took a hit from a shore battery on her number one turret and received a near miss aft to port.
Between 23 and 27 May and again 30 May, New Jersey pounded targets near Yangyang and Kansong, dispersing troop concentrations, dropping a bridge span, and destroying three large ammunition dumps. Air spotters reported Yangyang abandoned at the end of this action, while railroad facilities and vehicles were smashed at Kansong. On 24 May, she lost one of her helicopters when its crew pushed to the limit of their fuel searching for a downed aviator. They themselves were able to reach friendly territory and were later returned to their ship.
With Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, and Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, Commander Naval Forces Far East aboard, New Jersey bombarded targets at Wonsan 4 June. At Kansong two days later she fired her main battery at an artillery regiment and truck encampment, with Seventh Fleet aircraft spotting targets and reporting successes. On 28 July off Wonsan the battleship was again taken under fire by shore batteries. Several near misses splashed to port, but New Jersey's precision fire silenced the enemy and destroyed several gun emplacements.
Between 4 and 12 July, New Jersey supported a United Nations push in the Kansong area, firing at enemy buildup and reorganization positions. As the, Republic of Korea's First Division hurled itself on the enemy, shore fire control observers saw New Jersey's salvos hit directly on enemy mortar emplacements, supply and ammunition dumps, and personnel concentrations. New Jersey returned to Wonsan 18 July for an exhibition of perfect firing: five gun emplacements demolished with five direct hits.
New Jersey sailed to the aid of troops of the Republic of Korea once more 17 August, returning to the Kansong area where for four days she provided harassing fire by night, and broke up counterattacks by day, inflicting a heavy toll on enemy troops. She returned to this general area yet again 29 August, when she fired in an amphibious demonstration staged behind enemy lines to ease pressure on the Republic of Korea's troops. The next day she an a three-day saturation of the Changjon area, with one of her own helicopters spotting the results: four buildings; destroyed, road junctions smashed, railroad marshaling yards afire, tracks cut and uprooted, coal stocks scattered, many buildings and warehouses set blazing.
Aside from a brief break in firing 23 September to take aboard wounded from the Korean frigate Apnok (PF-62), damaged by gunfire, New Jersey was heavily engaged in bombarding the Kansong area, supporting the movement of the U.S. Tenth Corps.. The pattern again was harassing fire by night, destruction of known targets by day. Enemy movement was restricted by the fire of her big guns. A bridge, a dam, several gun emplacements, mortar positions, pillboxes, bunkers, an two ammunition dumps were demolished.
On 1 October, General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; of Staff, and General Matthew B. Ridgeway, Commander in Chief Far East, came on board to confer with Admiral Martin.
Between 1 and 6 October New Jersey was in action daily at Kansong, Hamhung, Hungnam, Tanchon, and Songjin. Enemy bunkers and supply concentrations provided the majority of the targets at Kansong; at the others New Jersey fired on railroads, tunnels, bridges, an oil refinery, trains, and shore batteries destroying with five-inch fire a gun that straddled her. The Kojo area was her target 16 October as she sailed in company with HMS Belfast, pilots from HMAS Sydney spotting. The operation was well-planned and coordinated ad excellent results were obtained.
Another highly satisfactory day was 16 October, when the spotter over the Kansong area reported "beautiful shooting every shot on target-most beautiful shooting I have seen in five years." This five hour bombardment leveled ten artillery positions, and in smashing trenches and bunkers inflicted some 500 casualties.
New Jersey dashed up the North Korean coast raiding transportation facilities from 1 to 6 November. She struck at bridges, road and rail installations at Wonsan, Hungnam, Tanchon, Iowon, Songjin, and Chongjin, and left smoking behind her four bridges destroyed, others badly damaged, two marshaling yards badly torn up, and many feet of track destroyed. With renewed attacks on Kansong and near the Chang-San-Got Peninsula 11 and 13 November, New Jersey completed this tour of duty.
Relieved as flagship by Wisconsin (BB-64), New Jersey cleared Yokosuka for Hawaii, Long Beach and the Panama Canal, and returned to Norfolk 20 December for a six-month overhaul. Between 19 July 1952 and 5 September, she sailed as flagship for Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber, who commanded the NROTC midshipman training cruise to Cherbourg, Lisbon, and the Caribbean. Now New Jersey prepared and trained for her second Korean tour, for which she sailed from Norfolk 5 March 1953.
Shaping her course via the Panama Canal, Long Beach, and Hawaii, New Jersey reached Yokosuka 5 April, and next day relived Missouri (BB-63) as flagship of Vice Admiral Joseph H. Clark, Commander Seventh Fleet. Chongjin felt the weight of her shells 12 April, as New Jersey returned to action; in seven minutes she scored seven direct hits, blowing away half the main communications building there. At Pusan two days later, New Jersey manned her rails to welcome the President of the Republic of Korea and Madame Rhee, and American Ambassador Ellis O. Briggs.
New Jersey fired on coastal batteries and buildings at Kojo 16 April; on railway track and tunnels near Hungnam 18 April; and on gun emplacements around Wonsan Harbor 20 April, silencing them in five areas after she had herself take several near misses. Songjin provided targets 23 April. Her New Jersey scored six direct 16-inch hits on a railroad tunnel and knocked out two rail bridges.
New Jersey added her muscle to a major air and surface strike on Wonsan 1 May, as Seventh Fleet planes both attacked the enemy and spotted for the battleship. She knocked out eleven Communist shore guns that day, and four days later destroyed the key observation post on the island of Hodo Pando, commanding the harbor. Two days later Kalmagak at Wonsan was her target.
Her tenth birthday, 23 May, was celebrated at Inchon with President and Madame Rhee, Lieutenant General Maxwell D. Taylor, and other dignitaries on board. Two days later New Jersey was all war once more, returning to the west coast at Chinampo to knock out harbor defense positions.
The battleship was under fire at Wonsan 27-29 May, but her five-inch guns silenced the counter-fire, and her 16-inch shells destroyed five gun emplacements and four gun caves. She also hit a target that flamed spectacularly: either a fuel storage area or an ammunition dump.
New Jersey returned to the key task of direct support to troops at Kosong 7 June. On her first mission, she completely destroyed two gun positions, an observation post, and their supporting trenches, then stood by on call for further aid. Then it was back to Wonsan for a day-long bombardment 24 June, aimed at guns placed in caves. The results were excellent, with eight direct hits on three caves, one cave demolished, and four others closed. Next day she returned to troop support at Kosong, her assignment until 10 July, aside from necessary withdrawal for replenishment.
At Wonsan 11-12 July, New Jersey fired one of the most concentrated bombardments of her Korean duty. For nine hours the first day, and for seven the second, her guns slammed away on gun positions and bunkers on Hodo Pando and the mainland with telling effect. At least ten enemy guns were destroyed, many damaged, and a number of caves and tunnels sealed. New Jersey smashed radar control positions and bridges at Kojo 13 July, and was once more on the east coast bombline 22-24 July to support South Korean troops near Kosong. These days found her gunners at their most accurate and the devastation wrought was impressive. A large cave, housing an important enemy observation post was closed, the end of a month-long United Nations effort. A great many bunkers, artillery areas, observation posts, trenches, tanks and other weapons were destroyed.
At sunrise 25 July New Jersey was off the key port, rail and communications center of Hungnam, pounding coastal guns, bridges, a factor area, and oil storage tanks. She sailed north that afternoon, firing at rail lines and railroad tunnels as she made for Tanchon, where she launched a whaleboat in an attempt to spot a train known to run nightly along the coast. Her big guns were trained on two tunnels between which she hoped to catch the train, but in the darkness she could not see the results of her six-gun salvo.
New Jersey's mission at Wonsan, next day, was her last. Here she destroyed large-caliber guns, bunkers, caves and trenches. Two days later, she learned of the truce. Her crew celebrated during a seven day visit at Hong Kong, where she anchored 20 August. Operations around Japan and off Formosa were carried out for the remainder of her tour, which was highlighted by a visit to Pusan. Here President Rhee came aboard 16 September to present the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to the Seventh fleet.
Relieved as flagship at Yokosuka by Wisconsin 14 October, New Jersey was homeward bound the next day, reaching Norfolk 14 November. During, the next two summers she crossed the Atlantic with midshipmen on board for training, and during the rest of the year sharpened her skills with exercises and training maneuvers along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean.
New Jersey stood out of Norfolk 7 September 1955 for her first tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Her ports of call included Gibraltar, Valencia, Cannes, Istanbul, Suda Bay; and Barcelona. She returned to Norfolk 7 January 1956 for the spring program of training operations. That summer she again carried midshipmen to Northern Europe for training, bringing them home to Annapolis 31 July. New Jersey sailed for Europe once more 27 August as flagship of Vice Admiral Charles Wellborn, Jr., Commander Second Fleet. She called at Lisbon, participated in NATO exercises off Scotland, and paid an official visit to Norway where Crown Prince Olaf was a guest. She returned to Norfolk 15 October, and 14 December arrived at New York Naval Shipyard for inactivation. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Bayonne 21 August 1957.
New Jersey's third career began 6 April 1968 when she recommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain J. Edward Snyder in command. Fitted with improved electronics and a helicopter landing pad and with her 40-millimeter battery removed, she was tailored for use as a heavy bombardment ship. Her 16-inch guns, it was expected, would reach targets in Vietnam inaccessible to smaller naval guns and, in foul weather, safe from aerial attack.
New Jersey, now the world's only active battleship, departed Philadelphia 16 May, calling at Norfolk and transiting the Panama Canal before arriving at her new home port of Long Beach, California, 11 June. Further training off Southern California followed. On 24 July New Jersey received 16-inch shells and powder tanks from Mount Katmai (AE-16) by conventional highline transfer and by helicopter lift, the first time heavy battleship ammunition had been transferred by helicopter at sea.
Departing Long Beach 3 September, New Jersey touched at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour of gunfire support duty along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th Parallel on 30 September, the dreadnought fired her first shots in battle in over sixteen years. Firing against Communist targets in and near the so-called Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), her big guns destroyed two gun positions and two supply areas. She fired against targets north of the DMZ the following day, rescuing the crew of a spotting plane forced down at sea by antiaircraft fire.
The next six months self into a steady pace of bombardment and fire support missions along the Vietnamese coast, broken only by brief visits to Subic Bay and replenishment operations at sea. In her first two months on the gun line, New Jersey directed nearly ten thousand rounds of ammunition at Communist targets; over: 3,000 of these shells were 16-inch projectiles.
Her first Vietnam combat tour completed, New Jersey departed Subic Bay 3 April 1969 for Japan. She arrived at Yokosuka for a two-day visit, sailing for the United States 9 April. Her homecoming, however, was to be delayed. On the 15th, while New Jersey was still at sea, North Korean jet fighters shot down an unarmed EC-121 "Constellation" electronic surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, killing its entire crew. A carrier task force was formed and sent to the Sea of Japan, while New Jersey was ordered to come about and steam toward Japan. On the 22nd she arrived once more at Yokosuka, and immediately put to sea in readiness for what might befall. As the crisis lessened, New Jersey was released to continue her interrupted voyage. She anchored at Long Beach 5 May 1969, her first visit to her home port in eight months. Through the summer months, New Jersey's crew toiled to make her ready for another deployment. Deficiencies discovered on the gun line were remedied, as all hands looked forward to another opportunity to prove the mighty warship's worth in combat. Reasons of economy were to dictate otherwise. On 22 August 1969 the Secretary of Defense released a list of names of ships to be inactivated; at the top of the list was New Jersey. Five days later, Captain Snyder was relieved of command by Captain Robert C. Peniston.
Assuming command of a ship already earmarked for the "mothball fleet," Captain Peniston and his crew prepared for their melancholy task. New Jersey got underway on her last voyage 6 September, departing Long Beach for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived on the 8th, and began pre-inactivation overhaul to ready herself for decommissioning. On 17 December 1969 New Jersey's colors were hauled down and she entered the inactive fleet, still echoing the words of her last commanding officer: "Rest well, yet sleep lightly; and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide fire power for freedom."
New Jersey earned the Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service. She has received nine battle stars for World War II; four for the Korean conflict; and two for Vietnam.
The early 1980s defense buildup produced a fourth active period for New Jersey, beginning with her recommissioning in December 1982. She again fired her big guns in combat during the Lebanon crisis of 1983-84 and deployed to the western Pacific in 1986 and 1989-90, with the latter cruise extending to the Persian Gulf area.
Decommissioned again in February 1991, she was stricken 12 January 1995 and retained at Bremerton pending preservation. She was subsequently upgraded to reserve status, reinstated on the NVR 12 February 1998. Stricken again 4 January 1999, she was placed on donation hold. She was temporarily berthed at NISMF, Bremerton WA. On 12 September 1999, New Jersey was towed by the tug Sea Victory from Bremerton to Philadelphia, arriving 11 November. On 20 January 2000, SECNAV announced her donation to Home Port Alliance of Camden, N.J., for use as a museum.
Begining on March 1, 2004 the New Jersey will be open for tours seven days a week.
Begining on March 1, 2004 the New Jersey will be open for tours seven days a week.
Battleship New Jersey Museum Multimedia Tour
I cut it out & mailed it to a Joe Rosenthal I found in the SF phonebook, then living in the avenues (I had heard Rosenthal of Iwo Jima fame had attended my alma mater USF after the war & surmised this might be the same one).
Darned if I did get the photo back a few months later, autographed. I don't even know if he's still alive at this point, but the photo is now a treasured possession of mine.
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