The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Marshall Islands Campaign(1/31/1944 - 2/8/1944) - May 20th, 2004

www.chinfo.navy.mil ^ | Lyn Kukral

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Marshall Islands Campaign

With the Marshall Islands campaign of early 1944, the Marine 4th Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division moved into Japanese territory for the first time in World War II. The islands, under Japanese control since World War I, offered U.S. forces bases for reconnaissance, combat staging and logistics. They were the next step in the Allied march to the Japanese home islands.

The Commanders Once planners chose Kwajalein and Majuro atolls as the targets of Operation Flintlock, as the campaign was code named, forces were assigned as follows:

• Rear Admiral Richard L. Conolly commanded the Northern Task Force, responsible for landing troops under Marine Major General Harry Schmidt. These troops were from the Marine 4th Division. Their objectives were Roi and Namur islands in northern Kwajalein Atoll.
• Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner commanded the Southern Task Force, responsible for landing troops under Army Major General Charles H. Corlett. These troops were from the Army's 7th Infantry Division and its attached units. Their objective was Kwajalein Island in the southern Kwajalein Atoll.
• Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill commanded the Majuro Attack Force, responsible for landing troops under Army Lieutenant Colonel Frederick B. Sheldon. The V Amphibious Corps Reconnaissance Company was assigned to pinpoint location of the enemy throughout the atoll; the Army's 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry Regiment, 27th Division would serve as the main assault force.

D-Day

D-Day in the Marshalls was set for Jan. 31, 1944. On that day, Marines in northern Kwajalein Atoll planned to seize five islands in the vicinity of Roi-Namur, while the 7th Infantry Division hoped to capture four islets near Kwajalein Island. The Majuro Attack Force also targeted four small islands for takeover. All were tactically necessary to the main objectives, scheduled for assault Feb. 1. Combined Navy, Marine and Army forces successfully accomplished all of these missions on D-Day.

Roi-Namur

The islands of Roi and Namur, linked by a short causeway, are so close that they counted as a single target. Roi-Namur was the primary Japanese air base in the Marshalls.



Although many ships of the Northern Task Force were combat veterans, neither the troop transport drivers nor the 4th Marine Division, newly created in August 1943, had combat experience. Additionally, participants in the assault had not been able to rehearse as a unit. This combination of factors made for confusion in the launching of the assault.


"7th Infantry Goes Ashore, Kwajalein Atoll" (1944).
Official U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, Graflex-Made. Donated by Joseph Garofalo - 121st Seabees, 4th Marine Division.

Three days of naval bombardment and air strikes preceded the 4th Marine Division to Roi-Namur. On Feb. 1, ships responsible for fire support and bombardment moved in to extremely close range, maximizing their effectiveness, killing a significant number of defenders, and earning Conolly the nickname "Close-in," along with the gratitude of the troops, who were able to come into the beaches standing up. Navy ships and pilots dropped 6,000 tons of heavy explosives before the Marines set foot on Roi-Namur.

Once on the beach, the troops assigned to Roi (the Marine 23rd Regimental Combat Team) advanced rapidly. The Japanese resisted strongly near the airfield's runways, but by late afternoon on Feb. 1 equipment was being landed to repair the airfield for American use. Roi was secured the same day.


Unexploded Jap bomb in crater. There were many of these duds on the island. Picture, George Smith.

Capturing Namur, the job of the Marine 24th Regimental Combat Team, proved more difficult. Over half of the assigned transport craft could not be located when it was time to launch the assault. As a result, the timing of the assault waves was off, and units went in piecemeal. Next, the leading waves were halted by tracked landing vehicles that had stopped in the water, throwing everything behind them into confusion. These problems in the water caused a mixup on the beach. Fortunately, the enemy chose not to fight at the water's edge, so the Marines could regroup.


Light tank fires at Jap position on Kwajalein Island as the 7th Division moved in during recent brilliant campaign. Bitter fighting blasted the Japs.

Once ashore, the Marines advanced rapidly; at nightfall, only the north shore of the island remained to be captured. The Marines established a defensive perimeter, which the Japanese attacked several times during the night. Fire discipline among the relatively untried troops was not good, and this, rather than the Japanese attacks, posed the greatest danger to the front line. In the morning, the Marines resumed their advance, and by early afternoon held Namur.

In the seizure of the northern portion of Kwajalein Atoll, Marine 4th Division casualties were 313 killed and 502 wounded. They defeated an estimated 3,563 Japanese garrison forces, taking only about 90 prisoners.

Kwajalein Island

Kwajalein Island was the primary Japanese naval base in the Marshalls.



Two factors combined to make the Feb. 1 landing on Kwajalein among the most perfectly executed of the Pacific theater. First, the 7th Infantry Division trained superbly before it left Hawaii. Second, task force commander Turner was determined that Navy preliminary bombardment, primarily surface, would deliver a thorough pounding to the island's defenders. Turner and his heavy cruisers, battleships and destroyers delivered throughout the engagement, as did Army artillerymen.

Four days of struggle were required to subdue the Japanese, but the Army veterans of Attu and Kiska succeeded. Just after 7 p.m. on the fourth day, Corlett, the Army commander, radioed Turner that the island was secure.


What is left of fuel storage tanks. Photo taken by George Smith.

In the seizure of Kwajalein Island and surrounding islets, Army casualties included 173 killed and 793 wounded in overcoming an estimated 4,823 Japanese garrison troops. Of these, most were killed or committed suicide; approximately 174 were taken prisoner.

Majuro Atoll

The capture of Majuro, intended for use as an air and naval base, occurred without loss of American lives. Early intelligence reports proved erroneous; when Marines from the V Amphibious Corps Reconnaissance Company landed on Jan. 31, they found no Japanese on any of the islands slated for preliminary attack.



The night of Jan. 31, a Marine platoon landed on Majuro Island itself. All but one Japanese had escaped. The 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry Regiment did not land on Majuro until Feb. 1; then, with an influx of garrison troops, it began converting Majuro into a U.S. air and naval base.

Eniwetok

The speed with which Kwajalein Atoll fell allowed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, to move up the timetable for the seizure of Eniwetok Atoll, code named Operation Catchpole.



Catchpole came under the overall command of Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill. The V Amphibious Corps reserve, made up of the 22nd Marine Regiment (reinforced) under Marine Colonel John T. Walker and the 106th Infantry Regiment(reinforced) under Army Colonel Russell G. Ayers, provided the ground forces.

On Feb. 18, 1944, the Marines landed on Engebi Island, supported by naval gunfire and by shore-based artillery placed the day before on three adjacent islets. Engebi, which contained the atoll's airfield, was secured that day.



On Feb. 19, the 106th Infantry faced a tougher situation on Eniwetok Island, but after two days of fighting and help from the 22nd Marines' 3rd Battalion, Eniwetok, too, was taken. The 22nd Marines also seized Parry on Feb. 21, closing the action in the atoll.

In Operation Catchpole, Marine casualties were 254 killed, 555 wounded; Army casualties were 94 killed and 311 wounded. About 3,400 Japanese died and 66 were taken prisoner.



U.S. forces bypassed four remaining Japanese bases in the Marshalls (Jaluit, Maleolap, Mille and Wotje), cutting them off from reinforcement. After the war, it was learned that of approximately 13,700 Japanese left at these bases, 7,440 died from bombing, disease or starvation.

Campaign Results

The capture of the Marshall Islands moved American reconnaissance and land-based strike aircraft within range of the both the Carolines and the Marianas, and opened new bases for the U.S. Navy. It caused the Japanese navy to evacuate Truk Island in the Carolines, which was the bastion of Japanese air and naval power in the Central Pacific.


Feels real good to capture the atoll after intense fighting.

The rapid victories in the Marshalls gave added momentum to the Central Pacific drive. The low number of casualties--under 3,000 combined for Marines and Army--shows that the lessons that the Marine 2nd Division paid such a high price for at Tarawa were put to good use. Surface and air bombardment and naval gunnery improved in strength and accuracy. Tactics against heavily defended atolls had been changed and improved. The Marshalls assault forces had more and better transportation to the beach as well.

[SAMWolf]

THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
Kwajalein ....Roi-Namur....Eniwetok

On November 19, 1943, five thousand United States Marines invaded Tarawa Island in the Gilbert Islands. A few days later over one-half of them were dead. Many of those who had died were killed on the coral reef approach to Tarawa's beaches. The landing craft had lodged on the reef leaving the Marines helpless in a withering Japanese cross fire. Admiral Turner, Commanding Officer of the U. S. Pacific Amphibious Fleet vowed that this would never happen again.

In the early December of 1943, Turner received Admiral Nimitz's approval for a plan to convert already trained Naval Combat Demolition Units into Underwater Demolition Teams. Each of these new teams would consist of (15) 6 man NCDU crews, making the Teams about 90 men and officers each. Whether this formula or ratio was Turner's idea or not has not been confirmed, but his directive through top Navy brass was clear. The new Teams were called Naval Underwater Demolition Teams.

As 1944 approached, the United States forces had nearly conquered the vast Solomon Island area with its many islands. The United States and British forces, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, were beginning to throttle the Japanese on New Guinea. The United States Navy with its Marine Corp was preparing its long march across the western Pacific - destination Japan. With Tarawa and the rest of the Gilbert Islands behind them, the next objective was the Japanese occupied Marshall Island with their three fortified strongholds, Kwajalein, Roi-Namur, and Eniwetok.

Turner's directive initiated two fast moving projects. First and most important in terms of time was the formation of two Underwater Demolition Teams trained for action before the middle of January. Teams that would be in the Marshalls ahead of the invading Marines in late January. The second project was to immediately establish a top secret base in the Hawaiian Islands to train future Underwater Demolition Teams. That base would be the Naval Underwater Demolition Training and Experimental Base on Maui.

The two new Teams for the Marshall Island operation was going to be the problem because of the short time allowed for their development and training. Even if the brass could move enough trained Naval Combat Demolition Units together in the Pacific in the time allowed, there still must be some time to train in their new 90 man formation.

By early December there was a nucleus of men training at Waimanalo, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. A mixture of Seabees who had experience in coral blasting in the Solomons, Naval Combat Demolition Units from Fort Pierce, a number of men from the Marine Corps, and a few Army men. By the middle of December 1943, there were approximately one-hundred fifty men and officers in that group. They were split into two groups, and were named Underwater Demolition Teams One and Two respectively.



A listing of officers is not available for the Team One roster, but several officers have been identified from other sources as being on Team One's staff. Commander E. D. Brewster (CEC) was made commanding officer of the Team. Ensign Lew Luehrs served as a platoon officer. Luehrs would have one of the longest distinguished records in Underwater Demolition. He was one of the first men to swim a reconnaissance mission when he swam into the beach at Kwajalein. He was later a platoon officer in Team 3, he served with the Experimental Group at Maui testing the early types of shallow water diving equipment, and later was made Executive Officer of Team 18 with duty at Borneo and Tokyo. Carpenter W. L. Gordon, a Seabee Warrant Officer, served as a platoon officer, and he would later serve with Team 3. Team One remained in training at Waimanalo until they left for the Marshall Islands in January. In January 1944, Team One was attached to Task Force 52 under Vice Admiral Turner.



Team Two organized with nearly half of the men being Marine and Army personnel. Lieutenant Tom Crist, a Seabee just in from Canton Island in the Solomons, took over as temporary Commanding Officer of Team Two. About Christmas time of 1943 Team Two moved to San Diego, California. There the Team was attached to Task Force 53 under Rear Admiral Conolly. Lieutenant Commander J. T. Koehler replaced Lieutenant Crist as Commanding Officer, and Crist became the Operations Officer.

In the brief month that these two teams were formed and trained together, it was hoped that they would be prepared to meet the challenge ahead - whatever that would be. The schedule for the Kwajalein and Roi-Namur landings was the last day of January 1944. Eniwetok, farther west in the island group, was scheduled for attack during the middle of February.

Team Two left San Diego with Conolly's fleet before the middle of January. The Team did not have the luxury of the later Teams. Instead of an APD they moved by APA transport.

Team One left the Hawaiian Islands by the middle of January with Admiral Turner's fleet. Before the end of the month, they would be in the Marshalls, and the bombardment force would be striking targets on Kwajelein's and Roi-Namur.

It was planned to use two new weapons in the Marshall invasions. One of these was the use of modified LCIs, Landing Craft Infantry. These were ocean going vessels that were designed to beach and unload troops. The LCIG was an LCI converted into a gunboat. On the troop deck, racks and racks of rocket launchers were installed. They were designed as close-in firepower support for invading forces, and they were found particularly effective in support of Underwater Demolition swimmers in the later invasions in the Pacific.

The other weapon was the "drone boats". The idea of the drone boats was hatched by someone at Waimanalo. Tom Crist, who furnished much of the information about Teams One and Two for this book, and who now (1993) is about 80 years old, living in Dallas, Texas, trained and experimented with the drone boats before their use at Kwajelein and Roi-Namur. The drone boats were high technology 1943 style, but simply put, they were unmanned boats controlled by radio signals. The drone boats were tested under non-combat conditions, used at both Kwajelein and Roi-Namur, and were considered to have failed in all three instances. The drone boats were ordinary wooden landing craft with special radio controlled equipment for guidance and acceleration. They were loaded with three tons of explosives. Some research listed the explosive as 60% dynamite and another listed it as tetrytol. Of course, dynamite would be illogical because a Japanese sniper could detonate the dynamite with a single rifle bullet, either by chance or by intention. The boats were intended to blast holes or channels through coral reefs without endangering the lives of demolition men required to place the explosive from rubber boats. Any good demolition man should have been skeptical, because explosives will move into the least resistance. Three tons of explosives in a floating boat would lose most of its force moving upward through the air, and furthermore the downward energy would be reduced quickly between the water and the coral.

[SAMWolf]

The Marshall Island operations were code named Operation Flintlock. The Kwajelein Atoll is the largest coral atoll in the world. It is shaped similar to the shape of a handgun with Kwajelein Island on the butt of the gun and Roi-Namur on the hammer. The two islands are about 40 miles apart. The invasion of both islands took place on January 31, 1944. Team One was assigned the beaches of Kwajelein, and Team Two the beaches of Roi-Namur. Kwajelein was the largest of the two islands and most heavily armed by the Japanese. Roi-Namur was really two small islands almost as close as the hyphen in the name.



The Kwajelein operation began in the early morning hours of January 31. Admiral Turner decided to have Underwater Demolition Team One make a daylight reconnaissance of the coral reefs and beaches to determine the high and low tide water depths through the beach approaches and the beach conditions above the high water mark. Team One, using LCVPs, moved toward the beach making depth soundings over the coral approaches. Two battleships and several destroyers pounded the beaches with heavy fire support during the mission. The LCVPs drew some fire but managed to map a wide area of the reef to within 400 yards of the beach.

At that point, swimmers led by Ensign Lew Luehrs, left the LCVPs and swam shoreward over the reef. They covered the entire reef to the surf line checking for the water depth and searching for mines and possible underwater obstacles. They found the beach was clear of mines and manmade obstacles, but found large coral head growths closer to the surf. At low tide a repeat of the disaster at Tarawa could occur. The swimmers report gave the depth of water over the coral heads and recommended the use of amtracks to transport the troops to the beach.


Mortars were important weapons in the fight for Kwajalein. Almost every inch of the island presented scenes of destruction such as presented here.

Lew Luehrs lives in Washington state today (1993) and has been a contributor of materials for this manuscript. That short hour-long mission by Team One at Kwajelein made history that day in January of 1943. It was the first Underwater Demolition Team operation and it was the first daylight swimming reconnaissance. The operation was hardly planned and resulted mostly from a last minute directive from Admiral Turner stating simply, we will do it this way. It also was the beginning of a very precise method of operation which would be perfected in the many invasions still to come in the Pacific Theater of War.

On another Kwajelein beach the drone boats were tried for the first time on an enemy beach. They never got to the beach and their explosive cargo was never ignited. The operation was canceled because of technical failures.


Action right in the foxholes and trenches was photographed as the battle raged. Infantrymen of the 7th handle machine guns.

Although Team One had no pre-assault demolition operations, after the landings they blasted channels through coral reefs to allow heavy supplies to be transported to shore. They also blasted beach obstacles in a beach clearing operation.

Meanwhile, about 40 miles northwest of Kwajelein the island of Roi-Namur was being attacked by Admiral Conolly's Task Force 53 with Underwater Demolition Team Two assigned to reconnoiter the beaches.



The reconnaissance mission at Roi-Namur was accomplished in the good old Fort Pierce style of "sneak and peek". Team Two rubber boat crews moved over the coral reef to the beaches under the protection of darkness. The crews found the water depth over the reef adequate, and the beaches seemed clear of mines and obstacles. Even though there was some question whether the darkness may have hidden some dangerous details, the Marines had no problems during their late morning landings.


Pillbox in background with prisoner surrendering during battle.

It was decided that Team Two would try their drone boats before "H-hour" even though the beaches had been declared clear. It would be a good test run under fire and the exploding drones might cause confusion for the Japanese forces. So, under heavy fire, Lieutenant Tom Crist, the Team Operations Officer in charge of the drones, sent the boats into the smoke shrouded beach. When the drones were very near the beach Crist gave the old Demo "Fire in the Hole" cry. But all were misfires, and the drones seemed out of control. One boat traveled a circular path a short distance from the beach. Radio signals would not control the boats or fire the charges, and Crist had to send men in on other landing craft to board and bring the drones under control.

The drone boats were all under manual control before the first wave of Marines went ashore. What caused the drones to cease responding to radio signals was never known, but it was believed that in the choppy water over the reef the electrical connections had shorted. Three tries and three failures resulted in ending the testing and using drone boats.


U.S. Army infantrymen of the assault units rest after being withdrawn from the front lines. Note the completely demolished landscape of what before was a lush tropical island.
From: Island Victory, The Battle For Kwajalein. By S.L.A. Marshall. Zenger Publishing Co. Inc., Washington D.C

Team Two did some post-assault demolition work blasting landing ramps in the coral ledges at the beach line. There was also some assault work with the Marines in blasting heavily fortified blockhouses.

Teams One and Two had made UDT history with many "firsts" at Kwajelein and Roi-Namur. The Army at Kwajelein and the Marines at Roi-Namur had also had successful "firsts", and the disaster of Tarawa had not been repeated and their casualty lists were evidence of that.

By the end of the first week in February, the two eastern strongholds were in U. S. hands, but the third one in the western Marshalls was still waiting. This was Eniwetok, another Marshall Islands atoll which is a couple of hundred miles or more west by northwest of Kwajelein. Team One was assigned the responsibility of the Eniwetok underwater demolition operation. It was decided to use amtracks for the UDT reconnaissance missions and the amtracks carried Marine scouts as well as Team One men.


Infantrymen moving up to battle on Kwajalein pass a fallen comrade.
From: Island Victory, The Battle For Kwajalein. By S.L.A. Marshall. Zenger Publishing Co. Inc., Washington D.C.,

The water was very clear as the amtracks approached the outer limits of the coral reef leading to the intended invasion beaches. As the amtracks moved slowly shoreward coral heads began appearing under the water. The Japanese began firing at the amtracks and the fleet's bombardment force increases their fire. The radiomen in the amtracks were unable to spot only a general location for the source of enemy fire, so the fleet used a "blanket fire" method in attempting to cover the amtracks and their UDT and Marine scouts.

Where the water over the coral heads became shallow enough to indicate a threat to landing craft, it was decided to mark their location with buoys. The buoys would locate the coral heads for a night underwater demolition operation if necessary. Lew Luehrs led Team One swimmers from the moving amtracks sounding the depth to the coral heads and buoying those that were determined needed removing. A quarter mile wide area of reef was reconnoitered from the deep water to the surf line with all coral heads which seemed hazardous plainly marked with buoys. After the completion of the coral head locations, Luehrs and his swimmers placed different colored side buoys along the quarter mile width of the beach approach area.


"Closing In, Kwajalein Atoll" (1944).
Official U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, Graflex-Made. Donated by Joseph Garofalo, 121st Seabees, 4th Marine Division.

It was determined after the full report of the mission was finalized that the coral heads would not be a hazard to LCVPs with the tide level expected during the invasion hours, and a night demolition operation was not required.

The following morning another tradition of Underwater Demolition began. The UDT reconnaissance swimmers led the first wave of landing craft into the beach. Lew Luehrs in command of the wave guide boat noticed that many of the landing craft was moving out of the area marked by buoys. He moved his craft close to the wayward craft and forced them back into the channel area. Luehrs was warranted a Silver Star Medal for his performance that morning, and this was just the beginning of his distinguished service in UDT.



Eniwetok was soon secured by Marines, and the Marshall Islands were now in control of the United States. The first big step across the thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean was now complete and the dreadful casualties of Tarawa were not repeated, and at least some credit must be given to the new Underwater Demolition Teams for that.

There are many atolls in the Marshall Islands and each atoll has many small islands around its lagoon. The research for this manuscript did not reveal any information about any islands other than Kwajelein, Roi-Namur, and Eniwetok that were invaded by U. S. forces, but no doubt there were Japanese on many of the small islands that were overwhelmed easily by landing parties with little or no casualties.



For Teams One and Two their war was over, they were decommissioned. But the war was not over for the men who served with them for they would go into other teams and into the Naval Underwater Demolition Base at Maui as instructors to train other teams. Lieutenant Commander Koehler left immediately for Maui where he joined in the development of the new base. From the Marshall Islands he brought the experience to develop to training program for the new Underwater Demolition Teams - a training in day and night reconnaissance and demolition.

(from THE MEN FROM FORT PIERCE by Marvin Cooper)

Additional Sources:

users.frii.com
www.coretek.org
www.nps.gov
www.angelfire.com/hi2/kwa
www.ibiblio.org
www.zwpatch.com
www.frii.com
www.worldwar2database.com

[SAMWolf]

Kwajalein Atoll was the administrative center of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. The atoll was 73 miles long, with eighteen islands clustered together. During the Battle of Midway radio stations on Kwajalein listened to traffic between Hawaii and Midway.

When the Americans moved through the Marshalls in early 1944, Kwajalein was a primary target. With Kwajalein in Japanese hands for decades, it was assumed that there would be casualties as heavy as Tarawa. A sustained air campaign from the Gilberts and from aircraft carriers pounded Kwajalein for days prior to the landings on January 31, 1944.

Resistance was light as the US Army and Marines moved through the atoll. On the island of Kwajalein itself, 10,000 Japanese soldiers waited for the US Army's 7th Division. By February 3, 8,400 Japanese were dead, mostly by suicide. 500 Americans died.

The last year of the war saw escalating dead and wounded on both sides. Half of all the casualties in the Pacific War was during the last year of the war. Kwajalein showed the Americans that heavy pre-invasion bombardment was a necessary component to amphibious landings. The old, slow battleships that America started the war with became floating gun platforms to support the invasions, and escort carriers brought aircraft to fly ground support missions.

At Kwajalein, these new tactics were tried out. The result was huge Japanese casualties. This would be the pattern for the rest of the war.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

Thanks to CholeraJoe for providing this link.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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PDN members and fans. We hope you will consider this simple act of patriotism worth passing on or taking up as a project in your own back yard. In summary:

Who They Are: Operation: Stitches Of Love was started by the Mothers of two United States Marines stationed in Iraq.

What They Are Doing: We are gathering 12.5"x12.5" quilt squares from across the country and assembling the largest quilt ever produced. When completed we will take the quilt from state to state and gather even more squares.

Why They Are Doing This: We are building this quilt to rally support for the Coalition Forces in Iraq and to show the service members that they are not forgotten. We want the world to know Nothing will ever break the stitches that bind us together as a country.

Ideas to start a local project:

Obtain enough Red, White and Blue material (cloth) for a 12.5 x 12.5 quilt square.
If you have someone in your family that sews, make it a weekend project and invite neighbors to join you.

Consider this tribute as a project for your civic group, scouts, church or townhall group.

Locate an elementary school with an after school program in your neighborhood or locate an after school program in your neighborhood not attached to a school and ask if you could volunteer one or two afternoons and create some squares with the kids.

Invite some VFW posts to share your project in honor of their post.

Send us webmaster@patriotwatch.com for digital photos of in progress and finished project for various websites, OIFII.com and the media.

PDN is making this appeal in support of Operation: Stitches Of Love
Media Contact: Deborah Johns (916) 716-2749
Volunteers & Alternate Media: PDN (916) 448-1636

Your friends at PDN

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Thursday Morning Everyone.


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[Iris7]

Notice the early long Garand bayonets. This is the same weapon seen poking out of the backpack on the young man so determinedly digging his foxhole in the lead painting I see and admire at every Foxhole. A fine weapon, long enough without being excessively too heavy or awkward. The best bayonet America has ever issued, in my never humble opinion. Later, and present, bayonets are too short.

The story says Kwaj was easy. The vets I talked with, back when they were still around, would beg to differ.

UDT fellows from that era did not use SCUBA much, as you can see from the pictures. Those boys were extraordinarily fit. Most could free dive for over three minutes. Four minutes was fairly common, as I recall reading somewhere at sometime. Four minutes. Whew. At my best that would have been curtains for me.

Turner deeply embarrassed the Navy by abandoning the Marines on Guadalcanal. I would have been easy for Nimitz, who was an exceptional judge of character, to put him to a punishment detail. Unlike, say, Adolf Hitler, Nimitz kept Turner on the job, and this proved to be a sound decision.

[Iris7]

Hah! First again! Goodnight, folks. Bedtime it is.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him. —Revelation 1:7

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! —Revelation 22:20

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi Aeronaut! Good morning to you.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on May 20:
1364 Henry Percy [Harry Hotspur], British soldier/politican
1470 Pietro Bembo cardinal/theologian
1743 [François D] Toussaint L'Ouverture (à Breda), leader (Haiti)
1750 Stephen Girard bailed out US bonds during War of 1812
1759 William Thornton architect (Capitol building, Washington DC)
1768 Dolley Dandridge Payne Madison US 1st lady (1809-17)
1772 William Congreve English officer (design fire rocket)
1806 John Stuart Mill UK, philosopher/political economist/Utilitarian
1818 William George Fargo founder (Wells Fargo)
1825 Antoinette Brown Blackwell clergy (1st ordained US female minister)
1828 James William Reilly Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1851 Emile Berliner Germany, inventor (flat phonograph record)
1851 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop US, nun/daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne
1881 Wladyslaw Sikorski premier Poland (WWII general)
1889 William Lawther union leader
1899 John M Harlan Chicago IL, 91st Supreme Court justice (1955-71)
1908 Jimmy [James Maitland] Stewart Indiana PA, actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life)
1912 Joseph Proce 3rd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives)
1913 William Hewlett cofounder of Hewlett-Packard Co
1915 Moshe Dayan Israeli general/minister of Defense
1919 George Gobel Chicago IL, comedian/TV personality (I Love My Wife)
1923 Hugh Beach British General
1926 Vic Ames rocker (Ames Brothers)
1927 [Harold] Bud Grant Wisconsin, CFL/NFL player/coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Minnesota Vikings)
1927 David Hedison Providence RI, actor (Colbys, Voyage to Bottom of Sea)
1933 Danny Aiello New York NY, actor (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing)
1934 Alexei A Leonov cosmonaut (Voskhod 2, Apollo-Soyuz)
1936 Anthony Zerbe Long Beach CA, actor (Harry-O, Centennial, They Call Me Mr Tibbs)
1937 Lord "Benjie" Earl of Iveagh British brewer (Guinness)/large landowner
1942 Jill "Paula" Jackson McCamey TX, singer (Paul & Paula-Hey Paula)
1944 David M Walker Columbus GA, Captain USN/astronaut (STS 51-A 30, 53, 69)
1944 Joe Cocker Sheffield England, rock vocalist (You are so Beautiful, Little Help From My Friends)
1945 Nikolai Nikolayevich Fefelov Russian colonel/cosmonaut
1946 Cher [Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre] El Centro CA, rocker/actress (I Got You Babe, Jack Lalane, Mask)
1949 Dave Thomas St Catharines Ontario, comedian (SCTV, Grace Under Fire)
1951 Thomas D Akers St Louis MO, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 41, 49, 61, 79)
1958 Ronald Prescot Reagan Los Angeles CA, President's son/TV host (Ron Reagan Show)
1959 Bronson Pinchot New York NY, actor (Perfect Strangers, Beverly Hills Cop)
1962 Lydia Cheng New York NY, Ms Big Apple bodybuilder (1982) (Pumping Iron 2)
1963 David Wells Torrance CA, pitcher (Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees)
1964 Paul W Richards Scranton PA, astronaut
1966 Lawyer Tillman NFL tight end (Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers)
1969 Suzanne Lawrence Humble TX, Miss Texas-America (1991) (4th)

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Deaths which occurred on May 20:
1277 John XXI [Petrus Juliani/Hispanus] Port Pope (1276-77), dies
1444 Bernardinus van Siena Italian saint, dies at 63
1471 Henry VI king of England (1422-61, 70-71)/France (1431-71), dies
1506 Christopher Columbus explorer, dies in poverty in Spain at 55
1622 Osman II sultan of Turkey (1618-22), dies
1648 Wladyslaw IV Wasa King of Poland, dies
1795 Ignác Martinovics Hungarian physicist/revolutionary, beheaded

1834 Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert de Motier Marquis de Lafayette French general/Revolutionary War Patriot, dies

1896 Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann composer/pianist, dies at 76
1956 Max Beerbohm caricturist/writer (Yet Again), dies
1959 Alfred Schutz Austrian/US architect/philosopher, dies at 60
1972 Cornelis J van der Klauw Dutch biologist/zoologist, dies at 78
1972 Walter Winchell columnist/muckraker/narrator (Untouchables), dies at 75
1989 Gilda Radner comedienne (Saturday Night Live, Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
1993 Max Klein inventor (paint by numbers), dies at 77
1996 John Pertwee actor (Dr Who), dies at 76
1996 Lewis B Combs naval commander/civil engineer, dies at 101

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 FRITS ORVILLE B.---CONCORD CA.
[05/27/67 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1967 GRAMMAR WILLIAM MICHAEL---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[05/22/67 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1967 KEEFE DOUGLAS ONEIL---COLUMBIA SC.
1967 MADDOX NOTLEY GWYNN---ROCKFORD IL.
1967 MILLIGAN JOSEPH E.---GRANDIN NJ.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 SMITH HOMER L.---ALMA WV.
[03/13/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1967 VANLOAN JACK L.---CORVALLIS OR.
[03/O4/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 LEHRMAN RONALD J.---GRANITE OK.
[06/10/68 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK]
1968 ROBERTSON JOHN H.---BIRMINGHAM AL.
1968 TESTER JERRY A.---SUGAR GROVE NC.
[06/10/68 RELEASED]
1972 WILLIAMS JAMES W.---MEMPHIS TN.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL IN 98]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
0325 1st Christian ecumenical council opens at Nicæa, Asia Minor
0526 Earthquake kills 250,000 in Antioch, Syria
1293 Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed
1303 Treaty of Paris restores Gascony to British in Hundred Years War
1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet
1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta India
1521 Ignatius Loyola seriously wounded by a cannon ball
1571 Venice, Spain & Pope Pius form anti-Turkish Saint League
1631 German army under earl Johann Tilly conquerors Maagdenburg
1639 Dorchester MA, forms 1st school funded by local taxes
1690 England passes Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II
1704 Elias Neau forms school for slaves in New York
1734 1st Jockey Club forms in South Carolina
1775 Citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declare independence of Britain
1784 England & Netherlands signs peace treaty (Peace of Paris)
1825 Charles X becomes King of France
1830 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)
1861 Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle
1861 Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in Civil War
1861 North Carolina becomes 11th & last state to secede from Union
1862 Homestead Act provides cheap land for settlement of the West
1864 Battle at Ware Bottom Church VA, 1,400 killed or injured
1864 Spotsylvania-campaign ends after 10,920 killed/injured person
1867 British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage
1867 Royal Albert Hall foundation laid by Queen Victoria
1868 Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant
1874 Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 doz
1875 International Bureau of Weights & Measures established by treaty
1882 St Gotthard-railroad tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens
1892 George Sampson patents clothes dryer
1892 Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy & Austria-Hungary forms
1895 1st commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)
1902 US military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends
1910 Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII
1916 Codell KS hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)
1916 Saturday Evening Post cover features Norman Rockwell painting
1917 Turkish Government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa
1918 1st electrically propelled warship (the New Mexico)
1919 Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550
1920 Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers & arrest 24 fans for gambling
1923 Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK
1926 Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes
1926 Railway Labor Act became law
1926 Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies
1927 At 7:40 AM, Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross Atlantic for Paris
1927 Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
1930 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
1930 University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention & cure of athlete's foot
1932 Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland 1st woman fly solo across Atlantic
1932 Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria
1939 "3 Little Fishies" by Kay Kyser hits #1
1939 Pan Am begins regular transatlantic airmail and passenger service across the North Atlantic
1940 General Guderians tanks reach The Channel
1940 Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention
1940 Trailing 7-1 in the 9th to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia wins 8-7
1941 Germany invades Crete
1941 White Sox Taft Wright sets American League record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games
1942 US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
1943 French, British & US victory parade in Tunis Tunisia
1944 US Communist Party dissolves
1946 Cubs Claude Passeau makes his 1st error since September 21, 1941, ending pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances
1948 1st use of Israeli Air Force & 1st war victory, defeating Syrian army
1948 Cleveland Indians tie American League record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
1954 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
1955 Argentine parliament accepts separation of church & state
1958 US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
1959 Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"
1959 Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
1959 Yankees sink to last place, 1st time since May 25, 1940
1961 White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery AL
1963 Sukarno appointed President of Indonesia
1964 Buster Mathis defeats Joe Frazier to qualify for US Olympic team
1967 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam
1969 US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill Vietnam
1970 100,000 march in New York supporting US policies in Vietnam
1971 Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia
1978 3 PFLP members kill a cop near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris France
1978 US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus
1980 710 families in Love Canal area (Niagara Falls NY) are evacuated
1980 Drummer Peter Criss quits Kiss
1980 In a referendum, 59.5% of Québec voters reject separatism
1983 Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1983 Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1985 FBI arrests John A Walker Jr, convicted of spying for USSR
1985 Israel exchanges 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers
1986 Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv
1987 Wrestler Jerry Lawler sues WWF & Harley Race for trademark name "king"
1989 China declares martial law in Beijing
1989 Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000' Mount Everest top
1990 Hubble Space Telescope sends 1st photographs from space
1991 Soviet parliament approves law allowing citizens to travel abroad
1992 India launches its 1st satellite independently
1993 274th & final "Cheers" on NBC
1994 Bobcat Goldthwait charged with misdemeanors for fire on Tonight Show
1995 CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung
1995 Twins Marty Cordova ties rookie record of homeruns in 5 consecutive games
1997 Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed
1997 Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful
1997 White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bulgaria : Botev Day
Cambodia : Martyrs Day (1979)
Cameroon : Constitution Day (1972)
Cuba-1902, Saudi Arabia-1927 : Independence Day
Massachusetts : Lafayette Day (1834-anniversary of his death)
North Carolina : Mecklenburg Day (1775)
Zaïre : Revolution Day
National : Bike to Work Week (Day 5)
National : Pickle Week (Day 5)
National Waitresses Day
National Salad Month

---

Religious Observances
Anglican : Commemoration of Alcuin, deacon & abbot of Tours
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Bernardine of Siena, priest (optional)
Christian : Solemnity of the Ascension

---

Religious History
1530 German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'God's friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world.'
1690 Death of John Eliot, 86, colonial missionary to the American Indians of Maryland. Eliot arrived in America from England in 1631; by 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the Algonquin Indian language.
1754 Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.
1878 William R. Featherstone died at the age of 32. A Canadian Methodist who spent his life in Montreal, it was Featherstone who authored the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."
1937 Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"Where facts are few, experts are many."

---

Actual Newspaper Headlines...
Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years

---

Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
Howard Cosell:
It may very well have been one of the most astonishing events to grace the annals of history. An historic, unprecedented avian biped with the temerity to attempt such an herculean achievement formerly relegated to homo sapien pedestrians is truly a remarkable occurence.

---

Fun things to do when driving...
Stop and collect road kill.

---

What an employee Really Means...
"I'M HONEST, HARD-WORKING AND DEPENDABLE:"
I pilfer office supplies.

[CholeraJoe]

Great thread, SAM and snippy. I visited Kwaj in 1984. Talk about isolated.

The lagoon of the Kwajalein atoll was the target for the ICBM test missions launched from Vandenberg. I remember seeing a small building on Roi-Namur with its side blown out. It was the target of a re-entry vehicle. Imagine hitting a target that small from 7000 miles.

Interesting sidelight - I learned that during WWII, the Japanese mastered the art of making concrete with saltwater. Many of the concrete pillboxes were still intact 40 years later. The stuff is virtually indestructible.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning to you BF.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Iris7.

Agree with you on the bayonet, the other problem today is it's pretty ridiculous on the M-16 and it's variants

To the guy that was there any combat is not easy, it's the historians who "decide" later what was easy and what was hard.

I remember some flic from the late 50's or early 60's with James Garner about UDT men. That and the 3 "cereal" frogmen are what brought them to my attention as a kid.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Aeronaut.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. I see there were new viruis definition updtaes this morning.