The Battle of Peleliu: Across the Airfield (Part 2)

The date is the 16th of September 1944 D +1 on Pelu. The previous day the men of the first marine division commanded by Major General William Rupertus stormed ashore to be met by Colonel Kuno Nakagawa's garrison of 10,900 men. The fifth and seventh Marine regiments made the most progress in the center and right flank of the invasion, but Colonel Chesty Puller's first marine regiment was mowled during its landing on the left. The Japanese inflicted 1,111 casualties on the first day as Colonel Nakagawa's strategy is to attit the Americans after they have already landed. As part of this plan, he has entrenched his best units in well-conceeded positions within the Umarogal mountains in the middle of the island. He intends to let the Marines waste their strength on costly frontal attacks. Rupetus seems dedicated to falling into Nakagawa's trap. Recovering from a broken ankle, Rupertus comes ashore on the morning of D+1. In a vengeful mood, he banishes the division's executive officer, Brigadier General Oliver Smith, to a transport ship offshore and takes personal command of the battle. He urges his commanders to get a move on and berates Colonel Puller. Can't they move any faster? God damn it, Louie. You've got to kick ass to get results. You know that, god damn it. So far, Rupitus has steadfastly refused to order his reserve unit, the US Army's 81st Infantry Division, into the fight to reinforce the Marines. He believes his men can win without the need for reinforcements. One officer later explained, "The overall feeling seemed to be that a breakthrough was imminent. Enemy resistance would collapse or at worst disintegrate as had happened on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. Meanwhile, the Marines on Pelu aren't just fighting the enemy. The island is proving to be an inhospitable place with 115° F or 47° C temperatures, little shade, and no water. The jagged and rocky ground makes it impossible to dig. Not just fighting holes, but also latrines and graves. With nowhere to bury waste and human remains, Peloo becomes a giant stinking pit of misery for those fighting over it. Private First Class Eugene Sledge's unit, K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, entrenched at the southern edge of the airfield for the night. Like many Marines on D-Day, Sledge finished his water canteen before noon and has been tortured by thirst ever since. Some Marines discover a well dug into a dirty ditch. But as Sledge will later write, "I had lifted a full helmet to my lips when the man next to me fell, holding his sides and wretching violently. I threw down my water, Milky with coral dust, and started assisting the corman with the man who was ill. Whether it was poison or pollution, we never knew. Soon, the Marines on Pelu finally receive the first water rations transported to shore, only to realize a horrible and completely avoidable mistake. The water is delivered in steel drums, which previously held oil, but the cleanup details failed to scrub the inside of the drums. Sledge later writes, "I took a big gulp and almost spit it out despite my terrible thirst. It was awful, full of rust and oil. It stunk. I looked into the cup in disbelief as a blue film of oil floated lazily on the surface of the smelly brown liquid. Cramps gripped the pit of my stomach. It will take days for possible water to finally be delivered to the island. Until then, the fighting men must survive off the odd canteen taken from a dead comrade or enemy soldier. The next step in conquering Pelu is securing the airfield in the south of the island. Fifth Marines along with a smattering of other units gained a foothold the previous day, but Major General Rupertus is eager to take the fight to the Japanese forces in the north. The fifth marine regiment along with the second battalion of the first marine regiment are ordered to cross the airfield and attack into the Omarel mountains at 8:30 a.m. on D +1. At 8:00 a.m., American artillery, naval warships, and ground attack aircraft pound a Mabrogal mountain while the Marines anxiously await the advance over 1,500 yd of open ground under enemy fire. Although some armored support is available, speed has been deemed more important than protection in getting across the airfield. Platoon Sergeant John Marmet instructs his men. Once you get out there, keep going and don't slow down. The faster you move, the better chance you've got of getting where you're going. Don't stop for anything and don't bunch up. At 8:30 a.m., the Marine NCOs's give the order to step off, and all four battalions of Marines stand up and move out in staggered waves. The advance begins in a walk, but turns into a trot when Japanese artillery and mortifier begins crashing down. This is Henry Sledge, son of Eugene Sledge and the author of The Old Breed: The Complete Story Revealed. a father, a son, and how World War II in the Pacific shaped their lives. >> And then that second day to to attack across the airfield, you've got no protection. You're not going across in a personnel carrier because other than the amphibious trackers, they really didn't have those back then. You're just completely out in the open and there's nothing for it but to get across as quick as you can, you know. him, but he described the way the 40 mm shelf rammits are coming by, you know, whizzing by, tracers are coming by, chair rail height. Although there is less actual Japanese resistance on the airfield itself, the entire area has been pre-registered by enemy artillery observers. Eugene Sledge later remembered, "For me, the attack resembled World War I movies I had seen of suicidal Allied infantry attacks through shellfire on the Western Front. The sun bore down unmercifully and the heat was exhausting. Smoke and dust from the barrage limited my vision. The ground seemed to sway back and forth under the concussions. Japanese artillery in the Umaral Mountains have full visibility over the airfield and pours murderous fire into the advancing marines. Shell fire sends coral splinters flying through the air which kill and maim dozens of Marines. I got a pistol belt, you know, the web pistol belt that that the Marines and soldiers carried. Every infantryman, all service men carried them in World War II. And I had gotten one and my dad, you know, were looking at it in in his study and he was talking about the thick web material and they showed this in the Pacific miniseries in that episode when they crossed the airfield. Dad was an assistant gunner on 60 mm. Snafu Shelton was his foxhole buddy. He was the gunner. Okay, so they were a teen and snafu Shelton trips and falls as they're running across and my dad stops to help him and what had happened was about an inch square piece of thick metal, a shell fragment had come across and hit Snafu in the side. The whole point of the pistol belts my father was describing to me. I remember the day we crossed airfield at Peloo. Snafu got hit by a sha rabbit right in his side and it hit that pistol belt and frayed that material and almost destroyed it, but it didn't. But that piece of that pistol belt probably saved his life because the the frag was probably spent. And I mean it still could have killed you easily, but just a little bit of protection was enough to stop it to save your life. But I remember him describing how they the snafu goes down with a grunt. He stops to help him. You know, shells are crashing everywhere. There was total chaos. Guys are getting hit all around him. Of course, it's so loud they can't talk to each other. And he sees this piece of hot metal on the ground and he picks it up juggling it in his hand and he shows it to Snafu like this is what hit you. This is what knocks you down. Snafu's motioning for him to because like I said, it was too loud to even yell at each other and he's motioning to put it in his pack. So my dad opens Snafu's pack and drops down in there and they help each other up and they get on the cross. And I know from the personal artifacts of my dad's that I have from World War II. I mean, I hope somebody in the Shelton family kept that. That that would be an incredible piece of metal to have. Small enemy strong points are also littered across the area, and Japanese machine gun fire takes its toll on the attackers. Corporal Romas Bergen recalled, "The way those traces were coming across there, just at the right height to rip through a man's head or chest, I don't see how any of us lived through it. Some men stumble and simply collapse due to the effects of the heat exhaustion in the extreme temperatures." Sledge will later conclude, "The attack across Peloo's airfield was the worst combat experience I had during the entire war. It surpassed by the intensity of the blast and shock of the bursting shells, all the subsequent horrifying orals on Peloo and Okinawa. >> I wanted to spend a lot of time just standing on that airfield and looking up at the ridges, looking up at Bloody Nose Ridge and and we ended up later going up into those positions like we're exploring these cave positions where the Japanese had 20 mm and 40 mm weapons that were raining fire down on the Marines as they're crossing the airfield. So it was really interesting to be able to see that. >> Through shot and shell, the fifth marines succeed in crossing most of the airfield in a little over an hour despite taking many casualties. Second battalion of the first marine regiment also accomplishes its task of clearing the northwestern corner of the air base and advancing into the foothills of the Umabrogal mountains. Yet the advance must be halted at noon in part because so many Marines are suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. Water drums are brought up, but the men find they are also contaminated with oil. Casualties and the lack of possible water has made the forward units incapable of attacking into the mountains and the Marines must stop the advance to bring up needed supplies. Meanwhile, the Seventh Marine Regiment attacks east to cut off and clear the southern part of the island. US pre-invasion intelligence concluded the terrain here is low and flat, but the Marines find themselves struggling through swampy jungle while under fire from enemy pill boxes. The eastern shore of Pelu is reached by 9:25 a.m. by eye company third battalion, but the fight to reduce the enemy pocket is slowgoing. First battalion advances into a heavily defended area featuring four 5-in guns and three lighter dualpurpose anti-aircraft weapons. Air strikes, rocket barges, and artillery barges allow the Marines to squeeze the Japanese perimeter by noon. But just like in the north, the attacks must be halted to allow for resupply. On the American left flank, the first marine regiment is still taking a beating from Japanese machine guns and artillery. Whereas the fifth marines are advancing across open ground, the first marines are struggling to capture the remains of the airfield's administrative and maintenance buildings. Third battalion attempts to smash its way through the wasteland of twisted rebar and blasted concrete only to be thrown back with heavy losses. Colonel Puller is under pressure from Rupertus to show progress and orders his regimental reserve, the first battalion, into the fight. First battalion also struggles to make gains, but managed to push the Japanese defenders off a low coral ridge near the beach head by the end of D plus1. More importantly, B company is able to make contact with the trapped men of Captain Hunt's K Company, third battalion on the point and open a tenuous corridor to deliver small amounts of supply. At 11 p.m., the Japanese launch one last counterattack with 350 men to regain the point. Yet with the benefit of resupply and artillery support, Captain Hunt's men hold their ground and beat back the attackers with heavy losses. At 2:00 a.m. on the 17th of September, the last Japanese units near the point withdraw to the north, leaving the area in American hands. K Company is finally relieved after 30 hours of being cut off. Of the 235 K Company men who landed on D-Day, only 78 are still standing and the unit is placed in reserve. Captain Hunt joins Lieutenant William Willis in receiving the Navy Cross after the battle. The sun rises over Peloo on D plus 2 with Major General Rupertus expecting the Marines to make major gains. In previous island battles, the Japanese defenses usually collapsed as soon as the Americans established a strong beach head, and Rupitus is confident that this trend will continue on Peloo. However, the old breed division has been severely weakened by the first two days of bitter fighting. Colonel Puller's first marine regiment has suffered the most with over 1,000 casualties in just 2 days of combat. One out of every three men in the regiment is killed, wounded, or missing. But neither Puller nor Rupetus consider pulling the first Marines out of the line. Rufetus orders the seventh Marines to finish mopping up the enemy resistance in the south while the first and fifth marines will advance north into the imposing Umabrogal mountain. This is what Colonel Nakagawa has been waiting for. Upon arriving on Pelu, Nakagawa understood that any above ground defensive imp placements would likely be spotted and destroyed by naval gunfire. He has instead focused on constructing subterranean defenses within the Umar Bogals. Japanese soldiers and Korean slave laborers toiled throughout the summer of 1944, blasting massive caves into the hard limestone, with one such cave big enough to hold 1,000 men. A decorated veteran from Japan's war against China, Nakagawa has expertly placed his artillery and machine guns within these caves, as well as concrete bunkers built into the endless gullies which define Peloo. Three quarters of the Japanese garrison occupy these underground shelters which proved to be near impervious to even the heaviest naval artillery. The tunnels on Pelu are designed to serve specific purposes for the defense of the island. Command centers, hospitals, barracks, storage, and ammunition dumps were placed safely within the limestone, where only a lucky hit from enemy artillery could destroy them. This is Joseph Wan, author of Bitter Peloo: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield. But as far as getting direct fire into those caves, they were designed to deflect direct fire. You go straight in and then immediately there's an angle. you take a left or a right. So, the direct fire would just uh be deflected. >> Multiple anti- vehicle ditches are dug across the interior of the island to neutralize the American advantage in armor, while dense fields of barbed wire have been cleverly placed on specific approaches to funnel advancing marines into kill zones covered by machine guns. Nakagawa knows his men can inflict terrible losses if they survive the pre-invasion bombardment. Now that they have, the Japanese have a chance to give the invaders a bloody nose. The decimated first marine regiment will lead the charge north. The first marine's third battalion is on the far left of the regiment's advance and moves along the west coast of the island. First marine's first battalion will advance in the center and capture the western foothills of the Umarrogal mountains. Buller orders Colonel Russell Hanzoitz, commander of second battalion, to advance on the right and capture a high point designated as Hill 200, which has been used by the Japanese to direct mortar and artillery fire on the Marines. Meanwhile, the fifth marine regiment under Colonel Harold Bucky Harris will push into the eastern side of the brogals on the first marine regiment's right. the commander of the fifth Marines. He was younger than them and a little more imaginative. He uh had someone take him up in a plane from the the airfield on that Pel and flew over the Ummer Bogle that they later called Bloody Nose Ridge and looked it over and he could see that u the south end that they were attacking all the time was a heavily defended part but it could be it was approachable from the north and the west. So he came when the observation plane landed he went and met with polar and the pertis and told them about it. He said uh you really should go up there and look this over. You ought to take that plane up, check the whole situation out. And they just looked at him and smiled and said, "Well, we have our maps." And they didn't do it. And they didn't listen to what he had to say. So if they had listened to him, it wouldn't have been so bad. But they did not. The attack begins in the morning following a sharp artillery barrage. The men of First Battalion, First Marines in the center are halted almost immediately by machine gun fire from a previously undetected blockhouse with concrete walls 4 ft thick. The position had served as Colonel Nakagawa's headquarters and is ringed by 12 pill boxes, all connected by tunnels. Worst of all, the imposing structure has not been touched by the pre-invasion naval bombardment. Sea Company's commander, Captain Everett Pope, later said, "The block house didn't appear to have been hit at all, and it was cutting us up pretty bad. We lost quite a few Marines. First Battalion's commander, Major Raymond Davis, radios the battleship USS Mississippi and calls for a fire mission to destroy the enemy position. Mississippi fires several salvos a 14-in shell which plaster the area and rips chunks out of the blockhouse. The defenders inside are killed by the mere concussion of the blasts while a hail of artillery, rocket, and mortifier targets the surrounding pillboxes. When the dust settles, the Japanese defenders have been completely wiped out. This display of firepower clears the way for First Battalion to continue their advance, and Major Davis sets up his command post in the block house at 9:30 a.m. Meanwhile, Second Battalion, First Marines, has made a surprisingly rapid advance north following the preemptive bombardment. Following behind a Sherman tank and two Amtraks, the Marines push northwards and meet only sporadic resistance for the first 300 yd. It takes just 5 minutes for second battalion to cover the distance to Hill 200, where the real fighting begins. The battalion forms up and attacks the hill from the east, only to run into a wall of lead. Japanese anti-tank guns and machine guns open fire on the assaulting troops at close range, inflicting devastating casualties. The Sherman tank and Amtrak are quickly knocked out while the Marines hits the deck and try to fire back. The enemy fires down on the Americans from dozens of caves and tunnel entrances which have been blasted into the steep sides of Hill 200. Private Russell Davis later described the scene. We got partway up the ridge and then the hills opened and fire poured down on our heads. We could do nothing but huddle together in terror. We couldn't go ahead. We couldn't go back. We were witless and helpless with nothing to do but lie and take it. Colonel Hanzoets calls in naval gunfire support from the warships offshore and fire missions from 105 mm marine artillery, but the enemy is so well entrenched that these heavy barges have little impact. The only way to overcome these defenses is to summit the sheer cliffs on foot in the sweltering weather. As the exhausted men begin the difficult climb, Japanese snipers and infantrymen pop out of spider hold to meet the Marines with rifle fire and grenades. The advance of third battalion is the most successful of the first marine regiment on D plus 2. Moving along the coastal flatland, the battalion faces minor resistance as it moves forward. Despite the relative lack of resistance, the battalion must stop its advance so as not to overextend itself and lose contact with the first battalion on its right. Yet the advance comes to a halt at the foothills of the brogals as the scorching heat and enemy resistance take their toll. The fifth marine regiment is unable to move any further on D plus 2. Second battalion of the first marine regiment is still scaling the slopes of hill 200 as the sun begins to set on another day of bitter fighting. Without any armored vehicles to call upon to provide direct fire on enemy positions, demolition teams lead the way and toss satchel charges into the cave entrances to knock out machine gun nests and artillery pieces. The marines of second battalion first marine regiment finally secure the summit of hill 200 as dusk falls only to encounter what will become a major problem for the Americans on Peloo. Directly parallel to the summit is a slightly taller hill designated as hill 210 from which Japanese troops can fire down on the marines and prevent any more forward movement. The Emmaal Mountains have already gained a new nickname amongst the Marines, Bloody Nose Ridge. Second Battalion, First Marine Regiment Commander, Colonel Honzo, calls Colonel Puller to inform him of the capture of Hill 200. Puller asks, "How many did you lose?" Honowitz responds, "I don't have a firm count yet, but I think I lost a couple of hundred. How many Japanese did you kill? Well, there are a lot of bodies around, but I don't know how many. Maybe 50. Puller explodes in rage. Jesus Christ, Hanzoette. What the hell are the American people going to think? You lost 200 fine young Marines and only killed 50 Japanese. I'm putting you down for 500. The plus2 ends with the first marine division clinging to a precarious tow hold on bloody nose ridge. The casualty figures continue to shock American leadership. In three full days of combat, the first marine regiment of the first marine division has lost 1,236 men killed or wounded, which represents almost 40% of the regiment's strength. Second battalion alone has suffered 429 casualties after the bruising fight for Hill 200. The 7th Marine Regiment is having slightly more success squeezing the enemy defenses in the south of the island. On the 18th of September, D plus 3 7th Marines renew their advance against the remaining Japanese forces still dug in around Naam Moheaded Island. A rocky coral outcrop connected to Peloo by a 100yard sand spit which can only be crossed at low tide. A marine demolition team managed to clear the minefield the previous morning before an armored attack succeeded in gaining a foothold on the island. However, the advance has been bogged down in front of some of the most heavily fortified Japanese positions on the island. Nonetheless, Ruthus has ordered Naomok Island cleared out of enemy resistance by the end of D plus 3. A massive naval and aerial bombardment proceeds another infantry attack by the seventh marines. Second platoon eye company of the third battalion, seventh marines, is pinned down in front of a concrete Japanese bunker. Sergeant Warren Shite shouts to make himself heard over the den of battle. My god, they're all over our left flank. Sounds like a hund of them, but they're so well dug in, I can't see a damned thing to shoot at. The platoon's senior sergeant and commanding officer have both been killed, leaving Shite in charge. Next to him is 19-year-old private first class Arthur Jackson, who points out a small depression just a few feet in front of their trapped platoon. He tells Shike, "If I can get in that ditch with my AR and enough ammo, I might be able to get close enough to stick it to him." Clutching his Browning automatic rifle, Jackson inches forward while bullets spray the ground around him. After a few tenth seconds, Jackson crawls over the broken pole in front of the bunker before gingerely rolling into the ditch. He gathers himself while tracer fire zips overhead. He again flattens himself against the ground to crawl towards the firing slit of the Japanese bunker. He creeps forward until the enemy machine gun ceases fire to reload. Jackson leaps to his feet and shoves the muzzle of the bar into the firing port and empties an entire magazine into the He stops to reload while Sergeant [ __ ] runs forward and tosses two sacks into the firing port. One with phosphorous grenades and the other with TNT. [ __ ] and Jackson dive to take cover before the bunker explodes with a deafening ball, sending chunks of heavy concrete flying through the air. None of the 35 Japanese soldiers inside survive the blast. The enemy defenses are weakened by the loss of the bunker, but Private Jackson isn't done yet. There are more positions which must be eliminated, and the young private gets to work with his BR. He later recalled, "As I came to each position, I just unloaded a magazine into it. Then I reloaded and moved on to the next one. He repeats the process on 11 more pill boxes, killing 50 enemy soldiers before the area is finally secured. 19-year-old Private Jackson's actions have helped the seventh marine regiment clear Naiam Moed Island and finally snuff out enemy resistance in the southern half of Pelu. The following year, a newly promoted Lieutenant Arthur Jackson will receive the Medal of Honor. The capture of Naiam Moed Island is the biggest success for the First Marine Division on the 18th of September 1944. D plus3. The story is much different in the north where the first marine regiment's attacks against Umar Bogal Mountain, better known to the Marines as Bloody Nose Ridge, are dismal failures. The biggest problem is a disconnect between those men on the ground and their commanding officers who do not understand how difficult the terrain is. Author Bill Sloan later writes in his book Brotherhood of Heroes that General Rupertus and his staff never fully comprehended the giant topographical puzzle they'd been ordered to solve. All they knew was that they were being cut to ribbons and still gaining little or no ground. The dead and wounded of the First Marine Regiment lay strewn around the slopes of Bloody Nose Ridge. Yet Marine Corman have no chance at retrieving them with enemy machine guns covering every avenue of advance. The difference in Japanese tactics is obvious to the Marines fighting on the ground. Sergeant Jim Mckenry later said, "At Guadal Canal, the Japanese thought they could wear us down by running at our lines with bayonets. When the Japanese pulled one of their so-called bansai charges, we'd just sit there and mow them down." On Peloo, the Japanese hid in caves and made us come and get them. We were always in their gunsights, and their only goal was to kill as many of us as they could. The battle for the island is descending into a slog as the Americans fight their way north into the hellish terrain of the Omar mountain. By now, some officers are becoming concerned with Rupetus conduct of the battle. Despite far higher than expected casualties, an erratic Rupetus pushes his subordinates to keep attacking the well-entrenched enemy. In his mind, the Japanese are on the verge of breaking, and just one last big push will be enough to collapse enemy resistance. He continues to deny permission for reserve units of the army's 81st infantry division to reinforce the Marines struggling on Pelu. In fact, his tactics are gutting the First Marine Division, which arrived at Peloo with 16,532 men. Only 9,000 frontline Marines have been committed so far against the garrison of 10,900. The Marines are attempting to overrun a dug in and numerically superior enemy, even if the Americans have a significant advantage in firepower. Colonel Chesy Puller's first marine regiment has been badly mowled, having lost over 40% of its strength by the end of D plus 3. Even so, Rupertus refuses to ask for help, and the 3,100 men of the Army 81st Division's Reserve 323rd Infantry Regiment remain aboard their troop ship, floating offshore. Private Ed Fraser later described what the Army GIS experienced while the battle raged on without them. Looking out in the water, we could see bodies floating, bodies of dead marines. The unbearably hot weather and atrocious terrain are the biggest obstacles for the attackers who must clamber over sharp coral, summit sheer cliffs, and avoid the hundreds of cave entrances where Japanese infantrymen are lurking. Sergeant George Pato later remembered, "If you lost your footing, you would end up in a 15 ft crevice and no one would miss you. If the devil would have built it, that's about what he would have done. That was the worst place I was ever in. The endless hills and crags of Buddy Nose Ridge received nicknames from the Marines. The five sisters, the five brothers, Death Valley, China Wall, Baldy Ridge, and the Horseshoe. The men tasked with clearing the rest of Pelu will become familiar with these names over time. The objective on the 19th of September, D +4, is to shrink the Japanese perimeter in the north of the island. Following the first Marine Regiment's capture of Hill 200, the Japanese defenders counterattacked and retook the high ground on D plus 3. The problem facing the Marines is that every time they manage to push the enemy off the top of a hill, they find themselves under envelment spent most of D plus3 trying to assault the series of hills nicknamed the five sisters. But the three battalions of depleted Marines can't muster enough manpower to capture and hold these strong points. To shore up the frontline troops, Colonel Puller calls up 115 replacements from his headquarters company and attaches all available tanks and armored vehicles to the assault in the morning. He tells his battalion commanders, "We press the attack again in the morning. There's no change in our orders. Full speed. Use every man." Chesty Polar just dutifully carried out her Peris's uh orders, which was every day the same attack. Everybody attack at 8:30 a.m. every day, day after day. They would go up the hills, they get driven down, get people killed, and Polar was uh kind of beside himself, too. But he didn't argue. It was kind of a tragedy for both of them and for all the men that had to serve under them, too. >> Marine mortars and field artillery along with US Navy warships begin bombarding the Five Sisters at 6:20 a.m. while the infantry prepare for the big push. Private Russell Davis of Second Battalion First Marines recalled, "Crawling and clawing up the cliff went platoon that were no more than squads and companies that were no more than large platoon." I counted one platoon. It mustered 18 men out of an original of 45 on that push, but they went up. On the right flank of the advance is sea company first battalion first marines under the command of Captain Everett Pope. Pope's company has been reduced from 235 men to just 90 since D-Day. But he has been given the task of capturing a stretch of high ground designated as Hill 100, which could allow the Americans to outflank the five sisters. The main assault begins at 7:00 a.m. and immediately bogs down across the front with heavy losses. Second battalion 7th Marines have been attached to the First Marine Regiment as a reserve force and runs right into murderous machine gun fire. The battalion's war diary later describes the attack. Progress was extremely slow and costly. The terrain was rugged, visibility extremely poor. There were only poor fields of fire and it was extremely difficult for the companies to use their mortars and automatic weapons to full advantage. The preemptive barrage has once again failed to touch the enemy who waited out the hurricane of shelling in their protected bunkers. The tactical maps given to the American NCOs's are also proving to be inaccurate, which leads units to stumbling right into killing zones or becoming pinned down in gullies. Captain Everett Pope Sea Company, First Battalion, launches their attack on Hill 100 at noon. The Marines advance through a swamp before emerging onto the island's eastern road. Enemy machine guns immediately open up and pin down the attackers just as they leave the cover of the swamp. Two enemy pill boxes are identified at the base of the hill and Captain Pope barks out orders to take out these positions. However, once the Marines rise back to their feet, another hidden Japanese machine gun opens up and shreds the right flank with envelading fire. With no way for his depleted company to overcome these defenses, Pope decides to withdraw and find a different route up the hill. The much anticipated attacks to finally break the enemy's will to resist have all failed before early afternoon. While Rupertus' tactics have been heavily criticized, Colonel Puller is also complicit in these wasteful actions. Chesty Puller is undoubtedly a courageous officer, but suffers from the same misunderstanding of the enemy as Rupertus. The two men are unaware of the change in tactics that Colonel Nakagawa has introduced and continue to throw their men into doomed frontal assaults. The author George McMillan will later describe Colonel Puller's conduct on Pelu as crossing the line that separates courage and wasteful expenditure of lives. That being said, many Marines place most of the blame on Rupertus himself. An armored officer on Pelu later said, "The cold fact is that Rupetus ordered Puller to assault impossible enemy positions at 0800 daily till the first Marines were decimated. After backtracking through the swamp, Captain Pope and Sea Company are ready to begin their next assault on Hill 100. This time, four Sherman tanks will lead the way over a narrow causeway, running through the middle of the lagoon in front of the objective. The second attack begins at 300 p.m. with the Marines following the Shermans over the causeway. However, the first tank slips off the causeway and becomes immobilized, which halts the column. The crew of the second tank moves up and quickly attaches a tow line to pull the Sherman out of the lagoon. Yet, when the second tank begins pulling the immobilized Sherman, its treads slip off the other side of the causeway. Both lead tanks are out of the fight and the causeway is now blocked to further vehicles. Captain Pope confers with one of his last surviving officers, Lieutenant Frank Burke, on what to do next. We can either sit here and keep taking casualties while we wait to see if those tanks can be cleared out of the way, or we can take our chances and run across on foot a few men at a time. With dust not far off, Pope decides on the riskier second option and tells his men, "We'll go one squad at a time. Just run as fast as you can and don't slow down till you get to the foot of the hill." With supporting fire from the two intact tanks, mortars, and machine guns, the Marines sprint across the causeway in groups of 5 to 10 men each. The Japanese seem surprised by the attack and are unable to prevent these small groups from getting across the lagoon. But once on Peloo, the volume of covering fire actually protects the infantry and none are lost in the brazen charge to the foot of hill 100. Once they have made it across the causeway, the Marines regroup and catch their breath. Captain Pope senses an opportunity. The enemy fire has slackened and with daylight waning, he decides to seize the summit of Hill 100 before nightfall in an all or nothing assault. The men of Sea Company once again embark on a high-risk charge, but this time do so right into the teeth of enemy fire. Dozens of Marines are cut down by machine guns or small arms fire, but Pope urges his men on. American machine guns and mortars provide some covering fire from the swamp. This suppresses enemy defenses just long enough for Sea Company to carry on. After 10 minutes of making their way through a maze of gullies, oral outcrops, and the occasional minefield, the Marines captured the summit of Hill 100. After beginning the day with 90 men, Captain Pope counts just 25 exhausted and famished Sea Company Marines who made it all the way to the top. These 25 men are in grave danger. Captain Pope realizes that hill 100 is fronted by a taller hill just 50 yards away where the Japanese defenders can fire down onto his position. To make matters worse, the Marines are also exposed to empalading fire coming from a large ridge nicknamed the five brothers which runs directly parallel to hill 100. These guns can also sweep the slope of the hill which rules out any reinforcements or resupply. Instead of capturing a key vantage point, Captain Pope's marines have put themselves directly into a crossfire just as the sun sets over the island. He fumes to Lieutenant Burke. The maps are wrong and we're in one hell of a bad spot. A radio call to First Battalion headquarters confirms that Pope's men are cut off. The survivors of Sea Company are completely pinned down in an area the size of a tennis court. But Pope knows that ordering a withdrawal will likely result in even more casualties. He decides he has no choice but to stay put and hold his position for as long as possible. The Marines on Hill 100 are in a desperate shape with a dwindling supply of grenades and ammunition, no food or water, and just one 30 caliber machine gun. Hope orders his men to pile up rocks and form a defensive perimeter on a cramped summit. He also gives them specific instructions for conserving the remaining grenades. You throw three or four rocks over the side of the cliff before each grenade. In the dark, they won't know which is which, and they'll stop to take cover just as fast for a rock as they will for a grenade. The first Japanese attacks are made early in the evening by small bands of infiltrators and are beaten off. However, the Japanese assaults grow larger and larger until groups of 30 men charge the hilltop, screaming at the top of their lungs. Pope's men resist tenaciously, and his tactic of throwing three rocks for every grenade is effective at keeping the enemy off balance. Colonel Puller knows Sea Company is cut off, but the Marine Field artillery can't provide close fire support without accurate coordinates. Instead, a single mortar platoon at the base of the hill keeps up a steady stream of fire on the approaches to the summit. One of the mortmen, Private Barney Bell, later said, "We knew Captain Pope needed all the help he could get, and we did our best to provide it." Bell and his comrades will fire more than 3,000 mortar rounds that night to support the desperate defense of Hill 100. The Japanese soldiers keep up a constant stream of attacks and begin wearing down the defenders. The enemy eventually succeeds in storming the perimeter and hand-to-hand fighting breaks out. The Marines fight back with whatever they have, including rifle butts, knives, rocks, empty ammo boxes, and their bare fists. They even resort to grabbing Japanese soldiers and hurling them over the sheer cliffs to their death. Lieutenant Burke is bayoneted in the leg by a Japanese infantryman before throwing a haymaker which knocks his asalent out cold. The brutal close courses combat lasts until morning when the enemy attacks finally subside. Of the 25 men who made it to the top of the hill, there are now just nine Marines remaining, including Captain Pope. Of the company's eight junior officers, a badly wounded Lieutenant Burke is the only one still alive. Pope considers the possibility that his men won't survive the day, later saying, "I had one round left in my 45. I wasn't about to let the Japanese take me. At daybreak, the enemy infantry attacks cease and heavy artillery and mortars begin shelling the survivors. Captain Pope gets on the radio and relays his hopeless situation to Colonel Hansow, who gives him permission to withdraw. Marine mortars fire smoke shells to cover sea company's retreat down the hill. The Marines are forced to leave their dead behind as they skid down the limestone coral. Some men tumbling down the steep hill. A Japanese machine gun kills the radio man as he barks into the telephone for more covering fire and nearly kills Captain Pope as well. After a mad dash to the bottom of the hill, the survivors finally shelter behind the disabled Sherman tanks on the causeway. Of the 235 men who landed on Peloo 4 days ago, Sea Company has been reduced to just eight survivors. After taking his remaining men to an aid station, Hope limps into a medical tent and uses a plier to pull grenade fragments out of his legs before immediately returning to the front. He is finally sent to the rear two days later as the only company commander of the first marine regiment to escape death or serious injury during the battle. Captain Everett Pope is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Hill 100, which is reoccupied by the enemy after his company's retreat. Sea Company's ordeal is a tragic example of the First Marine Regiment's horrifying experience on Pelu. The regiment is finally pulled off the line on the 22nd of September after suffering 1,878 men killed or wounded out of an original strength of 3,251 men, a 58% casualty rate. According to US military doctrine, a unit is considered destroyed when it has suffered 30% casualties. The battle will become a black mark on Colonel Pullet's otherwise outstanding military record with many men holding grudges against the Marine legend. After the war, Puller will bitterly criticize Rupetus for the fiasco. Orders were to attack dead ahead, and that was the only thing we could do, to take ground regardless of losses. It was more or less a massacre. There was no way to cut down losses and follow orders. Despite all of the sacrifice, almost no ground has been gained on Bloody Nose Ridge. Yet, Rupertus orders the battle to continue. The shattered first marine regiment endures two more days of fruitless attacks before the commander of third amphibious corps major general Roy Gger makes the decision to replace puller's men at the front with the seventh marine regiment. >> He was always going to the battle lines on Pelu. He was he was on Guad Canal. He commanded the Cactus Air Force on Guad Canal. He was one of the first Marine Corps pilots of World War I. Quite a guy. But he went in there. He visited Polar's regimenal headquarters, which is basically right at the front and uh had like a tin roof to shade and where he could read his maps and that's all lies basically. He uh visited with Polar and some of the saw some of the uh his troops and concluded that they were all totally exhausted and they had to get out of there. They had to be relieved. And so and of course Polar resisted. So did Repertise. And uh finally uh the general just said this is the way it's going to be and I'm issuing the order now. The sight of Colonel Puller's haggarded men returning from the front shocks many of the Marines and Army GIS moving up to replace them. Sergeant Thomas Clemy of the US Army Reserve Unit, the 321st Infantry Regiment, later recalled, "They looked like dirty, scared kids. I felt so sorry for them. They were in shock." >> The first regiment though was just depleted. They finally came down off the ridges. They're just crackling and rags cuz the uh limestone crawling along that limestone. They torn their uniforms and they're stained and torn. They're thin. The description of them coming down from the ridges. They were like zombies almost coming down there. Geiger finally orders the 321st regiment from the US Army's 81st Wildcat Division into the fight under the command of General Rupertus. >> The army didn't go into the ridges immediately that the Pertis brought in one of the other his other two regiments to continue the assault. After a short reorganizational period, Rupus launches fresh attacks at 7:00 a.m. on the morning of the 24th of September. The main objective now is for the 7th Marines, the Army 321st Regiment and the mostly intact fifth marine regiment to strike north along the island's western road to cut off the um Brogold and prepare to assault Negivas Island to the northwest of Peloo. The Japanese on Peloon have been reinforced by troops coming from Nega Seabbert making its capture a tactical priority. Second battalion of the 321st along with third battalion of the seventh marine regiment assault the ridges overlooking the western road. The initial attack makes good progress until the leading units of the 321st come up against a dugin Japanese position at top a rocky null which can only be taken in a frontal assault. Seeking a way to outflank the enemy, G Company of the 321st diverts to the west to take advantage of the flatter terrain and succeeds in capturing several strong points along with the ruins of the village of Gaku. By 3:25 p.m., the 321st has reached the objective phase line and halts for the day. However, a gap has formed between the 321st and the 7th Marines with the Wildcats outpacing the Marines who were struggling to take the high ground. The 321st commander, Colonel Robert Dark and Colonel Hanakin of the Seventh Marines have interpreted their orders differently with Colonel Dark believing the main objective is to advance as far north as possible. Hanakin believes capturing the ridges is more important. The enemy machine gun position on the Rocky Null is causing problems for both units and K Company of the 321st is ordered to take the hill. K Company's commander, Captain Thomas Jones, is a veteran of previous campaigns who recognizes that the hill cannot be taken without unacceptable casualties and refuses the order until more men and firepower can be brought up. At this point, interervice relations begin to break down and tempers flare as the Marines believe the army is acting cowardly. Contributing is the structural difference in assault tactics between army and marines. >> They had to bring the army in to relieve the first regiment. And they used the army's method of softening up positions first with heavy weapons, you know, tanks and before they sent the infantry in. Under pressure to take the hill, the battalion commander relieves Captain Jones on the spot, but his replacement also refuses to launch a frontal attack and is likewise sacked. I Company of Seventh Marines is ordered to take the objective instead and succeeds, but suffers heavy casualties, including the commanding officer killed. The miscommunication sour relations between the two branches on Peloo. One marine officer later wrote home of the incident. Only the finest army troops could fight on these islands. The type of warfare we wage is a do or die job, not fit for the army. Rufus rages to a subordinate. That's the wildcat division of pussycats all the way. Now I can tell Gigger I told you so. That's why I didn't want the army involved in this in the first place. Yet, the sad truth is that the incident overshadows the Wildcats, who have more than pulled their weight during their first action on Peloo, having captured more ground than had been taken since D plus 2. Despite the heavy losses, Major General Rupertus is adamant that Pelu is about to fall. As far as Rupetus is concerned, this battle is following the same pattern as previous island hopping operations. The Marines forged a beach head under fire, repelled the enemy counterattack, and are moving inland to annihilate the garrison. However, the Americans haven't faced terrain like Bloody Nose Ridge before and will spend the next month battling an entrenched enemy in unimaginable conditions. The official museum of the United States Marine Corps will refer to the coming weeks as the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines. Thanks again to Joseph Wan, author of Bitter Peloo, the forgotten struggle on the Pacific War's worst battlefield. to John McManus, historian and co-host of the World War II live podcast and author of Island Infernos, the US Army's Pacific War Odyssey 1944, as well as to Henry Sledge, son of Eugene Sledge and the author of The Old Breed: The Complete Story Revealed: A Father, a Son, and How World War II in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives.