Show PAYS AYS Of O HELL HLL AND GLORY arid flero Begins Okinawa t The note The blo bloody d battle of Okinawa ma may be tic recorded iii tory as BS s the decisive one that broke the cordon of resistance the Jap bip homeland Nt It can an be told toki for the thc fl first st time the time the unvarnished uD I us I tie V of ef that hard-fought hard struggle 1 a as seen through the eyes of aI s a MM I officer hn hnas hn was as a 1 one of Its Us heroes heroes Lt Lt George Thompson W r Dorchester Mass This i IB Is the first of six daily dally articles LT tt GEORGE THOMPSON U V S SM Sl M C E R rii to Kenneth McCaleb of Int International News Service e WITH THE m SD SIXTH H MARINE DIVISION Okinawa Aug 6 The Br-The The twilight breeze on this dust coated sun scorched that is no longer a part of the Japanese empire rustles Wt withered ered stalks of sugar cane that w will Il never again yield its it j juice ce for the Nippon soldiers soldiers' rs' rs saki Japanese wine I the gathering dusk Bilhou I against amber clouds of ot a ag tag II g sun mn- a a. lone observation wings Its way north to tc to the theof of the airfield Far out oute fc e calm caIn East China sea a defer dehr de de- de- de fer hr escort slides BUds through the W tiny Islands Island IB lUgar tugar sugarcane cane has been burned 7 11 our fire bombs and flame- flame lIVen ri and the breeze carries ekly sweet meet stench h of its clot- clot P pI long Hong with the of l Et l from iron rotting Japanese M still unburied because may yet lurk In Jn the Bor or fields fIel nd u us as we begin this r tory rito m- m men mn n of the Sixth ma ma- division are resting I II men hemen have earned this rest reat d days day y of hell and glory I va lna aw are over now The Theu TheIa u Ia and only the last r g up of ot Jap remnants rei re- re i wd nights of tur turmoil that l tho o only In t the c st strange ange I cf of Oriental names Bee e Page 2 Column S oS I vs v- v s sJ k k kt J t JT JIA Lt George Thompson of Dorchester Mass marine hero of Oki Okinawa nawa naw begins Ins unvarnished story o of that bloody campaign cam cam- in today's Telegram International News Service Photo OK NAWA Continued from Page One Chuda Nago To- To gucht guch Naha l where the marine di diVIsion division di- di vision Ision has left Its marl mark marland and and its dead We Ve gave them other names names too oo that now belong to history Su Sugar ar Loaf Half HaIr Moon Horseshoe Far up the Okinawa coast from we sit lie 1697 of oC these men menn In n a rest that is is' is longer than cur ours curs Overlooking Green beach No 2 2 in the area where the division landed that Easter Easte morning that seems so long ago the graves face their heir white crosses crosse and Stars Star of David toward Asia from a burial ground that will loin be forever a little piece of America Among the crosses Is one that bears bear jears the name of ot Col Harold C. C Roberts commanding the regiment of the division when he hOe was killed in hi action on OR peninsula in the final drive south and ind within sight eight of ot Okinawa's OkInawa s southern coast that W was hi his hla goal I did not know Col Roberts but buthis buthis buthis his death and the manner of it It- It shot through the heart by a sniper while lending leading his men was men was typical of f the division on Okinawa It BO so happened that I designed the shoulder patch for the division the silver the the gold liS 6 with sword pointing upward on blue background with the words Melanesia Me liMe ia lI Micronesia and OrIent Orient Ori On ent cut In gold on the circular red border jorder If It I had it to do again rd Id put the single word Attack dominating dominating domi domi- the for If the division had a a. motto It would be betha that tha t word Again Attacked When pinned down by enemy artillery at what we called the Horseshoe we attacked When under fire in the bowls around Sugarloaf from an enemy enemy en en- emy erny with direct observation high on the hill bill above we attacked When our ranks were being decimated by withering mortar fire tire from beyond the Half Moon whenever the situation looked ripe for withdrawal withdrawal the the division attacked In that kind of warfare men i 1 do n not t move forward unless their leaders go with them Not since the Civil war ar I think have battalion battalion bat bat- tallon and regimental commanders command command- ers er led American troops into close quarter battle to the extent they I Idid did with the division on Oki Oki- nawa They showed hoYed up in the casualties casualties casual casual- ties these officers My own battalion battalion bat bat- commander leader commander leader of the 1st battalion marines marines lost lost losta a leg on Sugarloaf while among the casualties of the 1st battalion marines In in the same action were the battalion commander and three company commanders Ignored Shellfire Ire MaJ Gen Lemuel C. C Shepherd took tool chances chancel that scared the pants off most moat of ot those who saw aw him ignoring enemy shellfire Though the commanding general escaped escapee without a Jap Inflicted wound he wore one arm In In Ina a sling for p p. an aide had dived into a foxhole on top him Mm Col Victor F F. Fx Bleasdale near near- fog his thirtieth year I in the manine marine ma ma- nine rine corps when he commanded the marines during the early part of the Okinawa campaign rarely issued an order to advance Hf His formula instead was Follow me The men followed The division first division lon lonor of or the marine corps to be formed in the field in this war var was new I as a division when it hit the beaches at Okinawa Okinawa but but veteran as to its lUi component parts Unique Formation The and regiments had distinguished themselves elves on Sal Sat pan and Guam where each won ut unit t citations The 3rd regiment regimen of the division the was formed In a a. unique way From schools in New River N N. N C. C officer officer of ot and N C 0 O Instructors instructors ot o which I was one were one were as assignee assigned companies companie and platoons made up of their former students We Ve trained at Guadalcanal where other marines had made history There the was joined by our 1st battalion which had fought at and won the navy unit citation Thus Thu in the new division only two battalions battalions battalions battal battal- ions of the nine in the three regiments regiments regiments regi regi- ments had yet to see aee combat After six mo months thi we were vere ready tough and skilled and Gung Early In March we embarked on the huge gray transports transports trans trans- ports lying off oft LandIng Exercises There was a a. week of ot landIng exercises clambering up and down do the nets fighting our way to the beaches in choppy water Then the division staff was WL sat sat- We were off Three day out official wort word was passed through the officers officer and N C COs CO's to the men of at our i destination They Thy trotted out the scale large painted plaster maps that that were really models models on on which Id I'd worked before our de de- de- de Gripes Cripes said one sergeant of ol my acquaintance when he learned that Okinawa was Wa our objective right into Hirohito back yard |