OCR Text |
Show ,i.g po , 6PWDAY. APRIL , KW ww--n. 1 ,9 PyleGiyes Eye-Witness Story Of Yanks7 Okinawa Invasion JIj EBNIE PYLE OKINAWA (by Navy radio) force ' upon the Japanese island of Okinawa I would like to so back and tell you in detail how the invasion went off. As our regimental commander said the night before the landing: "All I'm worried about is getting get-ting past the first two days when we are on our own and will have to Improvise to meet every situation. But after that we will be established and from then on we can just go by the book." The first two days are over accomplished with an ease that had everybody flabbergasted. By evening of the first day we. had done much more than the most optimistic planner figured we could in the first three days. So from now on it's "by the book." For some reason which I haven't have-n't fathomed yet the conventional name of D-Day was changed for this invasion to ",Love Day." Possibly it was because we were landing on Easter Sunday and somebody felt the spirit of brotherly love. At any rate when dawn cam on Love Day and the pink, rising sun lifted the shroud of Oriental darkness around us, we were absolutely ab-solutely appalled. For all our main convoys had converged and there they lay arouna us in one gigantic fleet, stretching for miles. There were around 1500 ships and thousands of small landing craft which the ships had carried with them. There weren't as many small snips as at Normandy, but In naval power and actual force of men and fighting strength it was equally as big as the invasion of Europe. We certainly didn't go at Okinawa in any half-hearted manner. We had ham and eggs for breakfast at 4:30 a.m. We strapped strap-ped our unwieldy packs on our backs. Our heavier gear was left aboard to be taken ashore several days later. It was only half light when we Went on deck. You could see . flame flashes on the horizon toward to-ward shore. The men on the deck were dark and indistinguishable forms. Our assault transport carried many landing craft (LCVP's) on deck. They were lifted by a derrick der-rick and swung over the side. We piled into them as they hung even with the rail. Then the; winch lowered them into th I went on the first boat to leave our ship. It was just breaking dawn when we left. It was still inuie wan iwu jiuurs oeiore n- i . . . ! xiour. uur long ocean mp was over. The days wc had reluctantly reluct-antly counted off were all gone. Our time had run out This was it. All around us hundreds of other boats were putting off and churning churn-ing the water, but there was no organization to it. They weren't j yet forming into waves. These early boats carried mainly the control crews who would manage the colossal traffic of shore-bound invasionists in the next few hours. We chugged shoreward for more than an hour, for we had stopped far offshore. Our destination destin-ation was a small control ship lying about two miles from the .beach. Scores of these little control craft were forming a line the entire length of our long beachhead, beach-head, about a quarter" of a mile apart. They were the traffic policemen of our invasion. They all looked alike, and we had to find ours by number. In all the welter of miles of ocean traffic, it was easy to get lost and we did. We were half an hour finding our control boat after getting there. An assault on an enemy shore Is a highly organized thing. It is so intricately organized, so abundant abun-dant in fine detail that it would be impossible to clarify it all in your mind. No single man in our armed forces knows everything every-thing about an invasion. But just to simplify one point . Suppose we were invading an enemy beach on a four-mile front. It is not as you would think, one over-all invasion. Instead it is a Hn2fm nr mnro little Invsdnnc simultaneously and side by side. Each team runs its own invasion. A combat team is a regiment. Our regimental commander and his staff were on the little control ship. Thus our control ship di rected only the troops of our regiment. We. had beaches "Yellow One" and "Yellow Two." Troops of our regiment formed waves directly off those beaches, miles at sea, and we went straight in. Other control ships on either Iside, having nothing to do with us, directed other waves having nothing to' do with us. Each was its own private little show. As I've written before, war to an individual is hardly ever big ger tnan a hundred yards on each side of him. And that's the way .it was witn us at Ukinawa. Indian Perishes In Easter Storm MALTA, Mont., April 7 (UJO The second victim of the Easter Sunday blizzard was discovered yesterday when the body of a 23-year-old Indian, Wilkie Flying, was found on the Ruby Gulch divide about five miles from Zort-man Zort-man in northern Montana. The Indian was reported to have been riding from Zortman to Lodge Pole with two friends when his horse threw him and he decided to walk back to Zortman Zort-man in the freezing blizzaitf alone. Rocket Ship BomHords Okinawa f r u"'r t" 4. oy y i 44 1 i if., 1 K J KM tv 1. V 4 Hospital Finds Gl's Interested In Art Studies ' VAN NUYS, Cat UJP GI Joe who thought with most Americans that art was for the favored few, has discovered he was wrong. And doctors at the Birmingham , gen eral hospital here are capitalizing on his interest in .things artistic to recondition war wounded sol diets. More than a dozen prominent Hollywood portrait painters, cartoonists car-toonists and commercial artists are contributing their time to teaching 300 students in hospital classes in ceramics, "drawing and naintins. One, teacher, Dolya Goutman, Russian-born painter, comments, "The false doctrine that art was for 'sissies' kept these men from expressing themselves artistically in childhood. If the much-publicized era-of-the-common man is at hand, certainly the common , man should be permitted to enjoy the arts as part of bis daily life." GIs interested in expressing themselves packed the first art class when it was announced the model would be starlet Jinx Falk- enber, in person. They weren't scared off by the announcement that they'd be drawing such pin up cover girls as Dusty Anderson, Chili Williams, Karen Gaylord, gueen AlcC lory and Marguerite Japs Decisively Defeated InBunna CALCUTTA, April ? WJ8 the Japanese 15th army has been de cisively defeated on the central Burma plain and is no longer considered con-sidered an effective fighting force. the southeast Asia command re ported today. "Our troops have reached the end of the 'definite phase of operations" oper-ations" in cutting of and liquidating liquidat-ing the large force of Japanese oetween ' Mandaiay and Meucuia, the communique said. Formations of two other Japanese Japa-nese armies in Burma, the' S3rd and 28th, have also suffered considerable con-siderable casualties. Consolidation of the Allied po sition is under way. west African troops of the lath Indian corps have made progress in their advance from Tamandu north of Taungup. In the eastern air war, heavy bombers yesterday severely dam- Chapman from first-hand obser vation. The Red Cross supplies the semi-weekly classes with materials, ma-terials, easels and drawing boards. Sat. William Willard. former Hollywood sculptor stationed at the hospital, originated the art school. He was rewarded when a war bond poster contest sponsored by a Los Angeles department store was won by a recently discharged dis-charged veteran of five Pacific campaigns. ' Film, Banned By aged four bridges on the Pegu- r Martaban railway, while -iighterlv MEMPHIS, Tcoa, April TffUD Domoers nit the Toungoo bypass J The motion picture, "Brewster s railway bridge. X 11 'Women, One Man to Sit On Chaplin Trial HOLYYWOOD. April 7 (UJD A (jury of 11 women and a lone man will hear the intimate testimony. starting Monday, in the second trial of Joan Barry's charges that Comedian Charlie Chaplin is the father of her 18-months-oId daughter, Carol Ann: ' - The jury was accepted late yesterday yes-terday by Attorneys Joseph Scott, representing the baby, and Charles Milnkan, counsel for the 56-year-old comedian. Two alternate jur ors, a man and a woman, also were selected. in the zirst trial oz tne suit xour months ago, the jury was dead-1 locked, 7 to 5 in favor of Chaplin.! Six of the seven women on the jury voted for Chaplin. GERMAN CRUISER SUNK LONDON, April 7 (U.R) Air reconnaissance photos today disclosed dis-closed that the German light crusier, Koelin. was sunk during the American air attack on the Wilhelmshaven nayl base March 30. Millions," has been banned here because it "represents too much social equality and racial mix ture. Chairman Lloyd T. Bin-ford Bin-ford of the Memphis board of motion mo-tion picture censors said today. Binford branded the lilm inimical in-imical to the public welfare and said Negro' Comedian Rochester ( Eddie Anderson) had "too familiar famil-iar a way about him." FOR QUICK RELIEF From the Discomforts of ATHLETE'S FOOT and ECZEMA SATISFACTION GUARANTEED ! (NBA Telephoto) A barrage from a rocket ship prepares the way for the invasion of Okinawa Oki-nawa by U. S. Army troops and Marines. A constant stream of projec-.iles projec-.iles can be noted some in mid-air, others well on their way to mainland targets. U. S. Navy photo. 11 ffisllP MODEL A-l k nnc cos nnuvioun radution' murts viruniie! WWtWUl 5WMICBM. AGENT MO STCRIUZU1 MWTMU . . . COMPACT . . . REMARKABLY REXlBUt CARRIES MANUFACTURER'S GUARANTEE ! Willi Tliiir. Canylm CiM. CecDn . . . SM.50 C0IIS0LIDATED HARDWARE CO. 155 West Center - Frews, Utah ( 4. mtmutr tmcX STORE HOURS: Monday 12 Noon to 8 p. m. Other Days 10 to 6 SPECIAL MOMMY FEATURES GOES ON SALE MONDAY 12 NOON! Limited Quantities! Towel and Wash Cloths Soft, fluffy, snowy white towels with colored borders. bor-ders. Gay colored wash cloths, too! Wonderfully absorbent! ' Limited Z towels and 4 wash cloths to each customer. WHITE OUTING FLANNEL Limited quantity! 36 inches wide! . . . Soft, fleecy white, outing flannel so handy for all uses. Limited 5 YARDS TO EACH CUSTOMER! 19 Yard Children's Rayon Slips They're pretty and dressy, yet durable enough for everyday wear. Seams are strongly stitched so they won't rip or fray. Women's Rayon, Panties and Soft, sturdy, plain rayon knit in brief of panty styles. . . . T-Iol f olastir hacks for added comfort. Sizes 34-40 SEERSUCKERS or DAINTY SHEER WOMEN'S TIE APRONS Charming Aprons to put over your dress when company drops in! Colorful seersuckers or dainty sheers. Neat tie backs! 79 FOR HERO'S UNDER TWELVE JR. BOYS' JIMMIE SUITS double bib. suspenders, and fly front. The matching shirts can be worn in side or out. Easy to wasn: MEN'S WORK SOX Good weight, absorbent cotton yarns in soft natural gray colors. Extra reinforcements at heels and toes for added wear! SMALL BOYS' Fair POLO SHIRTS 9 Fine cotton k n i t s in bright 'colorful stripes. . . Short sleeves. . Sizes 1-4. Easy to wash! Limited Quantity of TOWNCRAFT LUGGAGE Goes On Sale MONDAY! Q ft r 1B H5 CH I LDREN'S HIGH CHAIRS ADJUSTABLE SAFETY TRAY! Sturdy construction ... strong stretchers on widespread wide-spread legs . . . full panel back with nursery decorations. dec-orations. Baby guard with adjustable safety tray. Choice of two finishes. J SMALL BOYS' WASH SU ITS Gay striped Polo Shirts with sanforized gabardine gabar-dine shorts in harmonizing colors with -suspender top. Bright yellow, blue and green colors. Sizes 1-3. Infants' Department Balcony - STORE HOURS: Monday, 12 Noon 8 p. m. Other Days 10 to 6, wVr . , fl575- j0f S. 1 Navy-and-White . . Black-and- Y Colors . . Pert Peplums . . . The U Smarti I I v I Youll love them! They're the kind of dresses that are real standbys fresh and beautifully tailored, appropriate for whatever occasions are on the books! New styles in rayon crepes with the charming details that mark all Carol Evans dresses! ' Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. |