With the Old Breed_ At Peleliu and Okinawa - E. B. Sledge [168]
Until the island was secured on 21 June, we made a series of rapid moves southward, stopping only to fight groups of die-hard Japanese in caves, pillboxes, and ruined villages. The fresh 8th Marines pushed south rapidly. “The Eighth Marines goin’ like a bat outa hell,” a man said as news drifted back to us.
We were fortunate in not suffering many casualties in the company. The Japanese were beaten, and the hope uppermost in every weary veteran's mind was that his luck would hold out a little longer, until the end of the battle.
We used loudspeakers, captured Japanese soldiers, and Okinawan civilians to persuade the remaining enemy to surrender. One sergeant and a Japanese lieutenant who had graduated from an Ivy League college and spoke perfect English gave themselves up in a road cut. Just after they came out and surrendered, a sniper opened fire on us. We eight or ten Marines took cover next to the embankment, but the Japanese officer and NCO stood in the middle of the road with the bullets kicking up dirt all around them. The sniper obviously was trying to kill them because they had surrendered.
We looked at the two Japanese standing calmly, and one of our NCOs said, “Get over here under cover, you dumb bastards.”
The enemy officer grinned affably and spoke to his NCO. They walked calmly over and got down as ordered.
Some Company K men shot the gun crew of a 150mm howitzer emplaced in the mouth of a well-camouflaged cave. The Japanese defended their big artillery piece with their rifles and died to the last man. Farther on we tried to get a group of enemy in a burial vault to surrender, but they refused. Our lieutenant, Mac, jumped in front of the door and shouted in Japanese, “Do not be afraid. Come out. I will not harm you.” Then he fired a complete twenty-round magazine from his submachine gun into the door. We all just shook our heads and moved on. About a half hour later, the five or six Japanese rushed out fighting. Some of our Marines behind us killed them.
Our battalion was one of the first American units to reach the end of the island. It was a beautiful sight even though there were still snipers around. We stood on a high hill overlooking the sea. Below to our left we saw army infantry advancing toward us, flushing out and shooting down enemy soldiers singly and in small groups. Army 81mm mortar fire kept pace ahead of the troops, and some of our weapons joined in coordination. We got a bit edgy when the army mortar fire kept getting closer and closer to our positions even after the unit had been apprised of our location. One of our battalion officers became furious as the big shells came dangerously close. He ordered a radioman to tell the army officer in charge that if they didn't cease fire immediately, our 81s would open fire on his troops. The army mortars stopped shooting.
The night of 20 June we made a defensive line on the high ground overlooking the sea. My mortar was dug in near a coral road and was to illuminate or fire HE on the area. Other guns of the section covered the seaward part of the company's sector.
Earlier we had seen and heard some sort of strange-looking rocket fired by the Japanese from over in our army's sector. The projectiles were clearly visible as they went up with a terrible screaming sound. Most of them exploded in the