Imperial Valley press., 1945-04-24
BY ERNIE PYLE

BY ERNIE PYLE
OKINAWA-(By Navy Radio)-
It's marvellous to see a bunch of
American troops go about making
themselves at home wherever they
get a chance to settle down for a
few days.
My company of First Division
marines dug in at the edge of a
bomb-Shattered village The village
was quaint ana not without charm.
I was astonished at the similarity
with the villages of Sicily and Italy.
The town didn't really seem Or
iental. The houses were wooden
one-story buildings, surrounded by
little vegetable gardens. Instead
of fences, each lot was divided by
rows of shrubs or trees. The cob
blestoned streets were just wide
enough for jeep. They were wind
ing and walled on both sides by
head-high stone walls.
TOWN Is SHATTERED
A good part of the ownlay shat
tered Scores of the houses had
burned ana only ashes and red roof
ing tile were left. Wandering around,
l counted the bodies of four Okin-
awanS still in the streets. Otherwise,
the town was deserted
The people had fled to their
caves in the hillsides, taking most
of their personal belongings with
them. There is almost no furniture
in japanese houses, SO they didn't
have to worry about that.
After a lew days the grapevine
carried the v-crd to them that we
we're treating them we'll so they be-
gan to come ou. in droves and give
| themselves up. I heard one story
about a hundred Okinawa civilians
who had a Jap soldier among them,
and when they realized the atrocity
stories he had told them about the
Americans were untrue, our men had
to step in to keep them from beat
ing him.
Our company commander picked
out nice little house in a rise at
the edge of town for his command
post.
The house was very light, fairly
clean, and the floors were covered
with woven mats. A couple OF Of
ficers and a dozen men moved into
the house and slept on the floor and
we cooked our rationS over an open
stone cookstove in the rear.
Then the word went around for
the men of the company to dig in
for several days. Two platoons were
assigned to dig in along the outer
sides of the nearby hills for PERRIN
eter defense.
KEEP HORSES
The boys were told they could
keep the horses they had comman-
deered, that they could carry wooden
panels out of the houses to make
little doghouses for themselves, but
not to take anything else, and that
they could have fires, except during
air alerts.
They weren't to start their daily
mop-up patrols in the brush until
the next day, so they had the after
noon of TO clean themselves up and
fix up their little houses.
Different men did different things.
Some built elaborate houses about
the size of chicken houses, with
floor mats and chairs and even
kerosene lamps hanging from the
roof.
One Mexican boy dug hole, COW
cred it with boards, and then cam
ouflaged it SO perfectly with brush
you really couldn't see it.
Some spent the afternoon taking
baths and washing clothes in the
river. Some rode bicycles around
town. Some rode their horses up
and down. Some foraged around
town through the deserted houses.
Some went looking for chickens to
cook Some sat in groups and talk
ed. Some just slept.
An order went out against wear
ing Jap clothing or eating any OF
the local vegetables, pork, goat beei
or fowl. But this was before th6
| order came out.
The marines had dug up lots OF
japanese kimonos out of the smash
ed houses and put them on while
washing their one set of clothes. II
you ever want to see funny sight,
Just take a look at few dozen
dirty and unshaven marines walk
ing around in pink and blue Wo-