The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-08-13

on smaller islands Tn the Solt
 It was Americas biggest gamble Our ground operations so far in tht war had ended in defeat--in the Philippines, on Guam, on Wake.
 The Japs at first executed only ratd-not an invasion in force They fell back from the beaches arc the airfield was secured quickly.
 Then the enemy realized the Mar. ines were there to stay. The Japan ese came out of the hills. Japanese naval units bounced upon our sup. porting fleet. They regained contro of the air and sea and left the Mar ines on Guadalcanal facing another Bataan-with little hope of supple, or endorsements.
 The issue remained in doubt dur. ing the weeks that followed.
 The Japanese were reinforced from the sea and began a majol drive against the airfield. The en- emy was so confident that radio Tokyo announced the field was back in Japanese hands.
 But Tokyo spoke too soon. It had not anticipated the battle whict went down in history as bloody ridge. The tide turned and the Japanese finally yielded on Febru- ary 9th, 1943. It was Americas first all-out land victory of the Pa ciflc war.
 Heavy Jap Casualties
 During that half year of strug- gle, the Japanese lost 50,000 dead in ground fighting, and thousands more on the 57 ships sunk, 109 dam- aged and 792 planes destroyed. OuI casualties totaled 3,767.
 The end of the Guadalcanal cam- paign was signalled when two bearded officers in mud-caked uni forms moved toward one another across an abandoned cocoanui plantation. It was the union of two American forces which had driver the Japanese from the northwest tip of the island.
 Said Major H. wirt Butler oi Springfield, Illinois, to Colone! James. Dalton of Burlington, Yer. mont-"I'm damn glad to see you colonel"
 The stage was set. On Guadal- canal our fighting men and theil leaders gained the experience anc confidence which carried then through the rest of the war.
 The next major land battle came Nov. 20. The Second Marine Divi- sion tackled the stationary Jap air. craft carrier of Tarawa.
 Guadalcanal was bloody anc tough. Tarawa was bloodier anc tougher. It was the bloodiest cam. paign in Marine Corps history d the time.
 The Gilbert islands cluster of air. fields fell in only 76 hours. Bu during those 76 hours, more than { thousand American men gave theil lives. More than 2,500 were wound. ed. Only a few hundred escaped death or injury.
 Marine Major Gen. Hollan, Smith had an explanation for thu swift capture oaf the Atoll. He saiC 1t was due to the willingness o American Marines to die for victor!
 We kept moving northward to ward Tokyo.
 Cape Gloucester, New Britain the Marshals. Japanese air, sea ant land domination in the southwes Pacific was waning.
 Then came the real turning poin -Saipan. On June IA, 1924, Amer 1can troops went into a battle tha was to overshadow anything the! had yet seen.
 Almost 1,500 Americans wer' killed in the first two weeks. II those two weeks, our losses nor than doubled Tarawa.
 Tn the same two weeks, almos 5000 Japanese were buried.
 Saipan fell within a month, bu only after the Japanese made thei biggest Banzai attack of the war The charge began in a tropica valley one rainy dawn and lastet until nightfall.
 Fifteen hundred JapS were killet that day The first wave came il screaming, armed with machine guns and rifles. The second way, carried only grenades. And tin' third waye-conf1dent that the Americans already had been dis armed and beaten rushed in witl swords and. knives to finish the job
 But the Americans had held. Ant the Japs rushing in with sword were slaughtered, their bodies fall ing beside those of their comrades
 When the Saipan campaigl ended, some 12,000 Japanese ha, been buried, and another thouscant captured-one of the biggest bag of enemy prisoners to date.
 The final figures on our casual ties were more than 5000 killed