Capter 27 - 1966 Stanley Zywar recalls Saipan, Guam and Tinian in 1944

Chapter 27 Version 1

1966

Stanley looked at the water. The blue-green paint intensified the reflection of the sky and the green trees on Mount Tom made the undulations on the surface of the water slide from blue to green and then back to blue. He just stared at the water unblinking somewhere lost in the dance of the colors.

“At first, I went up on the conning tower of the Rocky Mount with binoculars to watch the landings. Ships around us were bombed and strafed but we didn’t look like an important target I guess. At Saipan, I went up to watch. Guys on the beach were getting mowed down by the Japs. That was the last time I watched a landing.” Stanley blinked and sighed expelling air that seemed to have been trapped inside his lungs for a long time. It was a while before he drew in another breath.

The Rocky Mount sailed back to Pearl Harbor at the end of February 1944 after Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands was taken. Stanley would be looking forward to getting mail from Jeanette who had moved back home on Ferry Street from her apartment on Parsons St. It looked like it would be a while before Stanley would be coming home. Mail did come but it brought news of his brother Bill’s death on March 10^th. It was good that Joe was able to get an emergency leave and be home for the funeral but he wished that somehow he could have made it home too. But being on the Rocky Mount was a good place to be in the middle of a war. It was better than being one of those guys landing on the beach.  Jeanette and Stanley’s mother would probably agree with that sentiment but they could not be told the true nature of the ship he was on. “Loose Lips, Sink Ships”. Those stories could be told in future years but not now.

Now is the only time that matters in war.

Now the Rocky Mount was preparing for its next amphibious landing. The Japanese still controlled most of the western Pacific Ocean including the Caroline, Philippine, Formosa, Marianas and Ryukyu islands. The Japanese were preparing for an attack at the edges of their Pacific holdings with the Carolines a probable target. MacArthur was in the process of attacking the Admiralty Islands off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.

Cousin Edwin Wojnar on the USS Reid had protected landings at Saidor, New Guinea on Jan 2^nd. Now the Reid was guarding landings at Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands. Edwin and the Reid would be supporting additional landings at Hollandia, Wadke, Biak and Noenifoor until returning to Pearl in July.

MacArthur hoped to make good progress to convince the Joint Chiefs that his strategy to return to the Philippines through the southern island of Mindanao was the best approach. Admiral Nimitz in the Central Pacific had a different approach. He planned to split Japan’s Pacific holdings by attacking the Marianas Islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in June. The Rocky Mount was being prepared for the Marianas Campaign. If these islands were taken, the main Japanese islands could be reached by the new four engine B-29 Superfortress bombers. The faster that the Japanese heartland could be bombed, the quicker the war could end.

On May 12, Vice Admiral Turner and Marine Corps Lieutenant General Smith boarded the Rocky Mount at Pearl Harbor. The set sail for Saipan on May 29^th with the intention of arriving on “Dog Day” for the landings on June 15^th. This would be nine days after the European landings at Normandy of their D-Day. Shelling of Saipan in preparation for the landings began on June 13^th. Over 500 ships converged on Saipan for the invasion.

On June 12^th after training at the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station in Hawaii, Henry arrived on Eniwetok Island in the Marshalls with the VFM(N) 533 squadron taking up duties protecting those islands from night air attack. Their fifteen new Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat aircraft were equipped with the latest APS-6 radar. Henry served as staff sergeant in charge of ordinance and chemical warfare. The five thirty-three would remain at Eniwetok Atoll for nearly a year moving to Engebi Island at the northern side of the atoll on November 30^th. Saipan in the Marianas Islands was a thousand miles to the northwest of Eniwetok so the five thirty-three was not involved directly in the Marianas Campaign fighting.

The Japanese, though surprised at the boldness of the attack in the Marianas, had a plan in place. With four aircraft carriers in Philippine waters and three more in the northern Philippine Sea, “Operation A-Go” was activated by the Japanese to entice the Allies into a decisive sea battle. They wanted the battle to be close to the Philippines to have large numbers of land based aircraft from the Philippines also involved in the action. The Japanese sent a task force of carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers through the San Bernadino Strait north of Leyte Island in the central Philippines into the Philippine Sea toward the Marianas. Another task force including the three carriers was steaming northwest 200 miles east of Leyte Gulf.

On “Dog Day” evening after the invasion of Saipan had begun, Admiral Spruance who was in charge of the entire Marianas Campaign from his flagship, the USS Indianapolis, cancelled the June 18^th planned invasion of Guam. Spruance came aboard the Rocky Mount and Admirals Spruance and Turner decided to land as much men and materials on Saipan through June 17^th and then withdraw the transports to the east of the Marianas until after the sea battle was fought.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was fought on June 19th thru the 20^th. There was some dissatisfaction among other admirals with Spruance’s seeming less than aggressive posture as the Japanese fleet approached but the farther from the Philippines the battle took place, the better for the Allies. During the battle, the mostly inexperienced Japanese pilots lost over 550 planes to 123 for the US. Worse for Japan was the loss of three large fleet carriers. The US had all fifteen carriers survive the battle with only one battleship damaged. The Japanese fleet withdrew to Okinawa Island in the Ryukyu Islands suffering heavy losses. While historians refer to this sea battle as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, American flyers refer to this battle as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.

The significance of the Battle of the Philippine Sea was understood immediately by both the Japanese and the Americans. Air power was king. Battleships did not engage with other battleships – they protected aircraft carriers. Ship to ship engagement was by torpedo from submarines. These submarines were also equipped with radar that could be used when the submarine was surfaced. The element of surprise was now greatly diminished with better radar. The Japanese continued to attack with aircraft because inexperienced pilots reported back that the American fleet was suffering heavy losses.

We see what we want to see.

We hear what we want to hear.

We say what we think our superiors expect us to say.

Truth is the casualty.

The Japanese put up stiff resistance on Saipan and it took twenty-four days to capture the island. The final resistance was a bonsai suicide attack. Civilians on the island were urged to resist to the death to attain a very high status in heaven equal to a soldier killed in battle. Caves concealing Japanese soldiers were cleared with flamethrowers and explosives. One Japanese sergeant lived alone in a cave on Saipan until 1972. Saipan was officially captured on July 9, 1944.

Guam was invaded after over a month delay on July 21 and secured on August 10^th. During the delay, Guam was added to Admiral Turner’s duties and the Rocky Mount oversaw the landings on Guam before moving on Tinian. Tinian was invaded on July 24^th after being shelled from July 16^th to July 24^th. Tinian Town and Airfield #4 were captured on July 30^th. The Rocky Mount moved between the islands of the Marianas until it set sail back to Pearl Harbor on August 15^th and reached Pearl on August 26^th.

Stanley wrote briefly of his time in the Marianas “The next place we went was the Marianas Islands. We were in the invasion of Saipan. I went over on the island there and saw a few planes and went to look at some Jap motors. We went to Guam for a while & then Tinian”.