LIFE AS A SOLDIER
Stories By and About Deadeyes
Many units of the 96th Infantry Division were involved in taking Conical Hill, Okinawa, from the Japanese. This is a story of the "blood brothers" of the 1st Platoon, Company F, 383rd Infantry Regiment, and their role in securing Conical Hill on Okinawa from 10 May to 25 May 1945.
Norman J. Poshusta, from Spillville Iowa, was born September 13, 1921. Prior to his military service, Norman worked for his father for two years after high school. He did carpentry work involving erecting wood structures. He also did interior and exterior trim, laid floor and building concrete forms.
In the 77 years that my father lived on this earth he carried many heavy burdens in his heart, none of which an ordinary man should ever have to endure. But Dad did, and that is to his credit. In a different age his life would have been dramatically changed, but that was not to be. Raised by strict, disciplinarian parents he left home at 16 when forced to quit school to attend to farm chores by his father, Frank, who by all accounts was not a friendly man. When asked about his boyhood Christmas memories, he once told us he got "a belt on the bottom" for a present. He did not rebel, he simply made his escape.
These are the men who have seen the worst
The fighting men of the three-eighty-first
Through mud and rain, on coral and sand
They fought, some died, in a far-off land
Years before he died, the fact that I could not recall my father ever telling me that he loved me waxed stronger and stronger on me. Finally, I sought counsel. After explaining this to my counselor at length, he wisely suggested that I write a letter to my father, explaining my frustration, and then tearing it up and tossing it in the trash can, and moving on with my life. My father would never know my feelings, and I would be much, much better.
I too remember Easter, 1945. I, along with other replacements bound for Okinawa, was on an APA transport ship out of Saipan, where we were brushing up on battle statistics for about two weeks. What did we know after only 13 weeks of basic training at Camp Hood? I don't think this two weeks or so prepared us for what we got into when I was assigned to C Company. We did not have weapons until then. They issued to the whole group M-1 Carbines, which had been stored in cosmoline, for us to clean. After we had them cleaned, they took them from us and issued M-1 Gerand rifles that we went into battle with on Okinawa.
There is an old poem authored by Major Kelly Strong called Freedom Is Not Free. It is probable that only those who have fought hard to win battles with our enemies can understand the full significance of those words. Many have such awful memories of loneliness, horror and destruction of war that they refuse to talk about their experiences.
We, along with other units, were working to silence Japanese artillery gun positions that were emplaced in the cave openings and other concrete-lined gun positions facing us.
We had the U. S. Navy firing for us from their ship. They were as close to the beach as a safe depth would permit. Also the angle of fire was more effective in that the Japanese emplacements were not protected from this angle and counter fire from their guns was difficult if possible.
Ralph Alton hailed from Bruceville, Indiana. He was drafted into the Army and took his basic training in Camp Blanding, Florida. After returning home he received advance training at Ft Ord, California, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, and Saipan. He joined the 96th Division Deadeyes in April of 1945 on Okinawa, as an 18 year old. He served his country in combat with M. Co, 382nd regiment until American forces secured that island. He was then shipped to Mindoro, Philippine Islands, where he reenlisted. Upon the death of his father he was discharged in early 1946.
In an earlier entry about my experiences in WW II, I recall ending with our landing on Okinawa as replacements in the 96th Infantry division, who by now had lost half their men to a fanatical Japanese combat force, who were well trained and equipped and skilled.
Bill Porter and I, Jeff League, sat down and had a meeting/philosophical discussion and history lesson as it turned out. That would have been 4-16-09. We were talking about why kids drop out of school and an example I gave got Bill onto the topic of Okinawa. We had been wanting to get Bill's recollections on tape but here it just kind of spontaneously came out and we were lucky enough to get the meeting on tape. Bill's friend Bill Hill, who runs the RemembertheDeadeyes.com website, had contacted Bill and let him know about the website. This had gotten Bill excited about the Deadeyes again and Bill Hill had encouraged Bill Porter to share his memories. Bill had been hesitant but he was working up to it and here it just came out in conversation.
On May 1st, PFC Martin L. Allday arrived off Okinawa, climbed over the side and down the net into a landing craft and was put ashore. On the beach, he says, "The first thing we were told was to throw our gas masks away, and so we did. All of us had been issued our gas masks upon induction at Fort Sam Houston, and we had carried them all through training and everywhere else. Also, because I wore glasses, my mask had been specially fitted with glasses, but it went onto the pile with all the rest. Everybody unloaded as much as they could in order to get as light as possible. From that point on, I carried no personal equipment except a poncho and a small sack with a change of socks, a toothbrush, and a spare pair of glasses.
I was a forward observer with the 1st Battalion, 381st Regiment, from the 361st Field Artillery Battalion, 96th Division, in the rolling mountains above the beach on Leyte. The enemy was scattered. The Battalion was in a kind of circular defensive position. Rifle fire pro and con was intermittent.
This may be a shocking statement: But at one time in my life, I was a hardened killer. I probably killed more human beings on Okinawa in three months than have been murdered in Jackson County, where I live, in the past 10 or 15 years. I am not proud of this but I do know it was a necessary part of my job.
Members of the 593rd JASCO (Joint Assault Signal Company) were attached to the 96th Division for landings at both Leyte and Okinawa. At Leyte, five of us and Lt. Spears landed in the third wave in an amphibious tank with members of the 382nd Regimental Combat Team of the 96th Division. We landed on Orange 1 or 2, whichever was on the right flank. For an assault landing, things were pretty quiet for a while, not what we expected. Then the Japanese (who were dug in up on Liberian Head) started dropping mortar on us.
On November 22, 1944, the 3rd Battalion was ordered from the front line. Our casualties had been very high - nearly two hundred killed, missing, or wounded. We were stationed on Mecham Ridge about one mile behind the front. Although we still lived in foxholes, we were now able to customize our quarters. Some had suspended bamboo floors so that we could stay above the water and damp, cold ground. Others had makeshift roofs to shield the occupants from the rain. This doesn't seem like much, but after what we had been through, we thought of it as the Leyte Hilton.
At least we all had a good sleep. A new man, named Pohto, was assigned to my foxhole to replace Higgins, who had been killed the day before. Because it was difficult to go to sleep during the early watch, Silva and I decided that we would each take an early watch and leave the third watch to the new man. Each watch was one hour long. After the second watch, I awakened Pohto, gave hm my wristwatch and told him to wake Silva in one hour. I promptly fell asleep.
It was dawn of October 20, 1944. The sky was bright and clear, The sea was calm and blue. The 3rd Battalion of the 382nd Regiment was selected to lead the assault. Two days earlier, the 6th Ranger Battalion had landed unopposed to secure two small islands that guarded the entrance to Leyte Gulf - Dingat on the south and Homonhon on the north.
The task force plowed through the Philippine Sea - only three days outside the target area of Leyte. Everyone aboard the vast fleet was tense with fear and dread of the assault that was about to take place. Everyone, that is, except Lt. Lawson, for he was dead. He had succumbed to a tropical disease contracted a week earlier on the South Pacific Island of Manus.
Camp Stoneman was the 96th Division POE (Port Of Embarkation). As was the custom, quarantine was placed on units that were scheduled to embark on overseas duty.
Quarantine meant absolute secrecy regarding our movement and our location. This precluded any passes or telephone calls, and our letter writing was strictly censored. As far as the world was concerned, we were simply vanished from the earth.
Growing up I always knew that my grandfather had served during World War II. It was Just one of those things in school where I raised my hand when we were learning about the war and the teacher asked how many of us had relatives who served. But I never knew any more than that - I never knew where he was or what he did - he just never talked about it much - and I didn't know if I should ask.
As a 96th Infantry Division Quartermaster Company Truck Driver, I had an opportunity to confiscate supplies. I would take large cans of fruit cocktail, peaches and pears and put them in my toolbox, behind the seat or wherever I could find a place to stash them.
Once in a while I was assigned the job, along with other drivers, to drive up near the front lines to haul out spent troops. As soon as we got behind range of enemy artillery fire, I would stop the truck and dig out my stash of canned fruit and toss the cans into the back of the truck.
It was a rather nice bright sunny day. We had been on the island of Leyte about three days and nights after hitting the beach in the initial wave of the landing attack, the morning of October 20, 1944, in troop-carrying amphibious landing craft or LVTs, we called them alligators.
I was a member of the Armed Forces in the invasion of Okinawa as a rifle squad leader in a front line company. Our Division, along with several others made the landing on April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday. After being in combat for nearly two weeks our regiment, now a mere shell of the regiment which landed on Easter Sunday, was pinched out and moved to the rear to receive replacements and bring the number up to full strength.
The 96th Infantry Division of World War I was activated late in World War I at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina under the command of Major General Guy Carleton on October 20, 1918. After the armistice of November 11, i918, the under-manned, untrained 96th Infantry Division was demobilized on January 7, 1919.
The 96th Infantry Division was reconstituted in the Army Reserve system on June 24, 1921 in Portland, Oregon. During the 1920's and 1930's the Division had summer training of its reservists and aided Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Pacific Northwest.
By the start of World War II for the United States, most reserve members of the 96th Division had been called to active duty. The 96th Infantry Division, after arrival of a cadre, mostly from the 7th Infantry Division, was activated at Camp Adair, Oregon on August 15, 1942 under the command of Major General James L. Bradley. Shortly thereafter Brigadier General Claudius Easley became Assistant Division Commander. Both Generals stressed rifle marksmanship and under the skilled training leadership of General Easley, the 96th Division acquired the nickname, The Deadeyes.
General Patton's Third Army was pushing through France with his tanks, and General MacArthur was island hopping in the Pacific. Finally, in New Guinea he was getting ready for the return to the Philippines. Each needed more troops, especially the infantrymen. So here we are, the 96th Infantry, at Camp Carson, Colorado, the day that the sergeant had us fall out in first class in suntans, which was unusual, or were on pass to go to Colorado Springs for a good time. Naturally, no one told us that we were leaving, but boarding the train going????
I was wounded on Okinawa on April 7, the day after we came in sight of the main Japanese defense line. It was a flesh wound on my arm, but at that stage of the battle even a slight wound was a ticket off the island it was what we called a million dollar wound.
I did not see many live Japanese soldiers on Leyte or Okinawa, where we were usually advancing in the open and they were hidden in defensive positions. We might first know of their presence when they opened fire.
Horn yelled, "Peterson, get your gear and report to Ski at Headquarters, on the double."
As a private in a combat infantry company, I know it can only mean trouble when you're singled out for anything. I'm part of a team, here; we've been trained to work as a group. Horn didn't grab a bunch of guys to go out on patrol, or paint rocks. or do the kinds of no-brain stuff that privates do best - he picked me. By name. Maybe it's KP, or I'm going to be decorated, or courtmartialed, or ...