WW2 Second Assignment

Ira Gilliand recalls his night on the ridge.

It's tough to talk about this stuff. It's been fifty-eight years. It gives me the chills thinking about it. It must be big if it is still that clearly in his memory. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:30 AM

The Japanese were trying to outflank us and looked like they were going to overrun our position. I remember their screams.I would personally have nightmares about these screams! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:35 AM They screamed a lot, especially when they were charging. It made you alert in a hurry even after being up for two days and you're ready to fall asleep.Being awake for two days and needing to keep fighting is something I honestly could never do -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:29 AM

They kept charging, but that's where the grenades came in. We threw grenades all night long.That would just plain out scare me! No way around that. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:37 AM I remember rolling the grenades down. We were up on the hill and they were below us. They kept feeding us boxes of grenades. I remember the sound of Plante's BAR. He kept it going all night long. A lot of guys spent a terrible night out there.

The 1st Parachute Battalion was with us. I remember one of the paratroopers got shot. The corpsman came over because of his cry for help, and he [the corpsman] got shot right through the heart. Watching anything like this happen to anyone would scar me for life. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 9:28 AM His name was Smith,Is this James Smith. I read my article about a James Smith! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:38 AM so when I saw Smith go down, I grabbed him and carried him down the hill. I didn't think he was going to die. When I got him down to the first aid station, I saw one of our doctors cry. [chokes up] Old Smitty was my friend, a real nice guy, and I broke down also.

*** The comments are in red (:

On September 27, the 1st Raider Battalion would help launch an attack near the mouth of the Matanikau River. Poor intelligence greatly underestimated the strength of the Japanese defenses facing them, turning the operation into a disaster. The Japanese halted the Raiders and 5th Marines' advance at the mouth of the river and nearly wiped out the amphibious landings by another Marine battalion at Point Cruz. Jim "Horse Collar" Smith recalls the battle.

We were on this narrow trail along the east side of the Matanikau River, a steep cliff on the other side. As we snaked up the side of the trail, a guy named Ed Mertz had a kidney stone.With a kidney stone it would be hard to climb a mountain -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:35 AM And here we are plastered alongside the trail with Japs on the other side of the river and this guy Mertz goes down screaming, clutching his gut. I remember thinking, "Oh, God, we are going to get it." I would feel so bad for the guy with the Kidney stone but I would also be pissed that he gave away our position. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:23 AM It was just a little farther along there that C Company was just a little ahead of us. Ken Bailey [the battalion executive officer and Medal of Honor recipient for his actions on Bloody Ridge], with his runner right behind him, was dashing across a log footbridge, caught a Nambu [machine gun] between the eyes and went down.

A little later in the day -- I guess we were still heading south -- Sam Griffith got shot in the shoulder at about 300 meters. I was going to say that this was a long way but I'm not really sure it is that far. -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:26 AM That left us with a bunch of young 1st lieutenants (who had just made 1st lieutenant), and there was actually a discussion at the CPWhat is a CP? -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:28 AM as to who was the senior officer. Edson was in a state of shock after Bailey was killed. It affected [Bailey's runner] more than anything else. He had been Major Bob Brown's runner until the ridge, and Brown was killed coming off the ridge. Someone said to him, "You must be a jinx, because this was the second major you lost." The poor kid became unglued. It was a terrible thing to say. Being in this position and have somebody put you down like that would just bring your performance level down. -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:37 AM

I remember when we pulled Bailey into the aid station in a poncho. Aid station [sigh] -- a couple of guys sitting on logs and doctors treating them. This is ridiculous! They should have sufficient aid stations! -Leigh Welch 2/24/10 10:30 AM Yeah, because this would help them much?? -Karissa Porter 2/24/10 10:38 AM There was a kid by the name of Dobson who had been shot right in the groin. His face was absolutely dead white, you couldn't believe it. He just sat there and held his stomach. Everybody knew he was going to die, and he knew he was going to die. Not a murmur out of him; talk about stoicism. He died shortly after that. He just slid off the log and was dead. A man next to him had a flesh wound and was crying like a baby. Talk about a contrast.

Eventually they pulled us out of there because the Japs were well entrenched on the other side of the footbridge.