Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

An Enlisted Marine’s Perspective on the Pacific War

50 AN฀ENLISTED฀฀ MARINE’S฀฀ PERSPECTIVE฀ON฀฀ THE฀PACIFIC฀WAR Roy฀Appleton,฀Jr.,฀was฀a฀seventeen-year-old฀freshman฀at฀the฀ University฀of฀Texas฀when฀he฀decided฀to฀enlist฀in฀the฀Marine฀ Corps฀in฀October฀1942.฀After฀completion฀of฀Marine฀boot฀camp฀ at฀San฀Diego฀Recruit฀Depot,฀he฀was฀assigned฀to฀Headquarters฀ Company,฀Signal฀Battalion,฀5th฀Amphibious฀Corps,฀and฀put฀ into฀ a฀ new฀ outfit,฀ JASCO฀ (Joint฀ Assault฀ Communications฀ Company).฀He฀subsequently฀participated฀in฀or฀observed฀five฀ Marine฀landings. After฀a฀brief฀stint฀at฀Kiska,฀Aleutian฀Islands,฀he฀was฀sent฀ to฀New฀Zealand฀to฀join฀the฀3rd฀Battalion,฀8th฀Marines,฀2nd฀ Marine฀ Division,฀ which฀ was฀ making฀ preparations฀ for฀ the฀ upcoming฀invasion฀of฀Tarawa,฀Gilbert฀Islands,฀in฀November฀ 1943.฀He฀still฀served฀with฀Signal฀Battalion,฀5th฀Amphibious฀ Corps,฀and฀subsequently฀participated฀in฀the฀invasion฀of฀Iwo฀ Jima฀in฀February฀1945.฀This฀account฀thus฀deals฀with฀his฀direct฀ combat฀experiences฀in฀both฀of฀those฀operations฀as฀well฀as฀his฀ observations฀of฀the฀abortive฀landing฀at฀Kiska฀and฀the฀fighting฀ for฀Saipan฀and฀Tinian฀in฀the฀Mariana฀Islands. After฀his฀discharge฀in฀November฀1945,฀Appleton฀resumed฀ his฀ education฀ at฀ the฀ North฀ Texas฀ State฀ College฀ (now฀ the฀ CORPORAL฀ROY฀APPLETON,฀JR.฀(USMCR) 51 An฀Enlisted฀Marine’s฀Perspective฀on฀the฀Pacific฀War University฀of฀North฀Texas)฀in฀Denton.฀Upon฀graduating,฀he฀found฀ employment฀with฀the฀local฀newspaper,฀the฀Denton฀Record-Chronicle,฀ starting฀out฀in฀classified฀advertising฀sales.฀He฀advanced฀through฀the฀ newspaper’s฀ranks,฀becoming฀head฀of฀advertising฀in฀1951,฀general฀ manager฀in฀1958,฀vice-president฀in฀1960,฀and฀president฀in฀1988.฀ He฀retired฀as฀president฀in฀1991.฀ Over฀the฀years,฀Appleton฀has฀been฀heavily฀involved฀in฀civic฀ affairs.฀He฀served฀as฀president฀of฀the฀Denton฀Chamber฀of฀Commerce,฀ which฀gave฀him฀the฀Otis฀Fowler฀Award,฀its฀highest฀civic฀honor.฀In฀ 1989฀he฀was฀honored฀as฀a฀distinguished฀alumnus฀by฀the฀University฀ of฀North฀Texas.฀฀฀฀฀ In฀September฀1942,฀my฀best฀friend฀from฀high฀school฀and฀I฀enrolled฀ at฀the฀University฀of฀Texas฀as฀music฀majors.฀In฀October฀of฀the฀same฀ year,฀after฀we฀had฀seen฀the฀movie฀Wake฀Island,฀we฀decided฀to฀join฀the฀ Marines.฀I฀was฀seventeen;฀he฀was฀eighteen.1 Following฀boot฀camp฀in฀San฀Diego,฀my฀friend฀was฀assigned฀to฀the฀ Marine฀base฀band,฀while฀I฀was฀sent฀to฀radio฀operators฀school.฀Upon฀ graduation,฀I฀was฀assigned฀to฀Headquarters฀Company,฀Signal฀Battalion,฀ 5th฀Amphibious฀Corps,฀and฀put฀in฀a฀new฀outfit฀called฀JASCO฀[Joint฀ Assault฀Communications฀Company].฀This฀assignment฀opened฀the฀door฀ to฀an฀exciting฀adventure฀for฀a฀Texas฀teenager฀anxious฀to฀see฀the฀world. In฀ June฀ 1943,฀ fifteen฀ of฀ us฀ from฀ JASCO฀ were฀ sent฀ by฀ train฀ to฀ Nanimo,฀British฀Columbia,฀on฀Vancouver฀Island.฀There฀we฀were฀sent฀ to฀units฀of฀the฀Canadian฀Army,฀and฀in฀my฀case฀I฀was฀attached฀to฀the฀ Winnipeg฀Grenadiers.฀Working฀in฀three-man฀teams฀(a฀naval฀officer฀ and฀two฀radiomen),฀we฀were฀to฀land฀with฀the฀assault฀waves฀on฀Kiska฀ Island฀[Aleutians,฀Alaska],฀set฀up฀observation฀posts,฀and฀direct฀naval฀ shelling฀in฀support฀of฀the฀ground฀troops. 1 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀Mr.฀Appleton฀presented฀this฀paper฀to฀the฀UNT฀Military฀History฀ Seminar฀on฀September฀10,฀1994.฀ 52 World฀War฀II—Pacific The฀Japanese฀had฀evacuated฀Kiska฀in฀a฀dense฀fog,฀and฀the฀island฀ had฀been฀secured฀without฀a฀fight,฀except฀for฀one.฀The฀first฀night฀ashore,฀ before฀anyone฀knew฀the฀Japanese฀were฀gone,฀and฀in฀the฀heavy฀fog฀that฀ was฀common฀on฀the฀island,฀we฀battled฀the฀U.S.฀Army฀troops,฀who฀had฀ landed฀on฀the฀other฀side.฀There฀were฀casualties฀on฀both฀sides,฀but฀we฀ were฀never฀told฀how฀many. The฀ Canadian฀ units฀ we฀ joined฀ were฀ part฀ of฀ the฀ Canadian฀ Home฀Guard.฀By฀Canadian฀law,฀the฀Home฀Guard฀could฀not฀be฀sent฀ overseas.฀The฀Canadian฀government฀said฀Kiska฀was฀not฀overseas,฀ but฀ the฀ Home฀ Guard฀ thought฀ otherwise.฀ These฀ troops฀ also฀ thought฀that฀the฀U.S.฀had฀created฀the฀problem฀by฀urging฀Canadian฀ participation฀in฀the฀landing;฀and฀since฀we฀were฀Americans,฀they฀ focused฀their฀anger฀on฀the฀fifteen฀of฀us.฀As฀a฀result,฀during฀our฀ stay฀in฀Nanimo,฀we฀were฀issued฀side฀arms฀for฀our฀protection฀and฀ required฀ to฀ stay฀ out฀ of฀ the฀ camp฀ from฀ before฀ reveille฀ until฀ taps฀ each฀ day.฀ The฀ Canadians฀ were฀ restricted฀ to฀ camp฀ around-theclock .฀We฀thought฀this฀was฀a฀great฀joke฀until฀we฀stopped฀at฀Adak฀ Island฀[Aleutians]฀for฀maneuvers฀on฀the฀way฀to฀Kiska฀and฀found฀ ourselves฀spotting฀for฀the฀Canadian...