D+1-D+2, 16-17 June

The next two days saw the Marine attack resumed all along the irregular front. The 2d Division, after reorganizing, pushed its 6th Marines northeast toward Mount Tipo Pali, its 2d Marines north towards Garapan, and its 8th Marines east into the swamps around Lake Susupe. Direct contact with the 4th Division was finally established.

Close combat was the norm. There were no exceptions for battalion commanders. Lieutenant Colonel Justice M. Chambers, commanding the 3d Battalion, 25th Marines in the 4th Division later described two of his experiences on D+1:

We came to a big bomb crater. The soil had all been thrown up, and around it there were three Marines protected by the dirt. I called up to one of these Marines and asked him what was going on. One of them said that there was an antiaircraft gun right down in front of them. I crawled up within two or three feet of the top of the dirt and raised up on my hands to see what was down there.

Within about 25 to 30 yards, I was looking right into the muzzle of an 88mm antiair craft/antitank gun. They had swung the damn thing around, and it was pointing right up the hill. I was looking right down its muzzle. I dropped as hard as I could and then the damn gun went off. The shell tore through the far side of the bomb crater, came through the dirt on the near side of the bomb crater where I was. It took the head off the Marine with whom I had been talking. The shell went on back and landed about 20 or 30 feet beyond us where it detonated. Later that same day, he had another close call.

We had, as we had advanced, uncovered various Japanese supply caches. One of these was an ammunition dump .... About 1505 the Japs blew the large dump near where I was standing and caused numerous concussion casualties including myself .... I don't remember a thing about it. The boys tell me that, when the blast went off, I was thrown right up in the air, and I turned a complete flip and then landed on my face.

On the night of D+1, the Japanese again launched a major attack on the 6th Marines, this time with 44 tanks. Major Donovan later described the wild clash: "The battle evolved itself into a madhouse of noise, tracers, and flashing lights. As tanks were hit and set afire, they silhouetted other tanks coming out of the flickering shadows to the front or already on top of the squads." The Marines poured in their fire, now with 2.36-inch rocket launchers, grenade launchers, self-propelled 75mm guns, and their own artillery and tanks adding to the din. When dawn broke, it was over and the shattered hulks of 24 Japanese tanks lay there smoking.

Major General Harry Schmidt

Department of Defense Photo

Major General Harry Schmidt was the leader of the 4th Marine Division in the assaults at Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands and then at Saipan in the Marianas.

Born in 1886, he entered the Corps as a second lieutenant in 1909. By extraordinary coincidence, his first foreign duty was at Guam in the Marianas Islands, an area he would return to 33 years later under vastly different circumstances!

The Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua (where he was awarded a Navy Cross—second only to the Medal of Honor), interspersed with repeated stays in China, were the marks of a diverse overseas career. At home there were staff schools, paymaster duties, and a tour as Assistant Commandant.

By the end of World War II, he had been decorated with three Distinguished Service Medals. Retiring in 1948 after 39 years of service, he was advanced to the four-star rank of general. His death came in 1968.

A contemporary described him as "a Buddha, a typical old-time Marine: he'd been in China; he was regulation, Old Establishment, a regular Marine."

This Japanese soldier and tank are both permanently finished after an attack on Marine lines. Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 83551

Major General Thomas E. Watson

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 303240

Major General Thomas E. Watson, as a brigadier general and commander of Tactical Group-1, built on the 22d Marines, led his men in the conquest of Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands in February 1944. For this he was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal, and the 22d Marines was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation.

He took command of the 2d Marine Division in April 1944. In June he directed his men in the conquest of Saipan and then Tinian, receiving a second DSM.

Retirement came in 1950, and he died in March 1966, as a lieutenant general.

With a birth date of 1892, and an enlistment date of 1912, he fully qualified as a member of "the Old Corps." After being commissioned in 1916, he served in a variety of Marine assignments in the Caribbean, China, and the United States.

Given the nickname "Terrible Tommy," Watson's proverbial impatience later was characterized by General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., as follows: "He would not tolerate for one minute stupidity, laziness, professional incompetence, or failure in leadership.... His temper in correcting these failings could be fiery and monumental," as both Marine and Army officers found out at Eniwetok and later Saipan!

In the 4th Division zone of action, the left regiment, the 23d, also had a difficult time in the Susupe swamp. The 24th and 25th drove inland to the east towards the key objective of Aslito airfield. With a danger looming of overextended lines, Lieutenant General Holland Smith pulled the 165th Infantry out of his reserve (the Army's 27th Infantry Division) and sent it ashore on D+2 to reinforce the 4th Marine Division. This same day, Major General Ralph Smith came ashore to take command of the additional Army units of his 27th Division as they landed.

With the 165th Infantry on its right flank and the 24th Marines to its left, the 25th Marines was poised on the north edge of Aslito airfield late on D+2. Its patrols found the strip was abandoned, but the 165th, assigned to capture it, decided to wait until the next day.

The division had finally approached the O-1 line, except on the left flank where contact with the 2d Division was again broken, this time near Mount Fina Susu.

This same day, 17 June, saw a crucial command decision by Admiral Spruance. With the powerful main Japanese fleet now approaching Saipan, he ordered his fast carriers to meet the enemy ships, and that night withdrew his transports and supply ships from their offshore support positions to a safe distance from the Japanese threat.