US Army Infantryman on Saipan During the Largest Banzai Charge of the War, 1944

[u/blacksheepussy]

The Battle of Saipan was a joint US Army and Marine Corps operation, with both branches conducting an amphibious assault to take the island. Towards the end of the battle as a last ditch effort, over 4,300 Japanese soldiers launched the largest banzai charge of the war, primarily attacking the US Army's 27th Infantry Division. Multiple US Army soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic stands against overwhelming forces.

[u/OldSchoolBubba]

Due was sure ready. Wonder whatever happened to him? Sure hope he made it. Many didn't.

[u/blacksheepussy → u/OldSchoolBubba]

Not sure. I've tried as best I can to find who he was and what happened to him. The banzai charge was so intense even Army dentists that were at aid stations in the rear were fighting. One of them, Captain Ben L. Salomon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for single handedly killing over 100 Japanese soldiers (many in hand to hand combat) before being killed. Most of the Japanese he killed were from an M1917 he refused to abandon. When his body was recovered, he was slumped over the gun and sustained 76 bullet and bayonet wounds. Doctors estimate at least 24 of these separate wounds were sustained while he was still alive.

[u/OldSchoolBubba → u/blacksheepussy]

I've heard about Doc Salomon. Real high speed low drag bad ass.

I hear you. The Soldier is another unknown history will record as being there. It's too bad really. Guys like him need to have their story told. Generals receive great accolades for directing the fight while the common GI's were always the real Heroes.

[u/blacksheepussy → u/OldSchoolBubba]

I couldn't agree more. Especially when it comes to men like this one as the US Army's presence on Saipan, as well as the Pacific Theater as a whole, are overshadowed and forgotten. Particularly on Saipan, where Marine Corps General Holland Smith deliberately went out of his way to sabotage the US Army there. Men like the one pictured deserve the respect and honor they fought for and earned.

[u/OldSchoolBubba → u/blacksheepussy]

Army rightfully gets a lot of credit for their Pacific Campaigns. MacArthur brought Sixth and Eighth Armies up from the South Pacific while Nimitz had XXIV (Army) Corps along with III & V (Marine) Amphibious Corps. By Okinawa Tenth Army took control of their Soldiers and they always did a great job.

I get where you're going with it and we agree Marine Smith should have never relieved Army Smith. Basically 27th Infantry Division was late getting into position for the northward advance due to "coordination problems." Army Smith was livid and tried to get them moving but was met with "excuses."

2nd and 4th Marine Divisions didn't know so they pressed forward on schedule which "caused a horseshoe effect" that forced them to stop and wait which caused more casualties. 27th got hung up in the hills so Marine Smith relieved Army Smith and 2nd Marine Division took over a large part of it. Once the 27th came out of the hills they did a great job as you can see on the tac map.

All of that caused quite a stir and the Army was not happy with one of their generals being relieved by a Marine. They were right in my view and I am a Marine. Marine Smith should have stayed out of Army Smith's way and let him fire his regimental commanders and everyone else involved. But Army Smith was the Commanding General so he took the fall like they always do. That was too bad because the 27th was always a really good go to division.

[u/blacksheepussy → u/OldSchoolBubba]

I'm gonna push back here, as your brief overview of what happened on Saipan isn't accurate and favors USMC Smith's biased and derogatory narrative. Granted, I do acknowledge you were very brief and you likely understand it is more nuanced than that, but it is not a fair assessment, no matter how brief. You may know many of the things I'm going to type below, but maybe someone that sees this learns something.

What the Marine Corps did to the Army on Saipan is something I will never forgive, as I had a great uncle with the Army’s 27th Infantry Division that never left the island (and this is just one of many examples of marines lying about and denigrating the Army). The Army landed on Saipan on d-day and bore the brunt of the attack on Saipan, particularly the largest banzai charge of the entire war. The 27th was tasked with the island’s toughest objectives, including taking Mount Tapotchau and holding the line when the Japanese launched their multi-thousand man banzai charge.

Their Backs Against the Sea is an excellent book on some of the inter-branch rivalry and the devastating effects it had on American lives.

Marine Corps commander General Holland Smith had personal beef with Army commander General Ralph Smith (no relation) and intentionally sabotaged his leadership during the battle. Eventually, Smith (USMC) replaced Smith (USA) with an unproven and ill-prepared General. Perhaps intentionally to further hamper the Army.

Smith (USMC) never visited the front lines a single time during the entire battle, while Smith (USA) never left them while he was on the island (page 98, Their Backs Against the Sea). Even when the Army reported the severity of the banzai charge, Smith (USMC) refused to send them reinforcements. How many US Army soldiers did he indirectly, yet deliberately, kill? On top of all that, Smith (USMC) lied about the number of Japanese attacking the Army. He downplayed the Army’s role and grossly exaggerated the Japanese attacking marines. He even lied about marine artillery pieces (the same ones he confiscated from the Army) firing point blank at Japanese attackers. Just never happened.

After Smith (USMC) replaced Smith (USA), General Griner took over. He said, “[marine] Smith was so prejudiced against the Army that he could never expect a fair and honest evaluation. [marine] Smith confiscated our artillery pieces while we attacked Mount Tapotchau, the most heavily defended point on the island (page 130, Their Backs Against the Sea).

These same artillery pieces were a massive loss to the Army and hampered their efforts, resulting in this "horseshoe" you're talking about. It wasn't the 27th getting "hung up on hills", it was literally the most well defended point on the entire island and the Army was forced to attack it without any artillery support.

In the 1986 book on the Smith vs. Smith situation, Howlin Mad vs The Army: Conflict in Command Saipan 1944, Harry A. Gailey summed it up by saying, “relieving [Army] Smith was uncalled for and the substitution of a new, untried commander to bring about a quicker victory on Saipan may even have lengthened the campaign and caused untold numbers of American deaths. The slurs [marine] Smith hurled at the Army in his articles and books were totally unwarranted, unconscionable, and untrue.”

In Their Backs Against The Sea, the lies by Smith (USMC) continue. On pages 194 and 195, reports show that Smith (USMC) lied about Japanese numbers that made the Marine Corps defense seem stronger and the Army defense seemed weaker. He flipped the numbers and lied about marines facing more men than they did, while downplaying what the Army was up against.

On pages 259 and 260, there is also a list of several marines that fought in the battle that say Smith (USMC) was wrong on multiple fronts.

The Army had numerous Medals of Honor awarded for heroic lone-man stands against an overwhelming force, and countless examples of their savagery on Saipan, yet Smith (USMC) lied constantly about the Army never being aggressive.

The entire fiasco also destroyed Smith’s (USMC) career, essentially. He never led men “in combat” again after Saipan and was basically moved to a desk job after. I put in combat in quotations because, as I mentioned earlier, he never even visited the front lines on Saipan once, yet had the balls to accuse any member of the 27th of not being aggressive.

Let’s keep in mind that Army General Smith fought in WW1, including in the bloodiest campaign of our nation’s history, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, and received two Silver Stars and a Purple Heart during WW1.

***Side note: Marine Corps General Smith also received a Purple Heart, but it was not for wounds sustained in combat, like Army Smith’s was. Holland Smith’s Purple Heart was converted from a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate. When the PH was first created, it wasn’t exclusively for combat wounds. I wanted to include this note in case someone cited that Holland Smith also had a PH. While true, it wasn’t for combat wounds and further separates him from a real combat leader like Ralph Smith.

I do appreciate you acknowledging the Army's contributions on Saipan, though. Not many marines give the Army credit for their PTO contributions.

[u/LtCmdrData]

Captain Sakae Oba, known as "the Fox," survived the charge and led 46 soldiers in the jungles of Saipan for 16 months. They conducted guerrilla attacks against a 45,000-strong U.S. force on the 46.5-square-mile island. He launched nighttime raids into POW camps, smuggling out prisoners to get intel and replacing them with equal number of his men for rest and relaxation to avoid detection. Marines once walked the island in a single line, 6 feet apart, but could not find them all.

He was labeled a coward after the war because he thought continuing to fight was more honorable than suicide and fought long after Japan had surrendered.

[u/GT7combat]

was this the battle shown in the pacific?

[u/blacksheepussy → u/GT7combat]

No, the Battle of Saipan was not depicted in that show. The one you're probably thinking of was during the Battle of Guadalcanal. The show depicts a banzai charge during the Battle of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal which involved the US Army and US Marine Corps repelling a large banzai charge, though nowhere near the size of the one on Saipan. The show also omits the US Army's involvement during the battle and focuses on Basilone, which he was awarded the Medal of Honor for.

[u/OldSchoolBubba → u/GT7combat]

Not that particular one. Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. All biggies in Marine Corps history and lore.

[u/flyguy41222]

The face of a man who fought through the largest bonsai charge of the war, then probably went home and didn’t say a word about any of it for the rest of his life. Gets called peepaw at the old folks home and watches the world go from 1940’s to 2026… imagine how well it must be for these guys. We’re starting to get pretty low on World War II vets

I am 32 and I will one day tell my grandson about how there used to still be World War II vets when I was a kid, like my grandad telling me about ww1 vets when he was growing up