Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
7:26 | The Okinawa campaign had ended the day before, so when Dick Whitaker and a few others set out on patrol, they had let their guard down. Sure enough, as they walked by a cornfield, there was the scream of a die hard Japanese soldier.
Keywords : Richard Dick Whitaker Okinawa Japanese Harikari runner Keith Ryan Denny Testa Gene Lewis Harry Symes Thompson submachine gun hand grenade reunion
He tried to enlist at seventeen but his folks weren't having it. Dick Whitaker had already talked to the Marine recruiter and, when he came back after graduating high school, the sergeant recognized him. He was off to Parris Island to get the DI treatment and it wasn't long before he boarded a troop ship headed west.
Dick Whitaker joined the 29th Marine Regiment as it formed up on Guadalcanal in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. He was surprised and grateful when they landed with no opposition.
The first thing Dick Whitaker did after he waded ashore at Okinawa was ditch a whole lot of unnecessary gear. Gas mask, blanket, an extra backpack, it was all weighing him down without much use there.
Some invasion. For three weeks, Dick Whitaker unloaded ships on the beach at Okinawa. Finally, he was sent upcountry to join a rifle company as an ammo bearer for the machine guns. There wasn't much action up there. Almost all the Japanese were in the south and they gave his company a loud welcome when they were moved to that front.
The hill had been assaulted eleven times before with no result. When it came time for Fox Company to give it a go, Dick Whitaker was among the Marines who tried and failed once again. On his way back down the hill he found a wounded buddy and helped make sure he was evacuated.
The platoon was scattered after the disastrous attack on Sugarloaf Hill. Dick Whitaker and his buddy found a foxhole and proceeded to make it deeper. When he stopped and leaned over to light a cigarette, that's when the Japanese sniper took his shot.
The company was down from 250 men to less than 100 and had to be placed in reserve to regroup and get replacements. It wasn't much of a break for Dick Whitaker because soon they were assigned to make a beach landing behind the Japanese defenses so the southward push to Naha could proceed.
The casualties were astounding on Okinawa for the 29th Marine Regiment. More than once, Dick Whitaker saw men killed just after arriving as replacements. He had already been wounded once and narrowly missed serious injury again when a stray artillery shell hit near him.
His unit had an 82% casualty rate on Okinawa, the costliest battle in the Pacific campaign. Dick Whitaker was there and he laments that the battle got overlooked in the media of the time. He would have rather gone home but he got sent to China for six months, which turned out to be good duty.
