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Frank Pomroy

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It was supposed to be an easy day. After a period of patrolling in the jungle Frank Pomroy and his buddy Jim Mangin were going to be part of a work detail at the Guadalcanal air field. When the Japanese bombers showed up, that was the end of that. (First interview) (9:07)

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There was little or no food for the Marines on Guadalcanal. Frank Pomroy recalls how they all ate a lot of coconuts and battled malaria and a host of other ills. Once the island was secure, they had a nice recuperation in Australia. (First interview) (2:50)

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Guadalcanal marked a turning point in the war in the Pacific. The Marines had proved that the Japanese could be beaten. Now the industrial output of America could rise and smother the enemy, which was already suffering attrition of men, ships and planes. Frank Pomroy contrasts the long struggle there with the highly compressed action he would face later on Peleliu. (First interview) (4:44)

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There was a warrant officer in charge of Frank Pomroy's platoon at Cape Gloucester. When Pomroy woke him up to tell him the Japanese were assembling in front of their position, he scoffed but got up anyway. As they stared out into the night he lit a match and held it in front of his face. No Japs out there. See? (First interview) (7:18)

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Guadalcanal was now a huge rear echelon area and Frank Pomroy's unit was gearing up for the next landing on Peleliu. There was a drawing to determine which men could be sent home but he didn't participate. He wanted to make one more landing. (First interview) (9:05)

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As he approached Peleliu, Frank Pomroy rose up a bit and looked out of the landing craft to see the entire island covered in black smoke. After going ashore under a hail of machine gun fire, the Marines began one of the toughest battles they had faced. Part 1 of 5. (First interview) (7:53)

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After his machine gun was crushed by a Japanese tank, Frank Pomroy had to scramble around to find another one on the battlefield. He located one but a raiding party stormed in and he took a bayonet to the knee when he shot one of them at close quarters. He got that bandaged up just in time to attack the high coral ridges above the air field. Part 2 of 5. (First interview) (8:29)

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During the pitched battle for the high coral ridges on Peleliu, Frank Pomroy was on an ammo run to the beach when he encountered Chesty Puller and his command group. When a shell hit nearby, the feisty commander was the only one who didn't duck. Meanwhile, the Marines had no water. It was all contaminated. All they could do was keep fighting. Part 3 of 5. (First interview) (7:47)

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After surviving artillery fire from US ships that had mistaken his group for Japanese, Frank Pomroy fell in with a Lieutenant who was organizing a patrol through a swamp. They were not very far along when they became completely pinned down by Japanese artillery and sniper fire. Part 4 of 5. (First interview) (7:41)

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He was making a lone stand on Peleliu. He had a bayonet wound, had taken three bullets and was starving and dehydrated. Frank Pomroy had seen dozens fall around him and he was all alone with plenty of ammo but no food or water. After shooting two Japanese who stumbled on his position, he was too weak to crawl over and look for a canteen. Part 5 of 5. (First interview) (8:20)