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National Archives: Soldier digging a foxhole in the frozen forest, Antietam National Battlefield, 1945.. From the National Archives. Battle of the Bulge: digging foxhole in winter, 1945.

National Archives: Soldier digging a foxhole in the frozen forest, Antietam National Battlefield, 1945.

Audio
Josephy, Alvin_Z41_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_public.mp3

Josephy, Alvin_Z41_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_transcript.pdf. Alvin Josephy Jr., resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, arrived in Guam with the Third Marine Division in July 1944 to retake the island from the Japanese. At the time, he was attached to the Third Weapons Company of the Third Marines of the Third Marine Division as they came up from Guadalcanal after the Bougainville Campaign in the Solomon Islands. Mr. Josephy and his Division were originally held in reserve to see whether they were needed at Saipan and because they were not they invaded Guam near Asan Beach Head. Mr. Josephy landed three regiments abreast, the Third Division, his Division, on the left coming in at Adelup Point, the 21st Marines in the center and then the Ninth Marines over on the right near Asan Point. There was another invasion taking place simultaneously over on the Agat Beach Head carried out by the First Marine Provisional Brigade of two Marine regiments, 22nd Marines and the Fourth Marines, assisted by the 77th Army Division, and they eventually all linked up together. Mr. Josephy, although trained at Parris Island as a Marine, was brought in as a Combat Correspondent because he had been in journalism before World War II. He was requisitioned by the Public Relations Department of the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington to join the Combat Correspondent Corps, which seemed to have no more than about 200 people in it, 200 Marines, throughout the whole war. Mr. Josephy was instructed by the Library of Congress that he was to go out into the field with all this recording equipment, which was quite cumbersome back then, and cover the different war songs that the servicemen were singing. When one commander was approached, he said no way because Mr. Josephy would just be in the way and they had a war to fight. Being a Marine himself, he understood this and felt like quite a nuisance. However, when General Denig was approached he agreed. But once Mr. Josephy was aboard, he was told to forget about the war songs that he would be recording the combat. Before he knew it, he was crouched in the well of a halftrack, the machines used to transport the troops ashore, and was speaking into a microphone when they arrived on the beach and the fighting began. He remembers thinking, as gunfire was going all around him and dead bodies were lying on the ground, that it almost didn’t seem real. Finally, they were commanded to leave the halftrack, as that seemed to be what was drawing the gunfire, and they all ran into the jungle. Throughout all of the battles, Mr. Josephy never stopped recording and the information was then sent back to the United States to be played on the radio networks. Now Mr. Josephy and others have come back to Guam, this time on a vacation to enjoy the beautiful island, and are very proud to see and hear the local Chamorro people speak of their gratitude for the changes the Americans made in taking back control of the Island. These people spent years under the control of the Japanese living in deplorable conditions and being tortured and brutalized daily. However, Mr. Josephy has been quite vocal about his disappointment regarding the lack of information posted around historic sites about the contributions the Americans made. There seemed to be more about the Japanese. Yes, there were some, but they didn’t really convey what really went on back in July 1944 and he strongly believes this should be done. His hopes are that the U.S. troops are better recognized for their war efforts with significant monuments put in place before the 50th Anniversary of the Pacific War.

Josephy, Alvin_Z41_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_transcript.pdf

O'Brien, Cyril_Z42_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_transcript.pdf. Cyril O’Brien, resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, began his career as a writer and media representative for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory just outside of Washington, D.C., until a year or so ago when he retired. He had been doing newspaper work most of the time and, in fact, even when he was working at Hopkins he was still represented papers in New Jersey. One of the reasons he has now come back to Guam is to write for newspapers and magazines about what he now sees here. However, his principle reason for returning was to see the battlegrounds, the landing beaches, where he, as a Sergeant with the First Battalion of the Third Regiment of the Third Marine Division, landed ashore very near Adelup Point. Cyril, or OB as his friends called him, was 21 when he joined the Marine Corps in 1942, in July, and he landed on Guam when he was 23, two years later. He had served before on Bougainville, Solomon Islands north of Guadalcanal, and had been in the Infantry. He was brand new at being a scout and still wonders if some of the poor Marines are still buried there. He was brand new at this job, so he didn’t have much experience as a scout, but it was his first introduction to combat. He was later hired as a Marine Corps Combat Correspondent and this is the position he was in when they landed on Guam. He was there to capture the true stories of the troops in combat. Mr. O’Brien’s first impression of Guam was the night before the invasions. He was on a ship offshore, the star shells were falling continually, and as he looked out he saw the big black hills that would be illuminated and they’d throw silhouettes. Then more star shells would pop in the night as the Navy shelling continued. All night you looked at these big black hills, which almost hypnotized you, and you thought, “Tomorrow, I will be in there.” It wasn’t necessarily a sense of fear, as it was excitement. There was no need to fear it because you knew you were going to have to do it. After having a large meal and receiving Communion, they all loaded into the AmTrac vehicles that were going to take them ashore. Mr. O’Brien remembers there was a corpsman, a very cheerful fellow with a big mustache, who said, “OB, I’ll see you on the beach.” Unfortunately, a shell landed in his AmTrac and OB never saw him again, he was killed. When Mr. O’Brien’s troop reached the shore, the gunfire was not as bad as he had originally thought, seeing that the Navy had cleared the way, but it was still intense. At this time, the troops were advancing forward up Chonito Ridge. Yes, there was gunfire and grenades going off, but the thing that OB remembers the most was the sound was so unbearable. Even with someone merely feet away, you had to scream to be heard. One thing that always impressed OB was of course the defense of the Japanese. They were on top of Chonito Hill and they were pouring everything at U.S. soldiers. At one point, they were about 100 yards from each other. The Marines were so close that in some cases, the Japanese couldn’t even throw their hand grenades; they used to roll them down the hill, because if they threw them, they’d go too far. Eventually, as history shows, the U.S. troops went up the side and took control of the ridge from the Japanese with a lot of firepower. Mr. O’Brien has no bitterness towards the Japanese, as they, too, were just soldiers doing their job like the Americans were. He also believes there are great tributes to the Japanese in the museum on Guam. However, he feels there is not enough representation about what the Americans did. As he stands in the museum and looks out a window, he can see Chonito Ridge where the first invasion took place and there is nothing pointing to the hill, no plague or anything telling the story of what happened. This is where the invasion began. He believes the American soldiers should be honored with a plaque on the road pointing to the ridge and something telling the story. He also feels there should be a map on the wall inside the museum outlining the different battlefields and different units. He would like to see the monuments as they are in U.S. for the battles that were fought there. His wish is that this will change.

O'Brien, Cyril_Z42_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_transcript.pdf


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