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Martin, Andrew_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

Andrew Jordan Martin Sr. was born May 31st 1918 in San Francisco, California. He joined the service in early 1943, however, he couldn’t get in right after Pearl Harbor because at that time he was working what was considered a defense job, for the Bethlehem Steel Company. What motivated Andrew to join was the fact that his younger brother had joined the Marine Corps just prior to World War II. His brother was killed on Tarawa; he was second lieutenant leading his first platoon but never made it to the beach. He got killed out on the water in a landing craft. Andrew took his basic training in San Diego, California, just prior to Camp Pendleton, becoming what it later became. The only time he ever got into any trouble in the Marine Corps was in boot camp when he and a buddy decided not to switch their sand and water buckets in the morning as they were instructed. They were caught and punished. His drill sergeant’s name was OK North and was Andrew’s best friend; he had great respect for him as a Marine. Andrew was sent over as a replacement unit into Guadalcanal, after all the extended order training in California at Camp Elliot. At Camp Elliot, he was an instructor at the rifle range and worked there for a few months and then went overseas. From Camp Elliot they went to New Caledonia for a short time and then on to Guadalcanal first and then Guam. In Guadalcanal they were in an area called Coconut Grove. Andrew recalls a story when Admiral Limis was going to come by and review them there. They were standing there for almost two hours in the rain and sun and there goes Admiral Limis, as fast as his Jeep could carry him. All he could see is a little blur of white hair and that was it. They were taken out on LCIs out into a couple of the other uninhabited islands around there, to do a couple of practice landings there. They were then loaded onto Guadalcanal on troop ships for a secret campaign. At first they were told they were reserve for Saipan landings, however they were not needed there. After 54 - 57 days at sea with a break ashore for some exercise at Quadraline and another time at Enewetak, they spent every day on the ship. Every once in a while, a destroyer would come by, full throttle and they would get mail over to them, and Andrew’s wife wrote him a letter every day. On the ship they did calisthenics to stay fit and would occasionally put on boxing matches. They watched movies over and over. On the morning they were going to shore on Guam, they had a “battle breakfast” which was steak and eggs, so you get plenty of protein. They came to shore on one of the tracked vehicles. They came to shore on the 13th or 14th wave. They landed right up on the beach. Right away they were taking a lot of fire from down the beach from Asan. Andrew’s company commander at that time was Captain Holmes got up and he says, come on G Company, let’s go! He went down in a bunch of fire right there and wasn’t killed but he was wounded badly. And then the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Marshall, said, come on G Company, let’s go! They got ready to get up and he was shot down as well. Sergeant Troopy got up and G Company got up, and started moving inland a little ways. They got in about 100 yards and then had to hold down the whole left flank against the Japanese imperial landing force, which was the equivalent of Marines. They spent the first night only a few hundred yards from the beach. Andrew was carrying the M-1 and rifle. Later on he carried the BAR. At dawn they had to face the imperial landing forces, and wiped them out. On the second day, they didn’t move very much at all. They were getting some support from the carrier based aircraft, both Marine and Navy. They put panels out, the color may be a red panel or whatever, so that from the air the aircraft could look down and see where your line was, so they know, don’t bomb this side, bomb that side. The left and the right flanks in Guam were very well anchored, but the center is where the weakness was and the Japanese probed until they found this weakness and that is when they broke through and got to the shore, into the field hospital. Andrew recalls some bonzai charges later on in the campaign, where the Japanese attacked and they had all their rifle bolts wired shut so they could just come with their bayonets and very quiet and sneaky. This happened towards the higher ground. The first week, Andrew’s company moved north, the Japanese had evidently figured they were going to land at Tumon Bay, so it was all full of obstacles. By the time they hit the beach at Tumon, almost all the local fighting was finished and the Japanese had moved up further towards the end of the island. So the men took five minutes to swim the dirt off their bodies. Andrew was worried about taking his boots off after 10 days, but luckily his feet were fine. After that, they worked their way up north and went down a lot of the cliffs along the water and came to one spot in the jungle all overgrown and there were about two rows of Japanese tanks just facing right towards them, all abandoned. The Japanese had them all wrapped with prima cord and so forth, so they had been booby trapped. At one point, they came across some Chamorros coming out of the caves and they were having a tough time, so the men took care of them and gave them something to eat and drink and got them back behind the lines. They we went all the way up north, a place called Barrigada, and there was a place where part of Andrew’s squad was assigned to what they called a water point. It was just a little bit out in front of the lines, there was a stream coming down the mountain and they guarded that so that the guys could get water. They found out days later that a dead Japanese soldier was laying dead in the water, upstream from them. Andrew tells many stories of battles with the Japs while on Guam. They were told that the military were knocking off an average of about 500 Japanese a day and they were trying to scatter. By this time the island had been divided in half by the 77th Army Division over on one side and the Marines were sweeping up the other side. At one point, after the campaign was supposed to have been secured, Andrew’s unit saw a Japanese major and 50 men fully armed, walking into one of the camps with a white flag, trying to make a deal. They were waiting for the Japanese Navy to save them. They ended up walking away back into the jungle. After Guam, they loaded the troop ships in Agat to go to Iwo Jima. They went in February 19th and they were there just there a short time, because that campaign didn’t last that long. They came back to Guam, the early part of March training to hit the mainland of Japan. It was while training that they heard of the bomb being dropped to end the war. Andrew was anxious to get home to meet his two year old son who was born ten days after he left. He went back to work for Bethlehem Steel Company. Andrew then went into the medical surgical supply business where he worked in various locations until he retired. He was always a gung-ho Marine at heart and he felt that he was really doing some good, not only for the country, but for the people of Guam. And that gave him a lot of satisfaction. He was so happy to come back to Guam for the 50th anniversary and the people made him feel appreciated and welcome.

U.S. National Park Service, War in the Pacific National Historical Park

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War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Code: WAPA

Guam , Guam
War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam , Guam
Latitude: 13.3905000686646, Longitude: 144.654006958008

ICMS (Interior Collection Managment System) : WAPA-00246
NPS Museum Number Catalog : WAPA 4170

War in the Pacific Oral Histories

2025/03/07

T. Stell Newman Visitor Center, Collections room, Safe and Shelf SLF D-01

Public Can View

Rose Manibusan, Jennifer Craig

Organization: American Memorial Park
Role: Chief Interpretation
Address: Micro Beach Road, Garapan, Mp 96950
Email: wapa_interpretation@nps.gov

Saturday, April 5, 2025 12:06:15 AM

Saturday, April 5, 2025 12:06:15 AM

Martin, Andrew_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

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1568.4 MB

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