99bcaa44-7fdc-4a56-a087-8107142a1535

Bailey, Walter_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

Walter Bailey of the 4th Marine Division was interviewed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Saipan on June 13th, 2004. Walter was born and raised in Lynn, Massachusetts on February 28th, 1924. He was one of four children. His father’s name was Orange and his mother’s name was Gertrude. Walter recalls hearing the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio in his home when he was 17 years old. On November 15, 1942, at the age of 18, he joined the Marines. One of Walter’s motivations of joining was seeing John Wayne as a Marine in the movies. To Walter, basic training was the worst few days of his life. The rifle range at Paris Island was his first assignment, as a rifle coach. After that, rifle coaches were needed up in Quantico, Virginia. Soon after, Walter was on a train across the country and Camp Pendleton, California. In Camp Pendleton, they were building up the 23rd and 24th regime. From there, the regime went down to San Diego and they invaded the Marshall Islands, on Namur. At one point, the first day of his combat, a Marine tank came up and shot at Walter and three other guys taking cover in a depression in the earth. The Marine in the tank thought they were Japanese. One of the men died, the other two were wounded. Ultimately a Corpsman came and helped them. Afterwards, they went to Camp Maui in the Hawaiian Islands from January until May, and again sailed to Saipan and invaded Saipan at that point. All the troops in the ships had to be inoculated for many diseases. Walter recalls eating standing up on the troop ship and sleeping five and six abreast, on top. There was a convoy of ships and in the Pacific the swells were 15, 20, 25, 30 feet. They arrived at Saipan on June 15th 1944. His regime was held in reserve and deviated to the north to fool the Japanese. They headed in to the beach after four hours. Walter remembers mortar fire and artillery fire. At one point, Walter was shot in the head. As he tells, it, he took his helmet off to scratch his head and got a round right in the top of his head. He was taken in a Jeep down the beach to a makeshift military hospital. His head wound was treated with Vaseline and cotton. Walter was taken away on an Army “duck” for the wounded and he recalls at least two Marines dying and being buried at sea. They arrived at a hospital in Pearl Harbor where Walter got better care. From there he was transported to Seattle where he was able to speak to his mother on the phone. Shortly afterward, he got a 30 day leave and reported to the naval hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After three days he was discharged and put to work as a guard at the naval prison where he stayed until the end of the war. Walter was discharged in Bangers, Maryland along with hundreds of others and recalls being stripped down, walked through a series of rooms and given a psychiatric test which was the question, “how do you sleep?” Walter was married and had eight children. He is back for the 60th anniversary and it is his first time back to Saipan in that time.

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

Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:15:15 AM

Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:15:15 AM

Bailey, Walter_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

mp4

540.2 MB

Historic

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