b8e4ac5f-33cf-4802-898e-92d7571672bb

Eardley, John_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

John Eardley was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1922. John and his twin brother were raised there during the Depression. For a time they had to live in an orphanage so that they could get enough food. John’s divorced mother, Cecile, died at the age of 49 and he and Jim went to live with their grandmother. John had just gotten home from church when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He and his brother joined the Marine Corps after high school graduation in July of 1942, at the age of 19. John had a hard time with basic training in San Diego, feeling very homesick. At one point he caught meningitis from another soldier and became terribly ill. The other soldier died. John was very ill and was sent home for 30 days to recovery. He looked forward to returning, but had to repeat part of boot camp. He and his twin brother wanted to stick together so planned on both passing telephone school and flunking radio school. John confused that and passed radio school instead. He and Jim were then separated. John went to radio school for 12 weeks and then was sent to San Francisco as a Private First Class, for ten months to be in charge of 19 other Marines. Their assignment was to check and clean radios to be sent overseas. While there he met his future wife. They were then sent to Camp Pendleton to go overseas. At Camp Pendleton, John was put in the 2nd Division and sent to Camp Tarawa on Hawaii to train. From there they got on a ship to Saipan. John’s first impression of Saipan was that it was burning red. The Higgins boats were difficult to get onto because of the waves and wind and men were injured in the process. John was told to protect his radio no matter what. They were forced to circle around all night because they couldn’t get into the island. When they finally got on the beach, John remembers a Japanese plane coming at them and so he jumped into a foxhole and watched the plane go overhead. It was very hot on the beach. John had trouble sleeping at night because the land crabs would crawl all over them as they slept. Because of the crabs, John wanted to sleep outside of the holes, but his sergeant insisted it was safer in the foxholes. That sergeant was killed alongside two or more soldiers two days later when one of their own planes shot at them while setting up markers. John couldn’t remember the sergeant’s last name but said that he had gotten the Navy Cross. John’s duty was to stay on the radio and stay in communication with the battalions. He recalls at Garapan, the Kimono people were being moved out and they came across a couple with two kids. The soldiers stopped and gave the family food. The couple only gave the boy the food, until the soldiers made them give some to the little girl. Another day they came across some Japanese soldiers hiding. They told them to come out or they would have to throw a flame thrower at them. The soldiers refused and they were forced to kill them with the flame thrower. John’s main objective was to go to the top of Mount Tapochau, up there it was rainy and cool. It took about 25 days to get to the top. The men would want to light cigarettes, but John made them put them out so they wouldn’t get seen as they traveled. They reached the top and looked over the Pacific and prayed. Afterwards, they traveled back down to one of the ships for three or four days rest to go to Tinian. John recalls that he wore the same socks for 25 days. John at one point had to volunteer to pick up the wounded. He doesn’t know what happened to any of them. The battle at Tinian was much shorter and easier for John. John hated the c-rations and didn’t eat much so he was losing a lot of weight. He had been transferred to another company to take the position of a Navajo and was on duty in the pouring rain. He had caught dengue fever and had to be taken out to the hospital. While there, they burned his clothes, his watch and even his girlfriend’s photo. He was sent back to Hawaii and then when he had yellow jaundice, to a hospital in Seattle. His girlfriend was able to visit him there. Soon after he proposed to her and she accepted. He was transferred to a hospital in Chicago and John was able to go home for Christmas in 1944. After getting better, John went to high speed radio school and graduated just as the war was ending. Soon after, he proudly marched in a parade in Philadelphia. At first John did not want to return to Saipan, the memories are too bad, but his daughter convinced him. He remembers his very good buddies and is very proud to be an American.

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

This digital asset is in the public domain. This digital version was made possible through the National Park Service by a grant from the National Park Foundation through generous support from the Mellon Foundation. When using this asset for any purpose, including online, credit 'Courtesy U.S. National Parks'.

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Video

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 1:10:35 AM

Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:10:35 AM

Eardley, John_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

mp4

1093.7 MB

Historic

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