My name is Basil D. Duncan. I am a Marine Veteran of the Pacific
Theater of Operations during World War II. For the most part, I
served with the Fourth Marine Division and, specifically, as a
member of the 1st Joint Assault Signal Co. This Company was
made up of specially-trained infantry communications personnel
assigned as teams to the different Regimental Combat Teams --
the 23rd, 24th, and 25th.
I was assigned to team 3.3 which, if my memory serves me, meant
that team 3.3 would be with the 3rd Bn., 25th Mar. Regt. However, it didn't always work out that way! At times, I was assigned to the 2nd Bn. 23rd Marines and, on many nights, served in the front lines as an Infantry Combat Rifleman.
As any Marine knows, we are all considered riflemen first, and
specialists second!
I was with the 4th Division when we shipped out from San Diego
California, and landed on the shores of the Marshall Islands. I
was still with them when we launched the attack on the islands of Saipan-Tinian.
During the Saipan-Tinian operation, I was wounded and
subsequently returned to the States. I just missed the assault
on Iwo Jima, which is a story in itself (more later). I lost
many good friends on that operation, and the world and I miss
them to this very day -- I miss them because I knew and loved
them -- the world misses them because so many never had the
chance to know them as I did -- their lives and futures were
snuffed out all too soon.
Not long after the Iwo Operation, I was shipped out again and
sent to the Marine Transit Center on the island of Oahu, near
Pearl Harbor. I was in training there when the bomb was dropped
at 8:15 AM, August 6, 1945 on the city of Hiroshima and about a week later on Nagasaki.
I will be forever grateful to President Truman for that. Why?
Because, you see, I -- along with thousands of other young men
was in training for the attack on the mainland of Japan. I do
not think many would have survived that operation -- American or
Japanese. It would have been a long and bloody battle and would
have extended the war several more years. It is my firm belief
that many more would have died that way than what the bomb
killed.
My particular group was to join up with the 2nd Marine Division, based on the island of Saipan, and the rumor was that we would have the honor of spearheading the attack on the island of Kyushu and capture the port city of Nagasaki. If I remember right, the 5th Marine Division and the Army 27th Division were also given the assignment of landing on other parts of the island.
Records released after the war, revealed that all in all, there would have been a total of 14 combat divisions of Marines and soldiers landing on this very heavily fortified island of Kyushu. Kyushu is the southernmost of the Japanese home islands. This landing was code named, "Operation Olympic".
On March 1, 1946, a second invasion was to take place, code named "Operation Coronet". On this operation there would have been 22 more American combat divisions landed against a minimum of 1,000,000 Japanese defenders, to assault the island of Honshu and the Tokyo Plain.
Each island (and there are many, many islands which make up
Japan) represented a long and bloody battle.
The bomb, of course, ended the war. As would be expected, I
was certain I would be sent home! However, as so often happens
in the military, it didn't turn out that way. It seems that
someone decided my specialty would be essential to the occupation
of Japan!
So, on August 30, 1945, along with 83 or 84 other enlisted
Marines (no officers), I boarded LST 123 and was shipped back to
the island of Saipan, where we joined up with the 2nd Marine Division. We arrived September 17, 1945, and immediately boarded APA 36, the USS Cambria, and left the same day for Nagasaki, Japan.
We arrived in Nagasaki September 23, 1945, and I was immediately
assigned to the 2nd Bn., 6th Mar. Regt., 2nd Marine Division --
the same outfit I would have been with for the invasion of
Japan!
I have never forgotten the total devastation that greeted us in
Nagasaki. I remained there for about three months -- plenty of
time to be thoroughly exposed to the radiation left by the Atom
Bomb -- which qualified me for membership in the Atomic Veterans
group.
We were all over Ground Zero until some so called experts decided
,much later,it was not safe, and warned us to keep out. They were a little late with that caution because several thousnads of marines have contracted one or more forms of cancer.
I've been much luckier than most -- to this day, I have had no
ill effects from my exposure to the radiation.
After Nagasaki, I was transferred to Sasebo where I was assigned
to the 27th Mar. Regt., 5th Marine Division. There I remained
until December 1945. At long last, along with the 5th Div., I
left Japan for Stateside, and arrived in the Port of San Diego,
California, on December 20, 1945.
At 10:00 a.m., January 1, 1946, I received my Honorable
Discharge and returned to civilian life. This was a transition
I was not prepared for (the Vietnam vets weren't the only ones
who had it rough once the war was over), and I will cover that
period of my life later. In addition, I will relate my
experiences in much more detail under "Bootcamp", "War Stories",
etc. (see Table of Contents).
Every survivor of war has many stories to tell....
I would like very much to hear from any Veteran, especially
those who served in any of the operations described above --
send me the stories about your experiences -- the serious,
dangerous, and especially funny things that happened along the
way. With your permission, I will include them here on my Home
Page, under one of the titles listed on the Table of
Contents.
With your help, I would like to help keep that part of our
history alive for the future.
PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PURPLE HEART COMPUTER DATA BASE TO BE ESTABLISHED AT THE PURPLE HEART HALL OF HONOR AT NEW WINDSOR CANTONMEMT STATE HISTORIC SITE,THE LAST WINTER ENCAMPMEMT OF WASHINGTON`S ARMY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND WHERE THE BADGE OF MERIT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR,FORERUNNER TO THE PURPLE HEART MEDAL,IS ON DISPLAY.THE PURPLE HEART HALL OF HONOR IS DUE TO OPEN IN THE YEAR 2000.
NEW WINDSOR STATE HISTORIC SITE
RR BOX 207
VAILS GATE,NY 12584
OR PHONE 1-914-561-1765
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