Dale Dye's "Pacific War" Blog

[KG Erwin]

Yesterday's update:

"Sunday, 2 September 2007
Week 3: Final Score at Alligator Creek: Marines 1, IJA 0

The infamous battle at Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal is over after a grueling week of simulated combat between H-2-1*, manning a sector of the defensive line along the Ilu, and elements of the IJA Ichiki Force who tried to force a crossing parallel to the beach. By the last night of battle, the area was littered with Japanese bodies floating in the surf or piled up like sardines along the sandbar. Our well-drilled 37mm AT gun crew from Assault Platoon was the anchor of the defensive sector for the entire fight, firing simulated canister rounds into the charging Japanese forces. I was extremely proud of that crew as well as all the other riflemen and machinegunners who manned the fighting holes. They fired, reloaded and fired some more all night long. The hardest part was getting them to cease-fire! PFC Leckie and his .30 caliber heavy machinegun crew proved that the old Browning water-cooled weapon can still sustain long periods of fire without over-heating or jamming despite blustery on-shore winds that carried packets of sand into all our weapons. Our Marines did what Marines always do when they had a spare moment or a lull in the action: They cleaned their weapons. We now move on to pick up some missing images of the unopposed beach landings that have been delayed by high wind and surf conditions here in Far North Queensland. Then it's on to the Battle of Bloody Ridge. More from the battle front soonest. Semper Fidelis!"

*(For those who need a quick reminder of 1942 USMC designations, D, H & M companies were the Weapons Companies for the 1st through 3rd Battalions respectively - KG)

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: trauth116

Edited: I assumed the guy was writing to more than just Marines or former Marines. Unfortunately, I know I am not allowed to communicate in standard accepted Australian business terminology as would be considered profanity in America -but the guy deserves to know that he comes off as a F-wit.

Just want to clarify that this intolerance has been manifested by the poor use of an adverb by an old Marine...

For those interested or for any Americans out there that respect one's service to his country and might consider cutting him some slack...

Dale Dye was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on October 8, 1944. He graduated from the Missouri Military Academy as an Officer Cadet.

Lacking money for college, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in January 1964 and was sent to Vietnam. He served in Vietnam as a Marine Correspondent from 1964-1965, and from 1967-1970, surviving 31 major combat operations. During the war he received a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in combat.

He spent 13 years as an enlisted Marine, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant. He was chosen to attend Officer Candidates School and was appointed a Warrant Officer in 1976. He later converted his commission and was made a Captain.

Dye was well-known in the tight-knit community of the Marine Combat Correspondents in Vietnam. It was fellow Marine correspondent Gustav Hasford who dubbed him "Daddy D.A" (he was among the oldest of the correspondents) and included him as a character in his first semi-autobiographical Vietnam novel The Short-Timers, and (even more extensively) in his second, The Phantom Blooper. The movie based on Hasford's first novel, Full Metal Jacket, included the "Daddy D.A" character, (played by Keith Hodiak) though neither the character nor Dye's name is explicitly mentioned in the dialogue.

In his book, Dispatches, journalist Michael Herr provides a vivid picture of Dye during the chaos of the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Huế:

"And there was a Marine correspondent, Sergeant Dale Dye, who sat with a tall yellow flower sticking out of his helmet cover, a really outstanding target. He was rolling his eyes around and saying, 'Oh yes, oh yes, Charlie's got his shit together here, this will be bad,' and smiling happily. It was the same smile I saw a week later when a sniper's bullet tore up a wall two inches above his head, odd cause for amusement in anyone but a grunt."

After serving as a Captain in the Beirut Peacekeeping Force in 1982-83, he served in a variety of positions and got his B.A. in English from the University of Maryland University College. From 1983-84, Dye worked for the magazine Soldier of Fortune in Central America as he trained troops in guerrilla warfare in the countries of El Salvador and Nicaragua...

I seriously doubt Dye would ever question the sacrifices of anyone who fought in the South Pacific. Everything he's done since starting Warrior Inc. has been top notch. Are we so nit-picky these days that something like this has to be flaunted so negatively in public? And from a fellow American at that?

And, yes after thoroughly reading the Blog, in about 5 minutes, it is fairly clear to me that though the site is open to the public a vast majority of the audience is probably American and a former, current, or future Marine. Or at least Dye thinks so.

Maybe we can see enough merit in the arguement, made by just about every historian whose picked up a pen(Kokoda Track not withstanding), that Guadalcanal was pivotal in turning the offensive nature of IJ operations, and forgive Capt. Dye what was surely a lapse in attention. Caught up in the moment perhaps? Minimally suffering a bit of nostalgia at seeing something so moving as men dressed in the period spilling forth onto the very beaches about which tomes have been written. But if he's anything like me, likely it's a welling of great pride in his lineage and those who not only came before him and made the ultimate sacrifice in desolate places FAR from home, but certainly also those whom he knew personally and did as much within sight of him during his own time.

You know I didn't start this post angry, but the more I think about it, it's just F-ing typical. Half our country puts every other country's feelings and well-being above our own coutrymen's, while the other half, offended by this, bury their heads in the sand and pretend all is well. This whole thread is a sad commentary on the State of our Nation...now I'm over reacting...what does this accomplish?

Kokoda Track
725 killed
1,055 wounded
Hundreds sick with disease

Guadalcanal
1,768 dead (ground),
4,911 dead (naval),
420 dead (aircrew),
4 captured,
29 ships sunk,
615 aircraft destroyed

No, I am not belittling anyone's sacrifice. I am a Navy Man and the fact that more Navy men died at Guadalcanal than Marines doesn't offend me in the least. Maybe I am too patient, and understanding.

Semper Fidelis

[KG Erwin]

From an on-set extra, and worthy of a quote:

"Sorry for the long break between posts... busy times on set.

Episode 1 is a wrap and filming begins on episode 5, based in Peleliu.

I have noted other posts in the forum about wanting pics. Not gonna happen, as the contracts signed by all means that no one with half a brain would give up what we are doing just to release a few pics. Its just not worth it.

Anyways as for filming the marines in charge have given us instructions as to what they expect of the extras, especially considering the fact we are representing men who are worthy of the best possible portrayal of both their heroics and their deaths. Its been hard going for alot as the PT comes thick and fast between takes and the extras are whipped into shape for the coming battle scenes, which will be alot more physical than what we have done so far.

The camaraderie grows between all as we help each other to push past what may be obstacles for some and a chore for others. All I can say is when you see the film you will be seeing not just actors portraying men long dead, but friends working together to honor those same men.

Hopefully when all the filming is finished alot of us will stay in contact as I can honestly say I've made some great friends so far and have done my best to be the same to others.

It really brings home to one the experiences these marines went through in 1942, with incredibly detailed scenes of bodies strewn across the sand and the reports of the artillery echoing through the trees.

A ramble I know but will give a bit more actual set detail once I've caught up on some sleep as 14 hour days can take their toll."

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

*(For those who need a quick reminder of 1942 USMC designations, D, H & M companies were the Weapons Companies for the 1st through 3rd Battalions respectively - KG)

WoW!!! You mean, other companies in those battalions didn't have weapons? [&o]

[Raverdave]

A alrge part of the naval dead came from the battle of Savo Island:-
 
BATTLE OF SAVO ISLAND - LOSS OF HMAS CANBERRA
By J.H. Straczek
On the morning of the 9 August 1942 the Royal Australian Navy's heavy cruiser HMAS CANBERRA was sunk after being severely damaged during a naval battle off Savo Island in the Solomon Islands group. HMAS CANBERRA had been forming part of the force screening the American invasion force which had started landing on Guadalcanal on 7 August.
The object of the landing was to capture the almost completed Japanese airfield at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal and thus ensure that the vital USA-Australia supply lines could not be threatened. However, in the end, it was this campaign which was to see the strength of the Imperial Japanese Navy sapped away and eventually open the road to Tokyo.
The initial landings and capture of the airfield at Lunga Point, renamed Henderson Field, met with only light resistance ashore. However air attacks on the assault force commenced at about midday on the 7 August and were to continue during the period of the campaign. Fortunately for the Allied commanders Royal Australian Navy Coastwatchers were providing invaluable warnings of Japanese raids heading towards Guadalcanal.
Within two hours of the initial landings the commander of the 8th Fleet at Rabual, Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, sailed with a cruiser force for Guadalcanal. The force under his command consisted of: the heavy cruisers CHOKAI, AOBA, FURATAKA, KINUGASA, and KAKO; the light cruisers TENRYU and TATSUTA and the destroyer YUNANGI. As this force headed south they were spotted and their position and course reported to the Allied commander, Rear Admiral Turner USN. However, when they were spotted the Japanese were sailing in an east south-east direction and then altered course back to Rabual. Thus the Americans concluded that the Japanese were not heading for Guadalcanal.
In order to protect the transports against any Japanese attack a screening force of cruisers and destroyers was deployed to patrol the approaches to Guadalcanal. This force was commanded by Rear Admiral V.A.C. Crutchley VC, DSC RN and was deployed as follows:
The American destroyers RALPH TALBOT and BLUE patrolling to the seaward of Savo Island.
The Australian cruisers AUSTRALIA and CANBERRA with the American cruiser CHICAGO and destroyers BAGLEY and PATTERSON patrolled an area to the south of Savo Island.
The American cruisers VINCENNES, ASTORIA and QUINCY with the destroyers HELM and WILSON patrolled an area to the east of Savo Island.
The Australian cruiser HOBART with the American cruiser SAN JUAN and the destroyers MONSSEN and BUCHANAN patrolled the area between Florida Island and Guadalcanal.
Unaware of the approach of the Japanese force Admiral Turner convened a staff meeting onboard the attack transport MCCAWLEY. Admiral Crutchley departed the patrol area with AUSTRALIA and proceeded to the meeting in the Transport Anchorage. As the meeting was in progress Admiral Mikawa and his force were making their approach to Savo Island.
At 0130 on the 9th August the Japanese force sighted the destroyer BLUE and reduced speed. As they approached almost all of the enemy's guns were aimed at the unsuspecting ship. However, they were not sighted and proceeded to pass Savo Island. Shortly after passing Savo Island the Japanese sighted the Southern Screening Force with CANBERRA the lead ship. At about the same time the Japanese were sighted by the destroyer PATTERSON and Japanese aircraft, launched from the cruisers some two hours earlier dropped flares over Lunga Point and the transport area.
These flares immediately silhouetted the cruisers CANBERRA and CHICAGO and the Japanese opened fire with all weapons. CANBERRA being the lead ship received almost the full force of the Japanese barrage and was immediately put out of action. CHICAGO was also badly damaged but still operational.
After rendering the Southern Screening Force ineffective the Japanese continued their sweep around Savo Island splitting into two columns and approached the Northern Screening Force at high speed.
Again complete surprise was achieved with just as devastating results. The Japanese ships opened fire on the American ships at very close range and in a short space of time the cruisers QUINCY and VINCENNES were sunk with ASTORIA being badly damaged. During this part of the action the Japanese flagship CHOKAI received hits which damaged her operations room and killed a number of personnel. Being unaware as to the location and strength of the remaining Allied naval forces the Japanese did not press home their advantage and commenced to withdraw. On their way passed the outer screening destroyers the Japanese engaged and damaged the RALPH TALBOT.
Dawn was to reveal to the Allies the full extend of the battle. The Japanese had sunk the cruisers QUINCY and VINCENNES; and the cruisers CANBERRA and ASTORIA, and destroyers RALPH TALBOT and PATTERSON were badly damaged.
Admiral Turner ordered that CANBERRA be abandoned and sunk if she could not raise steam. Once all survivors had been evacuated, SELFRIDGE fired 263 5-inch shells and four torpedoes into CANBERRA in an attempt to sink her. Eventually a torpedo fired by the destroyer ELLET administered the final blow.
The transports were now only protected by two Australian cruisers AUSTRALIA and HOBART, the anti-aircraft cruiser SAN JUAN and destroyers. Despite this naval weakness the landing operations continued and the toe hold achieved on Guadalcanal became the launching pad for the American "island hopping" campaign.
As a result of the Battle of Savo Island just over 1,000 Allied sailors lost their lives and another 700 were wounded. Casualties in CANBERRA were 84 dead and 109 wounded.
 
http://www.navy.gov.au/spc/history/general/savo.html
 
I know one of the guys who was a midshipman on watch at the time of the battle. He was on HMAS Canberra, he went on to see the surrender documents signed in 1945.

[Raverdave]

ORIGINAL: TheElf




Kokoda Track
725 killed
1,055 wounded
Hundreds sick with disease

Without getting into a numbers argument the following is a better break down of the cost of the campaign.

In the Papuan campaign, which included the fighting on the Kokoda Track, at Milne Bay, and at Buna, Gona and Sanananda, the total Australian and American casualties were 8,546. Casualties from malaria exceeded 27,000; those suffering tropical diseases numbered over 37,000. In the break up of these casualties, the Australians lost more than 2,000 (killed); the Americans 600. During the four months of fighting in the Owen Stanley Ranges, from 22 July to 16 November, the Australian infantry lost 607 killed and 1,015 wounded. To illustrate the extent of casualties, the 2/14 Battalion left Ilolo to cross the mountains on 16 August with a strength of 24 Officers and 517 men. By the time it had been withdrawn from action at the end of September the battalion had suffered a total of 256 casualties - 119 killed and 137 wounded. The number of Papuan natives who died as a result of illness incurred on the Track is unknown but was considerable.

http://www.kokodawalkway.com.au/station ... arden.html

[KG Erwin]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

*(For those who need a quick reminder of 1942 USMC designations, D, H & M companies were the Weapons Companies for the 1st through 3rd Battalions respectively - KG)

WoW!!! You mean, other companies in those battalions didn't have weapons? [&o]

Aargh -- Judge, are you just having a bit of fun here? Your sense of humoUr is lost on me sometimes. You don't need a diagram drawn for you, do you? Admittedly, I guess many of those young Marines DID require diagrams to be laid out for them.

"Where's J Company?" Hell, that's a legitimate question.

[JudgeDredd]

Just a bit of fun [:D]

[KG Erwin]

Capt Dye is keeping up his weekly reports, and I swear, it kinda sounds like my experiences in playing a Marine long campaign in SPWaW.

Here's the latest:

" Week 8: Combat Ops On Two Fronts

Operational Tempo has kicked up a significant notch. We are now fighting as two separate and distinct Battalion Landing Teams with BLT 2/1(-) at Cape Gloucester in 1943 and BLT 1/7 on Guadalcanal in 1942. We've all surveyed our watches and calendars for recalibration as we go from the southern Solomons to New Britain in the space of a couple of hundred meters of jungle terrain. This situation, driven by a tight production schedule, puts our Marines in a regular OpCon/AdCon quandary. For instance, the Guadalcanal unit is focusing on Chesty Puller and Manila John Basilone at the battle of Bloody Ridge, but we begin the episode with PFC Robert Leckie and his 2/1 machinegunners getting hammered by Japanese naval gunfire during the infamous "night of the barrage" when a flotilla of battlewagons and heavy cruisers soaked the Marine positions around Henderson Field with high explosive. When Leckie and his buddies from 2/1 dig themselves out of the rubble, they hustle over to Cape Gloucester where torrential tropical rain pelts them almost as hard as the Japanese Navy did. Meanwhile on Guadalcanal, LtCol. Puller and his 1/7 Marines are stretched dangerously thin along the high ground overlooking Henderson Field and wondering when the opposing Sendai Division will launch their all-out attempt to re-take the vital air base. I'm particularly impressed with our plans to demonstrate Platoon Sergeant Basilone's heroics in the fighting on 23-25 October 1942. There will be no doubt in anyone's mind why he was awarded the Medal Of Honor as a result of that action. The real assets in bringing that fight to the screen are the young performers playing Basilone and his buddies in the heavy weapons company of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. They are as motivated and aggressive as any I've seen so far. Once again, training pays&and just watching them fix, fire and maneuver those old M1917 water-cooled machineguns is a real treat. I've spent a lot of time lately wondering how Manila John and his machinegunners did what the record says they did given the unwieldy and overly complicated nature of those weapons. Over on Cape Gloucester, my XO Mike Stokey is living in his rain gear and guiding BLT 2/1 through the mud and slime of the fighting on that island. With equipment rusting before their eyes and uniforms rotting right off their backs, the Marines are pushing the Japanese defenders back into pockets of stiff resistance where they will be destroyed in detail. Frankly, I'm glad the XO is fighting that battle. I know from first-hand experience in later wars how miserable the combination of monsoon rain and tropical mud can be. We continue the attack...on two fronts. Semper Fidelis."