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The events during and after the meat grinder at Turkey Knob would have been chaotic, to say the least.

Not very conducive to conducting accurate and meaningful individual assessments, in my opinion.

Suffice it to say that Private Steel, probably still barely 18, made the ultimate sacrifice for his country on 6 January 1945.

Kind of a sad but common story of so many soldiers of all nationalities. He is remarkable for being truly unremarkable. Graduated from High school and dead and buried less then a year later about as far from home as possible. Dan, do you know if he had brothers or sisters? It would be nice to know he was not their parents only child.

Harris Steele was the youngest of five children.  To the best of my knowledge, his four siblings lived to a ripe old age.
 
His oldest sister, Mary Ellen, "never got over his death."  She passed away about five or six years ago.
 
He was preceded in death by his father, Oscar, who worked for a railroad and was killed in a railroad accident in the late '30s or early '40s.
 
Harris's uncle, Dewey Steele, was married to my great aunt, Louise.  They didn't have children.  I spent many, many vacations at Louise's house, including most of my college vacations since it was much easier to get to Brunswick, Georgia, than all the way to Miami, Florida.  Louise told me the the story of Harris Steele when I was a youngster.  Fifteen years ago, during a casual stroll through the sprawling cemetery across the road from her house, I stumbled acrosss his grave.  That's what prompted the desire to write about what happened to him, though it took me a long time to get the job completed.  The story will be published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima invasion early next year.

CR, I think such an article serves an important function...reminding us of the real people behind major historical events...and I'm glad you're writing such a thing.

ORIGINAL: CT Grognard

1. The ratings are from 1 to 5, with 1 being poorest and 5 being best ...

My late father -- another WW II vet -- used to say things like: "I read you 5 by 5," which sounds like an old communications term for great signal clarity and strength prior to use of the now familiar S-meter that measures relative signal strength from 1-9.

Quite right - 5 by 5 referring to the signal strength and the signal clarity, respectively. "Loud and clear" is the better-known equivalent.

this article is very ineresing and it just bringed me few questions - what is military efficiency and bearing ? what is differnce between those ?

ORIGINAL: Panjack

Absent direct or indirect evidence for the motive behind the final ratings, I'd be reluctant to assert that the final ratings (5s) were merely a nice gesture. If other similar documents show the same post-death increases in ratings (by the same rater), then it might be reasonable to suggest the final 5's were a nice gesture applied to all those who were killed in combat. Alternatively, perhaps this man proved, in actual battle, to have been a exemplary soldier worthy of 5's and this is what these final ratings indicate.

That is posibility, since as record indicates he was steadily improving his marks over time, with no droping.

CR, Have you been able to drum up a photo of the lad? I'd like to see the high school vs the marine.

ORIGINAL: Panjack

CR, I think such an article serves an important function...reminding us of the real people behind major historical events...and I'm glad you're writing such a thing.

+1

Here's the Marine Corps photo of Harris Steele taken shortly after he enlisted on June 28, 1944 - three weeks after his high school graudation and less than nine months before he was KIA at Iwo.

My mother knew Harris. She remembers that he and his older brothers were high sprited and fun loving. She was 16 years old and living in Miami when he died, so she did not attend the funeral. However, she told me last week that she was in Brunswick visiting family on VJ Day.

I had one other link to Harris Steele. I went through law school with Harris's great nephew, Steve K., who became a very good friend. Steve K. is now a superior court judge in Brunswick and one of the finest men I've ever known.