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Navy and Marine Corps, underwater demolition people and would go in, recon the beaches and the surf.
They'd come in on small boats off submarines and do their thing. Sometime they would go up some of
these hard obstacles that were under the surface. We learned a lot from every operation. Somethings
you learn, you just can't do anything about. But we did get some; we did learn as we went along. You
know, to fight a little smarter. But you know when you have 10,000 enemy, you put 20,000 ashore.
That's a pretty low ratio for an attacking force in an amphibious operation too. I might add that three to
one is a minimum by the book. Now they had about a three to one advantage on Iwo. I think Iwo and
Peleliu were very, very comparable. The topography, they were both volcanic islands. They were both
islands where they had been dug in and fortified well before the attack. And limited area where
anything that landed there, somebody's gonna get hit. You couldn't disperse because of limited area.
So I think there were great similarities there but now there we had three divisions that landed there. So
we did have the Third, Fourth, and Fifth divisions. We had one division was an Army division reserve at
Peleliu. And we didn't call that whole Army division into the battle. We only called one regiment in. I
think it was the 321st or the 81st Army division. Because they came in around maybe the second week,
second or third week of the battle. They came in just about 11 days after the battle on the day I got hit.
They performed well.
JL: What was the experience you had when you got hit?
LS: Well I got good attention. I got back to our battalion aid station. By jeep, I went to the division
medical company that was set up. Went to the hospital ship relief. And then relief took me to New
Caledonia to Fleet House Route 108. I had, I was very bristled when I got hit. I had so many closer ones
that didn't hit me. I mean I had artillery shells that knocked the breath out of me. I've had grenades
that I could reach out and touch but I just happened to be able to get down on the deck and all the
dispersion went over me and so forth. I did things and thought I'd never be able to catch my breath
again from the concussion and - not put down a scratch. And this was a mortar shell that must have
been 50 yards away! And at the time, I was setting up in defensive position for the night. We did the D
in for the night. And I was pointing out the field of fire for a machine and I was scratching myself under
the armpit. I got hit here. Right in between where the femur and fractured and stuff. I lost quite a bit
of blood, but anyway. If I wasn't scratching that little louse or whatever it was under my armpit I guess
it could have been a very different story. Fate works in strange ways, I'll tell you.
JL: Yes. Any other stories you'd like to share with us?
LS: Well I, not really any stories. I guess there's some impressions that I've had and stayed with me all
my life. And what a privilege it has been for me to be a part of this group of men. I can't, it's hard to
envision anybody else, how men can rise to some occasions when horror, sheer horror situations and
handle it like these young Marines that I was with did. And anyways, it's magnificent. I firmly believe
you had some units in the Army and all the services. Some were better than others. I don't think it
makes a darn bit of difference between these different bodies of men. So any difference, I think was a
degree of leadership. Non-commissioned Officers and the Junior Officers.
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