
A. Duncan and Al Perry after 10 days of fighting
on the meat grinder on Iwo Jima
Pvt. A. B. Duncan (left) and Cpl. A. R. Perry, both Nashville marines, stand with their rifles after being relieved from front line action during the battle of Iwo Jima.
Private Duncan, husband of Mrs. Mary Ella Midgett Duncan of 332 Vivelle Street, participated in the taking of Hill 382 on Iwo Jima with the Fourth Marine Division recently. Son of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Duncan, 308 Boscoble Heights, the former employee of the Union Ice Cream Company is father of a daughter, Linda Sue, aged two and a half.
Corporal Perry, 19, is the son of Mfs. A. R. Perry, 2108 Gladstone Avenue. He recently was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action with a marine rifle platoon during the invasion of Saipan. Perry is a veteran of the Marshall Islands and Tinian invasions. He was employed in Detroit, Mich., prior to entering the service in March 1943.
---May 1, 1945 Tennessean paper (page3)
|
Al Perry, Bob
Fleishauer, and Bob Tierney at Camp Maui. The dog named
Tojo was captured from the Japanese.
|

Taken on Tinian, 50 men left after losing 101 to a
Japanese Banzai attack |

"A" Company the 26 surviving of all 4
battle campaigns in front of 24th Regiment Memorial 4th
Marine Division Maui 1945 |

A Company End of Iwo Jima, the 37 survivors out of
228 who landed
|

Al and Ellie Perry, married September 11,
1947 |
In January 1944 the 4th Marine Division
sailed from San Diego for the Marshall Islands, Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein
Atoll. Operation "Flintlock" was the first objective for the
Division. Six hours after landing on 1 February 1944 Roi Island was
declared secured, and Namur Island was secured just 24 hours and 15
minutes after the first troops landed.
The 4th Marine Division set three new records on its first
operation: [1] It became the first Division to go directly into combat
from the States; [2] It was the first to capture Japanese mandated
territory in the Pacific; [3] And it secured its objective in a shorter
time than any other important operation since the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The 4th Marine Division landed on Saipan 15 June 1944. The
severity of this battle was indicated by the 2,000 casualties suffered in
the first two days of battle. The Flag was raised on Saipan after 25
grueling and bitter days of combat. The Division sustained 5,981
casualties killed, wounded and missing. This represented 27.6 percent of
the Division's strength. The Japanese count was 23,811 known dead and
1,810 prisoners were taken.
The 4th Marine Division landed on
Tinian 24 July 1944. The island was defended by 9000 plus Japanese troops.
This battle lasted nine days. The land assault on Tinian had cost the
Division 290 men killed, 1,515 wounded and 24 missing in action.
Approximately 9,000 Japanese troops were dead and 250 prisoners taken. In
recognition of its work on Saipan and Tinian, the Fourth Division was
awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
Iwo Jima was the next
destination for the 4th Marine Division. The Japanese troops on Iwo Jima
numbered 23,000. The first wave of Marines hit the beach at 0902 on 19
February 1945. By the end of the second day casualties totaled 2,011. At
1800 on 16 March, 26 days and 9 hours after the first troops landed, Iwo
Jima was declared secured. The greatest battle in Marine Corps History was
over. The 4th Marine Division paid a heavy price. Casualties numbered
9,098 which was almost half the division strength. An estimated 22,000
Japanese had been killed by the three Divisions (Third, Fourth, and Fifth,
8,982 having been counted in the Fourth's zone). Only 44 prisoners were
taken by the Division.
The combat record of the 4th Marine Division in World War II
was exemplary. In the short space of one year and 19 days it participated
in four major amphibious assaults and won two Presidential Unit Citations.
The Division suffered a total of 17,722 battle casualties during the four
assault landings on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. (14,424
wounded and 3,298 killed or died of
wounds.) |