Post by Bill Calhoun on Dec 27, 2008 14:27:43 GMT 8
The circumstance of Melvin Weeks' death raised the following recollection. I dealt with it in Bless 'em All, but will touch on it again briefly.
The Periodic Reports and the 2d Bn s-3 Journals aren't entirely accurate in recording our actions on Negros at the time. The 1st Bn had lately taken Hill 3355, and E Company had been moved up and ordered to advance down the ridge from this hill towards Hill 4055. The official paperwork appears to be a day out of synchronisation with what actually occurred.
They hit considerable resistance, suffering one man killed and four WIA. The Japanese fire had been so intense, they had been unable to recover the body, which made HQ somewhat insistent - but that is another story.
We (in F Co) had been throwing grenades down at the Japanese, and the firing had been noticed up at Bn HQ. Soon here came Cpt. Taylor and an artillery lieutenant who was attached asan FO. Taylor ordered me to move F Co back up the hill and occupy our positions of the previous night, so the artillery could be brought to bear the following morning, and that F Co. could move in when the barrage was lifted.
Lt. Bailey moved F Co back to the position we had occupied the day before. The Japanese were still in the same defensive positions and took the Co under fire.
Leaving the Co a little further up the hill, Bailey, Taylor and the Artillery Officer worked their way down to a nest in order to be in a position to bring in the artillery concentration on target. The FO was between Taylor and Bailey, all on their knees in order to see down the hill. When the FO called for the first adjusting round, or one of the first rounds, it hit the tree tops above their heads and exploded. Bailey and Taylor were untouched, but the FO groaned and fell forward face down. A large piece of shrapnel had split the front of his helmet, and penetrated his skull.
They brought him to the aid station, where I saw him. He lived until the next day, 30 May, groaning continuously. He was beyond help. It was unnerving to all of us.
If I had known his name at the time, I had long since forgotten it. It concerned me after all those years that I couldn't recall his name, and I tried for years to find it out. Dude (George) Aubry remembered him, and that he was a replacement, and the approximate date, but not his name. Dude was on an FO team, too. None of the other artillery people I spoke with remembered the incident.
It was only when I acquired a copy of Leabhart's Aid Station journal that I was able to put a name to the tragic circumstance.
He was 2d Lt. Joseph J. Parma.
Bless 'em All
The Periodic Reports and the 2d Bn s-3 Journals aren't entirely accurate in recording our actions on Negros at the time. The 1st Bn had lately taken Hill 3355, and E Company had been moved up and ordered to advance down the ridge from this hill towards Hill 4055. The official paperwork appears to be a day out of synchronisation with what actually occurred.
They hit considerable resistance, suffering one man killed and four WIA. The Japanese fire had been so intense, they had been unable to recover the body, which made HQ somewhat insistent - but that is another story.
We (in F Co) had been throwing grenades down at the Japanese, and the firing had been noticed up at Bn HQ. Soon here came Cpt. Taylor and an artillery lieutenant who was attached asan FO. Taylor ordered me to move F Co back up the hill and occupy our positions of the previous night, so the artillery could be brought to bear the following morning, and that F Co. could move in when the barrage was lifted.
Lt. Bailey moved F Co back to the position we had occupied the day before. The Japanese were still in the same defensive positions and took the Co under fire.
Leaving the Co a little further up the hill, Bailey, Taylor and the Artillery Officer worked their way down to a nest in order to be in a position to bring in the artillery concentration on target. The FO was between Taylor and Bailey, all on their knees in order to see down the hill. When the FO called for the first adjusting round, or one of the first rounds, it hit the tree tops above their heads and exploded. Bailey and Taylor were untouched, but the FO groaned and fell forward face down. A large piece of shrapnel had split the front of his helmet, and penetrated his skull.
They brought him to the aid station, where I saw him. He lived until the next day, 30 May, groaning continuously. He was beyond help. It was unnerving to all of us.
If I had known his name at the time, I had long since forgotten it. It concerned me after all those years that I couldn't recall his name, and I tried for years to find it out. Dude (George) Aubry remembered him, and that he was a replacement, and the approximate date, but not his name. Dude was on an FO team, too. None of the other artillery people I spoke with remembered the incident.
It was only when I acquired a copy of Leabhart's Aid Station journal that I was able to put a name to the tragic circumstance.
He was 2d Lt. Joseph J. Parma.
Bless 'em All