‘Zippo’ tanks, assault squads key to Iwo Jima

[thedrifter]

November 21, 2005
The Lore of the Corps
‘Zippo’ tanks, assault squads key to Iwo Jima
By Charles A. Jones
Special to the Times

Joe Rosenthal’s famous photographs depicting the flag raising atop Mount Suribachi captured an important moment in the historic battle of Iwo Jima. However, the photographs did not show the individual tactics Marines used to successfully capture the island.

According to World War II veteran Luther “Luke” Crabtree, a key tactic Marines employed in the 1945 battle was using the assault squad — which was not a squad but rather a small group of Marines formed specifically to destroy Japanese caves, pillboxes and other fortifications blocking infantry progress.

Assault squads included a demolitions man, a flamethrower man, a bazooka man and a bazooka loader.

Needless to say, the work was dangerous.

Crabtree, who was with Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines, was a demolitions man.

His assault squad usually attacked an objective by first having the bazooka man fire one or more shots. The flamethrower man and demolitions man could then eliminate the target by using a satchel charge.

Other Marines would cover the squad using small-arms fire while it was working, protecting it from Japanese rushing from the objective, flanks or rear.

Toward the end of the battle, Crabtree’s company was at the north end of the island near Kitano Point. There, tactics changed as the demolitions jobs got closer and caves became the primary objective. The squad was then working in such close quarters that Crabtree occasionally moved only 10 yards from cover to reach objectives.

With the squad so close to the objective, it could not use its bazooka; it relied on demolitions and flamethrowers. At this point, bulldozers had to clear the way for the assault squad to reach the caves.

Crabtree noted that Sherman tanks equipped with flamethrowers — shooting flames from tubes replacing their gun barrels — were a welcome addition. Nicknamed “Zippo” tanks, they were more effective than the heavy, bulky flamethrowers Marines carried on their backs. Also, Marines carrying flamethrowers were prime targets for Japanese fire.

Crabtree praised Zippos. “We’d never have taken Iwo without flamethrower tanks,” he said.

Crabtree was on Iwo during the entire battle and earned the Silver Star for his actions. On March 13, while the company was “held up by rifle and grenade fire from a series of caves to the front,” he ran forward of the front lines and “destroyed two cave positions.” On March 15, he disregarded enemy machine-gun fire from caves to the company’s front and destroyed three cave positions with satchel charges, “making possible the advance of the company.”

Reflecting on the battle, Crabtree said he was “in a fog most of the time. I was so busy trying to stay alive that one day blended into another.”

When asked what made victory possible, he credited 5th Marine Division’s composition based around experienced former Marine Raiders and paratroopers.

“If we had sent raw recruits in there, we would have been annihilated,” he said.

The writer is a lawyer and Marine Corps Reserve colonel in Norfolk, Va.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Gratitude to fallen comrade endures for Monessen Marine
By Ron Paglia
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 20, 2005

John A. "Jack" Snyder is grateful to a lot of people who have had an impact on his life. Family, friends and a New York man who helped make it possible for him to be the keynote speaker at the annual Veterans Day ceremonies in Monessen.

"This celebration of remembering those unsung heroes who made the supreme sacrifice is certainly nothing new for me as well as many of you," Snyder, of Monessen, told the gathering at the Veterans War Memorial at City Park. "Many of us can go back over 60 years in time and recall the names and faces of those listed on our main memorial monument. In some cases they were our classmates, neighbors and family members."

Snyder, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the Korean War, recalled taking part in services at the World War I monument at Sixth Street and Donner Avenue in downtown Monessen and later at Sixth Street Park and in the Eastgate area of the city before the new memorial was constructed and dedicated in the picturesque setting of City Park.

"This memorial is dedicated to those men and women who served during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and now Iraq," said Snyder, a machine-gunner who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. "How many of us can remember the dedication of those World War I veterans? They were members of The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and they taught us the values of commitment, loyalty and respect for our fellow veterans.

"Do names like Anderson, Chesmar, Shawley, Houston, Lescanac, Putnak, Conti or Crosby ring a bell?" asked Snyder, adjutant of Thomas McKee Post 28 of The American Legion for 48 years and a past commander of the unit. "I've named only a few, and it certainly is not my intention to overlook the hundreds of other World War I veterans who gave us the purpose to continue honoring all veterans over the

years to this present and precious moment. Why were some of our veterans concerned enough to continue that spirit of personal sacrifice and dedication to the memory of those who gave their all in the protection of our freedoms for this great country? Because they did not want their brothers' sacrifices to have been in vain."

Those who participate in Memorial Day and Veterans Day activities "have found their way to fulfill that promise to their heroic brothers," Snyder said.

"We can only hold the highest admiration for the families of past commanders (of Post 2 Jack Beck, Gilfert Mihalich and Arthur Trilli for their contributions to the preservation of this day set aside to honoring all veterans," Snyder said in reference to three Legionnaires whose brothers were killed in action in service to their country. "We join with them and all patriotic families because we also lost in combat brothers in arms that we will never forget."

With a slightly quivering voice and a firm gaze, Snyder related a "very personal" note to that statement.

"Perhaps I owe my life to Sgt. George L. Barlow, of Verbank, N.Y.," Snyder said in reference to an incident that took place while he was involved as a machine-gunner with Marine Corps G Company, Second Battalion, 24th Marines, Fourth Marine Division, at Iwo Jima. "Because of Sgt. Barlow's courage, I am here today, honored and humbled, to speak to you."

It was on March 1, 1945, that Barlow fell on and covered a Japanese grenade to protect five members of Snyder's machine-gun squad. Barlow was killed while saving the lives of the others.

"As many who served in the Armed Forces during various wars and skirmishes, George Barlow never received any recognition whatsoever for his heroism, for giving his life to protect his brother Marines," Snyder said. "In watching the profound pain and sorrow expressed by Gold Star mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers at these annual programs, I have become part of those grieving families for the past six decades."

Snyder recalled that in 1995, 50 years after the death of Sgt. Barlow, he located Barlow's three surviving sisters.

"Since that time, we have remained in touch with one another," Snyder said. That association, he said, emphasizes that the loss of any serviceman or servicewoman "becomes a very personal tragedy that cannot be accepted or forgotten."

In introducing Snyder, Westmoreland County Senior Judge Gilfert Mihalich, Post 28 judge advocate, said he "epitomizes all of the true qualities of a Legionnaire, an American veteran who bravely served his country unselfishly, without question, to protect our freedoms."

Snyder, who received the Asiatic Pacific and Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with Star, as well as the Combat Action, American Campaign, National Defense and Wold War II Victory medals and ribbons for his World War II service, accepted the accolades in humble fashion. Because the average age of Monessen Veterans Council members is between 75 and 80, he also expressed concern about the future of traditional services honoring veterans.

"How much longer can we who are gathered here today doing our patriotic duty expect to continue this devotion to those who truly deserve to be respected and remembered?" he said.

"We hear a lot of lip service about thanking our servicemen and women for protecting our freedoms as they serve on military bases around the world. We have often heard that our community leaders should prepare events to show appreciation to its veterans. But past history affirms that it is really veterans honoring veterans. It is something we do because we must do it."

Ellie