Word: mortar
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Pepper" Martin-taking the hard way back to his old post in Chungking -faced the mortar fire at Peleliu with the first landing wave, found himself pinned on the sands between two quizzical Marines ("I wonder where we are." "It sure ain't Staten Island...
...another Tarawa was developing," Martin cabled. "The Japs knew we were coming and threw everything in the book at us in a desperate effort to stave off annihilation. Two Jap shells made near misses on our amphtrack, pelted its sides with shrapnel. When we reached the beach another mortar a few yards distant spouted bloodily against the smoky island background, killed one Marine, wounded two others. We had to dig for cover in a ditch because our front lines were only 25 yards inland...
...field telephone buzzed. The colonel listened and growled into it: "We're still going but some of my companies are damned small." A Jap mortar opened up and the men around the colonel flattened out. The C.O. himself did not change his position. He stuck out his chest and spat: "The bastards...
...Americans had only 26 boats. They gathered their craft half a mile downstream while British artillery raked the Germans across the river. But when the first force of Americans pushed off, the river splattered around them with machine-gun and mortar fire. Each of the 26 boats carried a dozen men, but only 13 boats returned for more paratroopers. Some paddled, some bailed with their canteen cups. This time only eight boats returned (one carried back three dead and four wounded). After the third trip there were only five boats. They kept going...
Through these defenses, up these slopes, the marines fought. They rushed defiles on Bloody Nose, and burned out caves with flamethrowers. While they were at the bloody business, many of them were cut down by machine-gun and mortar fire. The division's 1st Regiment soon suffered 60% casualties. After ten days the marines had occupied five-sixths of the 2-by-6-mile island. Interim score: 7,313 Jap dead. Still to go: about 3,200 (estimated strength of the original garrison was upped from...