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| Check the "Marine" haircut |
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| The hat says USMC with the emblem of THE Corps |
My
Favorite Marine
September,
1921 -- Present
This posting was started June 12, 2012 and will be updated on an ongoing basis.
I first met Glen (Bud) Shipbaugh at Archer Chapter
OES. I had arrived as a guest, and he
was on the “welcoming” commit-tee. In his
opinion, my current dues card was sufficient to allow me to be able to attend the
meeting. In his opinion, who would show
up at this kind of meeting just for the hahas.
Within a few minutes, I was asked if I would pro temp in the North. Since I am always willing to jump in where
needed, I said that I would.
Our acquaintance has blossomed into a neat
friendship. Our last degree work in
Archer before the Chapter consolidated found him in the East and me as
Conductress. Since he is the best
ritualist I have ever encountered, I can say we did a good job together. He did the AP’s lecture (long form) to
perfection.
His wife Katie was frail and often ill, but she knew
her stuff as well. When she passed away,
I was up north. I always felt sad that I
missed the opportunity to pay my respects.
But, over the next several years, our friendship
(including Steve) increased in intensity.
The local Masonic Lodge has a breakfast twice a month. The three of us rarely miss one of these
social gatherings.
Recently at an OES meeting, I did a program on the
history of the American flag. One part
of that history included the original Gladsden flag (the rattlesnake and Don’t
Tread on Me). It was the first flag used
on a ship with “sea-faring soldiers” which later became known as the “Marines.” Glen was sitting in the audience and as the
MC, I made reference to his being My
Favorite Marine. He was slightly embarrassed,
but lived through it.
Since we dine together often, we have many
conversations. Early on I learned he was
a Marine. As they say, “Once a Marine; always a Marine.” But Glen has/had been shy about his
experiences as he was in the Pacific in World War II, in part because of some
of the horrendous situations in which he was thrown. Like many people in many wars, the men and women have a difficult time sharing details of their service.
Little by little, I have been able to coax a few
details from him. As I get more, I will
add to this post.
He enlisted in 1942, while he was only twenty
(almost twenty-one)—as he says, "a plain, ordinary guy from Ohio." After his basic training, he shipped out with
the (as he proudly states) the "ORIGINAL" Third Marine Division.
The Third Marine Division during World War II was best known
for its courageous endeavors at Iwo Jima.
The web-site below produces an excellent,
albeit somewhat graphic and, perhaps, gruesome, history of the battle at Iwo
Jima which is most remembered by the iconic flag raising. The Third Marine
Division (and Glenn), on the other hand, remembers it for the thirty-six long,
hard days of fighting the Battle on the island of Iwo Jima. It was a nasty place for anyone to be.
The quote is from the web-site below: Military
geniuses predicted a three day battle, an "easy time." Some of the
nicest boys America would ever produce slogged on for thirty six days in what
would be the worst battle in the history of the US Marine Corps. Generals
conferred over maps while tanks, airplanes, naval bombs and artillery pounded
the island. But it was the individual Marine on the ground with a gun that won
the battle. Marines without gladiator's armor who would advance into withering
fire. Marines who would not give up simply because they were Marines. A mint in
Washington would cast more medals for these Iwo Jima heroes than for any group
of fighters in America's history. Twenty
seven Medals of Honor were awarded to Marines and sailors (most Navy
corpsmen). Many of these were awarded
posthumously. This made this battle the
one with more such awards over any other given single World War II
operation. Silver Stars. Bronze Stars, Purple
Hearts, etc.
The bits and pieces I have gleaned from Glenn are
oft sad.
I asked him if he had seen our flag planted on top
of Mount Saribachi. He said he did not
see either (there were two--one before the iconic picture we know) of them as he was in the front lines at the opposite end of the
island. Read about it in a magazine
later like most of the US population.
The battle lasted thirty six days before
surrender. Glen was in the fray most of
that time.
One--kind of humorous accounting (also a bit sad…kind
of bitter sweet). After the capture of
the Iwo Jima, he was sent with the Third Division to Guam. After Guam, he and seventeen other Marines were taken off the island and sent
to Hawaii by a naval ship for an R&R.
When they reached Hawaii, all the Navy guys got a shore leave, but they
would not allow the Marines such a privilege.
They were told that they did not have good enough clothes or proper
manners (and would not know how to act).
Why, for heaven’s name, could they not be supplied with new clothes! This is way beyond my understanding. I'm sure the "manners" would have worked themselves out quite nicely.
There were a lot of Japanese cave dwellers. Glen was oft chosen to be part of the group
that had to infiltrate those caves.
Patrol, fight on the front lines, patrol, fight. He thinks he fought eighteen straight days
from his shell hole.
By this time, he was a Corporal. He says when someone higher up the ladder
said, “grab you rifle!” he did just that.
After doing three patrols almost back to back, someone told him to grab
his rifle. When he balked slightly, I am
sure due to sheer exhaustion and weariness, the higher up asked him if he were “yellow.” Not hardly, he did the fourth patrol without
further ado.
Added 10/6/2012 [ ]
[Portions of the Third Marine Division were sent to Bogainville throughout the end of 1943 and into 1944. Bogainville was and an ongoing set of battles from two distinct phases, which began on 1 November 1943 and ended on 21 August 1945, with the surrender of the Japanese. At Bogainville, he spent three and nights in a cramped rifle pit.
Bogainville is an island in the Solomon Islands group. The number of allied casualties was relatively low compared to other Marine advances. The Japanese casualties, on the other hand, were very high.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_Campaign]
Glen says he always knew he would make it through. Today with a sparkle/twinkle in his eye, he walks with friends several times a
week, drives his blue truck with GeeGee at his side (a pug mix canine), is
active in the Masonic Fraternity and OES--still an excellent ritualist--and is too busy to read. Although slim and trim, he is concerned with
his weight. When he enlisted, he weighed
about 140 pounds; today around 160 and still standing tall—not anything to sneeze at or that could be considered too
heavy by anyone’s measurement. Now approaching ninety-one, I guess he was
correct. He certainly did “make it
through.”
August 4, 2012--I saw Glen for breakfast this morning. I told him that I missed him for the last one. He told me where he went. A friend of his had been a native on Guam when the Allies landed. Guam (the largest of the Marianna Islands) was recaptured by the Allies against the Japanese with a long hard fought battle that began on July 21, 1944 and lasted to August 10. Guam was an American territory that the Japanese invaded and captured in 1941.
He said he missed breakfast the last time as he had gone to a reunion in celebration of that day in Titusville, Florida. He also said he was the only member of American liberation forces of Guam to be at this Reunion. So, I know that he was treated like royalty. All others at the reunion were people who had lived on the island at the time (along with their spouses and families).
I also managed to squeeze a few more details from him. At the battle to reclaim Guam, he was "fourth" wave coming off his Higgins boat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCVP
Due to the coral reefs surrounding the island, the Higgins could not land the men on the beaches as they normally did. He had to climb down the rope netting off the side of the boat and had to get to the beach through waist-deep water (somewhere between 50 and 100 yards). Once on the beach, he said "we had to get to where we had to go"--being a bit vague...once again. In addition, to everything else he carried on his back, he had 240 rounds (ten clips) for his B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle, his gun). He told me that he was extremely fast with firing and reloading.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1918_Browning_Automatic_RifleI
I asked if this landing was done "under fire." He said, "No, artillery!" In my book that is under fire, but I think he translated it in his mind as smaller gun fire--rifle or machine gun. Glen, my friend, landing under an artillery barrage sounds like "under heavy fire" to me. (pun intended).
I will continue to add to this posting as more details are gleaned from Glen. Love you!
October 6, 2012
I had breakfast with Glen this morning at the semi weekly Masonic breakfast. Another Marine (Hildon Simmons--I will start a blog about him later) sat at the same table. There is nothing like a couple of jar heads seating near each other to start hearing stories. Both are WWII Vets.
Today, they chatted about what they did "after" [combat time] but while they were still active duty. Glen came back to California where he was stationed "nine miles from the main gate of Pendleton...out in the middle of no where." He was asked at some point if he preferred the East or West Coast. He says that since he was a country boy from Ohio, he preferred the East. So, he was shipped to Parris Island, South Carolina where he was "volunteered" by his sergeant to be a drill instructor. His lieutenant promised him sergeant stripes if he re-upped. That was not enough incentive for Bud.
I also learned that he did his basic at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.
And then there was the "nine shots." Glen, what do you mean nine shots...liquor, bullets, what. He said that every time they moved to a new island, they got nine shots. Well, it turns out that it is nine vaccines with nine separate needles. The one for the bubonic plaque was the worse. It was injected under the skin at an angle. It was swell up and hurt for a couple of days. Then, everything would be okay again. (The swelling had gone down.)
The tents often lost their ability to be waterproof due to the fact that it rained so much. In one area, they could set their watches by the nine a.m. and three p.m. rainfall. I asked what they did about their tents. "Well, you put your ponchos over the mosquito netting, of course." Well, of course! How could I be so dumb. My thought would have been to use some sort of magic potion to make it water-proofed once again.
May 19, 2013
I talked to Glen this afternoon. We did not see him at the Saturday morning breakfast. I talked to his walking companion who told me he had been in the hospital. It seems that he had two aneurysms, which was corrected with one stint. The procedure was done on Thursday. He came home Friday.
We chatted a little more about his service. The Third Division was part of the Guam invasion in April 1945. The idea was to get to the beach as fast as possible as the shelling from the Japanese was directly into the water and at the Higgins boats.
After Guam, he was supposed to get a furlough. We again told me about his ship stopping in Hawaii and the jar heads could not get off the ship because of their tattered, torn and--I am sure-- somewhat smelly clothes and potential lack of manners. He continued the story by saying their future destination was San Francisco. My aside: Why couldn't the US Government give them new clothes??? As they were approaching San Francisco, they were given a breakfast of steak and eggs. This worried him and his friends, as steak and eggs was the meal of choice of the government when they were about to go into battle. "Are we sure this is the United States?" "We aren't going into battle, are we?"
In San Francisco they were put on trains to San Diego and then another one to Chicago. They had not received their furlough papers...did not get them until Chicago. There was a stop in St. Louis. They were told that the stop would be about three hours. Glen was tired so he stayed in his bunk on the train. Several others disembarked. Within a fairly short period of time (he did not remember how long), he felt movement...the train had started. Several of his friends were left behind in St. Louis without papers. He did not remember what happened to them, but he was happy that he had stayed on the train.
He recently read a book about Iwo Jima, written by the son of the Navy Corpsman who was one of six who raised THE flag. Bud said he wished he had not read it. Says it brought back too many bad memories that he had somewhat repressed.
I guess the most information I get from him will be little snippets outside of battle. But these memories are too good not to be shared.
He never buys a "Marine" cap. People keep giving them to him.
