|
|---|
|
SPOTLIGHT ON MARINE HEROES #10
CAMP PENDLETON Camp Pendleton, Calif., was a busy post in 1944 when it housed the 5th Marine Division before deployment to the Pacific. Established in 1942, this sprawling base north of San Diego was a prime training site for Marine units heading for combat. With a long stretch of Pacific coastline, rugged canyons and mountains, Pendleton was perfectly suited to preparing for war. On 10 January 1944, by administrative order, the 1st Battalion, 27th Marines was activated aboard the base. This outfit, one of the keystone infantry units in the 5th Marine Division, had an authorized strength of 945 Marines and Sailors. To fill the battalion, hundreds of brand-new Marines streamed northward to 1/27 from the Recruit Depot in San Diego. Veteran Marines from stations all over the United States, many of them former Paramarines and Raiders, joined them. Major Justin Duryea, a veteran of combat in the South Pacific with the Paramarines, was the battalion’s interim commander.
The same week that 1/27 was activated, LtCol John A. Butler reported to Camp Pendleton. A Naval Academy graduate in the class of 1934, he was a tall, rawboned Marine with a dark complexion and sparse good looks. His southern roots were revealed in his New Orleans accent. At the academy he was nicknamed at various times, "Long John," "Black John" and "Cajun." A fluent Spanish speaker, Butler had already spent a decade of service moving between duty afloat with the 5th Marines and in Naval Intelligence. Not only an officer of Marines, John Butler was also a husband and father. His wife, Denise, was a petite woman with light brown hair. The pair first met in 1931 during Christmas leave in Louisiana. John fell in love at first sight, but Denise proceeded with caution. The following Christmas at a watermelon party, the erstwhile Midshipman tried unsuccessfully to toss Denise into a tub of ice water to get her attention. During his first class year, John gave Denise a miniature class ring during June Week. They decided to get married, but were forced to wait by the Marine Corps. Regulations prohibited a new officer from getting married until he had served at least two years. For several years, the couple exchanged a stream of letters back and forth as John traveled between ports of call as a seagoing Marine. Finally, on a warm summer day in 1936, John and Denise were married in a military wedding at Loyola’s Holy Name Church in New Orleans. Before the war, the Butlers were stationed in Panama, Quantico, and the Dominican Republic. Moving from place to place was a way of life in the Corps, yet the family grew on a regular basis. Daughter Mary Jo arrived first in 1937 and son John was born in 1939. He was soon christened, “Johnny Boy.” Soon Denise, whom her husband nicknamed "Honey Gal," knew how to pack and move like a salty gunnery sergeant. In early 1940, then-Captain Butler was assigned to the Naval Attaché office at the U. S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. There he spent over three years collecting intelligence on Nazi agents and sympathizers in the Caribbean. Although this was an important mission, Butler wanted a combat assignment. He felt a sense of duty to get into the war and applied for transfer to the Fleet Marine Force. The Butlers’ third child, Morey, was born in mid-1943. Late that year, then-Major Butler received a promotion and the assignment he'd dreamed about. With orders to proceed through a staff and command course at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, LtCol Butler was bound for Camp Pendleton and the 5th Marine Division. He flew on ahead to Quantico while Honey Gal packed up their household and left the Dominican Republic with the children. Traveling by plane and train, Honey Gal and the kids made their way to join John at Quantico. The family was billeted in temporary housing and the baby, Morey, slept in a dresser drawer. Johnny Boy, who only spoke Spanish, ran around the base trying to make friends, but none of the other kids understood what he was talking about. Dad completed his course in December 1943 and the Butlers loaded up their Studebaker sedan for a long cross-country trip to California. As Honey Gal would later remember, the kids left a trail of spilt milk across the United States. The family arrived at Camp Pendleton in mid-January 1944. In the hectic atmosphere of a division preparing for war, John was first billeted as the Executive Officer of the 27th Marines. Sadly, his father passed away in New Orleans and John returned home for nine days of emergency leave. Shortly after returning to Camp Pendleton, he was assigned to command 1/27, and Major Duryea was posted as the Regimental Operations Officer, 27th Marines.
Among the many combat veterans assigned to the battalion was one instantly recognizable to millions of Americans. He was GySgt John M. Basilone, legendary Medal of Honor recipient from the fight for Guadalcanal who became an American icon on war bond tours across America. The Gunny had gone through his own struggle to get back in the war. Assigned to the Marine Barracks, Washington, DC after the war bond tours, Gunny Basilone longed to get back into a combat outfit. He told anyone who would listen, “I want to get back to my boys.” Like LtCol Butler and his family, the Gunny made the long trek from the east coast to Camp Pendleton in the winter of 1944. On arrival, he reported into the 27th Marines and was billeted as the platoon sergeant of Company C's machine gun platoon. Although California was a beautiful place, the Butlers, Gunny Basilone and the rest of 1/27 weren't there for a pleasure tour. The Spearhead division was engaged in the deadly serious business of preparing for war. That meant field problems, live fire training for all hands, inspections, and endless rounds of paperwork. Sometimes LtCol Butler took his son, John, to the base. Johnny Boy liked riding in his dad's jeep, eating Marine chow, and hanging around with the Gyrenes of the battalion. It was all very impressive to a four-year-old boy.
The Butlers had a family pet; an Airedale named "Yaqui Boy" whom they had acquired in the Dominican Republic. LtCol Butler tried unsuccessfully to enlist Yaqui Boy as a war dog. The dog flunked K-9 boot camp, but still hung around Camp Pendleton with the Colonel and his Marines. A few days after the battalion shipped out in August 1944, Yaqui Boy ran away and the family never found him. Mrs. Butler told the children he probably got lost trying to get to Camp Pendleton to find his Marines.
CAMP TARAWA On 12 August 1944, the 27th Marines sailed from the Broadway Street Pier in San Diego bound for its new home—Camp Tarawa on the big island of Hawaii. Honey Gal, pregnant with her fourth child, and the children were at pier side to watch the Marines sail off. As unit after unit marched by heading for the docks, LtCol Butler walked over to his family. He hugged his wife, and patted Johnny Boy on the head. Then, he turned around and walked back to his Marines. For the rest of his life, Johnny Boy would remember his dad’s goodbye.
Once settled at Camp Tarawa, the Gyrenes of the 5th Marine Division continued with intensive training. They hiked across the rugged lava fields of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. They drilled in small unit tactics, and ran field problems. They qualified with every weapon in individual and crew served weapons, and hiked some more. Time and again, every battalion rehearsed combat formations, and platoon, company and battalion attacks.
In October 1944, intelligence began to trickle down about the location for the next objective, identified as "Island X" for security reasons. Training continued at a heightened tempo and infantry Marines worked with tanks, engineers and artillery. Soon, target dates and operational graphics were solidified. The battalion’s mission began to take shape and combat orders gave the objective a secret code name—WORKMAN. Although John didn't have much free time, he wrote to his family almost every day. Back home, his son, Clinton, was born in Coronado on 12 November 1944. In his letters, John told Honey Gal of the pride and confidence he felt in his Marines. He wrote Johnny Boy a letter with a story about a flying jeep. In the story, Johnny and his friend Eddie came across a jeep with a missing driver. The driver had gone to get some oil. They climbed in the jeep and it suddenly began to fly over the country side. Johnny and Eddie had a great time before returning the jeep to the puzzled driver. Johnny Boy loved the story and his mom read it to him over and over. Like millions of families all over the world, the Butlers did the best they could with what they had.
|
||||||||||||||||||
This site is owned & maintained by Mark Flowers, copyright 2004, all rights reserved.
|
