Serial # 375367
On the second day ashore, Cpl. William Sooter was carrying a box of ammunition on the beach when he heard someone call his name. He turned to see his younger brother, Charlie. Sooter had no idea his brother was among the men in a tank outfit his ship had picked up en route to Tarawa.
"I had a good cry," he said about the reunion. "I hadn't seen him in a year."
The brothers spent that night together in a foxhole, getting little rest because of nearby machine-gun fire. In the morning, they discovered their foxhole was next to a Japanese pillbox.
Charlie approached the pillbox and dropped in a grenade. The Japanese kept firing. He got some dynamite from his brother and again sneaked up on the pillbox to drop the sticks in. This time the firing stopped. Charlie later would be given a Silver Star for heroism.
Note: Charles Sooter was probably in the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division.
Excerpted from:
Gary Warth 'My buddies who didn't make it, they're the heroes', North County Times, 22 Nov. 2003
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copyright 2004 T.O.T.W.
Created insert date 2004
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