ROBERT LARUE SOLZE
One day short of six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, I joined the United States Marine Corps from my hometown in Kansas City, Missouri.  That was 70½ years ago!  I was 20 years old and determined to serve my country in her dark hour of need.  Little did I know then that over 28 years would pass before I would technically retire from the Marine Corps, but, truth be told, now at over 90 years old, I have never left the Corps.
New recruit Robert LaRue Solze
(Photo provided by one of his daughters)
A cross-country train ride brought me to boot camp at the Marine Corps Training Center (Camp Elliot) in San Diego, California for a 7-week course where our Drill Instructor made Marines out of us recruits!  In that period we were taught military courtesy; lots of physical training and bayonet training; drill, drill and more drill; field training; and, at Camp Matthews, weapons instruction in the .30-cal rifle, .45-cal pistol, BAR, .30-cal and .50-cal machine guns, grenades and rifle grenades.
If you were looking for me in early November 1943, you would have found me in H&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, as part of a scout-sniper platoon commanded by Lt. William Deane Hawkins. On 01 November we were on the USS William P. Biddle (APA-8) as part of TransDiv 4, Task Force 53, departing Wellington, New Zealand on a nearly 1,700 mile trek north-northwest to Mele Bay on the island of Efate in the New Hebrides for amphibious training exercises.
USS William P. Biddle (APA-8)
(aka “The Willie P”)
Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA; 20 August 1943
www.atlanticfleetsales.smugmug.com
USS William P. Biddle (APA-8)
Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA; 20 August 1943
www.atlanticfleetsales.smugmug.com
Mele Bay, Efate, New Hebrides (now, Republic of Vanuatu
http://www.vanuatubeachbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/air-view-of-Mele-Bay.png
After a week at Mele Bay, we moved on another 1,350 miles north-northeast to Betio, one of the islets forming part of the Tarawa Atoll.  In those days, Tarawa was one of several atolls in the Gilbert Islands, then a dependency of the United Kingdom.  In 1979, those islands asserted their independence and now form part of the Republic of Kiribati.
Anchoring in the dark a few miles to the northwest of the lagoon entrance, we arrived at Betio almost 69 years ago.  This little islet, whose height of land above sea level is only 8 feet, is less than half the size of Central Park in New York City and is really just a small speck of sand located 80 miles north of the equator about 2,400 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.  The next morning, the assault of Betio in Operation Galvanic would begin. The mission of the Second Marine Division was to attack Imperial Japanese garrison forces to remove their presence and influence from that area of the Central Pacific.
On Saturday, 20 November, we were up very early, had a big, good breakfast, checked our gear and, around 0300, headed to the side of Biddle (nicknamed by many Marines as the “Willie P”) to climb down cargo nets to a Higgins boat rising and falling in the ocean swells. We were crammed in there like sardines.   We circled and circled out beyond the lagoon waiting to board amtracs that would take us to the long Government Pier.   Bobbing around in the ocean getting wet and smelling diesel fumes made most of us uncomfortable, even seasick in a some cases – not a good physical condition to be in when attacking and enemy-held island!
USS William P. Biddle (APA-8)
Debarkation in the pre-dawn hours of 20 November 1943, before heading to nearby amtracs http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/100300814.jpg
Finally, as dawn’s early light appeared, we moved over to a nearby rendezvous point, waited a long time until some amtracs arrived and then cross-decked to them in the pitching seas.
We could see the muzzle flashes as our battleships, the Colorado and the Maryland, bombarded Betio.  (Of note is the fact that the USS Maryland (BB-46) had been hit and damaged slightly at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941; after repairs in Bremerton, Washington were completed in June 1942, she was the first ship damaged at Pearl Harbor to return to service.)  A shell from one of those two battleships must have set off a huge explosion and subsequent fireball.  Just before 0500, the Japanese 8” gun off to our right at Temakin Point began shelling in our direction, and I think that is when the transports Biddle, Lee and Thuban came under fire and moved out of range to avoid being hit. In the early morning light, two American minesweepers ahead of us cleared the lagoon’s entrance and, shortly before 0600, a couple of Navy destroyers entered the lagoon to begin shelling Japanese shore positions.
Departing USS William P. Biddle, en route to Betio on 20 November 1943
http://www.rpadden.com/008/008.htm
We could see the muzzle flashes as our battleships, the Colorado and the Maryland, bombarded Betio.  (Of note is the fact that the USS Maryland (BB-46) had been hit and damaged slightly at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941; after repairs in Bremerton, Washington were completed in June 1942, she was the first ship damaged at Pearl Harbor to return to service.)  A shell from one of those two battleships must have set off a huge explosion and subsequent fireball.  Just before 0500, the Japanese 8” gun off to our right at Temakin Point began shelling in our direction, and I think that is when the transports Biddle, Lee and Thuban came under fire and moved out of range to avoid being hit. In the early morning light, two American minesweepers ahead of us cleared the lagoon’s entrance and, shortly before 0600, a couple of Navy destroyers entered the lagoon to begin shelling Japanese shore positions.
Smoke was everywhere. You could smell it well out to sea due to a southerly breeze blowing the smoke into our path as we made our run to the beach. Flashes of light from many explosions could be seen as we approached the shore.  When dawn came, a red-colored sun came up, its appearance discolored by the smoke coming from Betio. We began our approach some 10,000 yards out and headed for the turning point where we began our run of perhaps 5,500 yards to the end of the long Government Pier.
In an original color photo, just before H-Hour, amtracs approach Betio’s north shore
http://www.ww2gyrene.org/assets/tarawa_goingin.jpg
At about 0855, Lt. Hawkins, four riflemen (including myself) and one engineer (carrying a flamethrower) arrived at the seaplane ramp at the end of the long wooden government pier, probably 5 to 10 minutes before the first wave of Marines hit the shore over to the west of us.  Thus, our group of scout-snipers was the first group of Marines to land on Betio.   To us, Lt. Hawkins was “Hawk.”  We were close, and we would have followed him anywhere.  Nearby in support was a group of combat engineers (armed largely with flamethrowers) led by Lt. Alan Leslie.
Our squad’s mission had two parts: to clear the Government Pier of all Japanese forces capable of firing on other landing craft as they came by and to secure a landing place where men and supplies could be landed.  We knew going in that so much depended on our actions: if we succeeded, we would be in a good position to support Marines on shore, but, if we failed, countless Marines trying to get to shore would likely be killed.
Even before we went over the reefs, though, it was obvious that, despite the heavy pre-attack bombardment by our ships, many of the Japanese defenders were able to fire at us and at other amtracs and Higgins boats.  My memory of events at Betio is a bit unclear, partly because events happened some 69 years ago and partly because on D+1 I was wounded by shrapnel striking me on the back of my head.   I could have been killed, but I wasn’t. Just lucky, I guess. Incidents like that can mess up a person’s memory, but since then, over the years, I have been made aware of what happened those many years ago.
LVT-1 #45 en route to Red Beach 3, just east of the long government pier,
probably at the same time as we were fighting our way toward shore on the Government Pier
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa/img/USMC-C-Tarawa-p16b.jpg
To set the scene for what Mr. Solze was doing at this time, reference is made to John Wukovits, the popular historian of the Pacific War, who notes, “Hawkins killed four enemy soldiers by tossing a grenade into their position; then he and his scout-snipers, reinforced by a squad of combat engineers, steadily moved (along) the pier toward shore, ducking behind gasoline drums or crates as they scampered along.  The vicious hand-to-hand fighting that unfolded at the pier set the tone for the remainder of the battle - - Betio would be no walkover as some had projected.  Rifles and mortars and machine guns would not inflict all the damage.  Knives, bayonets, and bare hands would contribute their share.
Hawkins and his men knocked out at least six Japanese machine guns and killed twenty-five men before he ordered everyone back to the reef, but more Japanese reoccupied the structure after he left.  (The group’s) action only temporarily cleared the pier.  For much of the battle, Marines faced sporadic enemy fire from that location.
Back at the reef, Hawkins (and his men) searched for an amtrac so (they) could go in with the first waves (of Marines heading to Red Beach 2 or Red Beach 3), but Hawkins (and his men were) to be denied … by enemy fire … until mid-afternoon.” (One Square Mile of Hell, 2006; 114-115)
“Tarawa No. II”  by combat artist Kerr Eby depicts the texture of the battle at the long Government Pier on Betio's northern shore
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/images/fig59.jpg
Mr. Solze continues by saying that his group, still intact as a fighting unit, finally got onto Red Beach 2 and was ordered to clear several enemy structures not far west of Colonel Shoup’s command post.
Wukovitz’ narration continues with, “Whenever the men approached a Japanese bunker or pillbox, Hawkins took the point position.  Grabbing hand grenades and covered by the other Marines’ fire, the officer knocked out three pillboxes in quick succession.
“Get down, Hawk, or you’ll get shot,” yelled a concerned Marine when Hawkins returned to the beach for more ammunition.
As he jumped back over the seawall to continue the fighting, Hawkins replied, “Aw, those bastards can’t shoot.  They can’t hit anything.”
Hawkins freely moved about the battlefield, oblivious to the dangers that threatened.  About seventy-five yards from (Shoup’s) command post, Hawkins tossed a grenade into a firing slit in an enemy pillbox, but a quick-handed Japanese soldier threw it back out.  The explosion sprayed shrapnel across Hawkins’s chest but, although badly wounded, he stayed next to the pillbox and hurled more grenades until he had killed all its occupants.
Hawkins ignored the pleas from his scout-snipers to seek medical aid and continued to attack the Japanese.  “I came here to kill Japs; I didn’t come here to be evacuated,” he told his men.  One officer called Hawkins a “madman. He cleaned out six machine-gun nests, with two to six Japs in each nest.”  News of Hawkins’s exploits spread about the beachhead as he demolished one position after another.
Then, around 10:30, a Japanese soldier shot Hawkins in the shoulder.  A stream of blood gushed into the air - the bullet had severed a main artery - as Hawkins slumped to the sand, his right armpit torn away.  His scout-snipers carried Hawkins back to the beach, where Dr. Brukhardt tried to make Hawkins’s final moments comfortable, but he could do nothing to save the Marine.”  (One Square Mile of Hell, 2006; 181-182)
As one of the scout-snipers in Hawkins’ squad, Mr. Solze related to one of his daughters in May of 2011 his recollection of events when “Hawk” died.
“Do you remember Lt. Hawkins?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you serve with him?”
“On Tarawa”
“Where did you first meet Hawkins?”
“Aboard ship” (the USS William P. Biddle, APA-8)
“Did he serve right with you, side by side?”
“Oh yes!”
“Was he your age or older?”
“Older”
“What type of guy was he?”
“Oh, I don’t know, just an average guy.”
“In these articles that we’ve read, it seems that he was a good leader.
Did you realize it at the time, or is that something that you realized afterwards?”
“You don’t really have time to analyze things during battle.
You can  think about it afterwards.”
“Looking back, do you think of him as a good leader?”
“Oh yes!”
“Did he fight side-by-side with you guys, or did he just give orders and expect you to        carry them out?”
“Oh yes!  He was right there with us!”
“Did you always know what Lt. Hawkins expected of you?  Did he give you good direction?”
“Yes”
“Do you remember when Lt. Hawkins was injured during battle?”
“Yes”
“Did you help him?”
“Yes.  We pulled him out of the line of fire.”
“Do you remember if he said anything before he died?”
“Yes.  He said he was sorry and that he didn’t want to leave us.”
(from conversations between one of Mr. Solze’s
daughters and son-in-law with Mr. Solze)
Essentially, Wukovits makes the same observations about when Lt. Hawkins died, noting, “Hawkins lay near death.  Lapsing in and out of consciousness, the officer died ten minutes after arriving at the aid station.  “Boys, I sure hate to leave you like this,” he gasped in his final moments to his men, who cried unabashedly as they crowded around their leader.  The scout-snipers, who were willing to follow their commander into any situation, now tenderly lifted Hawkins and buried him in a temporary grave behind the command post.” (One Square Mile of Hell, 2006; 182)
When told of this passage, Mr. Solze recently replied, “Oh yes! That’s the way it was.”
As already noted, shortly after “Hawk” died, Mr. Solze himself was wounded.  In the context of this 76-hour battle, one Marine casualty happened every 85.5 seconds.  Thus, it is hardly surprising that Mr. Solze was caught at the wrong time in the wrong place, given the close quarters of combat these Marines faced.
For decades, Mr. Solze has valiantly coped with PTSD (post trauma stress disorder, though diagnostically labeled in former times as shell shock and battle fatigue). Periodically, he experiences an inchoate mix of memories stemming from when he was wounded at Tarawa. He remembers nothing of how he was evacuated from Betio, nothing of which transport he was taken to for immediate surgery, nothing of any prolonged stay at the Aiea Naval Hospital in Honolulu which was a common destination for badly wounded Marine survivors.
Even though he was fit for duty for the remainder of World War II and beyond, Mr. Solze’s daughters relate that he has had recurring re-enactments of  …
“the horror and chaos of Tarawa where he would be transported back to “the beach.”  To call them “memories’ seems to do injustice; it is as if he is reliving those events in real time.  He would say things like “I can’t get away from it!  I close my eyes, and it’s still there.  I can’t get away from it.  I see it … Tarawa.
I can’t get away from it!”
Aiea Naval Hospital, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Mr. Solze’s recovery site before rejoining his unit
http://ww2db.com/images/other_none814.jpg
Mr. Solze managed to rejoin his unit at Camp Tarawa and participated in the campaigns at Saipan (15 June - 09 July 1944); Tinian (24 July – 01 August 1944); and Okinawa (01 April – 21 June 1945) where he earned an officer’s commission.
His daughters state that their Dad’s struggles with PTSD “always return (him) to Tarawa, not Saipan, Tinian, or Okinawa.   Not to Korea or Vietnam.  Always Tarawa.”
His daughters report that their Dad himself often says, “All I ever wanted to be was a Marine.”   In repeated harrowing experiences, Mr. Solze’s wish has been fulfilled.
Mr. Solze embodies the ideal in “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”   He was commissioned in 1945 and, with distinction, served two tours in the Korean War: in 1950 with the 1st Marine Division and then again in 1953 with the 6th Marine Division.  Likewise in the Vietnam War, Mr. Solze served two tours of duty: one in 1964 into 1965 and then again in 1969 into 1970 when he earned a Bronze Star. In January 1971, Lt. Colonel Solze retired from the Marine Corps after 28 years and 6 months of exemplary service to our country.
World War II medals and citations earned by Mr. Solze include …
(1)  Purple Heart                                (2)  WW II Victory                           (3) Marine Corps Good Conduct
(4)  Asiatic-Pacific Campaign           (5)  American Campaign                (6) Marine Corps Commendation
(7)  Navy Unit Commendation           (8) Navy Occupation Service
(9)  Presidential Unit Citation (Tarawa)
"For outstanding performance in combat during the seizure and occupation of the Japanese-held Atoll of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, November 20 to 24, 1943. Forced by the treacherous coral reefs to disembark from their landing craft hundreds of yards off the beach, the Second Marine Division (Reinforced) became a highly vulnerable target for devastating Japanese fire. Dauntlessly advancing in spite of rapidly mounting losses, the Marines fought a gallant battle against crushing odds, clearing the limited beachheads of snipers and machine guns, reducing powerfully fortified enemy positions and completely annihilating the fanatically determined and strongly entrenched Japanese forces. By the successful occupation of Tarawa, the Second Marine Division (Reinforced) has provided our forces with highly strategic and important air and land bases from which to continue future operations against the enemy; by the valiant fighting spirit of these men, their heroic fortitude under punishing fire and their relentless perseverance in waging this epic battle in the Central Pacific, they have upheld the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart
2
www.usamilitarymedals.com
3
http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/marine-corps-good-conduct-medal-p-334.html
4
http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/asiatic-pacific-campaign-medal-wwii-p-15.html
5
http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/american-campaign-medal-p-4.html
6
www.crwflags.com
7
http://www.medalsofamerica.com/ItemImages/Large/F262.jpg
8
http://www.legaciesofhonor.org/store/img/p/1116-1172-large.jpg
9
http://www.2marine.com/citation2.html
Mr. Solze, the grave of your commanding officer at Tarawa, First Lieutenant William Dean Hawkins, can be found in Honolulu, Hawaii …on the hallowed grounds of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (aka the Punchbowl Cemetery), Section B, Grave 646.  May you, Sir, take comfort in that knowledge and may he rest in peace.
http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/nmcp.asp
Colonel Solze, well done!  Your country admires and appreciates you and your service! Your entire career embodies the spirit of duty, honor and service to country.   You and the model of citizenship you represent will be long remembered. Thank you.
SEMPER  FI, BOB !
Received 22 May 2011; updated 15 November 2012 and 30 April 2013
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