ELWIN  B.  HART
[This report has three main parts:  Elwin's early years as an enlisted Marine, with a special focus on the Battle of Tarawa; his ongoing career as a Marine officer through to his retirement from the USMC; and his post-military commitments to near the end of 2013.  Sources include a lengthy questionnaire, several exchanges of emails and telephone calls, and, with Elwin's permission, generous access to his memoirs - Did I Do Enough? available through www.amazon.com.]
Ia
EARLY YEARS - BOOT CAMP - SAMOA - GUADALCANAL – TARAWA
Originally from Waldo, Arkansas, Elwin lived in Shreveport, Louisiana during junior high and senior high school, graduating from Fair Park High School on 28 May 1941.  His high school’s motto was “Courage and Wisdom.”   Elwin has repeatedly proved that family values learned as a young person and extended through high school were a superb foundation for character-building values developed later in the U. S. Marine Corps.
Elwin Hart’s alma mater, Fair Park High School in Shreveport, Louisiana
SOURCES OF CHARACTER-BUILDING VALUES FOR A WELL-LIVED LIFE
Three days after high school graduation, Elwin enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in New Orleans.  Prior to this point, Elwin had held one job: “I had no experience in anything except a paper route.” Elwin Hart, email to author, August 23, 2013.
At that time, Elwin was 16 years old, and 5 days away from his 17th birthday.  Elwin says that the normal minimum age for enlisting in the Marine Corps has always been 17, with parental consent. “My Dad just fibbed … (in any case, joining the Marine Corps) was probably the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.” Foreshadowing events at Tarawa, one very fortuitous biographical fact in Elwin’s story already appears in this report, but more about that later! Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30, 2013.
A 1,500-mile train ride to the West Coast brought Elwin to California for the start of a twelve-week boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot  (MCRD) in San Diego.
Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego, 1941
http://www.grunt.com/corps/uploads/stories/quonsethuts.jpg
Upon completion of boot camp, Elwin was sent to the twelve-week Radio Telegraph Operators Course, also at MCRD San Diego.   He learned International Morse Code and was trained in the operation of TBX radios and other radio equipment used in the Fleet Marine Force.  Elwin Hart, email to author, August 23, 2013.
Upon completion of his Radio Telegraph Operators Course, Elwin was assigned to the Second Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8) and lived in barracks at Camp Elliott until he left for American Samoa on 6 January 1942.  He was, at this time, a private earning $21 per month, plus $5 per month for shooting expert with a rifle.
Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30, 2013.
Some of the Camp Elliott barracks, fall 1941
(USMC photo)
Elwin reports that he was in Long Beach, California when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and announcements soon went out that all Marines had to return to MCRD as soon as possible. Hitch-hiking with a buddy, Elwin hustled back to MCRD San Diego.
Then, one day short of one month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 2/8 embarked on 6 January 1942, on the SS Matsonia from San Diego (in convoy with the SS Lurline and the SS Monterey, all owned by the Matson Lines).  As Elwin says, the Matsonia was bound for some unknown destination way out in the Pacific, “but, for security reasons, we weren’t told anything specific … we lived in staterooms and the dining room still had 4-man tables with waiters.”
Richard W. Johnston, Follow Me! (New York: Random House, 1948), 14.
Matsonia was the 1926 incarnation of a vessel by that name.  It had originally been called the SS Malolo, but its name was changed to SS Matsonia in 1937.  She was requisitioned by the US Navy on 21 November 1941 and served as a high-speed troop transport throughout World War II.  She was returned to Matson Lines in 1946.  In 1948, she was sold to a subsidiary of the Home Lines where she operated under the name of SS Atlantic. In 1955, she was transferred to another Home Lines subsidiary (the National Hellenic American Line) operating under the name of Queen Frederica until late 1965 when she was sold to Chandris Lines (still called the Queen Frederica) under whose ownership she remained until mid-1977 and was sold for scrapping which finished in 1978 – after fifty years of service and over thirty-six years after Elwin’s trip to American Samoa.
Matsonia’s Main Restaurant with 4-man tables with linen tablecloths
http://www.ssmaritime.com/malolo-matsonia.htm
SS Matsonia – as Elwin Hart knew her for his January 1942 trip to American Samoa
Length: 582’ Width: 83’ Service Speed: 21 knots
http://www.ssmaritime.com/malolo-matsonia.htm
Initially, on departing San Diego, Elwin admits to some relief knowing that their destination was not a combat zone.  After a little over two weeks of high-speed, zig-zag travel on a southwest heading for about 4,800 miles, Elwin and 2/8 arrived at Pago Pago (often pronounced “Pango-Pango”) on Tutuila Island, the largest and most populous island of American Samoa.  USNS Pago Pago had been shelled by a Japanese submarine less than 13 days before Elwin’s arrival!  Thus began Elwin’s first overseas experience in World War II.
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq81-10.htm
Pago Pago Harbor, Tutuila Island, American Samoa
http://www.janeresture.com/samoa_history/
Thus began a ten-month deployment in American Samoa where Elwin was part of a 50-man Communication Platoon in Headquarters Company of his 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines.  During this stay, he was involved with manning an observation post; operating a telephone switchboard; producing the daily publication of the battalion’s newspaper; and working with the battalion’s Intelligence Section by providing emergency radio capability in a precautionary backup role in case their landline failed.  In March 1942, Elwin was promoted to private first class, and in August 1942, he was promoted to corporal.
A broader narration of these events comes from a first edition copy of Richard W. Johnston’s  FOLLOW ME! The Story of the Second Marine Division in World War II.   Immediately following the title page, this source has three separate one-page statements by James Forrestal (Secretary of the Navy); Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas); and Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift, (18th Commandant of the Marine Corps).   Collectively, these three statements serve as the Department of the Navy’s and the Marine Corps’ official sanction of Johnston’s work.
“The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor produced the immediate fear that the enemy might attempt a lightning invasion of the Pacific Coast …
In the latter part of December (1941), the word came.  The Eighth Regiment (Elwin Hart’s regiment), under Colonel R. H. Jeschke, would have the frightening honor of sailing out into the Pacific to oppose the might of the Japanese empire.  With Wake secured, the Japs were stirring in the mandated Marshall Islands, and their ships were nosing around the British-owned Gilberts, only 2,000 miles from Hawaii.  Ahead, in the same direction, lay the Ellice Islands, Samoa, the Phoenix group – and the Australian-American air and surface lifeline that Washington, London and Melbourne knew must be kept open if Japan were to be contained.  Few of the Marines at Camp Elliott, and few Americans, for that matter, knew one Pacific island from another in those days.  But the Japanese had made a careful study of Pacific geography, and so had Allied strategists. The Japs had to be stopped short of Samoa.  It was up to the Marines to stop them.
For this first wartime American expeditionary force, the Marine Corps re-established the Second Marine Brigade, which originally had given birth to the Second Division.  Besides reclaiming the Eighth Regiment, the Brigade took the First Battalion of the Tenth Marines; B Company of the Second Engineer Battalion (later to become the Second Pioneer Battalion); B Company of the Second Service Battalion; B Company of the Second Medical Battalion; and C Company of the Second Medical Battalion.
On the 6th day of January, one day short of a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Second Marine Brigade sailed from San Diego, its destination known only to the command headed by Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen.  The voyage was more like a peacetime cruise than a rendezvous with danger.  Never again were the Marines to have it so good.  Instead of the barren, overcrowded transports of later years, the Brigade Marines sailed luxuriously on three famous Matson liners – the Lurline, the Matsonia and the Monterey.  These pleasure ships had not yet been stripped of their comforts, and their portholes had not been sealed.  The cabins carried beds instead of bunks, civilian stewards waited on the Marines, and the large and colorful lounges were easily made into gaming rooms.
There were, of course, some disadvantages.  What good is a tropic moon without a girl?  And what’s the joy in winning at poker or dice if money that is won can be spent only – on poker and dice?  Then, too, there was the roll of the sea.  As the convoy zigzagged nervously through the deep blue swells, some of the Marines were seasick.  It was the first voyage for many, and even some of the veterans occasionally felt qualms.  Just as the Sixth Regiment, enroute to Iceland, had moved into an area of unaccustomed cold, now the Eighth sailed into steamy seas and a pervading, listless heat.
On arrival at Tutuila Island, what Elwin saw were “beautiful beaches lined with bronze-skinned natives - all dressed in moo-moos, a one-piece dress.  The men were bare- chested, but to our dismay, the women were not.  Thatched roof huts could be seen in clusters around the large harbor.  Many of the native population were out on the water in their hand-crafted outrigger canoes waving and bidding us a warm welcome.”
For this first wartime American expeditionary force, the Marine Corps re-established the Second Marine Brigade, which originally had given birth to the Second Division.  Besides reclaiming the Eighth Regiment, the Brigade took the First Battalion of the Tenth Marines; B Company of the Second Engineer Battalion (later to become the Second Pioneer Battalion); B Company of the Second Service Battalion; B Company of the Second Medical Battalion; and C Company of the Second Medical Battalion.
On the 6th day of January, one day short of a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Second Marine Brigade sailed from San Diego, its destination known only to the command headed by Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen.  The voyage was more like a peacetime cruise than a rendezvous with danger.  Never again were the Marines to have it so good.  Instead of the barren, overcrowded transports of later years, the Brigade Marines sailed luxuriously on three famous Matson liners – the Lurline, the Matsonia and the Monterey.  These pleasure ships had not yet been stripped of their comforts, and their portholes had not been sealed.  The cabins carried beds instead of bunks, civilian stewards waited on the Marines, and the large and colorful lounges were easily made into gaming rooms.
There were, of course, some disadvantages.  What good is a tropic moon without a girl?  And what’s the joy in winning at poker or dice if money that is won can be spent only – on poker and dice?  Then, too, there was the roll of the sea.  As the convoy zigzagged nervously through the deep blue swells, some of the Marines were seasick.  It was the first voyage for many, and even some of the veterans occasionally felt qualms.  Just as the Sixth Regiment, enroute to Iceland, had moved into an area of unaccustomed cold, now the Eighth sailed into steamy seas and a pervading, listless heat.
Despite these drawbacks, the Marines had mixed feelings when, on January 19, the green hills of a distant island began to grow above the horizon.  By this time, everyone aboard knew that the Brigade’s destination was American Samoa, some 1,500 miles south and east of the Jap-threatened Gilberts.  The Matson liners had come more than 4,000 miles without incident; now, as they eased in between the big, jungled bluffs of Tutuila to the harbor of Pago Pago, the Marines came alive with anticipation.  They learned that they had arrived none too soon.  Only three days before a Japanese submarine, employing high angle fire, had thrown five-inch shells at the Tutuila radio towers.”  (13-14)
On arrival at Tutuila Island, what Elwin saw were “beautiful beaches lined with bronze-skinned natives - all dressed in moo-moos, a one-piece dress.  The men were bare- chested, but to our dismay, the women were not.  Thatched roof huts could be seen in clusters around the large harbor.  Many of the native population were out on the water in their hand-crafted outrigger canoes waving and bidding us a warm welcome.”
Where is such an idyllic place?
American Samoa's location
http://www.american.samoa.national-park.com/location.htm
Tutuila Island, American Samoa lies east of the International Date Line in the Central South Pacific Ocean about 2,600 miles south, southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii; 1,800 miles northeast of Auckland, New Zealand; and 1,425 miles west northwest of Papeete, Tahiti in French Polynesia. It is the largest island in American Samoa, which is the only United States territory south of the equator.  Its status as a U.S. protectorate was formalized in the Treaty of Cession of Tutuila in 1900. American Samoa is administered by the Department of the Interior.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deed_of_Cession_of_Tutuila
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aq.html
In the first half of the 19th Century, the US Federal Government was active as both the benefactor and beneficiary of scientific expeditions covering large regions of the globe. The Lewis and Clark Expedition [1804 - 1806, through the contiguous land area of the Louisiana Territory of the United States and beyond to the Pacific Ocean] and the U.S. Exploring Expedition [1838 – 1842, into the South Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans] were the progenitors of the U.S. Federal Government’s tradition of scientific inquiry extending well into the 21st Century.
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Science/Agencies.shtml
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/controversy-of-1889.htm
Useful background about American Samoa relevant to Elwin Hart’s report comes from Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition (Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1844.), written by Charles Wilkes, the expedition’s leader.  Wilkes’ Narrative … is the official record of this expedition into the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. This Narrative … is in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and is accessible on the internet. Volume 2 (Chapters III, IV and V) of Wilkes’ Narrative … focuses on the expedition’s travels into Samoan waters in 1839.
http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/learn/philbrick.htm
http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/follow-01.htm
Low-altitude NASA photo of Tutuila from the International Space Station
Pago Pago Harbor … large coastal indentation on lower shore
(View oriented toward the northwest)
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/QuickView.pl?directory=ISD&ID=ISS002-701-263
Discoveries made by Wilkes’ expedition and shared over the years with several Federal agencies directly influenced planning of military operations in the Pacific during World War II.  Accordingly, that influence has direct implications for Elwin Hart’s story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Oceanographic_Office
http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/about-us/brief-history
https://www.noaa.gov
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cwilkes.htm
By the spring of 1839 (in the Southern Hemisphere), Wilkes sailed some 1,300 miles from Tahiti toward the eastern islands of Samoa.  On 10 October 1839, Wilkes reports in Volume 2 of his Narrative, …
“After sunset we bore away for Tutuila, … temperature in the passage from Tahiti to the Samoan Islands … increased from 77.6º to 81.11º (Fahrenheit) in the air; and that of the water from 79.6º to 81.6º.
… I resolved, in order to accomplish (a thorough examination of this Samoan Group) … to divide the squadron, so as to put all the remaining islands under examination at the same time.  The island of Tutuila being the most central (of the Samoan Group would be) the best position for my astronomical observations … I selected (Tutuila) for the Vincennes (Wilkes’ flagship for this expedition) … “
No usefully extant image of Wilkes’ flagship, the USS Vincennes, in Samoan waters exists, but Wilkes did venture into Antarctic waters where the etching below was made.  This image now leaves the reader to imagine this vessel in the South Pacific, in Samoan waters with sails filled by warm tropical spring breezes … the same waters, climate and topography into which Elwin Hart ventured some 103 years later.
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/seasons.htmladsfasdfad
USS Vincennes in Disappointment Bay, Antarctica
23 January 1849; 67° 04’ 30” S longitude 147° 30’ E latitude
Sketched by Charles Wilkes, U.S.N.; Engraved by C.A. Jewett
from Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Volume 2, Chapter X, p. 329
“(These islands lie) between the latitudes of 13° 30” and 14° 30”, and the longitudes of 168 and 173W…The harbours are usually situated within the reefs, but Tutuila is an exception to this rule, by the possession of the deep … basin of Pago-pago … is, of all the ports … best adapted for the refitting of vessels …
At daylight on the 11th we were near (Tutuila’s) eastern end, and off the island of Anuu.   (In January 1942, Elwin Hart and the SS Matsonia used the very same approach to Tutuila Island.)
… Tutuila is high, broken, and of volcanic appearance.  It is seventeen miles long, and its greatest width is five miles.  The harbour of Pago-pago penetrates into the centre, and almost divides the island into two parts.  Its highest peak, that of Matafoa, was found to be two thousand three hundred and twenty-seven feet above the sea.  The spurs and ridges that form the high land are like those of Tahiti: precipitous, sharp-edged, and frequently rise in mural walls from the water to a height of three or four hundred feet, showing the bare … basaltic rock.
Harbour of Pago-pago, 1839
Sketched by C. Wilkes, U.S.N. – Engraved by V. Balch
from Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Volume 2, Chapter III, p. 75
(Land surfaces are) covered with … luxuriant vegetation to the very top of the mountains; the cocoa-nut tree and tree-fern give the principal character to this beautiful scenery.  Dead coral is seen along the shores, above high water mark.
The harbour of Pago-pago is one of the most singular in all the Polynesian isles.  It is the last point on which one would look for a place of shelter:  the coast near it is peculiarly rugged, and has no appearance of indentations, and the entrance being narrow, is not easily observed … it is surrounded on all sides by inaccessible mural precipices … The lower parts of these rocks are bare, but they are clothed above with luxuriant vegetation … The harbour’s … entrance, which is about a third of a mile in width, is well marked by the Tower Rock and Devil’s Point.
The climate of these islands may be termed variable, and there is much bad weather, particularly during the winter months, when long and heavy rains, attended at times with high winds and northerly gales, are frequent…
As we arrived off the harbour the wind grew light, and … our anchorage (was) … in deep water, twenty-nine fathoms.  About a half a mile (inside) the entrance of the harbour, (the harbour) bends at (a) right angle (to the west).  In this position, surrounded by cliffs, the firing of a gun produces a remarkable reverberation, resembling loud peals of thunder.
The soil of all the islands is rich … The woods in the interior … are very thick, and often composed of large and fine trees; among them are tree-ferns, pandanus … several species of palms … (and the most remarkable, the) Ficus religiosa (Sacred Ficus), called in these islands ohwa (a large deciduous tree sacred to the Hindus and Buddhists under which Buddha received enlightenment).
Some of (the Sacred Ficus) were seen, whose pendent branches had taken root in the ground to the number of thousands forming stems from an inch to two feet in diameter, uniting in the main trunk more than eighty feet above the ground, and supporting a vast system of horizontal branches, spreading like an umbrella over the tops of the other trees.
http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Ficus_religiosa.htm
Pago-pago is thickly settled round its shores, and particularly at its southwestern end: this is lower and more easily cultivated than the eastern, which is high and rugged.  The only communication (between villages) is by the sea-shore, the hills being too precipitous and difficult of ascent, to pass over.  The village of Pago-pago contains about thirty dwellings, and a council-house, which is in use as a church, until the large one they are engaged in building shall be finished.
On the 17th, our friend Toa (a local principal chief) gave us an invitation to visit him at his town of Fungasar, on the north side of the island (on present-day Fagasa Bay) … This village contained about forty houses, of a large and commodious size, and about two hundred inhabitants … (This is very close to where Elwin was stationed in early 1942.)
The path across the island is a very difficult one to travel; it leads up through the valley, and across the dividing ridge, which is quite precipitous.  The rain which had fallen made it very slippery, and the journey was fatiguing to those not accustomed to this kind of walking … (terrain with which Elwin Hart was very familiar because for two months at Tutuila he the radio operator on a patrol boat stationed on the north side of Tutuila.  Describing how he and some of his buddies coped with one emergency in this terrain, Elwin wrote, “To get to (the Pago Pago side) of the island was very difficult.  The shortest distance was a climb almost straight up and straight down for some two hours.”) …
The climate of Tutuila is (can also be) mild and agreeable, particularly at Pago-pago, where the temperature is lower than it is elsewhere on the island, in consequence of its generally being overshadowed with clouds that hang on the high land.  There is usually a fine breeze, which sets I about ten o’clock and continues until sunset.  The nights being calm, much dew falls in fine weather.  We had little fair weather during our stay …
While we were engaged at Tutuila and Upolu, the survey of the island of (the nearby island of) Savaii was performed by Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, in the Porpoise.”
http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/navigation/NarrativePages/USExEx19_02b.cfm?start=145
A special association exists between this vessel the USS Porpoise; its skipper Lieutenant-Commandant Cadwalader Ringgold (1802-1867); and Elwin Hart.   Ringgold and his crew had been gone from home in New York City for three years and 11 months, having sailed some 90,000 miles while losing only two of his crewmen.
The US Navy’s WWII Fletcher-class destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500) was named after Lieutenant-Commandant Cadwalader Ringgold who figured so prominently and successfully in the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
USS Ringgold  (DD-500)
www.dd500.org
This destroyer saw service in the lagoon at Tarawa firing her 5” guns at Japanese shore batteries only 700 yards away prior to and after Elwin Hart landed on Red Beach 3!  Elwin’s best buddy throughout their 30 months in the Pacific was the one who, on the Naval Gunfire Net in late November of 1943, was the one who “… directed the fire of two destroyers (the Ringgold and the Dashiell) in the lagoon, very successfully in my (Elwin’s) opinion.”
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/slugging-it-out-in-tarawa-lagoon/
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
Returning to the main text of Elwin Hart’s report …
In October 1942, Elwin’s first deployment into a war zone was made. He and the rest 8th Marines waved good-bye to the Samoans and headed some 2,000 miles west-northwest to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, landing there on 4 November 1942.  Consistent with his training back in San Diego and duty on Tutuila, his work was largely communications support with various infantry and artillery units and keeping lines of communication open to 8th Marine Regiment Headquarters. During operations at Guadalcanal and later at Tarawa, Elwin has said that some messages were, of necessity, sent in the clear, but others were written by the radio operators and then sent to the unit Message Center for encryption. In 1945, he learned the communication code system used by the Japanese.  Elwin reports that much of what was learned at San Diego proved to be very valuable when he was at Guadalcanal and Tarawa.  Comparing events at Guadalcanal with events at Tarawa, Elwin states, “No comparison … Guadalcanal was a piece of cake.”  By February 1943, the mission on Guadalcanal was finished when the Japanese were finally defeated.
Readers might wish to examine informative supplementary sources about the Battle of Guadalcanal …
Richard Tregaskis’ memoir, Guadalcanal Diary. New York: Random House, 1943.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120909/DEFFEAT05/309090004/The-Lessons-Guadalcanal
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Guadalcanal.html
http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2002/aug/guadalcanal/
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120909/DEFFEAT05/309090004/The-Lessons-Guadalcanal
Between late February 1943 and November 1943, (late summer, autumn, winter and spring at those latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere), Elwin and the 8th Marines were stationed about 22 miles northeast of Wellington, New Zealand … on that country’s North Island … on the Kapiti Coast near the village of Paekakariki.  That name, incidentally, in the Maori language means “perch of the kakariki parrot (a green parrot).”
http://envirohistorynz.com/2011/06/24/paekakariki-perch-of-the-green-parrot/
Elwin reports traveling on a narrow-gauge railway to the Paekakariki area, as seen in the following photograph.  This was the usual means for getting back to Wellington for liberties there.   Since this railway was the primary means for travelling between Wellington and the Paekakariki area, Marines were generally very careful to cut short their liberty opportunities in the dance halls and milk parlors and return to base before their liberties finished.  The thought of missing a train and being charged with being ‘absent without leave’ (AWOL) sure encouraged Marines to get back on the train and avoid punishment.
Marines arriving from at Paekakariki Railway Station  (Courtesy:  Kim Harrison)
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6808/themarinestravelledbytr.jpg
Besides seemingly non-stop training, Elwin and his buddies had a number of liberties to Wellington and immersed themselves in a variety of social activities that, happily, provided them with much-appreciated counterbalance to their military duties.   The absence of most young New Zealand males (most were in the Kiwi forces in Europe) and a lively, huge dancehall with more girls than any Marine could count and where the girls asked the Marines to dance certainly raised Elwin’s spirits while preparing for his next combat duties.  A one-week R&R opportunity to visit a sheep ranch on the South Island was particularly memorable for Elwin, not the least because the initial one-week opportunity was extended for another week to help him overcome some of the debilitating effects of malaria contracted from his exposure to mosquitoes on Guadalcanal.
It is important to mention here that many New Zealanders continue to have fond memories of their Marine Corps visitors some 70 years ago.  In 2009, the Kapiti U.S. Marines Trust (KUSMT) was set up as a charitable trust to benefit the local communities of Kapiti and Paekakariki by preserving and honoring the Marine presence there in the 1942 – 1944 time period.  KUSMT has a superb website providing a detailed description of the Trust’s activities.
http://marinenz.com/Paekakariki
Our new ‘home’ at Camp Paekakariki
http://www.marinenz.com/The+Camps
http://www.pspt.wellington.net.nz/uss.htm
By mid-October 1943, it was obvious that training at the Marine camps would be coming to an end.  All sorts of gear and equipment were being transferred down to the Aotea Quay in Wellington, and on 1 November 1943, Elwin (along with several thousand other Marines) departed on what would become the most formidable challenge to that date in his Marine Corps career.  Before departing New Zealand, Elwin was promoted to Sergeant as a result of a Regimental-wide competition.
So, what was Elwin getting into?  This report exists to ensure that his story endures.
Elwin’s Communications Platoon in the H&S-2-8 was part of the complement of Marines on board the USS Heywood (APA-6), the first of the Heywood-class attack transports.
The complete list of Marine Corps units carried on the Heywood includes:  2nd Bn 8th Marines; Btry H, 3rd Bn 10th Marines; Btry H, 2nd Bn, 10th Marines; Co C, 1st Bn 18th Marines; Co F, 2nd Bn, 18th Marines; Ordnance Co, 2nd Service Bn; Det 3rd Pltn, S&S Co; 3rd Band Section; 2nd MP Co; Air Liaison; Fwd Observers, 10th Marines; Div Hq Co (Photographers); Wpns Co, 8th Marines; Co C 2nd Med Bn; and Co C 2nd AmpTracBn.
USS Heywood, APA-6:  Action Report in connection with capture of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands.  National Archives.  31 Dec 2012.  <http://www.fold3.com/s.php?advanced=1#query=USS+Heywood+APA-6%2C+action+report+in+connection+with+capture+of+Tarawa%2C+Gilbert+Islands&ocr=1&preview=1&t=all>.
Heywood was part of the US Navy’s Task Force 53 (comprised of at least 36 transport and supply vessels and fire support vessels) that departed on 1 November 1943 from Wellington with the 2nd Marine Division (Reinforced) on board.
http://pacific.valka.cz/forces/tf53.htm#galvan
In pre-WWII days, Heywood was the SS City of Baltimore, owned by the Baltimore Mail Line.  Before Elwin Hart and his 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines were on board in November 1943, Heywood had already participated in the Tulagi-Guadalcanal campaign in 1942 and in the Aleutian campaign in 1943.  Eventually in 1944, Heywood assisted in operations in the Marshall Islands; the Marianas; and the Philippines.  In 1945 Heywood landed reinforcements at Okinawa and was back in the Philippines when Japan announced its surrender on 15 August (six days after our atomic attack on Nagasaki).  She was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September when the formal surrender of all Imperial Japanese forces was accepted on the USS Missouri (BB-63), and she brought occupation troops into Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.  She was a well-traveled and highly decorated vessel, earning seven battle stars during the war.   In 1946, Heywood was decommissioned as a US Navy vessel and returned to the Baltimore Mail Line which renamed her the SS City of Baltimore.
http://www.gjenvick.com/HistoricalBrochures/BaltimoreMailLine/1930s-Brochure-NewShips-OneClass-LowCost.html#axzz2d2SnqyfV
USS Heywood (APA-6) in San Pedro Harbor, Los Angeles, in April 1943
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/n40000/n43228.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heywood_class_attack_transport
Initially, Marines were told only that they would be traveling a short distance to Hawkes Bay, about 200 miles up on the east side of New Zealand's North Island for more amphibious landing exercises.
And that is what happened.   Task Force 53 stopped briefly at Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the New Zealand’s North Island to practice amphibious assaults prior to their arrival in an as yet unannounced combat zone during the midst of hostile fire.
Interestingly, on 27 October 2013, just a few days prior to the 70th anniversary of the 2nd Marine Division’s practice landings in November 1943, members of the New Zealand Military Vehicle Collectors Club (Robin Beale, current president) organized an event to commemorate our Marines’ original practice landings.
One can view (or possibly find in their archives) the local New Zealand television’s evening news on 27 October 2013, relating to ceremonies by the New Zealand Military Vehicle Collectors Club (NZMVCC) on that date.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/85699.html
In the following photographs, one can see New Zealanders and guests from the US Marines and the American Embassy on Mahia Bay to unveil the plaque commemorating 2nd Marine Division practice landings in early November 1943.  These photographs come from Robin Beale and Kevin Simmonds, members of the NZMVCC.
If only our Marines had had this beauty and tranquility of the Hawkes Bay area when they reached this beautiful area on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island 70 years ago!
Plaque commemoration ceremony, Mahia Bay, 27 October 2013
Courtesy:  Robin Beale, current president of NZMVCC
Close-up view of the commemorative plaque on the rock cairn at Mahia Bay
Courtesy:  Kevin Simmonds and Robin Beale
70-year old photo of our Marines’ mock landings at Mahia Bay, November 1943
0
Our Marines are invited back to the beach at Mahia Bay, Hawkes Bay, North Island New Zealand.
Courtesy: Robin Beale and Kevin Simmonds
About a week out of Wellington, Elwin and Heywood arrived at Efate Island in the New Hebrides, a large island group in the South Pacific about 600 miles west of Fiji.   Heywood was in Task Force 53 (Task Unit 53.1.1 of Transport Division Four of Task Group 53.1, to be precise).  This stop, with other vessels in Task Force 53, was for more amphibious landing practice at Mele Bay while waiting for the arrival of more vessels to complete the convoy’s assembly.
Practice landings took place at Mele Bay on the day of our arrival, with Heywood anchoring in Havannah Harbor upon the close of the day’s activities.  A day or so later, more practice landings happened at Mele Bay, with Heywood anchoring in Fila Harbor after those landings. During the stay of Heywood at Efate, Elwin’s Communication Platoon did not participate in the practice landings; instead, they spent most of their time testing communication equipment and procedures.  Now-public vessel action reports show that Heywood was at both Havannah Harbor and Fila Harbor.
USS Heywood, APA-6:  Action Report in connection with capture of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands.  National Archives.  31 Dec 2012.  <http://www.fold3.com/s.php?advanced=1#query=USS+Heywood+APA-6%2C+action+report+in+connection+with+capture+of+Tarawa%2C+Gilbert+Islands&ocr=1&preview=1&t=all>.
Noteworthy is the immense significance of the Havannah Harbor area in the early years of American naval warfare in the South Pacific.  Construction of a naval support base was begun by personnel of the 101st Engineer Regiment of the US Army’s Americal Division, some 19 months before Elwin’s Task Force 53 even arrived.
WWII US Navy Seabee map of Efate, New Hebrides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_approach_to_Efate_Island.jpg
Havannah Harbor became a major staging area supporting the US Navy strategy leading up to and during the Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942. Of course, American success in breaking Japanese diplomatic and naval codes in January 1942 also contributed significantly to thwarting permanent Japanese expansion into the Coral Sea area.
https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/coral_sea/doc.asp
http://military.discovery.com/tv-shows/world-war-ii-in-color/videos/world-war-ii-in-color-battle-of-the-coral-sea.htm
http://www.vectorsite.net/ttcode_07.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-VI-1.html
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-24.html
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/actc-18.html
Cronin, Francis. Under The Southern Cross: The Saga of the Americal Division. Boston:  Americal
Division Veterans Association, 1978. 15-16, 31-32.
Coincidentally, in those early days of November 1943, the commander of the 2nd Marine Division’s Combat Team Two, Colonel William Marshall, became ill.  The planner of the upcoming battle, David Shoup, was then promoted to colonel and given command of Combat Team Two.  As Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret.) summed up this change of command in his ACROSS THE REEF:  The Marine Assault of Tarawa, (Darby, PA: Diane Publishing, 1996.),  “The architect was about to become the executor.”
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-1.html
After about one week at Efate, Task Force 53 departed for parts unknown, to the average Marine, anyway.  Yes, there was speculation about what the next engagement would be, even Wake Island, to correct what the Japanese had done there in December 1941, shortly after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.  Nothing was known for sure, though.  Out on the open ocean Task Force 53 could be for seen miles ahead and behind and to each side.  Transit to their next destination was relatively routine, reports Elwin, with one exception.
Several days after leaving Efate, all Marine units were formally notified that Tarawa and Abemama Atolls in the Gilbert Islands were their destination. Tarawa was described as strongly defended, and Abemama (about 80 miles southeast of Tarawa) was said to be of secondary importance and comparatively very lightly defended.  In fact, Tarawa was a strategic and recently reinforced stronghold for the Japanese, and their garrison there presented a threat to the security of supply and communications lines between the United States and her allies in New Zealand and Australia.
Where in the vast Pacific Ocean is Tarawa?
A representative photograph of a US Navy convoy in WW II
http://navyvets.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/wwiiconvoy.jpg
Tarawa Atoll and its general location in the Central Pacific
http://www.stamfordhistory.org/ww2_tarawa.htm
Marines heard predictions that the upcoming amphibious assaults at Tarawa Atoll would be conducted without difficulty because of many days of heavy pre-attack bombardment by our naval and air support to neutralize enemy capabilities.  Tragically, events at Tarawa unfolded in ways that nobody predicted.
Tarawa Atoll:  islet identities
Primary battlefield site:  Betio, at the southwest end of the atoll
http://www.stamfordhistory.org/ww2_tarawa.htm
Betio is the westernmost island on the lower leg of Tarawa Atoll, which is about 80 miles north of the equator and about 2,400 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.  Put differently, Tarawa Atoll is about halfway between the Hawaiian Islands and Australia.  Capture of this atoll and its then-recently built runway would go a long way toward protecting the vital supply and communications route between America and Australia and New Zealand.
Most of the Battle of Tarawa was on Betio Island, whose small size is truly remarkable:
about 1.5km2, which converts to about .58 of a square mile. By comparison, Central Park in New York City is all of 3.4km2, or 1.31 square miles. In short, Betio is about 44% the size of Central Park!
http://www.pacific.clgf.org.uk/betio-town-council-kiribati/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/102556/Central-Park
Tarawa Atoll … Betio is located at the southwest end of the islets
To the northwest of Betio, this map shows the marshalling area for our transports
and planned assault routes into the beaches on Betio and Bairiki.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/maps/USMC-M-Tarawa-1.jpg
On 19 November 1943, Major General Julian C. Smith, the Commander of the 2nd Marine Division, had the following message read to all officers and men:
“A great offensive to destroy the enemy in the central Pacific has begun.  American air, sea, and land forces, of which this division is a part, initiate this offensive by seizing Japanese-held atolls in the Gilbert Islands, which will be used for future operations.  The task assigned to us is to capture the atolls of Tarawa and Abemama.  Army units of our Fifth Amphibious Corps are simultaneously attacking Makin, 150 miles north of Tarawa.
For the past 3 days Army, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft have been carrying out bombardment attacks on our objectives.  They are neutralizing, and will continue to neutralize, other Japanese air bases adjacent to the Gilbert Islands.
Early this morning combatant ships of our Navy bombarded Tarawa.  Our Navy screens our operations and will support our attack tomorrow morning with the greatest concentration of aerial bombardment and naval gunfire in the history of warfare.
It will remain with us until our objective is secured and our defenses are established.  Garrison forces are already enroute to relieve us as soon as we have completed our job of clearing our objective of Japanese forces.
This division was especially chosen by the high command for the assault on Tarawa because of its battle experience and its combat efficiency.  Their confidence will not be betrayed.  We are the first American troops to attack a defended atoll.  What we do here will set a standard for all future operations in the central Pacific area.  Observers from other Marine divisions and from other branches of our armed services, as well as those of our allies, have been detailed to witness our operations.  Representatives of the press are present.  Our people back home are eagerly awaiting news of our victories.
I know that you are well-trained and fit for the tasks assigned to you.  You will quickly overrun the Japanese forces; you will decisively defeat and destroy the treacherous enemies of our country; your success will add new laurels to the glorious tradition of our troops.
Good luck and God bless you all.”
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-J.html
http://www.2dmardiv.com/Major_General_Julian_C_Smith.html
And then came D-Day at Tarawa:  Saturday, 20 November 1943 …
At about 0200 Marines receive their last call to ensure their equipment is in order and then to proceed to the galley for a large, high protein breakfast.  At 0347 Heywood arrives off Betio, at Transport Area Able (a few miles to the northwest of the northwest point of the island).  Within 7 minutes of arrival (0354), the order is given for “Away all boats and LVTs!” … meaning ‘commence manning and offloading smaller boats.’
In darkness, debarkation begins as Marines begin crawling down cargo nets strung down the sides of Heywood to board amtracs (amphibious tractors) and LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel). At 0540, before nautical twilight begins, the first three waves of amtracs depart Heywood bound for the rendezvous area … one step closer to the assault run into the north shore of Betio. At 0549, the period of low light, nautical twilight begins.  The opening day for battle has begun.
USS Heywood (middle distance, left) offloads an LVT-1 while debarking 2/8 assault troops
on D-Day at Betio, 20 November 1943
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/sec4a.htm
Based on calculations aided by the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department, the next photograph was taken in the early daylight hours after sunrise (0611) on D-Day, 20 November 1943.  This determination is based on the presence of full daylight, the clear images in the distance and the number of smaller craft appearing in foreground and distance.  The stern of Heywood is seen on the left, middle distance offloading an amtrac as Marines continue their disembarkation and commence their move to the rendezvous point prior to the actual assault on Red Beach 3.
U.S.  NAVAL  OBSERVATORY
ASTRONOMICAL  APPLICATIONS  DEPARTMENT
Sun Data for Saturday,  20 November 1943   Universal Time + 12h
Betio, Tarawa Atoll  [1.2° N, 173° E]
Begin civil twilight                    0549
Sunrise                                       0611
Sun transit                                  1213
Sunset                                        1816
End civil twilight                       1838
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php
A logical deduction is that, close to when the above photograph was taken, Elwin Hart was already in one of the LCVPs seen in the above photograph waiting for his role in the battle to begin.
On D-Day, the USS Colorado (BB-45) was active in pre-invasion bombardment that began in the dark and continued to just before assault waves landed on Betio's beaches.
USS Colorado (BB-45) on station at Tarawa, fires afterdeck 16" guns morning of 20 November 1943
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/k13000/k13670..jpg
Initially, H-Hour (the specific time when an operation is planned to begin) is set for 0830, but it is postponed twice to 0900.  At 0910, amtracs bring the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines (3/2) to its landings on Red 1 (in the cove and close to the Bird’s Beak), well to the west of the long Government Pier jutting out into Tarawa’s lagoon.
Importantly for pinpointing the time of Elwin’s arrival on shore, amtracs at 0917 bring the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8) to its initial landings from on Red 3, to the east side of and close to the long Government Pier.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa/
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-2.html
After the initial waves of amtracs come numerous waves of LCVPs (aka “Higgins Boats”), but many of these landing craft become stranded on offshore reefs or were blown out of the water by withering enemy fire.  The majority of Marines are forced to wade to shore; many are wounded or killed on the way; most survivors are stranded behind a 5-foot palm-log seawall at water’s edge; chaos reigns supreme; no unit cohesion exists; Marines keep arriving; casualties mount; and …
In the second wave of those LCVPs heading for Red 3, just to the east side of the long Government Pier, are several Marine radio operators from H&S, 2/8, and one of those men is our 19-year old Sergeant Elwin Hart!
Some of the Marine’s (their health status unknown) seeking cover behind the palm log wall on Red 3
http://worldhistoryproject.org/photos/d04d9458f50594734420c6d4b3362e3a
Importantly for pinpointing the time of Elwin’s arrival on shore, amtracs at 0917 bring the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (2/8) to its initial landings from on Red 3, to the east side of and close to the long Government Pier.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa/
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-2.html
Elwin relates that “… when our LCVP came to a crunching halt on the reef about 800 yards out, we landed right behind the LCVP carrying Major “Jungle Jim” Crowe, the commanding officer of our 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines; Norm Hatch (the well-known Marine Corps photographer); and some others.”  Many years passed between the time of this landing and the time when Elwin learned that Norm Hatch had landed in the LCVP right ahead of his own LCVP.  By coincidence, he and Norm Hatch were neighbors in Alexandria, Virginia between 1967 and 1971.  Neither Marine had known the other one had even been on Tarawa, but by piecing together the story of who did what at what moment on D-Day on Tarawa, these two men can deduce the landing sequence just described.   Elwin Hart, email to author, August 8, 2013.
Because it is known with a high degree of confidence that Major “Jungle Jim” Crowe (CO of LT 2/8) had advanced to the eastern taxiway of the airfield by 0945, one can calculate Elwin’s arrival time on Red 3 at about 0915.  Previously cited action reports of the progress of Heywood amtracs and LCVPs fill in the blanks.  Besides, after a passage of nearly 70 years, Elwin acknowledges that his exact arrival time cannot be precisely determined. Besides, arriving on the beach while the enemy is trying to kill everyone struggling to get to shore does not permit even a momentary glance at one’s watch!
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa
Ebb Tide, Tarawa
http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/amphib/88159dq.jpg
http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/artist/e/eby/eby5.htm
Kerr Eby, the combat artist who created the preceding image, wrote of the D-Day landings at Tarawa … “The attack was at flood tide and when the sea went out over the reef, this and much besides was left. In two wars, this I think is the most frightful thing I have seen, perhaps because of its isolation on the reef.“
Elwin describes mass confusion, lots of wounded Marines caught on barbed wire and lots of enemy mortar fire.   Eby's drawing is terribly realistic!
Elwin’s own memories are vividly corroborated by narratives in the following links - which contain graphic content:
http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/amphib/88159dq.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZA9tITO7mc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bal-n-gWb8U
Elwin reports that, like many other Marines, he was equipped with his carbine, ammunition belts, two canteens of water, his pack with rations, and his helmet.  Unlike most other Marines, though, Elwin also brought a 50-pound TBX radio transceiver to Red 3. His buddy PFC “Eddie” Fisher from Texas carried the generator and the antenna bag, and his other buddy PFC Clarence Backus from Danville, Illinois carried the accessory box.   In the chaos of trying to stay alive and get to shore, though, PFC Backus got separated from Elwin and “Eddie.”
Elwin reports that PFC “Eddie” Fisher and I found our way to “an abandoned Japanese mortar position just to the left of the long pier sticking out several hundred yards into the water.  It was probably within 30-40 yards from the waterline and not much further from the end of the pier.  The front part of the dugout was some 10 ft by 10 ft and open on top with log walls on three sides.  The back end was about the same size but was covered with a log roof.  That is where we stuck the antenna up thru and got a bullet hole thru it sometime during the battle..”
Elwin Hart, email to author, December 6, 2012.
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
There, Elwin set up his TBX.  The third member of his team, PFC Clarence Backus, was missing and Clarence was responsible for bringing the accessory bag to shore.  Clarence was later found, struck down with a bullet wound clear through his neck.   Elwin took the accessory bag and, with the help of another Marine, they got Clarence aboard a landing craft for evacuation.
Elwin states that he was in charge of a three-man TBX radio team, operating on the Regimental Landing Team 2 (RLT-2) Command Net.  This was the radio net linking the 2nd Marine Regiment with its various organic and attached infantry, artillery and logistic support units under their command.  The primary focus of Elwin’s duties that morning was to set up his radio and maintain unit-to-unit communications on the RLT-2 Command Net.  Even though his radio team was from 2/8, they were attached to RLT-2, which, for whatever reason, never came on air due to complications resulting from the chaos of landing where they did.  Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
To put a fine point on tactical radio operations at this time, a key aspect of tactical radio operations at this point - as Elwin recalls them - needs to be emphasized:
“With 2/8 attached to RLT-2, that means RLT-2 was our superior headquarters and we reported to them and not to the 8th Marines. Therefore we had to operate on their two radio nets, the Command and Tactical Nets.  I had the TBX team assigned to operate on the RLT-2 Command Net, which had been my assignment even in the practice landings preceding the actual landing.  I don't know if the Tactical Net ever became operational.
I must assume that RLT-2 chose to land on Red 2 since it was the center landing beach. They landed behind one of their own battalions, either BLT 1/2 or 2/2 as I recall. Both of the assault BLTs from RLT-2 were also supposed to be on the RLT-2 Command Net as was RLT-2, but they never got on the air, nor did RLT-2. Division Headquarters on the Maryland came up on the net probably because they couldn't raise any of the three Regiments (RLT-2, 6 or 8). Division was not supposed to be on the RLT-2 Command net, but fortunately they tuned around and found me trying to raise RLT-2.  I was physically located in 2/8 territory; in fact, my Battalion CP was between my location and that of RLT-2 Headquarters to the best of my knowledge.
There were two TBX teams in each battalion.  Our other team was under Cpl Jim Martin from Springville, Alabama, my best buddy throughout our 30 months together. He operated on the Naval Gunfire Net and directed the fire of two destroyers in the lagoon, very successfully in my opinion.
Once in communication with Division Hq, my main function was to act as a relay between RLT-2 (Col Dave Shoup) and Division Hq on the Maryland.”
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
As soon as he could get on the air, Elwin faces two unexpected situations requiring his personal attention:
1)     RLT-2 does not respond to his attempts to contact them.
2)     He hears an “unknown station” repeatedly trying to contact anyone on the beach.
How did Elwin respond to the call from the unknown station?
Wading in to Red 3, Elwin had met his Battalion Communication Officer (BCO) who, having received a severe leg wound, was returning to a landing craft for evacuation.  Elwin quickly realized that the BCO’s injury presented Elwin with a major problem.  Although Elwin already had the authentication tables for D-Day, Elwin asked his BCO for the authentication tables for the days ahead.  For some reason that Elwin says he will neverunderstand, his BCO refused the request.  Elwin also says that his BCO must have believed he would be returning as soon as he was able and therefore saw no reason to turn over the authentication tables to Elwin at that point.  In any case, that incident is what was foreshadowed on Page 2 of this report.
Elwin states that he had to have a secure way of communicating with other stations, and his Louisiana accent ensured that he passed the authentication test by the “unknown station.”   During the process of proving to the satisfaction of the “unknown station” that he really was who he said he was, Elwin learned that the “unknown station” was actually the radio team for Major General Julian Constable Smith, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division on board the battleship U.S.S. Maryland!  I still think, Elwin notes, that Division Headquarters came up on our frequency, probably because they could not get anyone on the Division Command Net.
Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30, 2013.
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
Major General Julian Constable Smith
(11 September 1885 - 5 November 1975)
https://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/PublishingImages/Biography%20Images/hi/smith_jc.jpg
USS Maryland (‘Fighting Mary’) BB-46
http://www.historycentral.com/navy/battle/Maryland.html
What occurred over the next three terrifying days ranks in the minds of military historians as one of the most intense and costly engagements in Marine Corps’ history.  By 23 November, all serious enemy resistance on Betio ceased.  Of the original 4,500 Japanese defenders, all were dead except for roughly 146 Japanese and a few Korean prisoners.  A handful of Japanese combatants were captured toward the end before they could mount further attacks or commit suicide.
http://tarawaontheweb.org/caschart.htm
http://www.usmchangout.com/military/branches/usmc/conflicts/wwii.htm#.UhrJgLzlUmI
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-5.html
By 27 November, all enemy resistance on Tarawa Atoll ceased, when the Battle of Buariki (on the northernmost islet of Tarawa Atoll) was concluded, when the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines killed the last 175 of the enemy who had fled the battlefield on Betio.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-6.html
John Wukovits,   One Square Mile of Hell.  (New York: New American Library, 2006),  233-234.
Joseph H. Alexander,  Utmost Savagery:  The Three Days of Tarawa.  (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995), 216.
What was Elwin’s primary ‘tool of his trade’ while at Tarawa?
That would be the TBX-8 … a transportable two-way HF radio set that receives in the 2.0mhz to 8.1mhz range and transmits in the 2.0mhz to 6.0mhz range, with the transmitter and the receiver combined in one unit.
TBX-8  (CGO-43060)  transceiver                                  TBX-8  transceiver  interior
http://navy-radio.com/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx8-110504-02.jpg
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx8-110420-02.jpg
TBX-8  transceiver  case                              TBX-8  Morse  Code  transmission  key
Elwin  carried  such  a  case.
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx8-110525-04.jpg
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx-key-1212-01.jpg
Elwin’s TBX-8 had a 30-mile range for Morse code transmission and a 15-mile range for phone transmission.  It was built by either Garod Radio Corporation of Brooklyn, New York or General Electric of Schenectady, New York.  This sort of radio was a major focus of Elwin’s twelve-week Radio Telegraph Operators Course at MCRD San Diego during the fall of 1941.  With the TBX-8, Elwin says he never changed operating frequencies during the battle, and he never detected any attempts by the enemy to intercept his squad’s signals.
http://home.comcast.net/~californiaphotos/TBX-8.html
TBX-8  control  box                                          TBX-8  control  box  interior
http://home.comcast.net/~californiaphotos/TBX-8.html
TBX  telephone-style  handset                             TBX  transceiver  earphone  headset
http://home.comcast.net/~californiaphotos/TBX-8.html
Accessory / Dry Battery  box exterior                   Accessory / Dry  Battery box  interior
This item was carried to shore
http://home.comcast.net/~californiaphotos/TBX-8.html
http://navy-radio.com/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx8-acc-03.jpg
TBX-8  Hand-Crank  Generator  (CBF-21263-B)  (detachable handles)
This was used for the transmitter; dry batteries were used for the receiver.
With two of Elwin’s squad down, he directed a nearby wireman to operate the generator.
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/xmtrs/ww2/tbx/tbx-gen-110427-01_small.jpg
TBX-8 stackable antennae sections
PFC “Eddie” Fisher carried the generator and the antenna bag.
During the battle, one of these sections was damaged by a bullet.
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/xmtrs/tbx.htm
Garod  TBX-8  transceiver  and  accessories  storage  trunk
http://www.cryptologicfoundation.org/content/Direct-Museum-Support/acquisition_arch.shtml
A newer version of the manual that Elwin Hart and his team knew so well.
http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/military/tbx8man/
Complete manual available at http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/military/tbx8man/
What do TBX transceivers sound like when operating?  Access the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU-bqz0xR98
For a two-part introduction and demonstration of TBX transceivers …
Part 1:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_4PVvzzJVE
Part 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urQrhoveD1c
In the context of his combat duty performance during the Battle of Tarawa, Elwin’s traits of keen analytic perception; courageous initiative and follow-through; improvisation; and sustained dedication to mission quality surfaced probably more clearly than they ever had to that point in his life.  As will be seen, such traits surfaced frequently throughout Elwin’s career in the Marine Corps.
These traits do not just mysteriously surface in a spontaneous manner without reason.  In large part, they are latent and a product of good upbringing.  In Elwin’s case, the origin of these traits comes from several sources:  the cultural values of courage and wisdom taught by his parents and embedded in his experiences at the Shreveport, Louisiana high school from which he graduated; his training at San Diego; as well as his learning experiences at American Samoa and Guadalcanal.  In short, Elwin repeatedly has shown his abilities to be an astute learner of all life’s experiences, and this will become increasingly evident as he progressed through his 33-year career in the Marine Corps.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Begun and finished on 11 October 2013, an important and narrowly focused review appears here on Elwin’s early involvement as a radio operator on Tarawa.  The following three statements sent by email from Elwin Hart to this writer set the scene for examining a critical role he had in the early period of the Battle of Tarawa. The evidentiary deductions derived from this review are ineluctable and deserve to be highlighted.
In Elwin’s words, …
1)  “(Our Message Center) received all the messages from Col Shoup’s Headquarters (2nd Marine Regiment) by telephone …  (These) messages were brought to me on message blanks from our Message Center.
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013.
2)  I would hand my incoming messages (and copies of messages I sent to Division Headquarters) to a runner from our Message Center.
Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30 2013.
3)  All three of us were radio telegraph operators and were all supposed to share in the duties as radio operators. Since both of my PFC's were down once we were ashore, I wound up with a 76 hour watch.”
Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30 2013.
These three statements should be kept in mind when reading through the following radio messages.
For the period from the pre-invasion bombardment of Betio on D-Day through D+4, the following five messages (from a variety of sources) tell quite a story about our Marines’ struggle to secure and advance their positions on shore.  These messages reveal a grim series of events whose eventual outcome was often in doubt.
While events swirled violently around him, SSgt Elwin Hart worked non-stop to stay on the air to assist in whatever communications requirement came his way.
• SHORTLY BEFORE THE PRE-INVASION BOMBARDMENT BEGAN, ...
Rear Admiral Howard F. Kingman (commanding the Gunfire Support Group at Tarawa) confidently proclaimed to landing troops,
"Gentlemen, we will not neutralize Betio.
We will not destroy it.
We will obliterate it!"
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15643.html
•  AT ABOUT 1000 ON D-DAY, ...
In that first hour of battle, communications are described as raged and unreliable.  Usually, "there was either dead silence or complete havoc on the command nets.  No one on the flagship knew of Ryan's relative success on the western end, or of (Lt. Colonel Herbert R.) Amey's (CO, 3/2) death and Jordan's assumption of command.  Then, from an unknown source came "this ominous report ..."
"Have landed.
Unusually heavy opposition.
Casualties 70 per cent.
Can't hold."
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15643.html
• LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OF D+1, ...
Colonel Shoup, intent on getting to shore, engages in this memorable exchange of radio messages with Major John F. Schoettel, (CO, LT 3/2):
0959:      (Schoettel to Shoup)                  "Receiving heavy fire all along beach.
Unable to land all.  Issue in doubt."
1007:      (Schoettel to Shoup)                  "Boats held up on reef of right flank Red 1.
Troops receiving heavy fire in water."
1012:      (Shoup to Schoettel)                  "Land Beach Red 2 and work west."
1018:      (Schoettel to Shoup)                  "We have nothing left to land."
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/sec4a.htm
•  LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OF D+1, ...
Admiral Shibasaki, Japanese garrison commander on Betio, transmitted this - his last - message to Tokyo:
"Our weapons have been destroyed.
From now on everyone is attempting a final charge.
May Japan exist for ten thousand years!"
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15643.html
•  ALSO IN THE LATE AFTERNOON OF D+1, ...
Colonel Shoup, sensing a shift n battle momentum, sends the following message as part of his 1600 situation report to Division Headquarters on the USS Maryland:
"Casualties:  many.
Percentage dead:  unknown.
Combat efficiency:  we are winning."
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15643.html
Without food and serious rest through all of this … and surrounded in his abandoned Japanese mortar pit with death, destruction and chaos, Elwin Hart focused on ground operations and, as needed, maintained his communication link to Division on the USS Maryland. His best buddy on Betio and “throughout our 30 months together (in the Pacific)” in the Communications Platoon of H&S, 2/8 was Corporal Jim Martin (from Springville, Alabama), who worked only on the Naval Gunfire Spotting Net with radio contact directly to Gunfire Support ships offshore.
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 1, 2013
Jim Martin and Elwin Hart
TWO OPERATORS, DIFFERENT RADIO NETS, ONE TEAM
Courtesy:  Elwin Hart
As probably every Marine did in Operation Galvanic, Elwin did all he could do … and he did his best to succeed as a Marine communicator.  Effectively in his very specialized role, Elwin contributed to the ultimate mission success of our Marines who paid a steep price for this victory.
This assessment of Elwin Hart’s performance is corroborated by independent sources (already cited) and by Joseph H. Alexander (Colonel, USMC Ret).  In his masterpiece account of events at Tarawa Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa, (1995), Alexander referred to Elwin Hart as the “Voice of Tarawa” because Hart was the only radio operator on Betio transmitting messages during the battle to Division Headquarters of the 2nd Marine Division on the USS Maryland.  (underline inserted by this writer)
“Crowe covered the five-hundred-yard wade so fast he reached dry ground only four minutes after the last LVT.  Equally important, the LT 2/8 comm section arrived literally on Crowe’s heels.  It would take Sgt. Elwin “Al” Hart several frantic minutes to locate and assemble the major components of his TBX radio set - one of his men was down - but soon he would become the most valuable radio operator on the beach.”  (118)
“Good tactical communications, a rarity throughout the island, facilitated Crowe’s relative success.  Both his TBX sets were working, one linking Shore Fire Control Party #82 with the destroyers in the lagoon (operated by Elwin’s best buddy James B. Martin from Springville, Alabama), the other in contact by lucky accident with the division command post on the
Sergeant Hart manned the telegraph key and earphones on this rig.  Hart could not raise Shoup (still making his way to shore) on the regimental command net, but he discovered that the persistent “unknown station” on that frequency was actually the division headquarters trying to contact anyone on the beach.  Later, when Shoup established his command post (CP) ashore, Hart and LT 2/8 continued to serve as a relay station between the regimental commander and General Smith.  Time and again throughout the battle, Sergeant Hart’s Morse code signals would represent the “Voice of Tarawa” to the division commander and staff (on the USS Maryland).” (125-126)
For another two days after the period covered by the above radio messages, our Marines held their own and grimly fought to defeat the Japanese garrison on Betio.
It is likely the reader will discern in these communications a progressive change in mood and physiological state from desperation to grim desperation to physical and emotional exhaustion to an uncertain realization that a positive outcome is at hand as the tide of battle turns irrevocably to celebration.  In passing, the reader may well experience a similar change of view from academic appreciation of events to a personal and emotional appreciation of the flow of events on Betio in November 1943.
The situation is palpable.  Our Marines went into and came through ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ and began to appreciate what they had accomplished … and at such a terrible cost.
• AT 1600 ON D+2, ...
The commander of the 2nd Marine Division, Major General Julian Smith, reported:
"Situation not favorable for rapid clean-up … Heavy casualties among officers make leadership problems difficult.  Still strong resistance … Many (Japanese) emplacements intact on eastern end of island … many Japanese (positions) to westward of our front lines within our position that have not been reduced.  Progress slow and extremely costly."
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Tarawa/USMC-M-Tarawa-4.html
• DURING THE NIGHT OF D+2 / D+3, ...
"We're killing them as fast as they come at us, but we can't hold out much longer; we need reinforcements!"  To which the LT 1/6 commander replies, "We haven't got them; you've got to hold!"
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/sec6.htm
• AFTER THE SUNRISE ON D+3, ...
The commander of LT 1/6, surveying the aftermath of the counterattacks, was met by some of his haggard, exhausted and fiercely proud Marines who exclaimed,
"They told us we had to hold, and by God, we held."
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/sec6.htm
• IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON OF D+3, ...
Robert Sherrod (journalis embedded with our Marines at Attu, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa) vividly describes the scene in the area not far from where Elwin Hart was the sole radio operator on Betio during the battle:
"Betio would be more habitable if the Marines could leave for a few days and send a million buzzards in.  Distinguishing between Marines and the enemy dead was almost impossible.  Reports of missing Marines being swept out to sea and floating corpses miles distant from Betio were heard."
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00/sec7.htm
• ALSO IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON OF D+3, …
The flag raising ceremony occurred indicating Betio was secured (even though not all action was yet finished),
American 48-star flag about to be raised, midday 23 November 1943
http://www.ww2gyrene.org/2ndmardiv_history_part_4C.htm
• ON D+4, …
The V Amphibious Corps Commander (Major General H. M. Smith) conducted an aerial survey of the battlefield and reported,
“The sight of our dead floating in the waters of the lagoon and lying along the blood-soaked beaches is one I will never forget.  Over the pitted, blasted island hung a miasma of coral dust and death, nauseating and horrifying."
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00sec7.htm
• IN COLONEL SHOUP’S COMBAT NOTEBOOK IS RECORDED …
“With God and the US Navy in direct support of the 2nd MarDiv there was never any doubt that we would get Betio.  For several hours, however, there was considerable haggling over the exact price we were to pay for it."
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003120-00sec6.htm
• IN AN 11 JULY 2013 POSTING ON TARAWA ON THE WEB, …
(which can be found at http://tarawaontheweb.org,) a competent contributor wrote,
"Time and time again throughout the Tarawa battle, … Sgt. Hart's Morse code represented the "Voice of Tarawa" from the 2nd Marines to Division.  Shoup's message "Casualties many.  Percentage dead unknown.  Combat efficiency:  we are winning." … was sent by Sgt. Elwin Hart."
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?id=149620;article=18096
• IN A 12 JULY 2013 REPLY ON TARAWA ON THE WEB, …
Colonel Elwin Hart wrote this modest acknowledgement:
"By the way, I did not remember that passage from Col. Shoup until I saw it on the wall of the Museum in Triangle (Virginia).  It hit me when I saw the last phrase "We are winning."  Thanks … for your kind words, Elwin."
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?id=149620;article=18098
This writer’s deduction, corroboration from respectable third-party sources and Elwin’s own words yield the realization that the reader now begins to perceive:  the person who  transmitted Colonel Shoup’s inspiring message on D+1 was …  Elwin Hart.  He was the TBX operator on Betio who, as noted, established and maintained reliable communications to Division Headquarters on the USS Maryland.
As any effective leader must do, Elwin himself evaluates the performance of his squad in the Communication Platoon, H&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines … and, indirectly, evaluates his own performance on the bloody sands of Tarawa in November 1943:
"So I guess 2/8 had done its job from a radio communication point of view.
(We had provided the only communication to the command ship and to the supporting naval gunfire ships.)”  (original parentheses are Elwin Hart’s)
Hart, Elwin.  Did I Do Enough?  Raleigh, NC: Lulu. (2011): 40.
So succinct and powerful were the words of Colonel Shoup’s message - tapped out by then Sgt Elwin B. Hart from his abandoned Japanese mortar pit, the Marine Corps has had those very words carved into the stone wall at the base of the glass tower of the new National Marine Corps Museum (NMCM) in Triangle, Virginia, where they are enshrined for posterity.
Colonel Shoup’s original message transmitted on D+1 (21 November 1943) by Elwin Hart
prominently displayed at the National Marine Corps Museum, Triangle, Virginia
Courtesy:  Major David Vickers, USMC (Ret.); NMCM docent
Elwin’s actions in this crucible of combat exemplify several essential qualities of an effective leader, qualities remaining in Elwin’s character to this day. The hot and bloody sands of the battlefield on Betio were the stage on which Elwin’s high standards, moral character and his expectations of himself and his buddies played themselves out. When Elwin hit Betio’s shore on Red 3, he was like thousands of other Marines on those beaches in late November 1943.  When unit cohesion essentially broke down (for several different reasons), individual Marines on that battlefield made their own decisions that ultimately led to overall Marine success at Tarawa.  Marine performance was exemplary, for those who lived to fight another day and for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good of their buddies, their Corps and our country.
Elwin is quick to add that two other Marine Corps radio operators deserve mention at this point:  PFC John Gross and PFC Gordon Stevens (father of Jon Stevens who created http://tarawaontheweb.org.  That website pays tribute to the 2nd Marine Division of WWII and is an historical resource furthering the knowledge of the epic struggle on Tarawa that was an integral part of the march of the United States leading to the defeat of Imperial Japan.
Gross and Stevens operated radios for Colonel Shoup at RLT-2 Headquarters, but nothing is known of the details of their operations.  However, Gross was awarded the Navy Cross for his efforts during the Tarawa operation.  To date, no known survivors with information on their operations during the battle on Betio have been found, but a Navy Cross indicates Colonel Shoup was impressed with their work!
A tribute to Marines from US President Lyndon B. Johnson
carved in a wall at the National Marine Corps Museum
http://www.usmcmuseum.org/
To make the above quotation visually clearer, here it is again:
“I never think of a Marine but what I think of a man who wants to do more, not less;
a man you have to hold back, not shove.”
General Alexander A. Vandegrift had a good understanding of what happened at Betio, and he was very competent making post-battle assessments of that battle:   He had already been the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division at Guadalcanal and the Commanding General of the First Marine Amphibious Corps in the early phases of the Bougainville campaign.
http://www.usmarineraiders.org/bougainville.htm
http://www.caltrap.org/history/bougainville.asp
“Tarawa was the first example in history of a sea-borne assault against a heavily defended coral atoll. Marine preparations for this operation were thorough; its plans were executed in a noteworthy manner.  In the final analysis, however, success at Tarawa depended upon the discipline, courage and fighting ability of the individual Marine.  Seldom has anyone been called upon to fight a battle under more difficult circumstances."    (underlining by this writer)
A. A. Vandegrift
General, U.S. Marine Corps
18th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1944-1947)
IN APPRECIATION
The story about how these photos from the National Marine Corps Museum appear in this report deserves special attention:  the photos were taken by Major David Vickers (USMC, Ret.) at the request of Ed Gilbert, a military history researcher and prolific writer on a wide variety of military topics, because this writer asked for help in obtaining a copy of the photographs!
This writer appreciates immensely the contributions of Dave Vickers and Ed Gilbert in obtaining the digital photo of the message Elwin Hart transmitted near the end of the second day of combat at the Battle of Tarawa - some 70 years ago!
Vickers is a volunteer docent at the National Marine Corps Museum, had a notable career in tanks and is now a civilian employee on special writing projects at Quantico.
Gilbert has enjoyed a very diversified career path in geology, teaching at Auburn University, and service as the senior geoscientist in international geological exploration projects. His books include an oral history series on Marine tank battles in the Pacific, Korea and Vietnam, and his e-books cover topics ranging from American militia forces in the War of 1812; Navajo code talkers in WWII; the elite Marine Corps raiders in the early 1940s; to the savage struggle waged by the III Marine Amphibious Force against Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese Army regulars in the Vietnam War.  Gilbert’s body of published work can be found at …
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 26, 2013.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/175-0552783-7721718?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gilbert%20marine%20tank%20battles
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/text_search.aspx?TextSearch=ed%20gilbert&Group=Book
ADDENDUM:  Confirmation of the conclusions in the preceding review on Elwin Hart’s role as radio operator on Betio appeared on the Tarawa Talk Forum on 20 November 2013 … by Colonel Hart himself:
“…I was a Sgt at 2/8 operating a TBX radio in contact with 2ndMarDiv Hq on the Maryland.  I was able to relay messages from Col Shoup to Div Hq and so acted for the whole operation.”
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?id=149620;article=18417
HEREWITH, THIS NARROWLY FOCUSSED REVIEW
ON ELWIN HART’S CENTRAL ROLE AT BETIO IS FINISHED
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Closing this part of Elwin Hart’s report, this writer wishes again to thank Elwin for his generous permission to use pertinent portions of his memoirs to share them publicly in the context of related research.  Elwin’s willingness to help, clarify and elaborate frequently on so many aspects of his story is very much appreciated.
Elwin’s generosity enables readers now and into the future to become acquainted with many more of the facets of this man’s exemplary service to our country and to his family, as will soon be seen.  Including reflections on his upbringing, his military career and personal experiences of a non-military nature, Elwin’s memoirs Did I Do Enough? (published in 2011 and available through www.amazon.com) is a very readable and informative work covering events up to 2010. Elwin’s writing provides superb insights into his thoughtfully and purposefully well-lived life. Selective use of emails and phone calls over the better part of a calendar year extend Elwin’s story through to late 2013 and the 70th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Tarawa.
That title of his memoirs, Elwin hastens to add, is not a reference to anything of a military nature.  Instead, it refers to a poignant personal story that he willingly shares with readers of his memoirs.
With Elwin’s permission and this writer’s appreciation, a verbatim copy of Elwin’s narration of events on Betio follows: “TARAWA 1943, ” from his memoirs Did I Do Enough?
Unless otherwise identified, all personal photographs in the next part of this report were taken at Camp Tarawa, on now unknown dates before the 2nd Marine Division moved on to Saipan and Operation Forager in June of 1944. Elwin also comments on the sixth photograph appearing below: Communications Chief Maurice Lynch was from Minnesota and got the Navy Cross for his work when their Communications Officer 2nd Lt. George Kern was severely wounded and is still listed as MIA as of this writing.  Lynch took over and did a great job, but unfortunately he was later killed on Saipan (as was this writer’s cousin, Conrad Edgar Olson, Weapons Company, 4th Platoon, 6th Marine Regiment).
Elwin Hart, email to author, June 30, 2013.
Ib
CHAPTER 6 FROM ELWIN HART’S MEMOIRS
Did I Do Enough? … published 2011
[A verbatim copy appears here by permission of Colonel Hart.]
TARAWA  1943
EDITORIAL NOTE:  In March of 1994, I received a letter from Colonel Joe Alexander, a retired Marine.  He was writing a book for the Naval Institute Press on the battle of Tarawa and wanted my account of the battle. Colonel Ed Driscoll, a longtime friend and fellow Marine, had given him my address.  At that time my wife Gladys and I were in Mesa, Arizona, where we had been spending winters as “snowbirds” since 1990.  Having no word processing capability with me, I wrote Joe a brief handwritten account of some of my most vivid memories of the operation and promised him a more detailed account upon our return to Puyallup, Washington in May.  The following letter dated 29 June 1994 to Joe is as good an account as I could muster on a combat experience I had some 51 years earlier.
“Dear Joe – Please excuse my tardiness in responding to your request for my account of the Tarawa battle ............. I was not the radio chief for 2/8  (2nd Battalion 8th Marines), but I was a sergeant, having been promoted before we left New Zealand in a regimental wide competitive exam.  We received both promotions in 2/8 of the two available with wireman Dick Hogue getting the other one.  I was in charge of the TBX team (the TBX was a three man radio set used by Marine Corps units to participate in unit to unit communications) scheduled to operate on the Regimental Command Net with the 2nd Marines. As I recall and you probably know (from your 30 months of research), 2/8 was attached to RLT-2 (Regimental Landing Team 2) for the landing.  I believe my landing craft was in the second or third wave (after the amphibian tractors of course). My best buddy, James B. Martin from Springville, Alabama (later was Postmaster there) had our other TBX (two TBX’s per Bn (Battalion) as I recall) and he was on a Naval Gunfire Spotting Net with some direct support ships. To the best of my knowledge, Jim and I had the only TBX’s operating on the island.
Of course everyone is familiar with the stories of landing craft literally sinking from under them. My experience was no different. We were an estimated 800 yards from the beach when the landing craft opened its ramp and off we went.  As I stepped off the ramp, I was barely able to touch bottom and sort of bounced along for some time.  There was a great deal of mortar and small arms fire, but I remember being rather oblivious to all the racket. I only had one thing on my mind, which was to get to the beach and get our TBX on the air.  Of course I also wanted to survive, so as a friendly tank lumbered past, I grabbed onto the rear and hung on. I knew that it was a target, but it seemed safer and maybe it was.
On the way to the beach I encountered our Battalion Communication Officer, a newly appointed second lieutenant named Kern, Kearny or something similar.  He had been hit in the leg, and was bleeding profusely in the water.  He was heading back to a landing craft for evacuation, and I asked him for the authentication tables for days D+1 and thereafter. (Authentication tables were used to verify that you were who you said you were).  I was only carrying the D-Day tables.  He refused to give them to me--I don’t know why.  In any event, to my knowledge we never found out what happened to him.
On the way to the beach I encountered our Battalion Communication Officer, a newly appointed second lieutenant named Kern, Kearny or something similar.  He had been hit in the leg, and was bleeding profusely in the water.  He was heading back to a landing craft for evacuation, and I asked him for the authentication tables for days D+1 and thereafter. (Authentication tables were used to verify that you were who you said you were).  I was only carrying the D-Day tables.  He refused to give them to me--I don’t know why.  In any event, to my knowledge we never found out what happened to him.
As I recall he had the accessory case, which of course was an essential element, since it contained the receiver batteries, the headphones, microphone, telegraphic key, connecting cables and other items necessary for operation of the radio.  I located Clarence lying behind the seawall a few yards (perhaps 25-30) from the water’s edge.  He had been shot (appeared to be 25 caliber) in the neck with an entry and exit wound on each side of the neck. (He was still alive.)  I retrieved the radio accessory box from him and hailed a passing Marine to help me get him into a landing craft for evacuation.  As we began to walk him toward the water, a burst of automatic fire started kicking up sand around our feet.  I began cursing the unknown weapons wielder and then glanced over at the “Marine” assisting me only to discover it was the Battalion Chaplain.  I started to apologize for my language, but he assured me that he understood, and that in fact he had been thinking similar thoughts.
After getting Backus safely on board a landing craft for evacuation, I ran back to the dugout where we would set up the TBX and get on the air.  After setting up, I started calling Regiment.  It was a CW (continuous wave or Morse code) net (not voice) and after several frustrating and fruitless attempts to raise Regiment, I finally heard another station answering me.  Not recognizing the call sign, I learned through the call sign extract card I had in a waterproof pouch that the unknown station was actually Division Headquarters (aboard the battleship Maryland) trying to establish contact with anyone on the beach.  I was pretty happy to have contact with anyone.  We had telephone contact with Regiment (2nd Marines) and I advised Division that we would relay messages to Regiment via landline.
I contacted the Regimental Communication Officer by telephone and advised him of our contact with Division and that we would act as a relay for any messages they wished to send.  The Regimental Communication Officer, a Major, then asked if I could move our TBX down the beach to where the Regimental Headquarters was located. I was not thrilled by his request but believe that I might have complied if he had insisted.  I did advise him that we had already had one wireman killed on the edge of our bunker and that I could not guarantee that we could make it to his CP (Command Post) carrying the TBX.  As I recall the Major was satisfied, so long as we could keep the wire line in to him.  I did not remind him that communication between higher and lower headquarters was the responsibility of the higher unit. The wire line stayed in and I relayed all the traffic between Regiment and Division for all three days of the battle.  To the best of my knowledge, my TBX had the only contact with Division Headquarters during that period.
On the second day of the operation, Division challenged my use of the authenticator tables. I had continued to use the first day table since I had no other. You will recall that the Battalion Communication Officer had turned down my request for them in the water. I believe he thought that he would be able to get his wound attended to and proceed back to shore.  After several futile attempts to explain my problem using various operating signals (in Morse code), I finally asked Division to switch to voice. They complied and I must assume that my Louisiana accent convinced them that I was authentic enough.  After all, I was all they had.  We switched back to CW and continued to pass messages back and forth.
My only problem was getting someone to give me some relief on the set.  Backus of course had been evacuated, and Fisher had developed a disabling headache--very severe.  He remained ill for most of the operation.  So my watch turned out to be some 70+ hours long.  I did get other people to spell me during periods of inactivity, but they would call me as soon as they heard a signal on the air.  Wiremen were operating the hand generator for me and it just became something I had to do.  As far as I can remember, I did not eat a bite of food for the full three days.  I had two full canteens of water and only a few swallows of water was gone from one of the canteens. I’m sure I must have been near dehydration toward the end.
I remember going out once to check on Jim Martin and his TBX team working the Naval Gunfire Spotting Net.  They were all fine but set up right out in plain sight on the beach.  A Naval officer was with him -- spotting the fire from the destroyers not too far off shore.  [Remember the Lieutenant-Commandant Cadwalader Ringgold in Samoa in the late 1830s?  And the USS Ringgold (DD-500) from part 1a of this report?]
So I guess 2/8 had done its job from a radio communication point of view. (We had provided the only communication to the command ship and to the supporting naval gunfire ships.)   Oddly enough I have never read any accounts dealing with this subject, nor have I ever been asked for my account.  Perhaps if these words make it into print somewhere, someone will challenge my recollections, and add to all our knowledge about what other radio communications may have been taking place.
The TBX’s were contained in two waterproof cast aluminum cabinets or cases plus the generator and the antenna bag. They had rubber gaskets around the edges of the covers to each of the cabinets. These covers could be screwed down so that the rubber gaskets made contact with the edge of the cabinet. The generator had similar waterproof covers over the handle and cable holes.  It was a much more reliable radio set than the TBY (a one man portable radio) which was intended for short range tactical use. The TBY was difficult to waterproof and I assume that most of them failed because of their submersion on the way to the beach.  I have no knowledge or at least no memory of what happened to any other of the radio sets even in our own battalion.  I know we had TBY’s on both our Battalion and Regimental Tactical nets, but cannot recall if we were able to communicate with them. Hopefully some of my fellow communicators can fill in that blank.
Following the Tarawa operation, we were moved to Hawaii where the Division went for regrouping or whatever.  I remember that our Communication Chief, Master Technical Sergeant Maurice Lynch (later killed on Saipan) came by and asked me if I would like a medal or a promotion for my part in the Tarawa operation.  I quickly chose the latter option and very soon became a 19 year old   Staff Sergeant with about 30 months total service. If you are mathematically inclined you can deduce that I enlisted five days before my seventeenth birthday.
Joe, that about sums up my recollections for those three memorable days on Tarawa. The three days were pretty much more of the same each day and it went very fast for me.  I wasn’t in a great deal of danger, so long as I could keep my head down in the bunker we had been fortunate enough to inherit.  As I recall we only lost the one wireman and Backus plus the unknown fate of our Communication Officer.  One last little thing. When we took down the antenna after the operation was over, we discovered a bullet hole right through the antenna.  The antenna was not large in diameter and we had exposed only about three feet up through the top of the bunker. We took pictures of it and I may still have it somewhere. (I do) Let me know if you have any questions, Joe.
Semper Fidelis   Elwin (Al) Hart
Col USMC Ret”
The wireman who was killed sitting on the side of our bunker was an 18 year old we called “Rabbit” from Texas.  He was a particular favorite of Sergeant Dick Hogue, the Wire Chief and a close friend of mine.  Dick knelt down over Rabbit’s still body and cried like a baby, and kept saying no, no, no!
Me & Dick Hogue
We knew the round that killed Rabbit had come from a sniper in nearby palm trees, and several of our guys started peppering those trees with round after round from their carbines. We think their shots silenced the sniper since no more rounds were fired from the palm trees.
I got a nice response to my letter to Colonel Joe Alexander and a copy of his book entitled UTMOST SAVAGERY – The Three Days of Tarawa published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland in 1995.  Excerpts from that historic and accurate account of the battle of Tarawa are shown below. I received permission from Joe and the Naval Institute Press to include these excerpts from Joe’s book.
From Page 118: “The sailor gunned the LCVP full-bore toward Red Three, hitting the reef so hard the impact knocked staff and commander into a heap. Crowe jumped up and vaulted over the gunwale into the water.  Hatch, striving to protect his fragile film containers from the water, straggled behind. Crowe covered the five-hundred-yard wade so fast he reached dry ground only four minutes after the last LVT.  Equally important, the LT 2/8 comm section arrived literally on Crowe’s heels.  It would take Sgt. Elwin “Al” Hart several frantic minutes to locate and assemble the major components of his TBX radio set--one of his men was down--but soon he would become the most valuable radio operator on the beach.”
From Pages 125-126:  “Good tactical communications, a rarity throughout the island, facilitated Crowe’s relative success.  Both his TBX sets were working, one linking Shore Fire Control Party #82 with the destroyers in the lagoon, the other in contact by lucky accident with the division command post on the Maryland.  Nineteen year old Sergeant Hart manned the telegraph key and earphones on this rig.  Hart could not raise Shoup (still making his way ashore) on the regimental command net, but he discovered that the persistent “unknown station” on that frequency was actually the division headquarters trying to contact anyone on the beach.  Later, when Shoup established his command post (CP) ashore, Hart and LT 2/8 continued to serve as a relay station between the regimental commander and General Smith.  Time and again throughout the battle, Sergeant Hart’s Morse code signals would represent the “Voice of Tarawa” to the division commander and staff.”
(Recently, Elwin informed the writer about a delightful contact he made with Sharon Bradshaw Smith, daughter of the 8th Marines Regimental Communication Officer on shore at Tarawa.)
“At the 64th reunion of the 2nd Marine Division Association in Chicago in September 2013, Elwin met Sharon Bradshaw Smith. Noticing the Bradshaw middle name in her name tag, Elwin asked her if she was related to John Bradshaw. Turns out he was her father, several years deceased.  Sharon was a devoted member of the Association, having attended many such reunions in memory of her father. Elwin had known her father--first by phone on Tarawa, with Elwin as the Sergeant operating the TBX radio set in the 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Command Post and then Captain Bradshaw, the 8th Marines Regimental Communication Officer.  Later in 1951, Captain Bradshaw was an Instructor at the Communication Officers’ School (COS) in Quantico where 2nd Lieutenant Elwin Hart was a student. And finally, then Colonel Bradshaw was the Director of COS when then Major Elwin Hart was an instructor there in the 1956-59 era. By coincidence, Elwin's final job before retirement in 1974 was as Director of COS. Elwin and Sharon keep in touch by email and she has provided some useful information to Elwin regarding a pending reunion at the present Communication Officers School in Quantico prior to its pending move to California in 2014.”]
(Returning to the verbatim copy of Elwin Hart’s Chapter 6 from his memoirs … )
On a personal note, “Hatch” mentioned in the Page 118 extract above, was one Staff Sergeant Norman Hatch, a combat photographer, attached to our infantry battalion during the Tarawa operation.  Norm and I were not acquainted during our time in the Tarawa operation, but we did become friends later in our lives.  Information about that will be covered in a later chapter.  Norm became rather famous for his photography of the Marine Corps combat operations in World War II, especially during the Tarawa and Iwo Jima combat operations.  He recently was featured in a book entitled “War Shots”, which is available through Amazon.
SSgt Hatch (see arrow) assisted by Pvt Wm Kelliher filming attack  (3rd day) on bombproof Japanese emplacement by 1ST Lt Alexander Bonneyman, awarded Medal of Honor (posthumously) for his actions
Staff Sergeant Norman Hatch in New Zealand Prior to Tarawa
One more bit of information which I failed to mention in my letter to Joe: we had two Navajo code talkers in our battalion. These guys were supposed to provide for secure voice transmissions over our radio circuits.  Our experience with them was not all that successful.   Their names were Tsosie and Baldwin (first names escape me) and they were both good Marines but had limited English language skills.  Of course this limited their ability to provide information which they had received from their companion code talker on the other end of the radio circuit.  I realize there was a lot of favorable publicity on the use of the Navajo code talkers during the Pacific campaigns, but my own evaluation was much less favorable.
In the photos shown hereafter, Eddie Fisher and I are holding the antenna which had received a bullet hole sometime during the operation.
Eddie Fisher & Me                                            Walt Sears & Me
The flag which Walt Sears and I are holding was made of pure silk, and had an account of every battle the Japanese regiment that possessed it had fought in.
MSgt Lynch & Me
(Lynch later KIA on Saipan)
Japanese Concrete Bunkhouse Command Post
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The end of the verbatim copy of Elwin Hart’s Chapter 6 from his memoirs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
While the primary focus of this report is on Elwin Hart and his role in the Battle of Tarawa, Elwin’s career in the Marine Corps continued for another 30½ years after Tarawa.
At this point, justice is best served by providing a general survey of the highlights of Elwin Hart’s military accomplishments in those post-Tarawa years.
Part Ic of this report covers the remainder of his Marine Corps career as an enlisted man.
Part II deals in general terms with his Marine Corps career as an officer.
Part III is a tribute to Elwin’s wife Gladys.
Part IV deals in general terms with Elwin’s life after his post-military career.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Next comes the portion of this report on Elwin Hart’s Marine Corps career as an enlisted man, covering the period up to 1950.
Ic
TARAWA - OFFICERS CANDIDATE SCHOOL
1943 – 1950
Even before the last combat at Tarawa Atoll was finished on 27 November 1943 (Battle of Buariki, where the men of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines were victorious), most Marines had boarded transports for the 2,400-mile voyage to the Big Island of Hawaii where Camp Tarawa was located.  Camp Tarawa, on the famous Parker Ranch, was chosen by the 2nd Marine Division as the site for the rebuilding of unit personnel structures (replacing Marines who, after the battle, had been transferred, sent home or had been killed); and extensive training and restoring the health of surviving Marines; and the replenishing equipment and materiel.   All of this was critical to restoring the combat capabilities of the 2nd Marine Division prior to their moving on in June 1944 some 3,850 miles to the west for their next amphibious assault – Operation Forager - at Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas.
http://parkerranch.com/
http://www.camptarawamcl.com/
http://waimeagazette.com/Mar95_WaimeaRemembersTarawa.htm
Meanwhile, …
Elwin Hart was at Camp Tarawa for a few months before being transferred to Pearl Harbor where he served  as Radio Chief of an artillery unit.  In the summer of 1944, while his 2/8 had gone on to Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas, Elwin returned Stateside to MCRD San Diego for a High Speed Radio Operators’ Course.
In 1944, Elwin also had some time off to visit his Father, Bert Hart, who worked long and hard to support his family, managing several dry goods stores and starting his own
Elwin and his Father, Bert  . . . . .  ‘the mighty fishermen of Cross Lake, Shreveport, Louisiana’
company making and selling mattresses.   Wonderfully together for both Elwin and his Father, they went fishing at Cross Lake and had a lot to catch up on since Elwin had been away to exotic places like Samoa, Guadalcanal and Tarawa.
In December 1944, Elwin was transferred to the Navy Radio Intelligence School on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. Elwin’s focus at this school included learning how to intercept Japanese radio transmissions sent in a code similar to Morse code. He graduated from this course with a 100% average and a promotion to Technical Sergeant, but he still had enough capability to enjoy himself off base!  Not all of his activity on Bainbridge Island was of an official military nature!  It was here on New Year’s Eve 1944 that he met his future wife, Gladys, a US Navy WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).   Early in March, he proposed to her, and they were married at the end of that month.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/females/wave-ww2.htm
http://ww2db.com/other.php?other_id=24
As would happen often during the remainder of Elwin’s military career, frequent overseas deployments caused separations during which both he and Gladys missed each other immensely.  The only upside to these separations, Elwin reports, is that his return home always meant a new honeymoon was in store!  Often in his memoirs, Elwin pays tribute to Gladys for her faithful support in keeping the home fires burning and ensuring Elwin had a warm, loving home to return to.
On completion of this Navy Radio Intelligence Course, Elwin was sent back to Hawaii where he became NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) of the 3rd Radio Intelligence Platoon.  After several weeks, somewhat strangely, all Japanese military radio stations went off air … the first sign for Elwin that the war in the Pacific was over.   The reason for this, of course, was the decisive application of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945).   This writer asked Elwin about President Roosevelt and President Truman and their role in the decision to use atomic weapons in August 1945.  Without equivocation, Elwin replied, “I thought Roosevelt and Truman probably did more for our country (than other presidents this century) … Roosevelt for leading the WWII effort and Truman for the courage to drop the bombs that stopped the was in the Pacific.”
Elwin Hart, email to author, September 4, 2013.
http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/introduction.shtml
G. Thomas and M. Morgan-Witts,  Ruin from the air:  The atomic mission to Hiroshima. ( London:
Hamish Hamilton, 1977).
Shortly after war’s end, Elwin and his unit were transferred to China for less than a year to support Marine units already there involved in reconstruction efforts.  He was sent back Stateside in the summer of 1946 and eventually made his way to a new, though short-term, assignment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
http://www.lejeune.marines.mil/
Elwin was then transferred to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to be an instructor at the Radio Operator School, but that assignment too was also short-lived when Elwin was reassigned for two years to Camp Del Mar, adjacent to Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, California.  There, he was an instructor at the Radio Operators School in the Signal Schools Battalion.
In his off-duty time at Camp Del Mar, Elwin was instrumental in forming a baseball team that played other local civilian teams and was, as a result,  helpful in forming good community relations with surrounding communities.  In the spring of 1949, Elwin and most members of his Camp Del Mar team were transferred to the local “big” league of service baseball, the Camp Pendleton Marines.  That team played other military teams on the West Coast, several Pacific Coast League teams and one major league - the Chicago White Sox managed by Luke Appling.  The Camp Pendleton team won the Military West Coast championship!
In the summer of 1949, Elwin was transferred to San Francisco where he worked in the Communication Center of the Department of the Pacific, the administrative headquarters for all Marine Corps units in the Pacific.  Six months into this new assignment, Elwin was promoted to Master Sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps. He was about 25 years old, evidence that the Marine Corps appreciated and recognized the experience and potential this young Marine had for the Corps … a practice repeated several times by the Corps over the ensuing almost quarter of a century!
At virtually the same time in 1949, Elwin was recommended for Officer Candidate School (OCS), requiring yet another transfer back to the East Coast to Quantico, Virginia.   On that trip, he learned that the Korean War had begun.
Next comes the portion of this report on Elwin Hart’s Marine Corps first 15 years as an officer, covering the period up to 1965.
IIa
OCS – KOREA – OKINAWA – VIETNAM
1950 – 1965
The six-month OCS program (shortened because of the onset of the Korean War) was rigorously competitive and Elwin graduated #1 in his class, earning him a commission as a Second Lieutenant.  By coincidence, the commanding officer of the OCS program at Quantico at this time was Colonel David Shoup who had been the ground commander of operations at Betio, Tarawa some seven years previously.  Within another 17 years, Colonel Shoup had become a four-star General upon his appointment by President Dwight Eisenhower as the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/DG/08c_shoup.html
http://arlingtoncemetery.net/shoup.htm
The pattern of deployments to new responsibilities and new opportunities continued.  Traits he exhibited at Tarawa continued as well, including willingness to learn and grow with new work opportunities.  Dedication and outstanding performance were never in doubt, as recognition for his effectiveness and leadership in training, teaching and management at many levels came from our allies and the Department of the Navy.
In February 1951, Elwin attended the Communication Officers School, where his familiarity with equipment and procedures was a distinct advantage.  Again, he graduated #1 in a very competitive class and was sent to California to the 3rd Marine Brigade at Camp Pendleton.  Here, as a newly-minted 2nd Lieutenant, Elwin was assigned to be the assistant to the Brigade’s Signal Officer, performing duties normally given to people with the rank of Major.   Once again, Elwin successfully rose to the challenge of this new assignment.
The 3rd Marine Brigade at this time was commanded by Brigadier General Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller who, when he retired in 1955, had become one of the most decorated combat Marines in Marine Corps history.   This is the same “Chesty” Puller who once famously said in 1950, when surrounded by enemy forces in Korea at the Choisin Reservoir, “So, they’ve got us surrounded, good!  Now we can fire in any direction.  Those b*****ds won’t get away this time!”  Little doubt that Elwin Hart could relate well to these sentiments, having performed with distinction in a similar close-quarters situation at the Battle of Tarawa over seven years previously!
http://www.3rdmarines.net/Marine_Quotes.htm
A new assignment ensued when Elwin was soon given command of the Radio Platoon in the Signal Company of the 3rd Marine Brigade.  This became his first platoon-level command position, and with the new responsibilities came his promotion to 1st Lieutenant.
Flash forward to early 1953 and Elwin again received orders for deployment to Korea, where he, after 12 years in the Corps, became the Communications Officer for the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (an infantry battalion) serving in a role with which he was familiar because of his previous experiences at American Samoa, Guadalcanal and Tarawa.
BGen “Chesty” Puller (left) escorted by Elwin (back, right)
on night maneuvers on the DMZ in Korea
Courtesy:  Elwin Hart
Elwin relates that, when combat operations ceased with the Korean Armistice Agreement of July 1953, he and his men had been in position right on the demilitarized zone (DMZ) for only a few weeks.  Our duties included ensuring that telephone lines were maintained to the many observation posts we manned on the DMZ.
It was at this time that Elwin was promoted to Captain (after 18 months as a 1st Lieutenant), and he was again transferred and given new duties with the Korean Marine Corps Advisory Group in Pusan as the Signal Advisor to the Korean Marine Corps Signal Officer, Major Chung. In recognition of his services with the Korean Marines, he was awarded the Order of Military Merit Medal with Silver Star by the government of the Republic of Korea.
Order of Military Merit Medal with Silver Star (English translation)
awarded to Elwin Hart by the Republic of Korea on 5 May 1954
In case the above text cannot be read clearly, a verbatim copy follows:
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
OFFICE OF THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
SEOYL, KOREA
(Translation)                                                                                                5 May, 1954
C  I  T  A  T  I  O  N
ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT, CHOUNGMU WITH SILVER STAR
TO
CAPTAIN ELWIN B. Hart
S.N. 051453   UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
Captain HART, while serving as the advisor to the Signal Office, Headquarters, Republic of Korean Marine Corps, displayed exceptional professional skill in the procurement of various signal equipment and in personnel administration of the newly organized Signal Company for the Actiration of the First Korean Marine Corps  Brigade, with his active Assistane, and friendly coordination, his high derotion to duty enabled him to materially and the smooth Signal operation of the Brigade.  Captain HART rendered ceaseless efforts for the training of signal personnel which contributed greatly for the development of the entire Korean Marine Corps.  His pleasing personality, initiative and devotion to duty reflected high credit upon himself and the United States Marine Corps and were in Keeping with the highest traditions of the Republic of Korea Naval Service.”
SON WON ILL
Minister of National Defense
Republic of Korea
In the summer of 1954, Elwin returned to Camp Lejeune where he became the Executive Officer of the Communication Company of the 2nd Marine Division, the same Marine Division he had served in back in the days of American Samoa, Guadalcanal and Tarawa.  When the Commanding Officer of the Communication Company was promoted, Elwin too was promoted to Commanding Officer of the Communication Company of the 2nd Marine Division, a position he held until the summer of 1956.
At this time, Elwin, with his family, was reassigned for three years to New Orleans – a mere 280 miles down the road from where he had graduated from high school some 15 years before.  He was to become the Assistant Recruiting Officer for Louisiana, and in his third year there, he was promoted to the position of Officer in Charge of Marine Corps recruiting for Louisiana.
During his tour in New Orleans, Elwin attended night school at Tulane University for three years earning enough credits to qualify for attendance later in his career at San Diego State where he was to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
Another transfer came in the summer of 1959 when Elwin returned to Quantico, Virginia for a three-year period working as an instructor in the Communication Officers’ School, the same school he had attended as a student in 1951.  One principle he employed in the preparation of his lessons - an idea having great merit in any learning or speaking situation - is “that each period of instruction had to have a Purpose and three or more Main Ideas.”  Captain Hart’s pedagogy here promotes a valuable insight: effective communication requires concise organization and persuasive delivery.  These are fundamental skills essential for the success of any communicator, and, with practice, performance improves.
Proof of a job done well on the 14th hole over a distance of 147 yards
MCS Quantico, Virginia Golf  Course
The certificate shown above  proves that Major Elwin B. Hart (promoted while an Instructor at Communication Officers School) was NOT ‘all work and no play’ as an instructor.   One of his greatest sporting achievements was landing a ‘hole-in-one’ on the 14th hole of the MCS Quantico, Virginia Golf Course!
Following his instructor work at the Communication Officers’ School, Elwin was assigned to the Amphibious Warfare Course also in Quantico, Virginia.  Sadly, about halfway through this nine-month course, Elwin’s father died back in Louisiana.  Readers of Elwin’s memoirs will have a superb opportunity to discover the depth of love and respect this man has for his family when reading about how his brother, sister and he stood united by their father “at the funeral home where our Dad lay in state.”   So fortunate was Elwin to have had a warm and loving relationship with his father, which he acknowledged with alacrity in a recent telephone call.
Elwin was still an instructor at the Communication Officers’ School, when he applied for and received a one-year sabbatical from the Marine Corps to capitalize on provisions of the Marine Corps’ “Bootstrap Program” for a one-year opportunity to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree at San Diego State University. “Go West” again!  This Marine heard a call for greater fulfillment and greater preparation for future career opportunities! Elwin’s results were graduation with High Honors and with Distinction in Political Science.  Again, the Marine Corps had the evidence that it had profited from an astute investment in this Marine officer who had such auspicious prospects. Then in the summer of 1963, Elwin returned to Quantico as per his agreement with the Marine Corps to complete his Amphibious Warfare Course. Without doubt, his years of learning, teaching and modeling high standards in the Corps equipped Elwin with clear guidelines for and future instructional and leadership opportunities.
By this time in the mid-1960s, the war in Vietnam was well underway and Elwin believed he would be going to that war theater.  In fact, he deployed to Okinawa (about
Major Elwin B. Hart and his XO Captain Charles Van Manen
Camp Hague, Okinawa, Summer 1964
Courtesy:  Elwin Hart
1,200 miles northeast of Hanoi), serving a full 13-month tour as the Commanding Officer of the Signal Company of the 3rd Marine Brigade.
Elwin and his Signal Company went on a three-month shipboard deployment in the South China Sea offshore of the beautiful white sand beaches of Danang.  Having never received orders to land, the Brigade Signal Company as part of the 3rd Marine Brigade commanded by Brigadier General “Chesty” Puller returned to Okinawa.   The Brigade eventually received orders to Vietnam and became the first unit to land at Danang in February 1965.  The Brigade Headquarters was directing combat efforts of infantry units in the field.  By the summer of 1965, Elwin’s tour of duty in Okinawa and Vietnam ended, and the long flight back to the States brought him to San Diego … to Gladys and their family … and another long drive across the States to the East Coast.
Next comes the portion of this report covering the period from 1965 through to Elwin Hart’s retirement from the Marine Corps in 1974.
IIb
CAMP LEJEUNE - AMERICAN UNIVERSITY- OKINAWA - QUANTICO
1965- 1974
Once again came increased responsibilities and a promotion to Lt. Colonel, as Elwin was assigned to command the 8th Communication Battalion, Force Troops, Fleet Marine Force.  Their mission statement reads …
“On order, 8th Communication Battalion, provides, installs, operates and maintains (PIOM) communication support to II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Command Element (CE), two Marine Expeditionary Brigades (MEB) CE, and three Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) CE, in order to provide reliable, redundant, robust and secure command and control communications.  8th Communications Battalion’s simultaneous communication support for each command is contingent upon size and scope of simultaneous missions.  Be prepared to (BPT) support designed Major Subordinate Commands (MSC), Marine Component Commands, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Tasks Force (SPMAGTF) and Joint Forces (JTF) with reliable, redundant, robust and secure command and control communications.”
http://www.iimef.marines.mil/Units/8thCommunicationBattalion.aspx
Elwin’s view of his stewardship of all 8th Communication Battalion’s activities is that it ranks as the most complex, challenging and rewarding position in his entire 33-year career.
On completion of one year as Commanding Officer of the 8th Communication Battalion, Elwin was transferred to the Force Troops Headquarters at Camp Lejeune where he assumed duties for another one-year period as the Assistant Chief of Staff G-1 for Personnel, dealing with all personnel issues of all the separate battalions comprising Force Troops. This was the year, too, when Elwin was a member of the Force Troops winning intramural golf team!
Elwin (front, second from left) and the Force Troops Intramural Golf Team
Champions – 1966
In 1967, Elwin was transferred to Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) in Arlington, Virginia, where he was enrolled in a course titled "Technology of Management" at American University in Washington, DC.  This course served two purposes:  it completed the requirements for his Masters Degree in Public Administration which he received in 1968, and it prepared him for assignment as an Assistant to the Director of the Data Systems Division responsible for handling all dataa processing activities of HQMC and for the technical supervision of the same sort of work for the entire Marine Corps.
In 1970 Elwin was promoted to Colonel and was given command of the Systems Control Office of the Data Systems Division.
Elwin’s wife and daughter assist in his promotion to Colonel
Courtesy:  Elwin Hart
In 1971, before Elwin left Arlington for his next overseas deployment, the Department of the Navy showed its high regard for Elwin’s leadership in the Data Systems Division at Headquarters Marine Corps by presenting him with the Navy Commendation Medal.
A copy of the citation for Elwin’s Navy Commendation Medal
In case the above text cannot be read clearly, a verbatim copy follows:
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
WASHINGTON, D. C.   20380
The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in presenting the NAVY COMMENDATION MEDAL to
COLONEL ELWIN B. HART
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
For meritorious achievement while serving in a variety of assignments with the Data Systems Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, from April 1968 to June 1971.  Initially assigned as Assistant to the Executive Officer, he was instrumental in planning and effecting a reorganization of the Data Systems Division which resulted in significant increases in efficiency and in the ability of the Division to provide Automatic Data Processing support to the systems functional managers within Headquarters Marine Corps.  While serving as Head, Systems Control Office, he planned, organized and supervised a major Marine Corps-wide computer operating system conversion program.  Operating with severely limited resources, Colonel Hart, applying advanced management techniques and superior personal leadership, directed the effort through its most critical phases. As a result of his professional skill and personal example he saved the Marine Corps $355,000 which would otherwise have been paid to the commercial vendors who would have been required to accomplish the task.  In addition, Colonel Hart and his Marines gained invaluable experience which enabled them to give continuing systems software support throughout the Marine Corps without the need for commercial vendor assistance.  As Head, Systems Design and Programming Branch, he continued to render outstanding service. Colonel Hart’s professional expertise, managerial excellence, untiring determination and steadfast devotion to the task at hand reflected great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
For the Secretary of the Navy,
Leonard F. Chapman, Jr / jco
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Elwin’s work at HQMC was nearing completion in the spring of 1971, when one more transfer came his way:  to Camp Schwab on Okinawa to command the 3rd Service Battalion which was responsible for fulfilling all the supply and maintenance requirements of the 3rd Marine Division.  In this capacity,  Elwin was in command of about 750 Marines, and this represented yet another example of the pattern deployments to new responsibilities and new opportunities.
Three highlights of Elwin’s time during this tour of duty still evoke wonderful memories some 43 years later. First, his competitive spirit and demonstrated skills in tennis exhibited when he was on the tennis team for four years at Fair Park High came in handy when several young lieutenants challenged him to a series of several ping pong matches. Elwin adapted his tennis skills to suit the demands of ping pong, and the young lieutenants were continually left with their tongues hanging and bewildered at their commander’s ‘take no prisoners’ approach to the game!  Someone had to teach them!  Second, when Okinawa reverted to Japan in 1971, Americans were obliged to begin driving on the left side of the road, and Elwin again adapted to that new requirement.  Finally, Elwin admits that the highlight of his tour of duty on Okinawa was an event that did not even occur on Okinawa:  he flew to Hawaii for a one-week rendezvous with Gladys!
In June 1972, Elwin’s second tour of duty on Okinawa ended, when he received orders to report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.  Before his departure, though, his Staff NCOs and Officers assembled for a farewell gathering, at which they presented Elwin with a framed wall hanging displaying all his promotions through the enlisted ranks (Private First Class to Msgt) and through the officer ranks (2nd Lieutenant to Colonel).
The farewell presentation to Elwin Hart from his Staff NCOs and Officers
when he departed Okinawa and returned Stateside
Before leaving for Washington, DC and the Pentagon, an opportunity arose back in Quantico where he was assigned as the new Director of the Communications Officers School (COS), the same school he had attended as a student some twenty-one years previously and the same school where he had been an instructor eleven years previously.   Elwin’s priorities included improving the curriculum, initiating the integration of communication and computer specialties and introducing a more rigorous 9-month Advanced Communication Officers’ Course for Captains and Majors.
After some three decades in the Corps, retirement plans became the object of several discussions with Gladys.
Private to Colonel
Faithful and exemplary service to our country.   Well done, Sir!
At about the same time, Elwin became aware of a chance for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General - a considerable recognition by the Marine Corps for his outstanding service and for his prospects of continued achievements in the Corps. In a field of highly competent and deserving Marine Colonels, Elwin, never one to shirk a new challenge, agreed with Gladys he would allow his name to stand for promotion. However, if that decision did not lead to a favorable outcome, he would retire.  As things turned out, retirement is what happened.
After 33 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Colonel Elwin B. Hart decided to retire.  After numerous assignments and many separations from his dear wife, Elwin - ever the optimist - was now in the delightful position of never again having to be apart from his faithful Gladys.
In his memoirs, Elwin captures the importance of the transformation that was now underway.
“I had been a sixteen year old private in 1941, and was retiring as a full Colonel some 33 years to the day later, thanks in large part to the support of my wonderful wife Gladys during 29 of those years.  I felt proud of my accomplishments and thankful for her everlasting support, but I was sad to be leaving a life that I really enjoyed.  However, I was looking forward to never again being apart from my beautiful bride.  We still had a whole lot of living to do.”
In a poetic way, Colonel Elwin B. Hart was at a point in his life when he could reflect on the long and rich perspective of his life in the Marine Corps.  The prospect of what lay ahead brought the wonderful realization that he and Gladys together could savor all that life has to offer in ways they had been unable to do before.
Next comes a loving homage in Elwin's own words to his faithful wife Gladys, formed by bringing together several passages from his memoirs Did I Do Enough?
III
GLADYS
Abiding Love
For a period of over 63½ years, Elwin was blessed to have a partner on the road of life for whom he had the greatest respect and love … his wife Gladys.  This writer would be remiss if a special focus on Elwin’s own words expressing his love for Gladys were not shared - with Elwin's permission.
Throughout his memoirs, Elwin shares his perceptions about his faithful love and respect for Gladys in ways, frankly, that echo the legendary love story of Odysseus and his Penelope from ancient Greek literature.  Imagine the steadfast faithfulness involved soldiering on with 13 residence changes as Elwin’s Marine Corps career progressed!
The parallel between ancient Greece and present-day America is obvious:  Odysseus and Elwin were away from home for long periods of time, and both men endured the stiffest and most threatening challenges a warrior could face when away from home.  Gladys was to Elwin exactly what Penelope was to Odysseus:  the epitome of faithful loving wives maintaining the home front while husbands dealt with enemies to their respective states.
http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_en.html
http://www.greeka.com/ionian/ithaca/ithaca-myths/odysseus.htm
The following are adoring references in Elwin's own words to Gladys and her supportive role in his life …
“ Gladys sat next to me and I asked her for a date … I remember being excited about (her) response and call her I did the next day.  So began a 90 day courtship ending in our marriage … (that lasted only) 63 wonderful years … (we) managed to find lots of time together and I remember being in love with her almost from the very beginning … we had so much fun dancing and laughing and joking with our friends that we had a ball on every outing.”
“(Gladys) was a loving person and related well to all my friends.  I could tell that her girl friends liked her and trusted her … On top of all that, I though she was beautiful.”
“I finally realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and proposed in early March … I remember that she threw her arms around my neck and said, “Yes, yes, yes!  I love you Elwin and I want to be your wife.”  It was a joyful moment and I will never forget it.”
“… stewed tomatoes on toast.  She cooked the tomatoes in a glass pot, and as she removed it from the stove and headed for the table, the pot broke in half and our first meal was all over the floor.  She was devastated, but we wound up laughing so hard we cried.”
“Everyone who ever met Gladys liked her.  She changed my life … Gladys soon taught me what love was all about … how often did I hear the words at night, “Elwin, you forgot to kiss me.”
“We had been in contact by mail during my 13 month absence, and I did manage a phone call from Hawaii before I had left for China.  I had missed her terribly and I was looking forward to our reunion.”
“… one particular dance at the San Onofre Beach Club … we entered a jitterbug contest.  The band playing at that event was Spade Cooley.  Gladys and I concluded a night of fun by placing second in the jitterbug contest.  Our prize was a bottle of champagne, which was quickly devoured at our table by all of us celebrating our victory or near victory.  We enjoyed life and our friends … “
Staff Sergeant Elwin B. Hart and his beautiful bride Gladys
Wedding photo, 31 March 1945, Bainbridge Island, Washington
“”During our marriage, I never left the house without a goodbye kiss.”
“After all, our new daughter Marylee was only 5 months old at that time.  I was reluctant to leave (Gladys) there alone, but she told me she would be fine.  Gladys was a real trooper; however, that didn’t stop me from worrying about her.”
“Gladys and I really enjoyed the time awaiting the start of class (Communication Officers School), since I was basically on my own - no duties and lots of family time.”
“Gladys never complained about our life in the service, and kept a positive attitude toward our numerous separations throughout my time in the Marine Corps.  This assignment to Korea was to be the second of our four year-long separations during our marriage.  Once again, I hated leaving Gladys and Marylee with all my heart.  But we did have a great farewell party!”
“Marylee was entered in the event (a skating competition) and, although she was the youngest participant, she won the event.  I an still recall the happiness and pride that evening brought to both Gladys and me.”
“… I headed overseas to what I thought was going to be Vietnam.  It was once again a 13 month separation from Gladys and Marylee.  This was always a painful aspect of being a career Marine.”
“I returned to the good old USA for … one more tour at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and another joyous reunion with my gorgeous wife Gladys and our beautiful daughter Marylee … The separations never got any easier for me, and I know how hard it was on Gladys and Marylee.  It was my third 13 month separation from Gladys, and my second from Marylee.  It was always a challenge, but it came with the territory of being a career Marine.”
“In 1970, Chuck and I were both promoted to Colonel, and Gladys and Marylee attended my promotion ceremony and pinned my silver eagles on to my collar.  We all felt pretty proud of our accomplishment.  After all, I had entered the Marine Corps as a sixteen year old private fresh out of high school.  And I used the words “our accomplishment” with all due respect to the fact that it had been an accomplishment which would not have been possible without the love and support of my faithful wife Gladys, and the understanding of our daughter Marylee during my many evening hours of studying and class work, which robbed us of many hours of family time.”
“… Gladys was a real trooper; she never once complained and always kept nothing but happy thoughts and words in our letters and tapes during our separations.  She was a model Marine Corps wife whom I loved and admired since the day I met her …”
“Gladys and I started exchanging audio tapes … (They) were invaluable to me as I could hardly wait to get each tape and to hear Gladys’ voice and feel assured that she was okay.”
“ALWAYS involve your wife in (major) decisions.”   [Remembering his own advice, when considering a new work opportunity after his retirement, Elwin wrote,] “After consulting with Gladys, my chief advisor, I decided to accept the offer…”
“She was a bonafide mother - through and through.  There was none better.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
An incomplete presentation of what Elwin has meant to our country and his family would result if this report focused only on Tarawa or only on his remarkable military career.  A fuller measure of this man became possible, though, when this writer sought and was given permission to summarize with broad-brush strokes Elwin’s remarkable commitments and approach to life after resigning from the Marine Corps in 1974.
The next portion of this report focuses on the new civilian life and new challenges after Elwin Hart retired from the Marine Corps.
IV
NEW LIFE, NEW CHALLENGES
1974 – 2013
After retiring from the Marine Corps on 31 May 1974, Elwin and Gladys set out full of optimism and hope on an entirely new path presenting challenges and opportunities unlike anything they had faced before.  Elwin was just days past his 50th birthday, and they had already been married for 29 years.  They returned to Washington State to build their ‘dream’ home.  It was to be located in Puyallup, Washington, in Pierce County about ten miles southeast of Tacoma, the principal metropolitan center of Pierce County.  A lot of effort went into this project, including clearing most of their one-acre site of trees so that a beautiful 3,300 square foot, two-story Colonial-style home, with an in-ground swimming pool, could be built. For 13 years, they had a lively family life there and enjoyed the friendship of many people in the area.  Howeve, when their children grew up and moved on, they decided to modify their residential requirements.
Elwin and Gladys’ new residence in Puyallup, Washington
Even though he could have retired totally, Elwin had gained a lot of experience during his military career, and he was not ready to go willingly out to pasture. While his new home was under construction, Elwin was hired to the full-time position of Evaluator-Researcher in the Law and Justice Planning Office for the Pierce County Government.  This soon led to his being promoted to Director of the Law and Justice Planning Office in which position he served for five years.  Elwin liked his job, with its scope and variety of responsibilities, and he still found time to teach night classes at the University of Puget Sound (in Tacoma), until he wanted a new challenge of a sort he had never faced before!
Elwin was asked to run for the office of Sheriff of Pierce County, a political position where he would have to campaign for the office.  The idea of running for office was a concept to which Elwin was unaccustomed because of his decades’ of experience in the military where the requirement existed not to be political while in Uncle Sam’s employment (the Hatch Act).  Meanwhile, before the election, because the position needed to be filled, he was appointed temporarily in July 1979 to the position of Sheriff by the Pierce County Commissioners for the four-month period leading up to the election.
Pierce County Sheriff Elwin B. Hart
July - November 1979
He would have to campaign for that position, and he accepted this challenge with dynamism of the sort which he had never had to call on before.  The concepts of overt political campaigns and military service are mutually exclusive.  Elwin sensibly fielded a team of experienced supporters and began campaigning hard, giving media interviews, attending public meetings and ringing door-bells on the porches of thousands of potential voters asking for their support … all in the evenings after his daytime work as the appointed Sheriff.
He won the primary election in September, but in the November General Election he came up short by a whisker: of 90,000 votes cast, Elwin was just 300 votes short … 1/3 of 1% difference for a total novice!
Nothing in his entire military career had prepared him for this experience.  Self-confidence, latent capacities for growth and progress based on demonstrated abilities in a hierarchy of military positions were aspects to Elwin’s rise through Marine Corps ranks -- not political campaigning!  Yes, the election results of November 1979 were disappointing because setbacks had been an unknown experience for Elwin during his 33-year Marine Corps career.
Nevertheless, the election experience was a good learning experience.  All that remained after the election was to pay off campaign expenses … which he did!  And then he moved on.
Now at age 55, while reassessing his future plans, Elwin became aware of a recruiting effort underway for new Directors of the Washington State Gambling Commission.  After consulting with his closest adviser Gladys, he applied for and was offered the position of Deputy Director.  He accepted the offer and worked tirelessly and effectively as the Deputy Director of the Washington State Gambling Commission for five years - to 1984.  For this period, he had two 30-mile daily commutes from Puyallup to the State Capitol in Olympia, which he did for five years - to 1984 … ten years after retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps!  He still had a lot to live for, and he brought a lot to the table at any and all civilian work he undertook.
His duties as Deputy Director required significant travel to the three Gambling Commission satellite offices in Seattle, Spokane and Yakima to enforce gambling state laws and regulations.  These included monitoring pull-tab and punchboard operations in taverns and nightclubs throughout the state, regulation of bingo games and raffles run by non-profit organizations and card rooms.
Elwin’s duties gradually expanded to include liaison with the Washington State Legislature in Olympia, and the essence of that work was lobbying legislators on gambling issues and the need for new gambling laws in the state. Given the almost innate skepticism of people and legislators from agricultural communities in Eastern Washington, Elwin’s skills of persuasion were put to the test.
When the idea of a Washington State Lottery began to grow in 1981, Elwin, now 57 years old, was tasked with writing state law leading to a proposed statute acceptable to both the State Gambling Commissioners and the State Legislators for their consideration.  What happened, Elwin says, is he was both the author of the new statute and its chief lobbyist.  He had excellent working relationships with members of the appropriate committees, and his winning argument favoring the new statute was that passage of this new law would significantly increase revenue flow to the state’s treasury.  Elwin’s statute passed both houses of the State Legislature in 1982, and, as things developed, that exposure and experience made him in 1984 a logical candidate for a new job.
Beginning in 1984 and aged 60, Elwin became the Deputy Director of the Washington State Lottery.  Elwin continued in this role for another year, stopping only because the then-new Governor Booth Gardner began making political appointments, as was Gardner’s privilege, to replace various Directors of state agencies.  That process resulted in Elwin also being replaced … an experience he had never gone through in the Marine Corps.  Like any good Marine fighter, though, Elwin rolled with the punch and committed to continue being the optimistic and goal-oriented achiever he always was.
On the bright side, though, 1985 was also the occasion of the 40th wedding anniversary for Elwin and Gladys!  A surprise party brought several neighbors, and the event was savored joyously by the happy couple.
Elwin and Gladys Hart
Their 40th wedding anniversary on 31 March 1985
Still in his early 60s, Elwin was full of energy and desire to use his abilities in positive and constructive ways.  In time, he capitalized on his previous Washington State Lottery experience by applying for and being accepted as the Deputy Director of the Colorado State Lottery.   Any Marine who went through combat such as that encountered at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Korea and Vietnam, as did Elwin Hart, would be the first to agree that much of life is a gamble … go with the flow and make the best of every situation possible.  Again, Elwin’s optimism and competitive spirit energized so much of what he accomplished in his years after retiring from the Marine Corps.
Off to Colorado they went.  Elwin attended a meeting of the Colorado Lottery Commission late in the day of their arrival.   With perceptive instincts, he learned enough about operations at the Colorado Lottery Commission meeting to persuade him that this new position was not going to be what he wanted to do, and that led to his decision to resign two days later.  Sometimes, life’s gambles are not worth getting involved with when examining them to any depth, and the sooner a person decides to dissociate with the new circumstances the better. No hurt feelings on anybody’s part (surprise, maybe!), and consequently, Elwin and Gladys decided to return to Washington State.
On New Year's Day of 1986, Gladys' beloved mother Katie passed away.  Everybody in the family called her Mom, including Elwin.  Elwin's own moter Ina Mae (McMahen) Hart had died back on 9 October 1934, when Elwin was only 10 years old, from complications in childbirth when his only sister Yvon was born, and such a long time had passed since he had lost his mother that his childhood memories of her were hard to maintain.  That is one reason why Elwin was so comfortable with calling Katie ... Mom.
Gladys’ Mother had owned a ranch in Broadus, Montana for many years, and Gladys and Elwin nostalgically chose to visit what remained of the old ranch on their return to Washington State.  As a young girl, Gladys herself had lived on this ranch for several years.  She had fond memories of her early years in Broadus and wanted to visit two of her oldest friends.
Gladys at her childhood family cabin near Broadus, Montana, on the 1986 visit
Courtesy:  Elwin Hart
Broadus is a very small town in the grasslands and gentle rolling hills of Eastern Montana, a region that to some people appears remote and desolate, but readers are in for a treat!  Out on the Great Plains there is a lot of history and broad vistas of powerful natural beauty ... much of this vividly captured in the art of Charles M. Russell.
In the early 1800s the Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery traveled through this area on their historic trek to the Pacific Ocean.  Cattle ranchers with their cowboys and later a few homesteaders settled in the area from the early-1800s onward.  Broadus itself is about 100 miles east southeast of the site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, where General Custer and part of his 7th Cavalry Regiment fought to the end against Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors on 25-26 June 1876.
Gladys’ childhood home was about 100 miles east of where Custer’s Last Stand occurred.
“The Custer Fight”  Charles Russell, 1903
http://www.historynet.com/c-m-russell-art-of-the-west.htm
http://www.nps.gov/libi/historyculture/index.htm
http://www.charlesmarionrussell.org/
On their return to the Puget Sound area, Elwin and Gladys settled for several years in a very comfortable triple-wide mobile home on a lot they already owned in a mobile home park for seniors south of Puyallup, Washington.  They were back home in beautiful Pierce County.  Again, Gladys made this residence into a comfortable, beautiful and inviting home to live in.
By 1990, with Elwin and Gladys in their mid-60s, the idea of no interference with living life in a  relatively carefree manner had winning appeal, as did the warmer and drier winters which attracted them like a magnet to the Southwest.  For several years, they drove between Washington State and Arizona to a compact mobile home they purchased in the Phoenix area.  Here too, Elwin and Gladys had many friends and had ample opportunity for exercise in the dry heat.  Morning walks around the three-mile inside perimeter of the residential park were good for lubricating the joints, as were several nearby golf courses. Spectacular sunsets and clear night skies were jaw-dropping awesome!
It was here after one of his golfing outings in 1997 that Elwin, approaching his 73rd birthday, experienced chest pains that required medical intervention.  Diagnosed with severe blockage (about 90%) in two arteries, double by-pass surgery was essential.  As of this writing in late 2013, Elwin is still going strong as his 90th birthday approaches!  A good Marine cannot be kept down!
In the late 1990s, Elwin and Gladys wanted more room and purchased a larger condominium also in the Phoenix area.  This led to a move to a house larger than the condominium where they stayed full-time until the spring of 2002 … for what turned out to be their last winter in Arizona.
A change in their plans was brought about by health issues Gladys began to face, and she told Elwin she wanted to return to Washington State.  It was now April 2002, and Elwin and Gladys were in their upper 70s.  They packed up their belongings and drove back to Puyallup, Washington … a beautiful trip regardless of the route taken.
Elwin and Gladys visiting family
in Wenatchee, Washington in 2006
For nearly five years, health issues were increasingly a problem for Gladys, and in the spring of 2007 she fell and broke her left femur in three places.  Elwin, ever the stalwart Marine who had trained for years to deal with emergencies, saw Gladys off in an ambulance to a nearby hostpital in Puyallup where the surgeon installed a long metal plate over the area where the breaks had occurred.  Gladys' overall health decline continued and her surgery ultimately proved unsuccessful.  She was allowed to go home, and Elwin - faithful and thoroughly attentive to her many needs - had the sole care of the love of his life for the next 15 months.
True to his nature, Elwin gave his all to support Gladys as her overall health declined. Elwin personified the spirit of Semper Fidelis with his dedicated commitment to her. What Elwin went through personally to care and support the love of his life took a severe  toll:  he lost 30 pounds and was increasingly distressed about his increasing inability to make any positive difference in Gladys’ situation. For Elwin, always being faithful has always meant much more than just words; it also means rallying all possible assistance to effect positive outcomes.
The thought that doing his best for Gladys without being able to reverse Gladys' decline upset him deeply.  This Marine who survived combat on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Korea and Vietnam and rose steadily through the enlisted and officer ranks of the Marine Corps because of his abilities felt so helpless and inadequate.  The poignancy for Elwin caused by this situation became even more acute considering how Gladys tried to cope with her deteriorating condition.  In his memoirs, Elwin reflects on this period by saying,
“Gladys never complained about her situation and I really admired her composure and her attempts to make me feel comfortable with our situation.  She had the courage and character of someone who most of us could only aspire to live up to.”
By August of 2008, Elwin reluctantly allowed Gladys to be admitted to a nearby family care home because he and others knew he could not continue as her sole caretaker. Shortly after her admission to the care home, Gladys suddenly wanted to go back home.  Gladys never returned home, but she repeatedly asked Elwin, “Are we going home today?”
What Elwin was going through at this time was made all the more distressing because he is a highly moral, very thoughtful, dutiful and caring person. A comment by Elwin on the occasion of his retirement from the Marine Corps in 1974 ironically presages the situation Elwin faced as Gladys’ health continued to decline in 2008.
Back in 1974, Elwin felt proud of his accomplishments over the 33-year period of his career in the Marine Corps and was thankful for Gladys’ everlasting support through almost all of that time.  In 2008, by contrast, some 34 years after retiring from the Marine Corps, Elwin faced the opposite situation:  True, he felt ever so thankful for over 63 years of a superb and mutually loving marriage, but in October 2008 he felt helpless to provide effective support for his loving wife Gladys. Realizing that he might have to accept the prospects of never again being with his beautiful bride whom he loved so much was a terrible and overwhelming experience he would have avoided at all cost, if only he could.
It is out of this context that the title of Elwin’s memoirs emerged.
Elwin’s numerous superlative tributes to his wife contain sentiments sympathetically and freely expressed by Gladys’ sister Phyllis who, in late 2008, wrote to Elwin:
“You and she lived a long and eventful life together.  You made her happy.  She was always proud of you and of your achievements … You and she represented a world that was better, happier, more meaningful and showed possibilities which I could observe … You were a wonderful husband Elwin, and Gladys knew that and loved you very much.”
Without doubt, Elwin and others recognized the abiding and mutual love in a remarkable marriage of 63 years, 6 months and 26 days.  Like so many others in the same situation, Elwin felt devastated by Gladys’ passing.   Her decline continued until the morning of Sunday, 26 October 2008.  She could not go on, and, in one sense, both Gladys and Elwin lost their life’s companion.
At such a time, comfort is what is needed, and one appropriate source of comfort speaking directly to Elwin comes from Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece The Prophet (New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, 1923), 15-16:
"And what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
… together you shall be forevermore.
… let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another … Let (love) … be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.
Sing and dance together and be joyous … Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.
Stand together yet not too near together:  For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow."
People who have not gone through such tormenting situations cannot fully appreciate the agonizing decision-making processes that are experienced.  The long emotional toll on Elwin has been immense, but he has had close friends who have stood with him and walked with him through the difficult times.  Chief among those has been a close friend and neighbor of Gladys and Elwin, Nancy Martin.  She could empathize with all the dimensions of what Gladys and Elwin were going through because she too had seen what her own mother went through.  Elwin is quick to commend Nancy for her support at this time, when he writes: “I honestly do not think I could have made it through the many months without (Nancy’s) counsel and advice. I owe her an everlasting debt of gratitude.” Little wonder that Elwin now is so supportive of the health care axiom that ‘caregivers too need to be cared for.’
The proverb that ‘it is sometimes difficult to see the forest for the trees’ is appropriate in the context of what Elwin went through.
Metaphorically, someone who can't see the forest for the trees typically becomes so preoccupied with present and immediate concerns that he or she risks losing perspective on other, perhaps bigger, concerns.  In such trying circumstances as what Elwin faced, advantages can - and did - accrue to the person who allows time to take its own course, who takes a step or two or more back from a difficult situation to regain a wider perspective on the problems he or she faces.   Doing so can make people better problem solvers because they know or learn the wisdom of contemplating and occasionally talking with others about problems being faced.  Such a way of dealing with difficult issues can help a person regain perspective and approach life with a new perspective.
Nancy Kling and Elwin Hart
at a book-signing event on Veterans Day 2011
at Todd Beamer High School, Federal Way, Washington
After a few years of pragmatic reflection, self-assessment and prioritization, Elwin has found a new balance and new sense of purpose that daily provides a joyful and optimistic outlook on life.  Elwin and another good friend - Nancy Kling - have enjoyed each other’s company for quite some time, even getting out to book-signing events for Elwin’s memoirs, such as the visit to Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Washington.
In January 2012, Elwin Hart and Nancy Kling confidently affirmed their loving companionship and stepped into the future by getting married.   They have known each other for several years, and Elwin reports, “We are very happy and feel blessed to have found each other at this stage of our lives.”   They have travelled extensively since their wedding, and their second wedding anniversary is not too many weeks ahead!
Nancy and Elwin Hart
Washington, DC in 2012
Elwin Hart, email to author, July 29, 2013
As Elwin proved frequently in past decades, he is a problem solver.   One truism in descriptive statistics is that past performance is the best predictor of future performance.
As readers of his memoirs will have realized, Elwin finds imaginative ways to deal with and solve problems, regardless of their nature, such as …
•  rescuing a wounded Marine in a night time operation on  Samoa …
•  finding ways to optimize tactical radio procedures during battle at Tarawa …
•  proving he could solve seemingly impossible tasks with limited resources at OCS …
•  finding ways to ensure recruiting quotas in Louisiana are met or exceeded …
•  reorganizing a battalion to make it more battle ready and more efficient to lead …
•  increasing efficient productivity at the Data Systems Division at HQMC Quantico …
•  learning how to lobby state legislators … successfully! …
•  finding ways to help neighbors in desperate need …
•  figuring out ways to deal with and growing through personal challenges …
•  improvising and adapting effectively to generate needed problem-solving strategies.
The passage of time and good friendships have enabled Elwin to find ways to move forward. As well, his innate optimism and his ability to learn and adapt make the following stanzas particularly appropriate to Elwin ... from “Pick Yourself Up” in the 1936 musical comedy Swing Time:
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/p/pickyourselfup.shtml
“Nothing’s impossible I have found,
For when my chin is on the ground,
I pick myself up,
Dust myself off,
Start all over again.
Don’t lose your confidence if you slip,
Be grateful for a pleasant trip,
And pick yourself up,
Dust yourself off,
Start all over again.
Work like a soul inspired,
Till the battle of the day is won.
You may be sick and tired,
But you’ll be a man, my son!”
In retrospect, Elwin has risen to and grown from life's challenges.  He approaches life in much the same manner he has in the past.  And, to paraphrase Colonel Shoup's message from Betio to 2nd Marine Division Headquarters on the USS Maryland nearly 70 years ago:  Elwin is winning!
Did you do enough, Elwin?  Yes!  You have done so much, accomplished so much, been an inspiring role model for so many … you could not have done more.  Yes, there are some situations in life that humans cannot control. That is part and parcel of simply being human, even though one may well dislike what happens.  Adaptability is a key to survival. You have seen that many times in your life. Time can smooth the road ahead and help restore a good sense of what is worthwhile and possible in life. Nobody with a good, caring heart and a good, sound mind can fault you for living your life purposefully, the way you have.
It is the welcome duty of your fellow countrymen to remember all the good you have accomplished for our country.   This report serves to help us remember.  As one who served in the 2nd Marine Division, you know the power and inspiration underlying that Division’s motto … “FOLLOW ME!”
One lesson you have taught so well is that perseverance and the will to overcome are essential to meeting or beating or coexisting with life’s challenges.  Living life fully also means maximizing the value of whatever is to be gleaned from life’s challenges. The words you transmitted 70 years ago from the hot, bloody sands of Tarawa  … “We are winning!” … are about having hope and believing and not quitting. Your life story is about aiming high, reaching farther, being astute and enjoying the fruits of a life well lived.   You are still doing that.  And we will follow and remember your achievements. To you and your fellow Marines, we say, “Thank you for those lessons!”
AN INSPIRING DISPLAY OF MARINE CORPS RECOGNITION
OF
ELWIN'S EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY
BRAVO  ZULU,  Elwin Hart
For a distinguished Marine Corps career between 1941 and 1974
and more!
Thank you for the opportunity to present this tribute to you, Colonel.
SEMPER FI,  ELWIN!
Received 12 December 2012; finished 11 October 2013; updated 28 November 2013 and 30 December 2013.
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