nhboy
Ubi bene ibi patria
Link to original reddit thread.
"How could you bring yourself to move forward when certain death awaited you?
[–]Sterling_Mace 22 points 9 months ago IAMA Link.
You just do it. You have to do it; there are no other options. It was the same thing we experienced on Peleliu. You hit the beach and you're told to move as fast as you can up the beach and get out of there. I saw a lot of Marines just drop and try to hide in shallows and shell craters. I saw a number of Marines just drop...period. It was a hell of a way to attack something.
I take that back, there were other options. In fact, my platoon leader, Sgt. Thomas Palmisano, made the landing, but as soon as we landed he snuck back onto a tractor and went back to the ship. He hid out until they found him, and here this whole time we thought he was killed on the beach.
When we got back to Pavuvu after Peleliu, they brought Palmisano before the whole company (what was left of us) and gave him a court martial. He ended up serving 5 years in the Navy prison on Mare Island.
When I see scenes like this photo it makes me think of the stink of rotten flesh, both Marines and Japanese, that bathed the whole island. You can even see how those Marines are starting to bloat up, because they've been out there for a bit. See some of the skin slipping off their legs and arms. Just kids. (Sterling G Mace)
"How could you bring yourself to move forward when certain death awaited you?
[–]Sterling_Mace 22 points 9 months ago IAMA Link.
You just do it. You have to do it; there are no other options. It was the same thing we experienced on Peleliu. You hit the beach and you're told to move as fast as you can up the beach and get out of there. I saw a lot of Marines just drop and try to hide in shallows and shell craters. I saw a number of Marines just drop...period. It was a hell of a way to attack something.
I take that back, there were other options. In fact, my platoon leader, Sgt. Thomas Palmisano, made the landing, but as soon as we landed he snuck back onto a tractor and went back to the ship. He hid out until they found him, and here this whole time we thought he was killed on the beach.
When we got back to Pavuvu after Peleliu, they brought Palmisano before the whole company (what was left of us) and gave him a court martial. He ended up serving 5 years in the Navy prison on Mare Island.
When I see scenes like this photo it makes me think of the stink of rotten flesh, both Marines and Japanese, that bathed the whole island. You can even see how those Marines are starting to bloat up, because they've been out there for a bit. See some of the skin slipping off their legs and arms. Just kids. (Sterling G Mace)
