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cs—I—' S
 HQMC
20 JUN 2002

ERRATUM
to
SECURING THE SURRENDER

MARINES IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN (SFT)

Change the distribution PCN read 190003 14200"vice 190003143000.

DISTRIBUTION: PCN 19000314280

PCN 19000314280
Securing the Surrender:
Marines in the Occupation of Japan
by Charles R. Smith
t noon on 15 August Great Britain, China and the General of the Army Douglas
people gath-

A
1945, Soviet Union that Our Em- MacArthur in Manila and Fleet
ered near radios and pire accepts the terms of their Admiral Chester W. Nimitz on
hastily setup loud- Joint Declaration. Guam. Staff studies, based on the
speakers in homes, Although the word "surrender" possibility of the sudden collapse
offices, factories, and on city was not mentioned and few knew or surrender of the Japanese
streets throughout Japan. Even of the Joint Declaration of the Government and High Command,
though many felt that defeat was Allied Powers calling for uncondi- were prepared and distributed at
not far the vast majority tional surrender of Japan, they army and fleet level for planning
off,
expected to hear new exhortations quickly understood that the purposes. In early summer, as
to fight to the death or the official Emperor was announcing the ter- fighting still raged on Okinawa
announcement of a declaration of mination of hostilities on terms and in the Philippines, dual-plan-
war on the Soviet Union. laid down by the enemy. After ning went forward for both the
The muted strains of the nation- more than three and a half years of subjugation of Japan by force in
al anthem immediately followed fighting and sacrifice, Japan was Operations Olympic and Coronet,
the noon time-signal. Listeners accepting defeat. and its peaceful occupation in
then heard State Minister Hiroshi On Guam, 1,363 nautical miles Operations Blacklist and Campus.
Shimomura announce that the to the south, the men of the 6th Many essential elements of
next voice they would hear would Marine Division had turned in MacArthur's Olympic and Black-
be that of His Imperial Majesty the
early the night before after a long list plans were similar. The Sixth
Emperor. In a solemn voice, day of combat training. At 2200, Army, which was slated to make
Emperor Hirohito read the first lights on the island suddenly came the attack on the southern island
fateful words of the Imperial on. Radio reports had confirmed of Kyushu under Olympic, was
Rescript: rumors circulating for days given the contingent task of occu-
After pondering deeply throughout the division's camp on pying southern Japan under
the general trend of the the high ground overlooking Pago Operation Blacklist. Likewise, the
world situation and the actu- Bay: the Japanese had surrendered Eighth Army, using the wealth of
al state of Our Empire, We and there would be an immediate information it had accumulated
have decided to effect a set- ceasefire. As some Marines clad regarding the island of Honshu in
tlement of the present crisis only in towels or skivvies danced planning for Coronet, was desig-
by resort to an extraordinary in the streets and members of the nated the occupying force for
measure. To Our good and 22d Marines band conducted an northern Japan. The Tenth Army,
loyal subjects, we hereby con- impromptu parade, most of the a component of the Honshu inva-
vey Our will. We have com- 4th Marine Regimental Combat sion force, was given the mission
manded Our Government to Team was on board ship, ready to of occupying Korea. Admiral
communicate to the Govern- leave for "occupational and possi-Nimitz's plan envisioned the ini-
ments of the United States, tial occupation of Tokyo Bay and
ble light combat duty in Japanese -
held territory." No less happy other strategic areas by the Third
On the Cover: Passing a black-uni- than their fellow Marines ashore, Fleet and Marine forces, pending
formed Japanese policeman, the 26th they remained cynical. The the arrival of formal occupation
Marines move into the heart of Sasebo.
National Archives Photo 127-N-
Japanese had used subterfuge forces under General MacArthur's
139167
before. Who could say they were command.
not being deceptive now? When the Japanese government
At Left: Japanese children, seeing a
Marine for the first time, eagerly reach In May 1945, months before the made its momentous decision to
for chocolates offered them by SSgt Henry fighting ended, preliminary plans surrender in the wake of atomic
A. Weaver, III. National Archives for the occupation of Japan were bombings and the Soviet Union's
Photo 127-N-139887 prepared at the headquarters of (Continued on page 3)

I
 The Invasion That Never Was
y May 1945, as bitter fighting continued on
Okinawa and Americans celebrated Germany's
surrender, Pacific strategists had developed
detailed plans for Operation Downfall, the two-phased • Saga
invasion of the Japanese home islands to begin on 1
November. More than 5 million Allied troops would 4Omuta

conduct the two largest planned amphibious assaults in

history. As planned, all six Marine divisions and three 1NadkikI
•Kamamata

Marine aircraft wings would play major combat roles. -i KYU$HU

Operation Olympic, the first phase of Operation Noosoka.>

Downfall, would involve the seizure of southern 1

Kyushu by 14 divisions of the U.S. Sixth Army. Their Tsunc.
-•Mlnamota
objectives were to seize airfields, harbors, and staging
WY flWA lEA
areas for the subsequent buildup and launching of -.
Yamaxaku
Operation Coronet, the amphibious assault by 23 divi- Miyazaki
Matsuzaki
sions of the U. S. First and Eighth Armies on 1 March • Sandai

Kashikino
1946 against the industrial and political heart of Japan, Li
the Kanto Plain on Honshu. The Marine ground com- Kagoatlima.
hibuahif
ponent for Olympic was V Amphibious Corps, com- a.
/ 'Kaminojiawa Kanoya
•

posed of the 2d, 3d, and 5th Marine Divisions, under

the command of Major General Harry Schmidt. For
Coronet it was III Amphibious Corps (1st, 4th, and 6th
Marine Divisions) under Major General Keller E.
Rockey.
On 1 November, three corps of three divisions each
would conduct simultaneous amphibious assaults
against three separate locations on southern Kyushu.
General Schmidt's V Amphibious Corps would seize a
beachhead near Kushikino and then clear the Satsuma
Peninsula, bordering the west side of Kagoshima Bay.
The Army's XI Corps would land at Ariake Bay and
take the eastern peninsula. I Corps would land further
up the island's east coast. The three corps would move
north and establish a defensive line, stretching from
If peace had not come, scores of suicide motorboats were ready
for use against American invasion troops.
National Archives Photo 127-N-140564
-i* .,
i *A
•
KstiiwabarU- •
C. a
Sendai in the west to Tsuno in the east, effectively block-
ing Japanese reinforcements from moving south
through the central mountains. If needed, a fourth
corps and two additional divisions would reinforce the
three assault corps.
The Japanese defensive plan for Kyushu encom-
passed three phases. First, thousands of suicide aircraft
and boats would attack the American fleet, targeting
troop transports in an effort to disrupt the landings.
Second, newly organized defense divisions occupying
heavy fortifications overlooking the beaches, would
attempt to prevent the landing force from gaining a
foothold. Finally, mobile divisions based inland would
counterattack toward threatened positions. In August
1945, Japanese ground forces on Kyushu consisted of 14
divisions and several independent brigades, about
600,000 die-hard troops, most of whom were deployed
near the invasion area.
Ideally, an attacking force should have at least a
three-to-one superiority in numbers over the defenders.
On Kyushu, American and Japanese ground forces
would be of almost equal strength. In addition to regu-
lar military units, Allied forces would also face a large
citizen militia, armed with whatever was at hand. The
battle was expected to be bloody and costly. Lieutenant
General Thomas A. Wornham, who commanded the

2
 27th Marines and would have taken part in the assault,
later noted that when he commanded the 3d Marine
Division he would often commute between Japan and
Okinawa and "we'd fly right over Kagoshima, and you
could see the beaches where Operation Olympic was to
be. . Every time I flew over I'd say: Thank God that
. .
the Japanese decided to call the war off when they did,
because I don't think any of us would have made it.' It
was pretty wild country down there."
With Kyushu-based fighters furnishing air support,
Operation Coronet would be launched in March 1946.
First Army would land two corps abreast at Katakai
and Chosbi on the Pacific Coast east of Tokyo. The
XXIV Corps (three divisions) and General Rockey's III
Amphibious Corps would seize the peninsula flanking
Tokyo Bay. The Eighth Army's two corps would land at
Sagami Bay and seize the vital Yokohama-Yokosuka
port complex. In subsequent operations, the First Army
would advance on Tokyo from the east while the Eighth
Army would attack the capital from the southwest.
Facing Allied troops would be nine divisions totalling
some 300,000 men, with an additional 27 to 35 divisions
available as reinforcement.
The dropping of the atomic bombs ended the war
and the need for an invasion of the Japanese home
islands. If the invasion had proceeded, it would have
been costly. While there is no way to accurately predict
casualities, there is no doubt that the Japanese would
have suffered immense losses, both military and civil-
ian, dwarfing those inflicted by the atomic bombs. And
American casualties certainly would have been in the
hundreds of thousands.

(Continued from page 1) sufficient power "to take Japan 6th Marine Division to furnish a
entry into the war, MacArthur's into custody at short notice and regimental combat team to the
and Nimitz's staffs quickly shifted enforce the Allies' will until occu- Third Fleet for possible occupa-
their focus from Operation pation troops arrived" was tion duty. Major General Keller E.
Olympic to Blacklist and Campus, Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Rockey, Commanding General, III
their respective plans for the occu- Fleet, then at sea 250 miles south- Amphibious Corps, on the recom-
pation. In the process of coordi- east of Tokyo, conducting carrier mendation of Major General
natmg the two plans, MacArthur's air strikes against Hokkaido and Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., nominat-
staff notified Nimitz's representa- northern Honshu. On 8 August, ed Brigadier General William T.
tives that "any landing whatsoev- advance copies of Halsey's Clement, the division's assistant
er by naval or marine elements Operation Plan 10-45 for the occu- commander, to head the combined
prior to CINCAFPAC's [Mac- pation of Japan setting up Task Fleet landing force.
Arthur's] personal landing is Force 31 (TF 31), the Yokosuka The decision of which of the
emphatically unacceptable to Occupation Force, were distrib- division's three regiments would
him." MacArthur's objections to uted. The task force's mission, participate was an easy one for
an initial landing by naval and based on Nimitz's basic concept, General Shepherd. "Without hesi-
accompanying Marine forces was was to clear the entrance to Tokyo tation [he] selected the 4th
based upon his belief that they Bay and anchorages, occupy and Marines," Brigadier General Louis
would be unable to cope with any secure the Yokosuka Naval Base, Metzger, Clement's former chief of
Japanese military opposition and, seize and operate Yokosuka staff, later wrote. "This was a
more importantly, because "it Airfield, support the release of symbolic gesture on his part, as
would be psychologically offen- Allied prisoners, demilitarize all the old 4th Marine Regiment had
sive to ground and air forces of the enemy ships and defenses, and participated in the Philippine
Pacific Theater to be relegated assist U.S. Army troops in prepar- Campaign in 1942 and had been
from their proper missions at the ing for the landing of additional captured along with other U.S.
hour of victory." forces. forces in the Philippines. Now the
Despite apparent disagree- new 4th Marines would be the
Three days later, Rear Admiral
ments, MacArthur's plan for the Oscar C. Badger, Commander, main combat formation taking
occupation, Blacklist, was accept- Battleship Division 7, was desig- part in the initial landing and
ed. But with at least a two-week nated by Halsey to be commander, occupation of Japan."
lag predicted between the surren- TF 31. The carriers, battleships, Preliminary plans for the activa-
der and a landing in force, both and cruisers of Vice Admiral John tion of Task Force Able were pre-
MacArthur and Nimitz agreed S. McCain's Task Force 38 also pared by III Amphibious Corps.
that the immediate occupation of were alerted to organize and The task force was to consist of a
Japan was paramount and should equip naval and Marine landing skeletal headquarters of 19 officers
be given the highest priority. The forces. At the same time, Fleet and 44 enlisted men, which was
only military unit available with Marine Force, Pacific, directed the later augmented, and the 4th
3
Marines, Reinforced, with a Amphibious Corps issued warn- of the task force which were
strength of 5,156. An amphibian ing orders to the division's trans- undergoing rehabilitation follow-
tractor company and a medical port quartermaster section direct- ing the Okinawa campaign.
company were added bringing the ing that the regimental combat Requirements for clothing, ord-
total task force strength up to team, with attached units, be nance, and equipment and sup-
5,400. Officers designated to form ready to embark 48 hours prior to plies had to be determined and
General Clement's staff were alert- the expected time of the ships' arranged for from the 5th Field
ed and immediately began plan- arrival. This required the com- Service Depot. Initially, this
fling to load out the task force. III plete re-outfitting of all elements proved to be difficult due to the

Brigadier General William T. Clement

eading the 4th Marines ashore at Yokosuka on 30 joined the 6th Marine Division in November 1944 as
August was a memorable event in Brigadier assistant division commander and took part in the
General William T. Clement's life and career. Okinawa campaign. Less than two months after the
Clement was 48 and had been a Marine Corps officer Yokosuka landing, he rejoined the division in Northern
for 27 years at the time he was given command of the China. When the division was redesignated the 3d
Fleet Landing Force that would make the first landing Marine Brigade, Clement became commanding general
on the Japanese home islands following the nation's and in June 1946 was named Commanding General,
unconditional surrender. He was born in Lynchburg, Marine Forces, Tsingtao Area.
Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Military Returning to the United States in September, he was
Institute. Less than a month after reporting for active appointed President, Naval Retiring Board, and then
duty in 1917, Clement sailed for Haiti where he joined Director, Marine Corps Reserve. In September 1949, he
the 2d Marine Regiment and its operations against rebel assumed command of Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San
bandits. Diego, holding that post until his retirement in 1952.
Upon his return to the United States in 1919, he Lieutenant General Clement died in 1955.
reported for duty at Marine Barracks, Quantico, where
he remained until 1923, when he became post adjutant
of the Marine Detachment at the American Legation in
Peking, China. In 1926, he was assigned to the 4th
Marine Regiment at San Diego as adjutant and in
October of the same year was given command of a com-
pany of Marines on mail guard duty in Denver,
Colorado, where he remained for three months until
r
rejoining the 4th Marines. Clement sailed with the reg-
iment for duty in China in 1927 and was successively a
company commander and regimental operations and
training officer. Following his return to the United
States in 1929, he became the executive officer of the
Marine Recruit Depot, San Diego, and then command-
ing officer of the Marine Detachment on board the West
Virginia. Clement spent most of the 1930s at Quantico,
first as a student, then an as instructor, and finally as a
battalion commander with the 5th Marines.
The outbreak of World War II found Clement serving
on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet in
the Philippines. Although quartered at Corregidor, he
served as a liaison among the Commandant, 16th Naval
District; the Commanding General, U.S. Armed Forces
in the Far East; and particularly with the forces engaged
on Bataan until ordered to leave on board the U.S. sub-
marine Snapper for Australia in April 1942. For his han-
dling of the diversified units engaged at Cavite Navy
Yard and on Bataan, he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Following tours in Europe and at Quantico, Clement

4
 that evening, the transport divi-
sion was ready to sail for its ren-
dezvous at sea with the Third
Fleet. Within approximately 96
hours, the regimental combat
team, it was reported, "had been
completely re-outfitted, all equip-
ment deficiencies corrected, all
elements provided with an initial
allowance to bring them up to
T/ 0 and T/ A levels, and a thirty
day re-supply procured for ship-
ment."
Two days prior to the departure
of the main body of Task Force
Able, General Clement and the
nucleus of his headquarters staff
left Guam on the landing ship,
National Archives Photo 80-G-332828 vehicle Ozark (LSV 2), accompa-
BGen William T. Clement, Fleet Landing Force commander, meets with Adm Halsey's nied by the Shadwell (LSV 15) and
chiefof staff, RAdm Robert B. Carney, on board the Missouri to discuss plans for the two destroyers, to join the Third
landings in Tokyo Bay and the securing of Yokosuka Naval Base.. Fleet. As no definite mission had
secret nature of the operation and would arrive in port on 14 August, been assigned to the force, little
that all requisitions for support 24 hours later than originally preliminary planning had taken
from supply agencies and the scheduled. On the evening of the place so time enroute was spent
Island Command on Guam had to 13th, however, "all loading plans studying intelligence summaries
be processed through III for supplies were thrown into of the Tokyo area. Few maps were
Amphibious Corps. At 0900 on 12 chaos" by information that the available and those that were
August, the veil of secrecy sur- large transport, Harris (APA 2), proved to be inadequate. The trip
rounding the proposed operation had been deleted from the group to the rendezvous point was
was lifted so that task force units of ships assigned and that the uneventful except for a reported
could deal directly with all neces- Grimes (APA 172), a smaller trans- torpedo wake across the Ozark's
sary service and supply agencies. port with 50 percent less capacity bow. Several depth charges were
All elements of the task force and would be substituted. The resul- dropped by the destroyer escorts
the 5th Field Service Depot then tant reduction of shipping space with unknown results.
went on a 24-hour work day to was partially made up by the Halsey's ships were sighted on
complete the resupply task. The assignment of a landing ship, tank 18 August, and next morning,
regiment not only lacked supplies, (LST) to the transport group. III Clement and key members of his
but it also was understrength. Six Amphibious Corps informed the staff transferred to the battleship
hundred enlisted replacements task force that no additional ship Missouri (BB 63) for the first of sev-
were obtained from the FMFPac would be allocated. Later, after eral rounds of conferences on the
Transient Center, Marianas, to fill the task force departed Guam, a upcoming operation. At the con-
gaps in its ranks left by combat second LST was allotted to lift a ference, Task Force 31 was tenta-
attrition and rotation to the United portion of the remaining supplies tively established and Clement
States. and equipment, including the learned, for the first time, that the
Dump areas and dock space amphibian tractors of Company Third Fleet Landing Force would
were allotted by the Island A, 4th Amphibian Tractor Batt- play an active part in the occupa-
Command to accommodate the alion. tion of Japan by landing on Miura
five transports, a cargo ship, and a On the afternoon of 14 August, Peninsula, 30 miles southwest of
dock landing ship of Transport loading began and continued Tokyo. The primary task assigned
Division 60 assigned to carry Task throughout the night. The troops by Admiral Halsey to Clement's
Force Able. The mounting-out boarded between 1000 and 1200 forces was seizure and occupation
process was considerably aided by the following day, and by 1600 all of Yokosuka airfield and naval
the announcement that all ships transports were loaded. By 1900 base in preparation for initial

5
landings by air of the 11th beaches near Zushi, followed by a Force 31 was officially organized
Airborne Division. Located south five-mile drive east across the and Admiral Badger formed the
of Yokohama, 22 miles from peninsula in two columns over the ships assigned to the force into a
Tokyo, the sprawling base con- two good roads to secure the naval separate tactical group, the trans-
tained two airfields, a seaplane base for the landing of supplies ports and large amphibious ships
base, aeronautical research center, and reinforcements. The second in column, with circular screens
optical laboratory, gun factory and plan involved simultaneous land- composed of destroyers and high
ordnance depot, torpedo factory, ings from within Tokyo Bay on the speed transports. In addition,
munitions and aircraft storage, beaches and docks of Yokosuka three subordinate task units were
tank farms, supply depot, ship- naval base and air station, to be formed: Third Fleet Marine
yard, and training schools and followed by the occupation of the Landing Force; Third Fleet Naval
hospitals. During the war approx- Zushi area, thus sealing off and Landing Force; and a landing
imately 70,000 civilians and 50,000 then demilitarizing the entire force of sailors and Royal Marines
naval ratings worked or trained at peninsula. The Zushi landing from Vice Admiral Sir Bernard
the base. plan was preferred since it did not Rawling's British Carrier Task
Collateral missions included involve bringing ships into the Force. To facilitate organization
the demilitarization of the entire restricted waters south of Tokyo and establish control over the
Miura Peninsula, which formed Bay until assault troops had dealt three provisional commands, the
the western arm of the headlands with "the possibility of Japanese transfer of American and British
enclosing Tokyo Bay, and the treachery." Following the confer- sailors and Marines and their
seizure of the Zushi area, includ- ence, Admiral Halsey recom- equipment to designated trans-
ing Hayama Imperial Palace, mended to Lieutenant General ports by means of breeches buoys
General MacArthur's tentative Robert L. Eichelberger, comman- and cargo slings began immedi-
headquarters, on the southwest der of the Eighth Army, whom ately. Carriers, battleships, and
coast of the peninsula. Two alter- MacArthur had appointed to com- cruisers were brought along both
native schemes of maneuver were mand forces ashore in the occupa- sides of a transport to expedite the
proposed to accomplish these mis-tion of northern Japan, that the operation. In addition to the land-
sions. The first contemplated a Zushi plan be adopted. ing battalions of sailors and
landing by assault troops on the At 1400 on 19 August, Task Marines, fleet units formed base
maintenance companies, a naval
Somewhere at sea off the coast of Japan, the carrier Yorktown maintains a course with-
in 75 feet of the landing ship Ozark, as a breeches buoy is strung between the two ships
air activities organization to oper-
and a sea-going Marine is hauled across to the Ozark. ate Yokosuka airfield, and nucleus
crews to seize and secure Japanese
National Archives Photo 127-N-133346
vessels. In less than three days,
the task of transferring at sea some
'a 'L-4 3,500 men and hundreds of tons of
weapons, equipment, and ammu-
nition was accomplished without
accident. As soon as they reported
on board their transports, the
newly organized units began an
intensive program of training for
ground combat operations and
occupation duties.
On 20 August, the ships carry-
ing the 4th Marine Regimental

r
Combat Team joined the burgeon-
ing task force and General
Clement and his staff transferred
from the Ozark to the Grimes.
Clement's command now includ-
ed the 5,400 men of the reinforced
4th Marines; a three-battalion reg-
iment of approximately 2,000
6
Marines from the ships of Task
Force 38; 1,000 sailors from Task
Force 38 organized into two land-
ing battalions; a battalion of nucle-
us crews for captured shipping;
and a British battalion of 200 sea-
men and 250 Royal Marines. To
act as a floating reserve, five addi-
tional battalions of partially
equipped sailors were organized
from within Admiral McCain's
carrier battle group.
The next day, General Eichel-
berger, who had been informed of
the alternative plans formulated
by Admirals Halsey and Badger,
directed that the landing be made
at the naval base rather than in the
Zushi area. Although there was
mounting evidence that the
enemy would cooperate fully with
the occupying forces, the Zushi
area, Eichelberger pointed out,
had been selected by MacArthur
as his headquarters area and was
therefore restricted. His primary
reason, however, for selecting
Yokosuka rather than Zushi as the
landing site involved the overland
movement of the landing force.
"This overland movement [from
Zushi to Yokosuka]," Brigadier
General Metzger later noted,
"would have exposed the landing
force to possible enemy attack
while its movement was restricted
over narrow roads and through a
series of tunnels which were easi-
ly susceptible to sabotage. Fur- provide for a simultaneous Army- the British Landing Force to occu-
ther, it would have delayed the Navy landing. A tentative area of py and demilitarize three small
early seizure of the major Japanese responsibility, including the cities island forts in the Uraga Strait at
naval base." of Uraga, Kubiri, Yokosuka, and the entrance to Tokyo Bay. To
Eichelberger's dispatch also Funakoshi, was assigned to erase the threat of shore batteries
included information that the 11th Clement's force. The remainder of and coastal forts, the 2d Battalion,
Airborne Division would make its the peninsula was assigned to 4th Marines, supported by an
initial landing at Atsugi airfield, a Major General Joseph M. Swing's underwater demolition team and
few miles northwest of the north- 11th Airborne Division. While a team of 10 Navy gunner's mates
ern end of the Miura Peninsula, Ecihelberger's directive affected to demilitarize the heavy coastal
instead of at Yokosuka. The origi- the employment of the Fleet defense guns, was given the mis-
nal plans, which were prepared on Landing Force it did not place the sion of landing on Futtsu Saki, a
the assumption that General force under Eighth Army control. long, narrow peninsula which jut-
Clement's men would seize To insure the safety of allied ted from the eastern shore into
Yokosuka airfield for the airborne warships entering Tokyo Bay, Uraga Strait at the mouth of Tokyo
operation, had to be changed to Clement's operation plan detailed Bay After completing its mission,
7
the battalion was to reembark in combat planes in direct support, with the Third Fleet entry into
more than 1,000 carrier-based
its landing craft to take part in the Sagami Wan on the 28th.
main landing as the regiment's planes would be armed and avail- The Japanese had been instruct-
reserve battalion. Nucleus crews able if needed. Though it was ed as early as 15 August to begin
from the Fleet Naval Landing hoped that the Yokosuka landing minesweeping in the waters off
Force were to enter Yokosuka's would be uneventful, Task Force Tokyo to facilitate the operations
inner harbor prior to H-Hour and 31 was prepared to deal with of the Third Fleet. On the morning
take possession of the damaged either organized resistance or of the entrance into Sagami Wan,
battleship Nagato, whose guns individual fanaticism on the part Japanese emissaries and pilots
commanded the landing beaches. of the Japanese. were to meet with Rear Admiral
The 4th Marines, with the 1st L-Day was originally scheduled Robert B. Carney, Halsey's Chief
and 3d Battalions in assault, was for 26 August, but on the 20th, of Staff, and Admiral Badger on
scheduled to make the initial land- storm warnings indicating that a board the Missouri to receive
ing at Yokosuka on L-Day. The typhoon was developing 300 miles instructions relative to the surren-
battalions of the Fleet Marine and to the southeast forced Admiral der of the Yokosuka Naval Base
Naval Landing Forces were to Halsey to postpone the landing and to guide the first allied ships
land in reserve and take control of date to the 28th. Ships were to into anchorages. Halsey was not
specific areas of the naval base and enter Sagami Wan, the vast outer anxious to keep his ships, many of
airfield, while the 4th Marines bay which led to Tokyo Bay, on L them small vessels crowded with
pushed inland to link up with ele- minus 2 day. To avoid the troops, at sea in typhoon weather,
ments of the 11th Airborne Di- typhoon, all task forces were and he asked and received permis-
vision landing at Atsugi airfield. ordered to proceed southwest sion from MacArthur to put into
The cruiser San Diego (CL 53), toward a "temporary point" off Sagami Wan one day early.
Admiral Badger's flagship; 4 Sofu-gan, where they were replen- Early on the 27th, the Japanese
destroyers; and 12 assault craft ished and refueled. On 25 August, emissaries reported on board the
were to be prepared to furnish word was received from General Missouri. Several demands were
naval gunfire support on call. MacArthur that the typhoon dan- presented, most of which centered
Four observation planes were ger would delay Army air opera- upon obtaining information rela-
assigned to observe the landing, tions for 48 hours, and L-Day was tive to minefields and shipping
and although there were to be no consequently set for 30 August, channels. Japanese pilots and
Marines of the Fleet Landing Force on board the Ozark receive a final brief from LtCol
interpreters were then put on
Fred D. Beans, the 4th Marines' commanding officer, prior to landing at Yokosuka. board a destroyer and delivered to
National Archives Photo 127-N-133054 the lead ships of Task Force 31.
Due to a lack of suitable mine-
sweepers which had prevented
the Japanese from clearing Sagami
Wan and Tokyo Bay, the channel
into Tokyo Bay was immediately
check-swept with negative results.
By late afternoon, the movement
of Admiral Badger's task force to
safe anchorages in Sagami Wan
was accomplished without mci-
dent.
At 0900 on 28 August, the first
American task force, consisting of
the combat elements of Task Force
31, entered Tokyo Bay and
dropped anchor off Yokosuka at
1300. During the movement,
Naval Task Forces 35 and 37 stood
by to provide fire support if need-
ed. Carrier planes of Task Force 38
conducted an air demonstration in

8
such force "as to discourage any building with a complete invento- night at anchor, there was a fresh
treachery on the part of the ry on its contents and appropriate reminder of Japanese brutality.
enemy." In addition, combat air keys. Two British prisoners of war
patrols, direct support aircraft, As the naval commanders made hailed one of the fleet's picket
and planes patrolling outlying air- arrangements for the Yokosuka boats in Sagami Wan and were
fields flew low over populated landing, a reconnaissance party of taken on board the San Juan (CL
areas to reinforce the allied pres- Army Air Force technicians with 54), command ship of the specially
ence. emergency communications and constituted Allied Prisoner of War
Shortly after anchoring, Vice airfield engineer equipment land- Rescue Group. Their description
Admiral Michitore Totsuka, ed at Atsugi airfield to prepare the of life in the prison camps and of
Commandant of the First Naval way for the airborne operation on the extremely poor physical condi-
District and Yokosuka Naval Base, L-Day. Radio contact was estab- tion of many of the prisoners, later
and his staff reported to Admiral lished with Okinawa where the confirmed by an International Red
Badger in the San Diego for further 11th Division was waiting to exe- Cross representative, prompted
instructions regarding the surren- cute its part in Blacklist. The atti- Halsey to order the rescue group
der of his command. They were tude of the Japanese officials, both into Tokyo Bay and to stand by for
informed that the naval base area at Yokosuka and Atsugi, was uni- action on short notice. At 1420 on
was to be cleared of all personnel formly one of outward sub- the 29th, Admiral Nimitz arrived
except for skeletal maintenance servience and docility. But years by seaplane from Guam and
and guard crews; guns of the forts, of bitter experiences caused many authorized Halsey to begin rescue
ships, and coastal batteries com- allied commanders and troops to operations immediately, although
manding the bay were to be ren- view the emerging picture of the MacArthur had directed the Navy
dered inoperative; the breech- Japanese as meek and harmless not begin recovery operations
blocks were to be removed from with a jaundiced eye. As Admiral until the Army was ready. Special
all antiaircraft and dual-purpose Carney noted at the time: "It must teams, guided by carrier planes
guns and their positions marked be remembered that these are the overhead, quickly began the task
with white flags visible four miles same Japanese whose treachery, of bringing in allied prisoners
to seaward; and, Japanese guides cruelty, and subtlety brought from the Omori and Ofuna camps
and interpreters were to be on the about this war; we must be contin- and the Shanagama hospital. By
beach to meet the landing force. ually vigilant for overt treachery. 1910 that evening, the first prison-
Additionally, guards were to sta- They are always dangerous." ers of war arrived on board the
tioned at each warehouse and During the Third Fleet's first hospital ship Benevolence (AH 13),
Just after dawn on 30 August, Marines of the 2d Battalion, 4th batteries prior to the main landing at Yokosuka. They found the
Marines, hit the beaches of Futtsu Saki to neutralize the shore Japanese had followed their surrender instructions to the letter.
National Archives Photo 127-N-134867

.tI

a- -

9
 of the peninsula and occupied the
second fort. The Japanese, they
found, had followed their instruc-
tions to the letter. The German-
made coastal and antiaircraft guns
had been rendered useless and
only a 22-man garrison remained
to oversee the peaceful turnover.
As the Japanese soldiers marched
away, the Marines, as Staff
Sergeant Edward Meagher later
reported, "began smashing up the
rifles, machine guns, bayonets and
antiaircraft guns. They made a
fearful noise doing it. Quite obvi-
National Archives Photo 127-N-133859
ously, they hadn't enjoyed doing
Marines of the 4th Regiment come ashore at Yokosuka from landing craft as they had anything so much in a long, long
done many times before, but this time no one is firing. time." By 0845, after raising the
American flag over both forts, the
and at midnight 739 men had been The first group of transports car- battalion, its mission accom-
brought out. After evacuating ried the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines; plished, reembarked for the
camps in the Tokyo area, the San the second the bulk of the landing Yokosuka landing, scheduled for
Juan moved south to the Nagoya- force, consisting of the rest of the 0930. With the taking of the Futtsu
Hamamatsu area and then north 4th Marines and the Fleet Marine Saki forts and the landing of the
to the Sendai-Karnaishi area. and Naval Landing Forces; and first transports at Atsugi, the occu-
During the next 14 days, more the third, the British Landing pation of Japan was underway.
than 19,000 allied prisoners were Force. All plans of the Yokosuka With first light came dramatic
liberated. Occupation Force had been based evidence that the Japanese would
Also that evening, for the first on an H-Hour for the main land- comply with the surrender terms.
time since Pearl Harbor, the ships ing of 1000, but last-minute word Lookouts on board Task Force 31
of the Third Fleet were illuminat- was received from General ships could see white flags flying
ed. As General Metzger later re- MacArthur on the 29th that the over abandoned and inoperative
membered: "Word was passed to first transport planes carrying the gun positions. A 98-man nucleus
illuminate ship, but owing to the 11th Airborne Division would be crew. from the battleship South
long wartime habit of always landing at Atsugi airfield at 0600. Dakota (BB 57) boarded the battle-
darkening ship at night, no ship To preserve the value and impact ship Nagato at 0805 and received
would take the initiative in turn- of simultaneous Army-Navy oper- the surrender from a skeleton
ing their lights on. Finally, after ations, Task Force 31's plans were force of officers and technicians;
the order had been repeated a cou- changed to allow for the earlier the firing locks of the ship's main
ple of times lights went on. It was landing time. battery had been removed and all
a wonderful picture with all the As their landing craft ap- secondary and antiaircraft guns
ships flying large battle flags both proached the beaches of Futtsu relocated to the Navy Yard. "At
at the foretruck and the stern. In Saki, the Marines of 2d Battalion, no time was any antagonism,
the background was snowcapped 4th Marines spotted a sign left on resentment, arrogance or passive
Mount Fuji." Movies were shown shore by their support team: "US resistance encountered; both offi-
on the weather decks. While the NAVY UNDERWATER DEMOLI- cers (including the captain) and
apprehension of some lessened, TION TEAMS WELCOME men displaying a very meek and
lookouts were still posted, radars MARINES TO JAPAN." At 0558, subservient attitude," noted Navy
continued to search, and the ships the ramps dropped and Company Captain Thomas J. Flynn in his
remained on alert. G, under First Lieutenant George official report. "It seemed almost
Long before dawn on L-Day, B. Lamberson, moved ashore. incredible that these bowing,
three groups of Task Force 31 While Lamberson's company and scraping, and scared men were the
transports, with escorts, moved another seized the main fort and same brutal, sadistic enemies who
from Sagami Wan into Tokyo Bay armory, a third landed on the tip had tortured our prisoners,

10
reports of whose plight were 3d Battalion, led by Major Wilson occupation was completed.
being received the same day." B. Hunt, on Green Beach in the General Clement and his staff
The morning was warm and heart of the Navy Yard. There was landed at 1000 on Green Beach
bright. There was hardly a ripple no resistance. The few unarmed where they were met by Japanese
on the water as the 4th Marines, Japanese present wore white arm- Navy Captain Kiyoshi Masuda
commanded by Lieutenant Col- bands, as instructed, to signify and his staff who formally surren-
onel Fred D. Beans, scrambled into that they were essential mainte- dered the naval base. "They were
landing craft. Once on board, they nance troops, officials, or inter- informed that non-cooperation or
adjusted their heavy packs and preters. Hot-heads and others opposition of any kind would be
joked and laughed as the considered unable to abide by the severely dealt with." Clement
coxswains powered the craft Emperor's decree had been then proceeded to the Japanese
toward the rendezvous point a removed. Oriented by the few headquarters building where an
few miles off shore. Officers and remaining personnel, the two American flag was raised with
senior enlisted men reminded Marine battalions rapidly moved appropriate ceremony at 1015.
their marines of orders given days forward, fanning out around The flag used was the same raised
before: weapons would be locked hangers and buildings. Leaving by the First Provisional Brigade on
and not used unless fired upon; guards at warehouses and other Guam's Orote Peninsula and by
insulting epithets in connection primary installations, the Marines the 6th Marine Division on
with the Japanese as a race or indi- moved across the airfield and Okinawa.
viduals would not be condoned; through the Navy Yard, checking Vice Admiral Michitore Totsuka
and all personnel were to present all buildings and each gun posi- had been ordered to be present on
a smart military bearing and prop- tion to insure that the breechblock the docks of the naval base to sur-
er deportment. "When you hit the had been removed and "driving render the First Naval District to
beach, Navy cameramen who will all non-essential Japanese before Admiral Carney, acting for
land earlier will be there," them." With the seizure of Admiral Halsey, and Admiral
Lieutenant Colonel George B. Bell Yokosuka, the three island forts in Badger. At 1030, the San Diego,
said to the men of the 1st Surago Channel, and the landing with Carney and Badger on board,
Battalion. "They will be taking on Azuma Peninsula by British tied up at the dock at Yokosuka.
pictures. Pictures of you men forces, the initial phase of the With appropriate ceremony, the
landing. I don't want any of you BGen William T. Clement with Vice Admiral Michitore Totsuka, center, commander of
mugging the lenses. Simply get the First Naval District, proceed to the formal surrender ceremony at Yokosuka.
ashore as quickly as possible and National Archives Photo 127-N-133863
do your job."
As the Marines of 1st Battalion
and 3d Battalion gave their gear a
last minute check, the coxswain in
the lead craft signaled with both
hands aloft and the boats, now
abreast, moved toward the shore
exactly on schedule. Out of habit,
the Marines crouched low in the
boat. "No one knew what would
happen on the beach. You could-
n't be absolutely certain. You were
Is
dealing with the Nip." Accom-
panying the Marines were
"enough correspondents, photog-
raphers and radio men," one
Marine observed, "to make up a
full infantry company"
At 0930, Marines of Lieutenant
Colonel Bell's 1st Battalion landed
on Red Beach southeast of
Yokosuka airfield and those of the

11
 island forts, landed at the naviga-
tion school in the naval base and
took over the area between the
sectors occupied by the Fleet
Naval and Marine Landing
Forces. Azuma Peninsula, a large
hill mass extensively tunneled as a
small boat supply base, which was
part of the British occupation area,
4.. t. was investigated by a force of
Royal Marines and found aban-
doned.
Relieved by the other elements
of the landing force, the 4th
S Marines moved out to the Initial
Occupation Line and set up a
perimeter defense for the naval
base and airfield. There they met
groups of uniformed police
National Archives Photo 306-NT-316B-27 brought down from Tokyo osten-
Flanked by LtGen Robert L. Eichelberger, hands folded at right, General Douglas sibly to separate the occupational
MacArthur talks with reporters shortly after landing at Atsugi airfield.
forces from the local Japanese
formal surrender took place at the Navy Yard area secured by 3d population. Later, patrol contact
1045, after which Badger, accom- Battalion, and the Fleet Marine was made with the 11th Airborne
panied by Clement, departed for Landing Force occupied the air- Division, which had landed 4,200
the former naval base headquar- field installations seized by 1st men during the day.
ters building, the designated site Battalion. The British Landing The first night ashore was quiet.
for Task Force 31 and Fleet Force, after evacuating all Guards were posted at major
Landing Force headquarters. Japanese personnel from the installations while small roving
At noon, with operations pro- Adm William Halsey, right, discusses the occupation of Yokosuka Naval Base with
ceeding satisfactorily at Yokosuka FAdm Chester Nimitz and BGen Clement on the afternoon of the landings.
and in the occupation zone of the National Archives Photo 80-G-490466
11th Airborne Division, General
Eichelberger assumed operational
control of the Fleet Landing Force
from Halsey. Both of the top
American commanders in the
Allied drive across the Pacific set
foot on Japanese soil on L-Day.
General MacArthur landed at
Atsugi airfield and subsequently
set up temporary headquarters in
Yokohama's Grand Hotel, one of
the few buildings in the city to
escape serious damage. Admira.l
Nimitz, accompanied by Halsey,
came ashore at Yokosuka at 1330
to make an inspection of the naval
base.
Reserves and reinforcements F
landed at Yokosuka during the
morning and early afternoon
according to schedule. The Fleet
Naval Landing Force took over
12
 Navy Yard had been cleared." The
-i-. 4th Marines had carried out
General MacArthur's orders to
disarm and demobilize with
amazing speed. There was no evi-
dence that the Japanese would do
anything but cooperate. It was
clear, for the moment, that the
occupation would succeed.
On 31 August, Clement's forces
continued to consolidate their
hold on the naval base and the
S surrounding defense area. On
'S
orders from General Eichelberger,
Company L, 3d Battalion, sailed in
two destroyer transports to
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 134639 Tateyama Naval Air Station on the
Elements of the 4th Marines move into grounds of the Experimental Aircraft Factory northeastern shore of Sagami Wan
at Yokosuka. to accept its surrender and to
patrols covered the larger areas on Lieutenant Colonel Beans noted reconnoiter the beach approaches
which no guards were posted. A later, "and brought two truckloads and cover the 3 September landing
beer ration was issued to those not of beer back at night, which we of the Army's 112th Cavalry
on duty. "We got a couple of paid for in cash. We had no trou- Regimental Combat Team. With
trucks and went up to Yokohama," ble whatever. because the entire
. . the complete cooperation of the
Among the few Marines present at the surrender ceremony on from Japanese prison camps and brought on board the Missouri
board the Missouri, other than the ship's Marine detachment, to witness the surrender. The other three, all naval personnel,
were LtGen Roy S. Geiger, his aide Maj John Q. Owsley, BGen were Cdr Arthur L. Mosher, of the Houston, Lt James W
Joseph H. Fellows, BGen William T. Clement, and lstLt William Condit, of the Yorktown, and MM2cI L. C. Shaw of the
F.Harris, the son of BGen Field Harris. Captured on Grenadier.
Corregidor, lstLt Harris was one of four Americans rescued National Archives Photo 80-G-3488366

2-A-;

13
 officers were taking the sur- eral MacArthur then signed as
render inwardly quite hard. Supreme Commander for the
Here was a man passing over Allied Powers (SCAP) and
to a foreign power every- Admiral Nimitz for the United
thing that he stood for. Yet he States. They were followed in turn
looked me straight in the eye. by other senior allied representa-
He wasn't haughty. He did- tives. The war that began at Pearl
n't turn away. But he was Harbor now officially was ended
obviously deeply moved. I and the occupation begun. When
felt sure he must be thinking later asked how many troops
that his surrender was some- would be needed to occupy Japan,
thing that went along with MacArthur said that 200,000
the military profession. You would be adequate. Lieutenant
fight and lose and you must General Roy S. Geiger, Com-
face the consequences. manding General, FMFPac,
Occupation operations contin- agreed. "Sure," he said, "that'll be
Marine Corps Photo (MAG-31) ued to run smoothly as prepara- enough. There's no fight left in
Col John C. Munn brought MAG-31 into tions were made to accept the for- the Japs." Then he added: "Why,
Yokosuka to support the occupation of mal surrender of the Japanese a squad of Marines could handle
northern Japan. The group had partic-
ipated in the Marshall Island and
Empire on board the Missouri, the whole affair."
Okinawa Campaigns before moving into where leading Allied commanders As the surrender ceremony took
Japan. had gathered from every corner of place on the main deck of the
the Pacific. At 0930 on 2 Missouri, advance elements of the
Japanese Army, Navy, and Foreign September, under the flag that Eighth Army's occupation force
Office, the company quickly Commodore Perry had flown in entered Tokyo Bay. Ships carrying
reconnoitered the beaches and Tokyo Bay, the Japanese represen- the Headquarters of the XI Corps
then set up its headquarters at the tative of the Emperor, Foreign and the 1st Cavalry Division
air station. Likewise, elements of Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, and docked at Yokohama. Transports
1st Battalion, 15th Marines, under of the Imperial General Staff, with the 112th Cavalry on board
Lieutenant Colonel Walter S. General Yoshijiro Umezu, signed moved to Tateyama, and on 3
Osipoff, moved south to accept the surrender documents. Gen- September the troopers landed
the surrender and demilitarize
Japanese garrisons in the Uraga- Colorfully dressed Geisha girls watch as a Marine makes his nightly rounds.
Kurihama area. Less than 500 Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 136212
yards from where Commodore
Matthew Perry and his Marine
detachment landed 92 years earli-
er, Osipoff, in a simple ceremony,
took control of the Kurihama
Naval Base. Japanese officials
turned over complete inventories
of all equipment and detailed
maps of defensive installations,
including guns so carefully cam-
ouflaged that it would have taken
Marine patrols weeks to find
them. Here, as at Tateyama, the
Japanese carried out the surrender
instructions without resistance.
As Lieutenant Colonel Osipoff
noted:
When the Japanese captain
presented his sword to me, it
was evident that he and his

14
and relieved Company L, 3d em Honshu was being made. On rived, the air base was trans-
Battalion, 4th Marines, which then 23 August, AirFMFPac had desig- formed. Complete recreational
returned to Yokosuka. nated Marine Aircraft Group 31 facilities were established, consist-
With the occupation proceeding (MAG-31), then at Chimu airfield ing of a post exchange, theater,
smoothly, plans were made to dis- on Okinawa, to move to Japan as a basketball courts, and enlisted
solve the Fleet Landing Force and supporting air group for the recreation rooms in each of the
Task Force 31. The 4th Marines northern occupation. Colonel squadron's barracks.
was selected to assumed responsi- John C. Munn, the group's com- When not engaged in renovat-
bility for the entire naval base area manding officer, reconnoitered ing the air base or on air missions,
and airfield. The first unit to Yokosuka airfield and its facilities liberty parties were organized and
return to the fleet was the British soon after the initial landing and sent by boat to Tokyo. Preference
Landing Force, which was directed necessary repairs to run- was given to personnel who were
relieved by the 3d Battalion, 4th ways and taxiways in addition to expected to return to the United
Marines, of the area between the assigning areas to each unit of the States for discharge. Fratern-
Navy Yard and the airfield on 4 group. On 7 September, the group
zation, although originally forbid-
September. The Fleet Marine headquarters, operations, intelli- den by the American high com-
Landing Force was then relieved gence, and the 24 F4U Corsairs mand, was allowed after the first
of its control in the Torpedo and men of Marine Fighter week. "The Japanese Geisha girls
School, followed by the relief ofSquadron 441 flew in from have taken a large share of the
the Fleet Naval Landing Force in Okinawa. The group was joined attention of the many curious
the eastern end of the Navy Yard by Marine Fighter Squadron 224 sight-seers of the squadron,"
by the 3d Battalion. By 6 on the 8th; Marine Fighter reported Major Michael R. Yunck,
September, the 1st Battalion had Squadron 311 on the 9th; Marine commanding officer of Marine
relieved the remaining elements of Night Fighter Squadron 542 on the Fighter Squadron 311. "The
the Fleet Marine Landing Force of 10th; and Marine Torpedo Bomber Oriental way of life is something
the airfield and all ships' detach- Squadron 131 on the 12th. "The very hard for an American to com-
ments of sailors and Marines had entire base," the group reported, prehend. The opinions on how
returned to their parent vessels "was found [to be in] extremely the occupation job 'should be
and the provisional landing units poor police and all structures and done' range from the most gener-
deactivated. living quarters in a bad state of ous to the most drastic—all agree-
While a large part of the repair. All living quarters were ing on one thing, though, that it is
strength of the Fleet Landing policed.., under the supervision a very interesting experience."
FOrce was returning to normal of the medical department, prior Prostitution and the resultant
duties, a considerable augmenta- to occupation." widespread incidence of venereal

I'
tion to Marine strength in north- As additional squadrons ar- diseases were ages old in Japan.
BGen Clement gives orders issued by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers to "The world's oldest profession"
Japanese naval and Army officers at Yokosuka. was legal and controlled by the
National Archives Photo 127-N-134490 Japanese government; licensed
prostitutes were confined to
restricted sections. Placing these
sections out of bounds to
American forces did not solve the
-1
problem of venereal exposure, for,
as in all ports such as Yokosuka,
clandestine prostitution continued
to flourish. In an attempt to pre-
vent uncontrolled exposure, all
waterfront and backstreet houses
of prostitution were placed out of
bounds. A prophylaxis station
was established at the entrance to
a Japanese police-controlled
"Yashuura House" (a house of
prostitution exclusively for the use

15
 New 4th Honors Members of the Old 4th
6 September 1945, more than 120 4th Marine

Qn survivors of Bataan and Corregidor, who were

freed from Japanese prison camps and were
physically able, were invited to a regimental guard
mount at Yokosuka Naval Base, the fallen bastion of
Japanese naval might. Their hosts were the officers and
men of the new 4th Marines. Reactivated in February
1944, the new regiment was composed of men from the
four Marine raider battalions; men who could carry on
the name of the old 4th—the legendary China Regiment
which protected American interests in the Far East from
1927 to 1941 and caught the first full impact of the
Japanese in the Philippines.
Alighting from trucks they were met by a huge sign
which read: "Welcome, Old 4th!" Overwhelmed, the
older men immediately threw their arms around the
new in their first display of emotion since being res-
cued. A number said that the Japanese had marked
them for death in the event another atomic bomb was
dropped.
Looking thin but fit in newly issued dungarees and National Archives Photo 127-N-134481
canvas sneakers or fabric split-toed shoes purchased BGen Clement chats with Cpl William R. Linderfeld, who
from Japanese civilians, they quickly lined up three was captured on Bataan.
deep in parade formation in front of the base's wooden
naval barracks where each was given a small Marine est jazz tunes. Horror tales of Japanese imprisonment
Corps emblem. "We're damned glad to have you here," were exchanged for stories of Pacific victories. Two
said Brigadier General William T. Clement. "Some of half-brothers, one in the old regiment and one in the
you have changed a bit since I last saw you, but this is new, were reunited after never expecting to see each
the happiest moment of my life just to be able to bring other again. Following the dinner, they reviewed a
you back to the Fourth Marines." guard mount in their honor and drank their first
In a mess hall where Japanese suicide pilots ate less American canned beer in more than three years. As the
than a month before, members of the new regiment band struck up the Marine Corps Hymn, "one returned
treated members of the old to an American-style steak prisoner, a tough-looking leatherneck with a face like a
dinner with tomatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, oranges, bulldog's, began to sob. Tears streamed down the
and coffee while a strolling Marine band played the lat- checks of half a dozen more, and those who weren't
weeping were swallowing hard."
Liberated 4th Marines enjoy a steak dinner to the accompani- As the truck convoy pulled away to carry them to the
ment of jazz tunes. ships waiting to take them back to the United States,
National Archives Photo 127-N- 49 one veteran remarked: "Hell, I don't want to go back
home. I want to stay with the Marines and just as soon
as I get to the United States I'm going to ask for a trans-
fer back to the Fourth Regiment. I've been in the
Marines since I was 17 and it's the easiest life I know."

Members of the new 4th pass in review for members of the old
4th Marines.
National Archives Photo 127-N-135287

16
of occupation forces), another in
the center of the Yokosuka liberty
zone, and a third at the fleet land-
ing. These stations were manned
by hospital corpsmen under the
supervision of a full-time venereal
disease-prevention medical offi-
cer. In addition, a continuous edu-
It A
cational campaign was carried out
urging continence and warning of
the dangerous diseased condition
of prostitutes. These procedures
resulted in a drastic decline in
reported cases of diseases origi-
nating in the Yokosuka area.
On 8 September, the group's
Corsairs and Hellcats, stripped of
about two and a half tons of com-
bat weight, began surveillance
flights over the Tokyo Bay area National Archives Photo 127-N-134498
and the Kanto Plain north of the Hundreds of neatly stacked torpedoes are inspected by Marines. They are a small part
capital. The purpose of the mis- of the tons of war materiel Marines found at the naval base.
sions was to observe and report
any unusual activity by Japanese solved and the Commander, Fleet field, and town of Yokosuka. In
military forces and to survey all Activities, Yokosuka, assumed effect, the regiment became a
airfields in the area. Initially, responsibility for the naval occu- naval base guard detachment, and
Munn's planes served under pation area. General Clement's on 1 November, control of the 4th
Third Fleet command, but on the command, again designated Task Marines passed from Eighth Army
16th, operational control of MAG- FOrce Able, continued to function to the Commander, U.S. Fleet
31 was transferred to the Fifth Air for a short time thereafter while Activities, Yokosuka.
Force. A month later, the group most of the reinforcing units of the While the Marine presence
was returned to Navy control and 4th Marines loaded out for return gradually diminished, activity in
reconnaissance flights in the to Guam. On the 20th, Lieutenant the surrounding area began to
Tokyo area and Kanto Plain dis- Colonel Beans relieved General return to normal. Japanese civil-
continued. Operations of the air Clement of his responsibilities at ians started returning to the city of
group were confined largely to Yokosuka, and the general and his Yokosuka in large numbers. "The
mail, courier, transport, and train- staff flew back to Guam to rejoin almost universal attitude was at
ing flights to include navigation, the 6th Division. Before he left, first one of timidity and fear, then
tactics, dummy gunnery, and Clement was able to take part in a curiosity," it was reported. "Banks
ground control approach practice. ceremony honoring more than 120 opened and started to operate.
By mid-October, the physical con- officers and men of the "Old" 4th Post offices and telegraph offices
dition of the base had been Marines, captured on Bataan and started to function smoothly, and
improved to such an extenf that Corregidor. movie houses began to fill with
the facilities were adequate to After the initial major contribu- civilian crowds."
accommodate the remainder of tion of naval land forces to the Unlike Tokyo and Yokohama,
the group's personnel. On 7 occupation of northern Japan, the the Yokosuka area had escaped
December, the group's four tacti- operation became more and more much destruction and was
cal squadrons were placed under an Army task. As additional remarkably intact. On base, evac-
the operational control of the Far troops arrived, the Eighth Army's uated Japanese barracks were
Eastern Air Force and surveillance area of effective control grew to quickly cleaned up and made rea-
and reconnaissance flights again encompass all of northern Japan. sonably liveable. The Japanese
resumed. In October, the occupation zone of furnished cooks, mess boys, and
On 8 September, Admiral the 4th Marines was reduced to housekeeping help, allowing
Badger's Task Force 31 was dis- include only the naval base, air- Marines more time to explore the

17
rice-paddy and beach resort-dot-considering only a few months gave severe sentences, which I
ted countryside, and liberty in before they had fought a hard and approved," noted one senior com-
town. Allowed only five hours bloody battle on Okinawa. mander. "This satisfied the
liberty three times a week, most Crimes against the local Japanese Japanese honor. I expected the
enlisted Marines saw little of population were few and, for the sentences to be greatly reduced, as
Japan, except for short sight-see- most part, petty. It was the they were, in the United States.
ing tours to Tokyo or Kamakura. replacement, not the combat veter- The sooner these men were
Yokosuka, a small city with long an, who, after a few beers, would returned home, the better for all
beer lines, quickly lost its novelty "slug a lap" or curse them to their hands, including the Japanese." In
and Yokohama was off limits to faces. addition, the utter lack and con-
enlisted personnel. So mast Of the few problems, two stood comitant demand for consumer
Marines would "have a few brews out—rape and the black market. goods caused some Marines to
and head back for the base at 4 Japanese women, so subdued, if smuggle items, such as cigarettes,
p.m. when the beer sales cease." propositioned would comply and out to the civilian market where
Their behavior was remarkable later charge "rape." "Our courts they brought a high price.

Marine Corps' Demobilization Plan

ollowing the surrender of Japan, the Secretary of Barely a month after the program began, the critical

F the Navy announced details of the Marine Corps'

plan for demobilization of personnel. Intended to
supplement existing policies and directives concerning
discharges and releases, the plan provided the most
equitable means of establishing the priority for the
release of Marines by computing their service credits.
The Point System, as the plan was commonly known,
score was lowered to 60 points and all enlisted person-
nel with three or more children under 18 years of age
could request discharge. The point score was further
reduced to 50 on 1 November and to 45 on 1 February
1946. To some this was not fast enough. A few Marines
in Hawaii were, as Lieutenant General Roy S. Geiger
noted, "infected. . by the insidious bug that has bitten
.

applied to both officers and enlisted men. Each Marine the Army and caused Army personnel to stage mass
received one for point each month of service from 16 meetings protesting their demobilization program." A
September 1940; one point for each month served over- few hours before Marines were scheduled to meet at
seas or afloat from 16 September 1940; five points for Camp Catlin, Pearl Harbor, Geiger issued orders
the first and each additional award of the Medal of against any demonstration meetings. Other Marines at
Honor, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross Ewa Marine Air Station circulated a demobilization
(Army), Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, protest petition and were confined for disobeying a
Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Navy and lawful order. "It isn't necessary for the men to hold a
Marine Corps Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, meeting to make their grievances known," his chief of
Purple Heart, and Bronze Service Star; and 12 points for staff, Brigadier General Mervin H. Silverthorn, said.
each child under the age of 18, up to a limit of three chil- "The Marines have had a standard method as long as I
dren. With 12 May 1945 as the original cutoff date for can remember whereby any man at any time can see his
computations, the critical score to be used when the company or unit commander to discuss his troubles
plan went into effect on 1 September 1945 was 85 points and receive an answer." By 1 July 1946, as the number
for male Marines and 25 points for Women Reservists. of Marine Corps commitments in the Pacific fell and
Subsequent reductions in critical scores would reflect more replacements were trained and sent out, inductees
changes in the missions, and therefore personnel or reservists with 30 months of active duty regardless
requirements, of the Marine Corps. of points acquired, became eligible for discharge.
The plan also provided that enlisted personnel with The increased flow of discharges required to bring
sufficient points for discharge could remain on active the Corps to the planned postwar limit of 108,200,
duty so long as there was a need for their services. reduced the strength of the Marine Corps from a peak
Conversely, key personnel or those with specialized of 483,977 on V-J Day, the day that the surrender was
skills who had amassed the required score would be signed, to 155,592 by the end of June 1946. Because of
retained on active duty until their reliefs could be pro- public pressure to release veterans from the Armed
cured and trained. Since the number of officers to be Services, the flow was accelerated in October 1946 and
released would be relatively smaller than the number of all reservists and selectees, regardless of length of ser-
enlisted men involved, the immediate needs of the ser- vice, became eligible for discharge. With fewer replace-
vice and the necessity of keeping male officers who ments and additional discharges, the Marine Corps'
applied for transfer to the regular Marine Corps would strength continued to fall until just prior to the Korean
be of primary concern. War when it stood at 74,279.

18
 •
•4 ,,
/
uIUi
I•

Watercolor by Cdr Standish Backus, USNR, Navy Art Collection

"Yokosuka Airfield and Tokyo Bay During the American Occupation"

Although attempts were made to uments of military value to the Marines was removed from the
curb the practice, many unneces- Allies. administrative control of the 6th
sary and expensive courts-martial The surrender of all garrisons Division and placed directly
where held "which branded our having been taken, motorized under FMFPac. Orders were
men with bad conduct dis- patrols with truck convoys were received directing that prepara-
charges." sent out to collect as many small tions be made for 3d Battalion to
In addition to routine duties arms, weapons, and as much relieve the regiment of its duties in
and security and military police ammunition as possible. The large Japan, effective 31 December. In
patrols, the Marines also carried amount of such supplies in the common with the rest of the
out Eighth Army demilitarization Yokosuka area made the task an Armed Forces, the Marine Corps
directives, collecting and dispos- extensive one. In addition, week- faced great public and Congres-
ing of Japanese military and naval ly patrols from the regiment sional pressure to send its men
materiel. In addition, they search- supervised the unloading at home for discharge as rapidly as
ed their area of responsibility for Uraga of Japanese troops and possible. The Corps' world-wide
caches of gold, silver, and plat- civilians returning from such by- commitments had to be examined
inum. During the search, no offi- passed Pacific outposts as Wake, with this in mind. The Japanese
cial naval records, other than Yap, and Truk. Although there attitude of cooperation with occu-
inventories and a few maps and was concern that some Japanese pation authorities fortunately per-
charts, were found. It was later soldiers might cause trouble, none mitted considerable reduction of
learned that the Japanese had been did. troop strength. In Yokosuka,
ordered to burn or destroy all doc- On 20 November, the 4th Marines who did not meet the age,
19
 4
b
X TSUSHIMA 4.

.4

3%)

Relief Map of
Kyushu
- TAHEGA-SllMA

/
20
service, or dependency point ned out and the battalion was bro- the Japanese with occupation
totals necessary for discharge in ken down into guard companies. directives and the lack of any
December or January were trans- Its military police and security overt signs of resistance also less-
ferred to the 3d Battalion, while duties in the naval base area and ened the need for the fighter
men with the requisite number of city of Yokosuka remained the squadrons of MAG-31. Personnel
points were concentrated in the same. The major task of demilita- and unit reductions similar to
1st and 2d Battalions. rization in the naval base having those experienced by the 4th
On 1 December, the 1st Battal- been completed, the battalion set- Marines also affected the Marine
ion completed embarkation on tled into a routine of guard duty, air group. By the spring of 1946,
board the carrier Lexington (CV 16) ceremonies, and training, little dif- reduced in strength and relieved
and sailed for the West Coast to be ferent from that of any Navy yard of all routine surveillance mis-
disbanded. On the 24th, the 3d barracks detachment in the United sions by the Fifth Bomber
Battalion, reinforced by regimen- States. Command, MAG-31, in early
tal units and a casual company In January, the Submarine Base May, received orders to return as a
formed to provide replacements was returned to Japanese control. unit to the United States.
for Fifth Fleet Marine detach- With the return of the Torpedo Prior to being released of all
ments, relieved 2d Battalion of all School-Supply Base Area, the flight duties, the group performed
guard responsibilities. The 2d relief of all gate posts by naval one final task. Largely due to an
Battalion, with Regimental guards, and the detachment of extended period of inclement
Weapons and Headquarters and more than 300 officers and men in weather and poor sanitary condi-
Service Companies, began loading March, the 2d and 4th Guard tions, the Yokosuka area had
out operations on the 27th and Companies were disbanded and become infested with large black
sailed for the United States on the security detail drawn from a flies, mosquitoes, and fleas, caus-
board the attack cargo ship Lumen consolidated 1st Guard Company ing the outbreak and spread of
(AKA 30) on New Year's Day. On 1 April, MAG-31 relieved the communicable diseases. Alarmed
Like the 1st, the 2d Battalion and 3d Guard Company of security that service personnel might be
the accompanying two units responsibility for the Air Base and affected, accessible areas were
would be disbanded. All received the company was disbanded. dusted with DDT by jeeps
war trophies: Japanese rifles and With additional drafts of person- equipped with dusting attach-
bayonets were issued to enlisted nel for discharge or reassignment ments. The spraying effort was
men; officers received swords less and an order to reduce the Marine effective except in the city's alleys
than 100 years old; pistols were strength to 100, the Commander, and surrounding narrow valleys,
not issued and field glasses were U.S. Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, occupied by small houses and
restricted to general officers. responded. "I reacted," Captain innumerable cesspools. "For-
At midnight on 31 December, Benton W. Decker later wrote, tunately we had a solution," wrote
Lieutenant Colonel Bruno A. "reporting that the security of the Captain Decker. MAG-31 was
Hochmuth, the regiment's execu- base would be jeopardized and asked to tackle the job. "Daily,
tive officer, took command of the that 400 Marines were necessary, these young, daring flyers would
3d Battalion, as the battalion whereupon the order was can- zoom up the hills following the
assumed responsibility for the celed, and a colonel was ordered pathways, dusting with DDT. The
security of the Naval Station, to relieve Lieutenant Colonel children loved to run out in the
Marine Air Base, and the city of Bruno Hochmuth. Again, I insist- open, throw wide their jackets,
Yokosuka. A token regimental ed that Lieutenant Colonel and become hidden momentarily
headquarters remained behind to Hochmuth was capable of com- in the clouds of DDT. It was fun
carry on the name of the 4th manding my Marine unit to my for them and it helped us in
Marines. Six days later, the head- complete satisfaction, so again, delousing the city"
quarters detachment left Japan to Washington canceled an order." On 18 June, with the final
rejoin the 6th Marine Division On 15 June, the battalion, reduced destruction of all but two of the
then in Tsingtao, China. in strength to 24 officers and 400 seven wind tunnels at the
On 15 February, the 3d Battalion men, was redesignated Marine Japanese First Technical Air Depot
was redesignated the 2d Separate Detachment, U.S. Fleet Activities, and the preparation of equipment
Guard Battalion (Provisional), Yokosuka, Lieutenant Colonel for shipment, loading began.
Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. An Hochmuth commanding. Earlier, the group's serviceable air-
internal reorganization was car- The continued cooperation of craft were either flown to

21
 The Senior Marine Commanders
he three senior Marine commanders on Kyushu
were seasoned combat veterans and well versed
in combined operations—qualities that enhanced
Marine Corps contributions to the complex occupation
duties and relations with the U.S. Sixth Army.
Major General Harry Schmidt commanded V
Amphibious Corps. Schmidt was 59, a native of
Holdrege, Nebraska, and a graduate of Nebraska State
Normal College. He was commissioned in 1909 and in
1911 reported to Marine Barracks, Guam. Following a
series of short tours in the Philippines and at state-side
posts, he spent most of World War I on board ship.
Interwar assignments included Quantico, Nicaragua,
Headquarters Marine Corps, and China, where he
served as Chief of Staff of the 2d Marine Brigade.
Returning to Headquarters in 1938, Schmidt first served
with the Paymaster's Department and then as assistant
to the Commandant. In 1943, he assumed command of
the 4th Marine Division which he led during the Roi-
Namur and Saipan Campaigns. Given the command of
the V Amphibious Corps a year later, he led the unit
during the assault and capture of Tinian and Iwo Jima.
For his accomplishment during the campaigns, Schmidt
received three Distinguished Service Medals. Ordered
back to the United States following occupational duties
MajGen Leroy P. Hunt
in Japan, he assumed command of the Marine Training
and Replacement Command, San Diego. General Marines during World War I, receiving the Navy Cross
Schmidt died in 1968. and Distinguished Service Cross for repeated acts of
Major General LeRoy P. Hunt commanded the 2d heroism. Postwar assignments were varied, ranging
Marine Division. Hunt was 53, a native of Newark, from sea duty to commanding officer of the Western
New Jersey, and a graduate of the University of Mail Guard Detachment and work with the Work
California. He was commissioned a second lieutenant Projects Administration's Matanuska Colonization ven-
in 1917 and served with great distinction with the 5th ture in Alaska. Following a short tour in Iceland, he
MajGen Harry Schmidt MajGen Thomas E. Bourke

4,

I
22
 was given command of the 5th Marines which he led in
the seizure and defense of Guadalcanal. As the 2d
Marine Division's assistant division commander he
participated in mopping-up operations on Saipan and
Tinian and in the Okinawa Campaign. Appointed divi-
sion commander, he led the division in the occupation
of Japan and for a period was Commanding General, I
Army Corps. Returning to the United States, Hunt
assumed duties as Commanding General, Department
of Pacific and then Commanding General, FMFLant.
General Hunt died in 1968.
Major General Thomas E. Bourke commanded the
5th Marine Division. Bourke was 49, a native of
Robinson, Maryland, and a graduate of St. Johns
College. He was commissioned in 1917 after service in
the Maryland National Guard along the Mexican bor-
der. While enroute to Santo Domingo for his first tour,
he and 50 recruits were diverted to St. Croix, becoming
the first U. S. troops to land on what had just become
the American Virgin Islands. Post-World War I tours
included service at Quantico, Parris Island, San Diego,
and Headquarters Marine Corps. He also served at
Pearl Harbo; was commanding officer of the Legation
Guard in Managua, Nicaragua; saw sea duty on board
the battleship West Virginia (BB 48); and commanded
the 10th Marines. Following the Guadalcanal and
Tarawa campaigns, General Bourke was assigned as the
V Amphibious Corps artillery officer for the invasion of
Saipan. He next trained combined Army-Marine
artillery units for the XXIV Army Corps, then preparing
for the Leyte operation. With Leyte secured, he
assumed command of the 5th Marine Division which
was planning for the invasion of Japan. After the war's
sudden end, the division landed at Sasebo, Kyushu,
and assumed occupation duties. With disbandment of
the 5th Marine Division, General Bourke became
Deputy Commander and Inspector General of FMFPac.
General Bourke died in 1978.

Okinawa, distributed to various and one Marine amphibious land three days later in the
Navy and Marine Corps activities corps, totaling 11 Army and three Wakayama area of western Hon-
in Japan, or shipped to Guam on Marine divisions, under the com- shu and establish control over the
the carrier Point Cruz (CVE 119). mand of General Krueger. After Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area. The X
Prior to being hoisted on board, more than three years, the major Corps, composed of the 41st and
the planes made the shore to ship land, sea, and air components of 24th Infantry Divisions and com-
movement by Japanese barge the Central and Southwest Pacific manded by Major General
equipped with a crane and operat- forces were to merge in the initial Franklin C. Sibert, was scheduled
ed by a Japanese crew. It was ground assault against Japan to land in the Kure-Hiroshima
reported with amazement that itself. area of western Honshu and on
"not a single plane was scra- In early August, with the the island of Shikoku on 3
tched." A small number of obso- destruction of Hiroshima and the October.
lete planes were stricken and their Soviet Union's entry into the war, On 14 August, the Sixth Army
parts salvaged. On 20 June, the the possibility of an early surren- assumed operational control of V
737 remaining officers and men of der increased. Although planning Amphibious Corps. After receiv-
MAG-31, led by Lieutenant for the invasion continued, ing official word of Japanese
Colonel John P. Condon, boarded General MacArthur directed acceptance of the surrender
the attack transport San Saba Krueger to also plan and prepare demands the following day, the
(APA-232) and sailed for San for the occupation of Kyushu and Corps' three divisions were
Diego. The departure of MAG-31 western Honshu should the informed that they should be pre-
marked the end of Marine occupa- Japanese Government capitulate. pared for an occupational landing
tion activities in northern Japan. General Krueger's initial plan for in early September, and that "all
the occupation called for V units were to be combat loaded
Amphibious Corps, commanded and alerted to the possibility of
by Major General Harry Schmidt, appreciable resistance to the occu-
In the period immediately fol- to land the 2d and 5th Marine pation." The Fifth Fleet, under
lowing the conclusion of the Divisions in the Sasebo-Nagasaki Admiral Raymond A. Spruance,
Luzon Campaign, the U.S. Sixth area on 4 September. These land- would be responsible for collect-
Army, under the command of ings were to be reinforced later by ing, transporting, and landing V
General Walter Krueger, was a 3d Marine Division seaborne or Corps and other scattered ele-
engaged in planning and prepar- overland movement to the ments of Krueger's army. Because
ing for the invasion of Kyushu, the Fukuoka-Shimonoseki area. Maj- of the wide dispersion of assault
southernmost Japanese home or General Innis P. Swift's I Corps, shipping and the magnitude of the
island. The operation envisioned consisting of the 25th, 33d, 98th, • minesweeping problem, the fleet
an assault by three Army corps and 6th Infantry Divisions, was to could not move major units to
23
 September had evacuated all 9,000
remaining prisoners on Kyushu.
Preliminary examination re-
vealed that there were no serious
epidemics in the camps except for
a few cases of typhoid and dysen-
tery. Malnutrition was common
and the most serious cases of
beriberi and tuberculosis required
immediate hospitalization. The
initial processing revealed many
instances of brutality. However, as
it was reported at the time, "close
questioning often disclosed that
the prisoners had been guilty of
breaking some petty but strict
prison rule. A considerable num-
ber of the older men stated that
the camp treatment, although
extremely rugged, was on the
National Archives Photo 127-N-139194 whole not too bad. They expected
In a conference held on board the Mt. McKinley prior to the landing, BGen William quick punishment when caught
W. Rogers, V Amphibious Corps Chief of Staff, left, stresses a point to his interpreter, for infraction of rules and got it.
Maj F. D. Wolf, as RAdm Keichi Ishii, Chief of Staff of Sasebo Naval Station and his All complained of the food, cloth-
vice chief locate a point under discussion. ing, housing, and lack of heating
their targets simultaneously and in poor physical condition." The facilities." Except for a few strag-
landing dates would therefore revised Sixth Army plan allowed glers, the release, medical exami-
have to be postponed. the Eighth Army to extend its nation, delousing, processing, and
At the time of surrender there screening of Allied prisoners of
evacuation program to the west
were an estimated 20,000 allied and to evacuate prisoners through war in southern Japan was com-
prisoners of war in Kyushu and Osaka to Tokyo until relieved by pleted on 23 September.
western Honshu. Sixth Army Fifth Fleet and Sixth Army units. While the Eighth Army extend-
planners contemplated that recov- Prisoners on Shikoku were to be ed its hold over northern Japan,
ery teams composed of American, ferried across the Inland Sea to the and the two evacuation forces
Australian, and Dutch representa- mainland and then transported by rounded up and processed Allied
tives would accompany the occu- rail through Osaka to Tokyo. The prisoners, preparations for the
pational forces and immediately Fifth Fleet and Sixth Army imme- Sixth Army's occupation of west-
evacuate prisoners in their respec- diately organized two evacuation ern Honshu, Shikoku, and
tive zones. Following the surren- forces consisting of suitable land- Kyushu continued. The occupa-
der, the Japanese virtually freed all ing craft, hospital ships, trans- tion area contained 55 percent of
Allied prisoners by turning the ports, Army contact teams, truck the total Japanese population,
prison camps over to them and companies, and Navy medical including half of the Japanese
allowing them freedom of move- personnel. One force, under the Army garrisoning the homeland,
ment. Taking full advantage of the command of Rear Admiral Ralph three of Japan's four major naval
situation, many former prisoners S. Riggs, landed at Wakayama on bases, all but two of its principal
roamed the countryside at will, 11 September and by the 15th had ports, two-thirds of all Japanese
creating a situation that called for completed the processing of all cities with a population in excess
an immediate change in plans. prisoners in western Honshu, a of 100,000, and three of its four
With the landing of the first total of 2,575 men. The other main transportation centers. The
American forces in Japan at the force, commanded by Rear island of Kyushu, which was to be
end of August, it became apparent Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, landed largely a Marine occupation
that the evacuation of all Allied at atom-bombed Nagasaki, after responsibility, supported a popu-
prisoners of war "must receive Fifth Fleet mine sweepers had lation of 10,000,000 spread
first priority as many of them were cleared the way, and by 22 amongst its 15,000 square miles of

24
mountainous terrain. The south- departed Hawaii for Saipan on Lingayen for loading on turn-
ern and eastern parts of the island board 17 LSTs. Schmidt's forces around shipping of the 5th Marine
were chiefly agricultural areas, also carried more than 300 tons of Division. Because of continuing
producing large quantities of "Military Government" or relief indications that the landings
exportable rice and sweet pota- supplies consisting of rice, soy would be unopposed, the number
toes. The northwestern half of the beans, fats and oils, salt, canned of air and fire support ships
island contained almost all of fish, and medical equipment. assigned to accompany the trans-
southwestern Japan's coal fields, During the voyage to Saipan port groups was reduced.
the nation's greatest pig iron and planning for the occupation con- The following day, General
steel district, and many important tinued in light of changes to the Schmidt held a conference of his
shipyards, in addition to a host of original concept of operations subordinate commanders on
other smaller industries. allowed by favorable reports of board the Mt. McKinley to clarify
On 1 September, Major General Japanese compliance with surren- plans for the operation. He
Harry Schmidt opened his com- der terms in northern Japan and stressed "the importance of main-
mand post on board the Mt. alterations in the troop list. taining firm, just, and dignified
McKinley (AGC 7), flagship of However, every effort was made relations with the Japanese .

Amphibious Group 4, off Maui in to salvage as much as possible of [and] responsibilities of comman-
the Hawaiian Islands and sailed to the content of the Olympic plans ders of all echelons in following
join the 5th Division convoy, for the assault landing. On 5 the rules of land warfare and the
already enroute to Saipan. The September, the 3d Marine Division directives of higher authority."
remainder of V Corps' troops, was deleted from the Corps' occu- In view of the cooperative atti-
including several Army engineer pation force and the 32d Infantry tude of the Japanese thus far, per-
augmentation units, with the Division substituted. To guard mission was requested and grant-
exception of rear echelons, contin- against possible treachery on the ed to send advance parties to
ued loading and, on 3 September, part of thousands of Japanese Nagasaki and Sasebo. Their mis-
troops on bypassed islands in the sions were "to facilitate smooth
Marines of the 8th Service Regiment
Central Pacific, the Navy tasked and orderly entry of U. S. forces
crowd the rail of their transport as its ties
up to the dock at Sasebo Naval Base.
the 3d Division, then on Guam, into the Corps zone of responsibil-
National Archives Photo 127-N-136032 with preparing for any such even- ity by making contact with key
tuality. Meanwhile, the 2d Marine Japanese civil and military author-
Division and additional Corps ities; to execute advance spot
units began loading in the checks on compliance with demil-
Marianas. "Someone at higher itarization orders; and to ascertain
headquarters apparently made a such facilities for reception of our
gross error," noted Lieutenant forces as condition and suitability
Colonel Jacob G. Goldberg, the of docks and harbors; adequacy of
division's logistics officer. "For sites selected by map-reconnais-
the first time since the war began sance for Corps installations; con-
we were assigned enough ship- dition of airfields, roads, and com-
ping to lift the entire division, and munications."
by entire division I mean 100% The first party, led by Colonel
personnel and equipment. VAC Walter W. Wensinger, VAC opera-
was very much surprised that we tions officer, and consisting of key
were able to do this, and I freely Corps and 2d Division staff offi-
admit it was a hell of a nervous cers flew via Okinawa to
strain on me up until the last ship Nagasaki, arriving on 16 Septem-
was loaded." ber. A second party of similar
Early on the morning of 13 composition, but with underwater
September, the various transport demolition teams and 5th Division
groups rendezvoused at Saipan. personnel attached, left for Sasebo
The 2d Marine Division almost by high speed transport on 15th.
was loaded and the 32d Infantry After meeting with local officials,
Division on Luzon was preparing spot checking coastal defenses,
to move to staging areas at and arranging for suitable bar-
25
 tions which continued throughout
the night.
The remainder of the 28th
Marines, in division reserve,
remained on board ship. The 1st
Battalion, 27th Marines landed on
the docks in late afternoon and
moved out to occupy the regi-
ment's assigned zone of responsi-
bility. During the afternoon,
Generals Bourke, Schmidt, and
Krueger inspected the occupa-
tion's progress with tours of the
naval station, city of Sasebo, and
naval air station. Before troop
unloading was suspended at
dusk, 1st and 2d Battalions, 13th
Marines had landed on beaches in
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 140484 the aircraft factory area; 5th Tank
Marines move from the naval base into Sasebo. From Sasebo 5th Division would move Battalion had come ashore at the
out into the countryside to ensure Japanese compliance with the surrender terms. air station; and the assistant divi-
racks, warehouse, and command Japanese pilots who were to guide sion commander and his staff had
post sites, Colonel Wensinger and the ships into their assigned established an advanced division
his staff proceeded by destroyer to berthing and docking areas. The command post at the Sasebo
Sasebo where they made prelimi- advance party representatives Fortress. The main division com-
nary arrangements for the 5th were transferred to their respec- mand post remained afloat to con-
Division's arrival. On 20 Septem- tive unit command ships where trol unloading better. All units
ber, the second reconnaissance they made their reports which ashore established guard posts
party arrived at Sasebo where it required changes in billeting and security patrols, but the divi-
was met by Wensinger's party, plans, making it necessary that 3d sion's first night in Japan was
and completed preparations for Battalion, 26th Marines remain uneventful.
the landing. afloat. At 0859, after Japanese Sasebo, the home of the third
At dusk on 16 September, pilots had directed the transports largest naval base in Japan, was a
Transport Squadron 22 bearing the to safe berths in Sasebo's inner city of more than 300,000 prior to
Corps headquarters and 5th harbor, the 26th Marines, less the 29 June 1945. That day, the city
Marine Division slipped out of 3d Battalion, landed on beaches at suffered its only B-29 raid of the
Tanapag Harbor bound for the naval air station. Advancing war which destroyed a large por-
Sasebo. The landing ships carry- rapidly inland, the Marines tion of the city's shopping and
ing elements of the 2d Marine moved to areas tentatively select- business districts. The naval area
Division left Saipan for Nagasaki ed at Saipan from aerial pho- was largely undamaged. More
the next day. During the eventful tographs and verified by the than 60,000 were made homeless
voyages, Marines received advance party. Unarmed Japanese and approximately 1,000 people
refresher training in military disci- naval guards on base installations, were killed. The Marines saw
pline and courtesy and got their arms, and stores were relieved very few of the remaining 166,000
initial briefs on the Japanese peo-and Japanese guides arranged for inhabitants. "There wasn't a
ple, customs, and geography. by the advance party directed the damn soul in town except those
Early on 22 September, the Marines to pre-selected billeting black coated policemen," General
transport squadron carrying Maj- areas. Ships carrying other ele- Ray A. Robinson later noted, "and
or General Thomas E. Bourke's 5th ments of the division then moved there was one of those on every
Marine Division and corps head- to the Sasebo docks to begin gen- intersection. There wasn't another
quarters troops arrived off Sasebo eral unloading. The shore party, person in sight and it was very
Harbor. They were met by reinforced by the 2d Battalion, eerie." The few policemen and
Colonel Wensinger and members 28th Marines, was ashore by 1500 naval guards were described as
of the advance party together with and began cargo unloading opera- being "acquiescent and docile
26
with little expression of emotion
or show of interest."
The city was described as
unbearable due to the stench ris-
ing from refuse piled high
throughout. But as Bourke's
Marines began the arduous task of
cleaning up, Sasebo and the atti-
tude of its inhabitants changed, as
Marine Lieutenant Edwin L.
Neville, Jr., later recalled:
Gradually young children
would appear as scouts to see
what the American were up
to. Tremendous propaganda
by the Japanese government
about the treacherous Am-
ericans who would kill, muti-
late, torture and rape the
Japanese population if they
ever won the war had
instilled fear in the Japanese,
who were petrified. What
happened blew away these
fears. The Marines gave the
kids candy, chewing gum,
food, whatever they had
instantly at hand. They
showered them with love
and attention. The kids went
back and told their folks that
these were the good guys.
Gradually, the citizens of
Two Marines of the 2d Battalion, 27th Marines, view the ruins of Sasebo while stand-
ing guard on a hill overlooking the suburb of Tahjma.
- tions in southern Japan.
- A reconnaissance party, led by
-
- —
t-siL.r
;1flS
t'' -
—r
- the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet
r
- - -
----
Elements of the 1st Battalion, 27th Marines check their amphibious trucks following
the six-and-a-half hour trip from Sasebo to secure Omura airfield. Later occupied by
MAG-22, the airfield would become the main air base for southern Japan.
Sasebo returned from the
countryside or from behind
the shutters of their houses
that still stood. . .
many Japanese were starv-
ing, and the Marines fed
them and gave them food to
prepare at home. The change
in attitude in a short period
of time was startling.
On 23 September, as most of the
National Archives Photo 127-N-136772
—S.;'-
L
27
____
L'
National Archives Photo 127-N-135624
remaining elements of the 5th
Division landed and General
Bourke set up his command post
. Moreover, ashore, sanitary squads prepared
billeting areas and patrols started
probing the immediate country-
side. Company C, 1st Battalion,
27th Marines, was sent by amp-
hibian trucks to Omura, about 22
miles southeast of Sasebo, to
establish a security guard over the
aircraft assembly facilities and
repair 2 training base "to prevent
further looting by Japs." Omura's
5,000 by 4,000 foot, "cow-pasture
variety" airfield had been selected
as the base of Marine air opera-
Colonel Daniel W. Torrey, com-
manding officer of Marine Aircraft
Group 22 (MAG-22), had landed
and inspected the field on 12
September, and the 600-man
advance echelon had flown in
from Chimu on Okinawa six days
later. The echelon found a consid-
erable number of enemy planes
ranging from beaten up
"Willows," the Japanese version of
trainer, to combat aircraft consist-
 similar to that of MAG-31 at
Yokosuka—surveillance flights in
support of occupation operations.
As MAG-22 began flight opera-
tions from Omura and the 5th
Division consolidated its hold on
Sasebo, the second major element
of Schmidt's amphibious corps
landed in Japan. The early arrival
of the ships of Transport Squadron
12 at Saipan, coupled with effi-
cient staging and loading, had
enabled planners to move the 2d
Marine Division's landing date
forward three days. When reports

4t:
were received that the approaches
to the originally selected landing
beaches were mined but that
Nagasaki's harbor was clear, the
National Archives Photo 127-N-136276 decision was made to land direct-
Marines of the 2d Division watch as a bulldozer clears an area for an LST to pull into ly into the harbor area. At 1300 on
shore at Nagasaki on the second morning after the division arrived.
23 September, the 2d and 6th
ing of "Jacks," "Georges," and of Marine Fighter Squadrons 314 Marines, in full combat kit with
"Zekes," all lacking just enough and 422 and Marine Night Fighter fixed bayonets and full maga-
parts to be inoperable. Twenty- Squadron 543, arrived before the zines, landed simultaneously on
one Corsairs of Marine Fighter month was over. Each squadron the east and west sides of the har-
Squadron 113 reached Omura on was assigned two hangars, one for Nagasaski, as one Marine
bor.
the 23d, after a two-day stop-over storing and servicing its planes observed, "can be described very
at Kanoya airfield on Kyushu due and the other for quartering enlist- easily: It is a filthy, stinking,
to bad weather. The rest of the ed men and messing facilities. wrecked hole, and the sooner we
group's flight echelon, composed MAG-22's primary mission was get out the better we'll all like it."
Fields of rubble greeted Marines as they made their way into Japan. The Nagasaki Medical Center was the only building left
central Nagasaki, site of the second atomic bom dropped on standing near ground zero.
Norman T. Hatch Collection, MCHC

28
 ——
) .4.
/-I

Norman T. Hatch Collection, MCHC

The 8th Marines, the last 2d Marine Division elements to land, to Isahaya. Having seized control of the area the Marines raise
passed through Nagasaki on 24 September and moved northeast the Stars and Stripes.
Relieving the Marine detach- Marines, the last of the division's ing and refueling aircraft enroute
regiments to land, and Marine from the Philippines and Okinawa
ments from the cruisers Biloxi (CL
80) and Wichita (CA 45), which Observation Squadron (VMO) 2, to Tokyo.
had been serving as security passed through Nagasaki, moved General Krueger, satisfied with
guards for the prisoner of war northeast to Isahaya, and seized the progress of the occupation on
evacuation operations, the two control of the area. Once it had Kyushu, assumed command of all
regiments moved out swiftly to completed its movement into forces ashore at 1000 on 24
occupy the city. Their second Nagasaki and Isahaya, the 2d September. The following day,
objective was to cordon off the Marine Division dispatched re- Headquarters I Corps and the 33d
area devastated by the atomic connaissance patrols to check the Infantry Division, the first major
bomb. As Lieutenant Colonel road conditions from Isahaya elements of Sixth Army's other
George L. Cooper later recalled: through Omuta to Kumamoto. corps, arrived and began landing
"Ground zero appeared to have The same day, the corps comman- operations at Wakayama. Head-
been a rather large sports stadium, der arrived from Sasebo by quarters Sixth Army landed with
and all of us were categorically destroyer to inspect the Nagasaki Major General Swift's troops and
ordered to stay out of any place area. General Schmidt had estab- on the 27th opened at Kyoto. At
within pistol shot of this area. The lished his command post ashore at Sasebo, Nagasaki, and Wakayama,
result of this order was that every- Sasebo the previous day and taken there was ample evidence that the
body and his brother headed command of the two Marine divi- occupation of southern Japan
directly for ground zero as soon as sions. The only other major allied would be bloodless.
they could, and in no time at all unit ashore on Kyushu, a rein- Like the Marines and sailors of
had picked the area clean of all forced Army task force that was General Clement's command at
moveable objects." Later, ships. occupying Kanoya airfield in the Yokosuka, those under the com-
were brought alongside wharfs southernmost part of the island, mand of General Schmidt expect-
and docks to facilitate cargo han- was transferred to General ed the worse. The only experience
dling, and unloading operations Schmidt's command from the Far most had was in battle, during
were well under way by nightfall. Eastern Air Force on 1 October. which the Japanese often refused
A quiet calm ruled the city, augur- This force, built around the 32d to surrender and were annihilated.
ing a peaceful occupation. Infantry Division's 1St Battalion, But like Clement's, Schmidt's
On 24 September, the rest of 127th Infantry, had flown into forces were amazed at what they
Major General LeRoy P. Hunt's 2d Kanoya on 3 September to secure encountered. "We couldn't be-
Division landed. The 8th and 10th an intermediate airstrip for stag- lieve the Japanese could previously

29
 Occupation duties included countryside
surveillance patrols, supervising the
inventory and destruction of ammuni-
tion, weapons, and other war materiel,
and keeping order, all to insure strict
adherence to surrender terms.

30
When not on duty, Marines on Kyushu
either "sacked out" in make-shift bar-
racks, visited one of the many tea houses
while on liberty in bombed-out Sasebo or
Nagasaki, organized basketball games, or
attended a local Japanese wrestling
match.

31
fight so ferociously and then be so itary rule, occupation force com- rying out its occupational mission
completely subservient, without a manders were to supervise the varied little between zones and
murmur," Brigadier General Jo- execution of the Supreme Com- units whether Army or Marine.
seph L. Stewart later recalled. "Not mander for the Allied Powers' As a corps extended its zone of
once did I see any Japanese who directives to the Japanese govern- responsibility, advance parties,
acted or looked with disrespect ment, keeping in mind Mac- composed of specialized staff offi-
toward occupation forces . . We Arthur's policy of using, but not cers from higher headquarters and
. .

were overwhelmingly surprised by supporting, the government. the unit involved, were sent into
the cooperative reception we had Enemy military forces were to be areas to be occupied. Liaison was
from the Japanese." disarmed and demobilized under established with local Japanese
their own supervision, and the civil and military authorities who
progressive occupation of as- provided the parties with infor-
signed areas by Allied troops was mation on transportation and har-
The V Amphibious Corps zone to be accomplished as Japanese bor facilities, inventories of arms
of occupation comprised the entire demobilization was completed. and supplies, and the location of
island of Kyushu and Yamaguchi The Japanese government and its dumps and installations. With
Prefecture on the western tip of armed forces were to shoulder the this information in hand, the regi-
Honshu. After the 2d and 5th chief administrative and opera- ment then moved into a bivouac
Marine Divisions had landed, tional burden of disarmament and area in or near its zone of respon-
General Schmidt's general plan demobilization. sibility. Reconnaissance patrols
was for Major General Hunt's 2d The infantry regiment, and divi- consisting of an officer and a rifle
Marine Division to expand south squad were sent out to verify the
sion artillery operating as infantry,
of the city of Nagasaki and assume was to be "the chief instrument of location of reported military
control of Nagasaki, Kumamoto, demilitarization and control. The installations and check inventories
Miyazaki, and Kagoshima Pref- entire plan for the imposition of of war materiel and also to search
ectures. In the meantime, Major the terms of surrender was based for any unreported facilities and
General Bourke's 5th Marine upon the presence of infantry reg- materiel caches. The regimental
Division was to expand east to the iments in all the prefectures with- commander then divided his zone
prefectures of Saga, Fukuoka, in the Japanese homeland." into battalion areas, and battalion
Oita, and Yamaguchi. Bourke's Within the Sixth Army zone, occu- commanders could, in turn, assign
troops were to be relieved in the pational duties were fairly stan- their companies specific sectors of
Fukuoka, Otia, and Yamaguchi darized. The division of responsi- responsibility. Sanitation details
areas with the arrival of sufficient bilities was based upon the preceded the troops into the areas
elements of Major General boundaries of the prefectures so to oversee the preparation of bar-
William H. Gill's veteran 32d that the existing Japanese govern- racks and messing facilities, since
Infantry Division. mental structure could be used. many of the installations to be
Preliminary plans for the occu- The Sixth Army assigned a num- occupied were in a deplorable
pation of Japan had contemplated ber of prefectures to each corps condition and insect-ridden.
the establishment of a formal proportionate to the number of The infantry company or
allied military government, simi- troops available. The corps, in artillery battery thus became the
lar to that in operation in turn, assigned a specific number working unit which actually
Germany, coupled with the direct of prefectures to a division. accomplished the destruction or
supervision of the disarmament Regiments, usually, were given transfer of war materiel and the
and demobilization of the Jap- responsibility for a single prefec- demobilization of Japanese Armed
anese Armed Forces. However, ture. In the 5th Marine Division Forces. Company commanders
during the course of discussions zone of responsibility, however, were empowered to seize military
with enemy emissaries in Manila, the size of certain prefectures, the installations within the company
radical modifications of these large civilian population, and the zone and, using Japanese military
plans were made "based on the tactical necessities of troop personnel not yet demobilized
full cooperation of the Japanese deployment combined to force and laborers obtained through the
and [including] measures de- modifications of the general local Japanese Home Ministry rep-
signed to avoid incidents which scheme of regimental responsibili- resentative, either destroy or turn
might result in renewed conflict." ty for a single prefecture. over to the Home Ministry all
Instead of instituting direct mil- The regiment's method of car- materiel within the installation.
32
 National Archives Photo 127-N-137352
BGen Ray A. Robinson, center left, his staff and other Allied offi- Fukuoka zone of occupation. A geisha house was taken over to
cers meet with local officials before assuming control of the provide headquarters and billeting space for Robinson's troops.
All war materiel was divided into dumping the ammunition at sea Tokyo for processing and possible
five categories and was to be dis- and the large ammunition could. arraignment before an allied tri-
posed of according to SCAP not be blown up as there were no bunal.
Ordnance and Technical Division suitable areas in which to detonate In addition, occupation forces
directives. The categories were: it safely. Metal items declared sur- were responsible for insuring the
that to be destroyed or scrapped, plus were to be rendered ineffec- smooth processing of hundreds of
such as explosives and armaments tive, by Japanese labor, and turned thousands of military personnel
not needed for souvenirs or train- over to the Japanese as scrap for and civilians returning from
ing purposes; that to be used for peacetime civilian uses. Food Japan's now defunct Empire.
allied operations, such as tele- items and other nonmilitary Repatriation centers would be
phones, radios, and vehicles; that stocks were to be returned to the established at Kagoshima, Hario
to be returned to the Japanese Japanese for the relief of the local near Sasebo, and Hakata near
Home Ministry, which encom- civilian population. Fukuoka. Each incoming soldier
passed food, fuel, clothing, lum- While local police were given or sailor would be sprayed with
ber, and medical supplies; that to the responsibility of maintaining DDT, examined and inoculated for
be issued as trophies; and that to law and order and enforcing typhus and smallpox, provided
be shipped to the United States as SCAP democratization decrees, with food, and transported to his
trophies or training gear. Allied forces were to maintain a final destination in Japan. Both
The hazardous job of disposing constant surveillance over Jap- line and medical personnel were
of explosive ordnance was to be anese methods of government. assigned to supervise the
handled by the Japanese with a Intelligence and military govern- Japanese-run centers. At the same
minimum of American supervi- ment personnel, working with the time thousands of Korean and
sion. Explosives were either occupying troops, were tasked Chinese prisoners and conscript
burned in approved areas, sealed with stamping out any hint of a laborers had to be collected and
in place if stored in tunnels, or return to militarism, looking for returned to their homelands. In
dumped at sea—the latter being evidence of evasion or avoidance the repatriation operations,
the preferred method. Because of of the surrender terms, and detect- Japanese vessels and crews would
the large quanitity of ammunition ing and suppressing movements be used to the fullest extent possi-
to be disposed of on Kyushu, both considered detrimental to the ble to conserve Allied manpower
divisions would experience diffi- interests of allied forces. Known and allow for an accelerated pro-
culties. Japanese shipping was not or suspected war criminals were gram of postwar demobilization.
available in sufficient strength for to be apprehended and sent to This pattern of progressive
33
 Oldest Marine on Kyushu
he strangest story to come out of the division's bravery in battle in the Philippines, he was awarded the

T occupation of Northern Kyushu concerned a

Marine, but not a member of the 5th Division. He
was 82-year-old Edward Zillig, who served as a Marine
at the turn of the century.
Born in Switzerland, Zihig immigrated to the United
States when he was three years old. Having something
of a wonderlust, he joined the Marine Corps in 1888 at
Philadelphia. As a member of the Marine detachment
on board Commodore George Dewey's flagship, the
USFS Olympia, he headed the 12-man reconnaissance
patrol which landed in Manila bearing the surrender
terms. The group was fired upon, seven were killed,
and Zillig with four others returned to the ship. For
Manila Bay Medal, also known as the "Dewey Medal."
Out of the Marine Corps, he served briefly with the
American Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps
and then as a clerk with the Chinese revenue depart-
ment. He moved to Japan in 1927, eventually settling in
Nagasaki where he worked as a watchmaker. "For my
own protection, or so they told me," he said, the
Japanese moved him to a concentration camp near the
city at the outbreak of the war.
In the camp when the atomic bomb was dropped, he
later gave this description of the city's ruin: "Greater
destruction was never wrought by man. The example
of human defeat by human initiative was never so
forcibly expressed as at Nagasaki. It was horrible, it
was bloody. Yet at the same time, it was good, it was
magnificent. It was the magnificance of a nation, deter-
mined to remain free, no matter what the cost." With
the city destroyed, Zillig was sent to the village of Ogi,
near Saga, where a three-man intelligence patrol from
the 2d Battalion, 27th Marines, found him in early
October 1945.
Edward Zihig had two requests—that his $60-a-
month pension be restored and that he might again see
a formal flag-raising and a full-dress Marine Corps
parade. His wish for a parade was fulfilled when he
stood beside Lieutenant Colonel John W. A. Antonelli,
2d Battalion's conunanding officer, at a late morning
flag-raising in Saga.
The former Marine's pension was restored as soon as
the Veterans Administration received evidence of
Zillig's existence, which Colonel Thomas A. Wornham,
the commanding officer of the 27th Marines, personally
delivered to Washington. Unifortunately, Zillig did not
live long enough to see more than a few checks, for on
9 March 1946 he committed suicide.

occupation was quickly estab- Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Gold- days on C- and K-rations were get-
lished in V Amphibious Corps' berg wrote at the time: "we are ting "fed up with this, and occa-
zone of responsibility. During the building up a mountain of sup- sionally a big refrigerator ship
last days of September, both of the plies consisting of items we will would come in and everybody
Corps' divisions concentrated on never be able to use and I can fore- would say,. .' Now we'll get some
.

unloading at Sasebo and Nag- see the day when we just leave it fresh food,' but we'd find that the
asaki, moving supplies into all for the Japs... Everyone in the cold lockers were loaded with
.

dumps, organizing billeting areas, Pacific is apparently getting rid of barbed wire, ping pong balls,
securing local military installa- their excess materiel by shipping it things of that nature. .What we . .

tions, and preparing elements for to Japan, regardless of whether would do with barbed wire in
the expansion eastward. In addi- anyone in Japan needs it. One Japan nobody had the slightest
tion to normal occupation duties, word describes the sitation: idea."
both divisions became saddled SNAFU." Confirming Goldberg's On 25 September, two days
with the job of unloading "a terrif- assessment, Major Norman Hatch after landing at Sasebo, General
ic amount of shipping." As later noted that the Marines, after Bourke's division began expand-

34
 Maximum Deployment of VAC on Kyushu
as of 14 October 1945
0 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 RO Sc 00

SIATUTF MILSS

UNDARIES —-— -

35
 down with tea and cakes. They'd
been our enemies . . .we so
thought they were going to poison
us, so nobody took 'em!"
The Fukuoka Occupation Force,
which was placed directly under
General Schmidt's command,
immediately began sending recon-
naissance parties followed by
company and battalion-sized
forces into the major cities of
northern Kyushu. But because of
the limited number of troops
available and the large area to be
covered, Japanese guards were left
in charge of most military installa-
tions, and effective control of the
zone was maintained by motor-
Units of the Army's 32d Infantry Division leave Sasebo for Fukuoka to relieve the ized patrols.
Fukuoka Occupation Force in northwestern Kyushu. To prevent possible outbreaks
ing its assigned zone of occupa- north and west of Sasebo. On 29 of mob violence, Marine guard
tion and patrols were sent into September, the division's zone detachments were set up to
outlaying areas. The Marines was enlarged further to include administer Chinese labor camps
found Japanese civilian and mili- Fukuoka, the largest city on found in the area, and Japanese
tary personnel to be cooperative, Kyushu and administrative center Army supplies were requisitioned
but as they initially found in the of the northwestern coal and steel to feed and clothe the former pris-
city, most women and children in region. Since Fukuoka harbor was oners of war and laborers. Some
rural areas appeared frightened. littered with pressure mines of the supplies also were given to
As the Japanese grew accustomed dropped by American Air Forces, the thousands of Koreans who had
to the Marine presence and more movement to the city was made gathered in temporary camps near
assured that they would not be by rail and road instead of by ship the principal repatriation ports of
harmed, their initial shyness and from Sasebo. An advance billeting Fukuoka and Senzaki in Yama-
fear soon disappeared. and reconnaissance party, headed guchi Prefecture, where they wait-
During the next few days, all by Colonel Walter Wensinger, ed for ships to carry them back to
main routes within the division's reached Fukuoka on 27 September their homeland. The Marines, in
zone were covered even though and held preliminary meetings addition to supervising the load-
most were in poor repair, "some with local civil and military offi- ing out of the Koreans, checked on
not negotiable by anything but cials. Brigadier General Ray A. the processing and discharge pro-
jeeps." As the expansion contin- Robinson, the division's assistant cedures used to handle Japanese
ued, Japanese guards were commander, was given command troops returning with each incom-
relieved at military installations of the Fukuoka region occupation ing vessel. In addition, the
and storage areas; the inventory- force which consisted of the 28th branches of the Bank of Chosen
ing of Japanese equipment was Marines reinforced with artillery were seized and closed in an effort
begun; liaison was established and engineers and augmented by to crush suspected illegal foreign
with local military and civilian Army detachments. Lead ele- exchange operations. Like their
leaders; and Marine guards were ments of Robinson's force began counterparts in other areas of
stationed at post offices and city arriving on the 30th, and by 5 Kyushu, Robinson's occupation
halls. October the force had completed force located and inventoried vast
Within a week of landing, the the move from Sasebo. "All the quantities of Japanese war
division's zone of responsibility way up [to Fukuoka]," as General materiel for later disposition by
again was expanded to include Robinson recalled later, "when we the 32d Infantry Division.
Yagahara, Miyazaki, Arita, Takeo, stopped at a station, the equiva- On 4 October, Robinson dis-
Saishi, Sechihara, Imabuku, and a lent of our Red Cross girls, these patched Company K, 3d Battalion,
number of other towns to the Japanese women, would come 28th Marines, across the Shim-
36
onoseki Straits into Yamaguchi Shima, Taka Shima, Tokoi Shima, quickly disintegrated under mili-
Prefecture, further expanding the and A Shima, west of Sasebo. On tary traffic. The situation was fur-
force's zone of control. Another 5 October, the division's zone of ther aggravated by heavy rainfall
responsibility was extended to and the lack of suitable repair
reinforced company was sent two
days later to occupy Moji and include Saga Prefecture and the materials. Although roads were
Yawata, on the Kyushu side of the city of Kurume in the center of the passable only for jeeps, no attempt
straits. On the 11th, a detachment island. On the 9th, the 2d Battal- was made to use motor transport
was sent from Shimonoseki to ion, 27th Marines, operating as an between major cities except for
Yamaguchi; advance parties independent occupation group, special patrols. Therefore, the
reached the city of Oita on the moved to Saga city. Two weeks major burden of supplying and
12th; and on the 19th occupation later, the regiment, less the 1st transporting the scattered ele-
forces were set up at Senzaki. Battalion, established its head- ments of the Marine amphibious
As General Robinson's force quarters in Kurume and assumed corps fell to the Japanese rail sys-
took control of Fukuoka and responsibility for the central por- tem.
Yamaguchi Prefectures and pene- tion of the division zone, which When it was decided to occupy
trated Oita Prefecture, the 5th now extended to the east to Oita Oita Prefecture, the entire 180-mile
Marine Division expanded its Prefecture. For each of the divi- trip from Sasebo to Oita city was
hold on areas east and west of sion's movements, advance billet- made by rail. The occupation
Sasebo. On 2 October, the divi- ing and reconnaissance parties group, Company A, 5th Tank
sion's reconnaissance company were sent to the areas to contact Battalion, operating as infantry
was dispatched to Hirado Island. local authorities and arrange for since tanks could not be used on
Moving overland to Hainoura by the occupation. Since one of the the island's roads, set up in the
DUKWs, the amphibian trucks greatest problems was sanitation, city on 13 October and conducted
were used to "swim" the narrow sanitation squads accompanied a reconnaissance of the surround-
channel to Hirado. As elsewhere, each party in order to prepare bil- ing military installations using
they found the Japanese on the leting areas. Wherever possible, motorized patrols. The group's
island in full "compliance with Japanese labor was used to size severely limited its activities
surrender terms." Other elements improve living conditions for the and therefore most inventory
of the 5th Division followed, troops. In addition, the mainte- work had to be carried out by the
destroying defenses, collecting nance of roads and bridges was a Japanese. under Marine supervi-
materiel, and reconnoitering the constant problem since the sion. From Oita, elements of the
small islands of Gotto Retto, Kuro island's inadequate road network company moved northwest along
MajGen Schmidt greets Gen Walter Krueger, Commanding General, U.S. Sixth Army,
the coast to Beppu, noted for its
during one of the latter's many visits to the Corps headquarters at Sasebo. hot springs, beaches, and shore
resorts. The tankers of Company
A remained in the coastal prefec-
ture until relieved by 32d Division
troops in early November.
By mid-October, elements of the
5th Marine Division were dis-
persed so as to permit almost com-
plete control of the key areas in the
northern portion of the V

I Amphibious Corps zone. The 2d

and 3d Battalions, 27th Marines
controlled the cities of Saga and
Kurume, the 26th Marines occu-
pied Sasebo and the surrounding
region, and the 28th Marines con-
trolled the eastern prefectures of
Fukuoka, Oita, and Yamaguchi.
The 13th Marines, occupying the
area to the south and east of
Sasebo in Nagasaki and Saga
37
 a - a
-
-a
—V

a
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 138965
A Marine guards returning Japanese troops brought to Kajiki triation and demobilization of returning Japanese was a major
from Kita Daito Shima by hospital ship. Supervising the repa- task of the Marines on Kyushu.

Prefectures, supervised the pro- Western Carolines, the first ele- Northern Kyushu and continued
cessing of Japanese repatriates ments of the 32d Infantry Division to function until 25 November
returning from China and Korea, began landing at Sasebo. The when it was disbanded and the
and handled the disposition of the 128th Infantry, followed by the 32d Division assumed its duties.
weapons, equipment, and ammu- 126th Infantry and division The division's three regimental
nition stored in naval depots near troops, moved through the port combat teams, comprising in-
Sasebo and Kawatana. The 1st and boarded trains for Fukuoka, fantry, artillery, and attached ser-
Battalion, 27th Marines, detached Kokura, and Shimonoseki, where vice troops, relieved the 28th
from its regiment, was stationed in Robinson's occupation force Marines and 5th Tank Battalion:
Sasebo under division control and assumed temporary command of the 128th Infantry with the 1st
furnished a portion of the city's the two Army units. The 127th Battalion at Shimonoseki, the 2d
garrison as well as detachments Infantry, less the 1st Battalion at Battalion at Bofu, and the remain-
which searched the islands off- Kanoya airfield, landed on 18 der of the regiment at Yamaguchi,
shore. In addition to routine occu- October, passed to the control of controlled Yamaguchi Prefecture;
pation duties, elements of the divi- the 5th Marine Division, and on the 126th at Kokura patrolled east
sion conducted a number of coor- the 19th relieved the 26th Marines and south through Fukuoka and
dinated surprise searches of of its occupation duties in Sasebo. Oita Prefectures; and the 127th,
schools, temples, and shrines. On 24 October, Major General after being relieved by the 28th
Only a small number of unreport- Schmidt dissolved the Fukuoka Marines in the zone formerly
ed swords, rifles, technical instru- Occupation Force and 32d occupied by the 26th Marines,
ments, documents were seized in Infantry Division, now command- occupied Fukuoka and the zone to
the raids. ed by Brigadier General Robert B. the north.
On 13 October, the 26th Marines McBride, Jr., opened its command The 26th Marines began board-
was alerted for transfer to the post in Fukuoka. A base com- ing ship on 18 October and the fol-
Palau Islands. While the regiment mand, composed of the service lowing day was detached from the
made preparations to move to elements that had been assigned division and returned to FMFPac
Peleliu to supervise the repatria- to General Robinson's force, was control. Before the transports
tion of Japanese troops from the set up to support operations in departed on 21st, orders were

38
received from FMFPac designat- The corps expanded the 2d reception of division troops.
ing the 2d Battalion for disband- Division zone of occupation on 5 Miyazaki Prefecture and the
ment and the battalion returned to October to include the highly remaining portion of Kagoshima
Ainoura, the 5th Division Head- industrialized prefecture of east of Kagoshima Wan were
quarters' camp just outside of Kumamoto in central Kyushu. An assigned to the 2d Marines. The
Sasebo. On 30 October, the 2d advance billeting, sanitation, and remaining half of Kagoshima
Battalion ended its Pacific service reconnaissance party travelled to
Prefecture was added to the 8th
and passed out of existence, its Kumamoto city to contact Jap- Marines' zone; later, the regiment
men being transferred to other anese authorities and pave the was also given responsibility for
units. way for the 8th Marines' assump- the Osumi and Koshiki Island
As the Army's 32d Infantry tion of control. By 18 October, all groups, which lay to the south and
Division entered Fukuoka and units of the regiment were estab- southwest of Kyushu.
Oita Prefectures, Major General lished in and around Kumamoto On 29 October, the 1st Battalion,
Hunt's 2d Marine Division gradu- and began the process of invento- 8th Marines, the first major ele-
ally expanded its hold on southern rying and disposing of Japanese ment of the division to move to
Kyushu following an intensive war material. Carrying out SCAP southernmost Kyushu, departed
reconnaissance effort. The 2d and directives outlining measures to Kumamoto for Kagoshima city by
6th Marines had moved into bil- restore the civilian economy, the truck convoy. The 3d Battalion
lets in the vicinity of Nagasaki Marines, and accompanying mili- followed several days later, occu-
immediately after landing with tary government teams, contacted pying the inland city of Hitoyoshi.
the mission of surveillance and local officials and assisted wherev- Once in place, the battalions began
disposition of enemy military er possible in speeding the conver- the now all-too-familiar routine of
materiel in the immediate coun- sion of war industries to essential reconnaissance, inspection, inven-
tryside and the many small nearby peacetime production. tory, and disposition. The 2d
islands. The 8th and 10th Marines The 2d Division gradually took Battalion, 2d Marines, assigned to
had gone directly from their trans- control of the unoccupied portion
the eastern half of Kagoshima,
ports to barracks at Isahaya and of southern Kyushu during the found much of the preliminary
began patrols of the peninsula to next month. Advance parties occupation work completed. The
the south and throughout the headed by senior field comman- 1st Battalion, 127th Infantry, which
remainder of Nagasaki Prefecture ders contacted civil and military had maintained a refueling and
in the 2d Division zone. Also con- officials in Kagoshima and Mi- resupply point at Kanoya, had
struction began on an airstrip in yazaki Prefectures to insure com- been actively patrolling the area
the atomic-bombed-out area of pliance with surrender terms and since its arrival in early
Nagasaki, capable of handling the adequate preparations for the September. When 2d Battalion,
planes of Marine Observation Interrogating former Japanese pilots was loaded in four landing ships,
Squadron 2. Within days, the a task assigned to MAG-22 in addition to arrived from Nagasaki on 27
squadron began air courier service routine surveillance and courier flights. October, it was relatively easy to
from "Atomic Field." effect the relief. The Marines land-
On 4 October, V Amphibious ed at Takasu, port for Kanoya, and
Corps changed the occupational moved by rail and road to the air-
boundary between the two Marine field. Three days later, the Marine
divisions, shifting control of battalion assumed operational
Omura to General Hunt's com- control of the Army Air Force
mand. The 3d Battalion, 10th detachment manning the emer-
Marines, relieved the reinforced gency field, and the Army detach-
company from 1st Battalion, 27th ment returned to Sasebo to rejoin
Marines, as the security detach- its parent command.
ment for the Marine air base and In early November, the 2d
the unit was returned to the 5th Marines' remaining two battalions
Marine Division. Shortly there- also moved by sea from Sasebo to
after, the 10th Marines assumed Takasu and thence by rail to
control of the whole of the 8th Miyazaki Prefecture. The regi-
Marines' area in Nagasaki Prefec- mental headquarters and the 3d
ture. Battalion arrived at Kanoya on the

39
____ ___ ______ _ _______
___ -4

II '
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- ipf /7
I
II.. -u:'
1
-tr'..
4-. --

•'4--t 'fl • 41.

, -

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p
-
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.
-tü )

L- p
A contingent of V Amphibious Corps troops loads on board a "Magic Carpet" at Sasebo for the trip home.
5th and moved to Miyakonojo, ports and separation centers at they caused frequent disturbances
where they established the com- Sasebo, Kagoshima-Kajiki, Fuku- and riots which had to be quelled
mand post and base of operations. oka, Shimonoseki, and Senzaki. by corps troops. In addition, their
The 1st Battalion sailed from Local commanders had shoul- previous "animal-like living con-
Nagasaki on the 9th, arrived at dered the main burden of setting ditions made them a sanitary
Kanoya the following day, and up the organization and machin- menace wherever assembled."
then boarded trains for Miyazaki ery necessary to supervise the Only about 20,000 Japanese
city on the east coast of Kyushu. orderly, rapid, and sanitary pro-
Army and Navy personnel
By mid-November, with the occu- cessing for further movement by remained on duty, all employed in
pation of Miyazaki, General ship and rail of the incoming demobilization, repatriation,
Schmidt's command had estab- Japanese repatriates. In addition, minesweeping, and similar super-
lished effective control over its more than 273,000 Koreans, vised occupational activities.
assigned zone of responsibility. Chinese, Okinawans, and other While initial feelings were mixed,
By the end of November, V displaced persons had been sent a good rapport soon developed
Amphibious Corps reported sub-
back to their homelands. While between the Marines and their
stantial progress in its major occu-
the incoming Japanese presented Japanese counterparts. "We were
pation tasks. More than 700,000 little problem, the outgoing operating off LSTs [in the
Japanese military and civilians Chinese, Koreans, and Formosans Tsushima Islands] during the day
returning from Korea and the did. Eager for freedom and natu- and blowing up guns and destroy-
South Pacific had been processed rally resentful of their virtual ing ammunition, and I particular-
through the Corps' authorized enslavement under the Japanese, ly remember the Japanese who did

40
the job," Lieutenant Edwin anchor on the 12th and sailed for vation Squadron 2's light liaison
Neville later recalled. "After one Yokosuka, skirting the southern and observation planes which
spectacular blow-up, they pulled tip of the island instead of heading flew courier, reconnaissance, med-
out bottles of potato whiskey. through Shimonoseki Straits ical evacuation, and, more impor-
That is all the booze they had, but which was still heavily mined. tantly, daily mail flights. Al-
they shared them with the Upon arrival, the group spent the though a third Marine air base
Americans. They did not have next several days at anchor in was planned at Iwakuni to sup-
much to look forward to except Tokyo Bay taking on fuel and pro- port operations in the Iwakuni-
mustering out, but that was okay, visions. "The one bright spot was Hiroshima-Kure area, it was not
and we were okay." On 1 a liberty party to the Tokyo area established and the transport
December, in accordance with on 17 November," reported squadrons of MAG-21 slated to
SCAP directives, the remaining Colonel Elliott E. Bard, the group's occupy the base were reassigned
Japanese military forces were new commanding officer. "At to Guam and Yokosuka.
transferred to civilian status under 0800 approximately 450 of the The redeployment of MAG-22
newly created government min- Group's personnel went over the began the gradual drawdown of
istries and bureaus. side and down the ladder into a excess occupation forces on
The need for large numbers of waiting LSM for the two-hour trip Kyushu. On 12 November, Sixth
combat troops in Japan steadily to Tokyo. Time there was passed Army was informed by V
lessened as the occupation wore sightseeing, buying souvenirs, Amphibious Corps that the 5th
on, and it became increasingly lunching at the Imperial Hotel, Marine Division would be
obvious that the Japanese intend- and visiting the non-restricted sec- released from its duties and
ed to offer no resistance. The first tion of the Imperial grounds sur- returned to the United States in
major Marine unit to fulfill its mis- rounding Hirohito's palace. All December. By early 1946, the 2d
sion in southern Japan and return agreed that the day was well Marine Division would be the
to the United States was MAG-22. spent." On 20 November, after only major Marine unit remaining
On 14 October, Admiral Spru- picking up MAG-31's 598 on occupation duty in southern
ance, acting for CinCPac, queried returnees at Yokosuka and more Japan.
the Fifth Fighter Command as to than 800 Army troops at
whether the Marine aircraft group Yokohama, MAG-22 sailed for the
was still needed to support the United States. The Marine Air
Sasebo area occupation forces. On Base at Omura remained in opera- By late November, only about
the 26th, the Army replied that tion, but its aircraft strength con- 10 percent of the Marines in
MAG-22 was no longer needed, sisted mainly of Marine Obser- General Schmidt's command had
and it was returned to operational been returned to the United States,
What most Marines looked forward to
control of the Navy. The group's after more than three years at war. although more than 15,000 men
service squadron and heavy were eligible for discharge or rota-
equipment which had just arrived tion. The divisions were under
from Okinawa were kept on board orders to maintain their strength
ship, and on 2 November, Air- at 90 percent of personnel
FMFPac directed that the unit allowances, which severely cur-
return to the United States. The tailed the number of men who
group's 72 Corsairs were flown to could be released. Replacements
the naval aircraft replacement were almost nonexistent. The 2d
pool on Okinawa, the pilots fl,l% Ut UW.
Division, for example, had
returning to Kyushu by transport 1,1
received only 45 officers and 130
plane. On 10 November, a majori- men during the first two months
ty of the group's personnel board- of the occupation as replacements
ed the SS Sea Sturgeon at anchor in for the approximately 8,000 offi-
Sasebo Harbor. Included were 485 cers and men who were entitled to
low-point officers and enlisted be released from active duty. To
men being transferred to MAG-31 solve this problem, V Amphibious
at Yokosuka as replacements for Corps ordered an interchange of
those eligible for rotation or dis- personnel between the 2d and 5th
charge. The transport weighed Marine Divisions. The exchange

41
was to be carried out by battal- of the 27th Marines, departed for uniform pressed and all dec-
ions, beginning with the separate the United States. The division orations and insignia added.
battalions, followed by battalions gradually reduced its zone of A physical examination is
within regiments, and concluding responsibility and on 8 December, taken and he has an opportu-
with clerical personnel in the divi- the 2d Division relieved the 5th of nity to file a disability claim
sion headquarters. all its remaining occupation with the Veterans Admin-
Those men of the 2d Division duties. Eleven days later, seven istration with the help of Red
eligible for discharge under cur- landing ships with the last ele- Cross field assistants. The
rent directives and those having ments of the 5th Division on board U.S. Employment Service
24 or more months overseas departed Sasebo. also informs him of the
would be transferred to units of The Marines of the 5th Division prospects of a job. In the
the 5th Division, while men not had accomplished much during meantime, his records are
yet eligible for discharge or rota- their few months of occupation being examined, completed
tion would move from the 5th to duty. Within the division's zone, and closed out. At the end of
the 2d Division and Corps troops. the remaining Japanese armed five days, he and his records
Almost half of the 2d Division and forces were almost completely meet for the final pay-off and
80 percent of the 5th Division, in demobilized; a majority of the mil- he receives his discharge.
all about 18,000 Marines and itary facilities razed; a large per- The process returned more than
corpsmen, were slated for transfer. centage of ordnance, aircraft, and 200 Marines per day to civilian
At the same time the personnel weapons destroyed; and war life. During January, most of the
exchanges were taking place, ele- materiel and equipment in useable component elements of the divi-
ments of the 2d and 32d Divisions condition turned over to the sion were skeletonized and then
would occupy the 5th Division Japanese Home Ministry for con- disbanded. On 5 February 1946,
zone of responsibility so that the version to peacetime use. In addi- the Headquarters Battalion fol-
occupation missions of surveil- tion, the Marines had begun the lowed suit, and the 5th Marine
lance, disposition of materiel, and task of reconstruction by clearing Division, after two years of ser-
repatriation could continue with- debris, reinforcing roads and vice, passed into history.
out interruption. bridges, and establishing rudi- On the same date that the 2d
On 24 November, control of mentary clean water, sewage, and Marine Division took over the
Saga and Fukuoka Prefectures communications systems. Al- duties of the 5th, V Amphibious
passed to the 2d and 32d though most enjoyed their stay Corps received a dispatch direc-
Divisions, respectively. In the first and left with a greater apprecia- tive from Sixth Army stating that
of a series of troop movements, tion of Japanese customs and cul- the corps would be relieved of all
the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines ture, all looked forward to their occupation duties and missions
boarded trains for Saga to take return home. when the Eighth Army relieved
over the duties and exchange per- Beginning on 20 December, the Sixth on 31 December. With
sonnel with the 2d Battalion, 27th with the arrival at San Diego of the reorganization of U.S. Army
Marines. The 6th and 10th first troopships carrying the 27th Forces, Pacific, and subsequent
Marines occupied other areas of Marines, a steady stream of divi- plans to reduce American military
the 5th Division zone, relieving sion officers and men passed strength to only those units con-
units of the 13th, 27th, and 28th through reassignment and dis- sidered essential to a peacetime
Marines and effecting the neces- charge centers at Camp Pendleton. establishment, Eighth Army was
sary personnel transfers. The 2d Those men to be shipped else- designated to assume command
and 8th Marines sent their where for discharge were put on of all allied occupation troops in
returnees to Sasebo, the 5th their way as rapidly as possible, Japan. I Corps, headquartered ini-
Division's port of embarkation, and those to be reassigned quickly tially at Osaka and then at Kyoto,
and joined new men from the Sth's moved out to their new jobs or to would take over V Amphibious
infantry regiments, as did the sep- furloughs. Those to be discharged Corps' area and troops.
arate battalions and division were assigned to the separation Major General Schmidt's com-
troops. battalion—which had a highly mand spent most of its remaining
The 5th Division began loading streamlined discharge process: time in Japan conducting routine
out as soon as ships became avail- He hears lectures on the reconnaissance and surveillance
able at Sasebo, and on 5 December, favorable aspects and the pit- patrols, disposing of an increasing
the first transports, carrying men falls of civilian life, has his amount of war materiel, supervis-

42
ing the transfer of low-point men Commanding General, I Corps, tered battalions and enabled the
to 2d Division units, and prepar- returned to the United States on division and regimental comman-
ing to turn over its area to I Corps. temporary assignment, Major ders to maintain effective control
On 31 December, I Corps relieved General Hunt, as the region's of their units. Other than fielding
V Amphibious Corps of all occu- senior division commander, special unarmed election patrols
pational operations in Japan, and assumed command of the Corps, a during national elections in April,
corps troops began loading out the position he held until General most of the disposition work had
following day, some units for Woodruff's return on 5 April. The been completed and the flow of
return to the United States and corps zone of responsibility Japanese repatriates had slowed,
others for duty with Marine sup- underwent one more change dur- and the Marines settled into a
ply activities on Guam. On 8 ing this period. On 4 February, weekly routine of patrols, training,
January, the last elements of the advance elements of the British and liberty
Marine amphibious corps, includ- Commonwealth Occupation Force Soon after GeneralHunt
ing General Schmidt's headquar- began moving into Hiroshima returned from Kyoto, word was
ters, left Sasebo for San Diego. On Prefecture and formally took con- received from Eighth Army that
15 February 1946, the V Amphib- trol from the 24th Infantry the 2d Division would be returned
ious Corps was disbanded. Division on 7 March. Later in to the United States and the 24th
With the departure of V March, the British force relieved Infantry Division would move to
Amphibious Corps, the 2d Marine the 6th Marines in Yamaguchi Kyushu and take over the Marine
Division became responsible for Prefecture, therefore reducing the zone. Preparations for the move-
the whole of what had been the 2d Marine Division zone to the ment got underway before the end
corps zone and moved its head- island of Kyushu. of April, as reconnaissance parties
quarters from the Nagasaki area to Except for the movement of the of the relieving Army regiments
Sasebo. In addition to the Sixth 2d Marines' command post from arrived to check their future billet-
Army, the 32d Infantry Division, a Miyazaki to Oita, the constant ing areas. General Hunt planned
former Michigan Wisconsin shifting of units was largely over to relieve the outlying units first
National Guard unit, also was and the division could concentrate and then gradually draw them
slated for deactivation early in on routine occupation missions into Sasebo until the last unit had
1946. In preparation for taking and on reinstituting regular train- departed. On 24 May, the 19th
over the 32d Division duties in ing schedules. In late February, in Infantry Regiment, under opera-
Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Oita order to reduce the division to tional control of the 2d Division,
Prefectures, the 2d Division peacetime strength, infantry regi- relieved the 2d Marines and
moved the 6th Marines north into ments were instructed to relieve assumed responsibility for Oita
the Army zone and increased the respective third battalions, and and Miyazaki Prefectures. The
size of the areas assigned to its the artillery regiment the last let- regiment left Sasebo on 13 June
other regiments. On 31 January, tered battery of each battalion, of bound for Norfolk; the 8th
when Major General Hunt's divi- occupation duties. The battalions Marines was relieved by the 21st
sion formally relieved the 32d and batteries were assembled at Infantry and followed two days
Division, the zones of responsibil- Ainoura, moved to Sasebo and later; and the 10th Marines depart-
ity assigned to each of the divi- boarded transports for the United ed on the 23d. On 15 June, as all
sion's regiments were: 2d Marines, States where the units would be scheduled courier flights ended
headquartered at Miyazaki, Oita disbanded. The remaining units and Marine Air Base, Omura, was
and Miyazaki Prefectures; 6th were assembled in battalion-sized secured, Major General Hunt
Marines, at Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, camps which served as centers for turned over responsibility for the
Fukuoka, and Oita Prefectures; 8th the daily reconnaissance, surveil- island of Kyushu to the 24th
Marines, whose command post lance, and intelligence patrols. As Division and the 19th and 21st
was at Kumamoto, Kumamoto occupational duties permitted, Infantry Regiments reverted to
and Kagoshima Prefectures; 10th training in basic military subjects, control of 24th Division. General
Marines, Nagasaki Prefecture. firing of individual and crew- Hunt and the Division headquar-
Areas that had been covered by served weapons, and exercises in ters boarded the Rutland (APA
battalions were now assigned to combat tactics filled increasing 192) and departed Sasebo on the
companies and detachments. amounts of the Marines' time. An 24th. Before leaving, however, the
In early February, when Major extensive air courier service, oper- division transferred more than
General Roscoe B. Woodruff, ating from Omura, linked the scat- 2,300 men to the "China Draft" as

43
 Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 139991
Japan's air might is finally destroyed. More than 200 planes, including bombers and Zeros, are set afire at Omura Air Base.
replacements for the 1st Marine result of their acceptance of defeat, and equipment to repair war dam-
Division. The 6th Marines, slated General MacArthur found it age and to assist in reestablish-
to sail for the West Coast, and ser- unnecessary to institute complete ment the Japanese economy.
vice troops and unit rear echelons military rule. His program of Within three months after land-
needed to load out heavy equip- demilitarization and democratiza- ing on Kyushu, V Amphibious
ment, remained behind. By mid- tion was implemented through Corps had established effective
August, the 2d Marine Division the Emperor and the machinery of control over the entire island and
had completed its move from the Japanese Government, which its ten million people. By the
Japan and settled in at Camp disarmed and demobilized the beginning of 1946, the tasks of
Lejeune, North Carolina. How country's military forces and repatriation and disposition had
well the division had done its job reformed and modernized the progressed to such an extent that
was attested to by I Corps' com- political and economic structure responsibility for the whole island
manding general, Major General without incident. could be assumed by one division.
Woodruff: "Today the 2d Marine While the Marines on Kyushu The occupation not only exposed
Division comes to the end of its stood by as observers and police- the Marines to a different culture
long trail from Guadalcanal to men during many phases of the and its customs, but also provided
Japan. Its achievement in battle occupation, they were direct par- them experience not gained from
and in occupation: 'Well done.' ticipants in others. They super- their normal peacetime routine of
The cooperation and assistance of vised the repatriation of thou- training and guard duty. Faced by
your splendid Division will be sands of foreign civilians and pris- heavy responsibilities, Marines at
greatly missed." oners of war and handled the all levels quickly learned to be
The first Marines to set foot in flood of returning Japanese. kind but firm in handling the
Japan after the war landed at Using local labor, they collected, extremely delicate political, cul-
Yokosuka expecting to meet the inventoried, and disposed of the tural, and economic problems
same implacable foe they had vast amounts of munitions and which confronted them daily.
encountered in years of bitter other war materiel that had been "Their general conduct," as
fighting across the Pacific. Instead stockpiled on Kyushu in anticipa- General MacArthur recalled, "was
they were confronted by a docile tion of the Allied invasion. In beyond criticism.. .They were truly
people anxious to cooperate. As a addition, they used their own men ambassadors of good will."

44
 This pamphlet is based heavily upon the offi-
cial Marine Corps histories: The United States harles R. Smith has been with the History
Marines in the Occupation of Japan, by Henry I.
Shaw, Jr. (Washington: HistBr, G-3 Div, HQMC,
C and Museums Division since July 1971. A
1969); Benis M. Frank and Henry I. Shaw, Jr., California native, he is a graduate of the
Victory and Occupation, vol V, History of U.S. University of California, Santa Barbara;
Marine Corps Operations in World War II
(Washington: HistBr, G-3 Div, HQMC, 1968); and received his master's degree in history from
Kenneth W. Condit and Edwin T. Turnbladh, San Diego State University; and has done
Hold High the Torch: A History of the 4th Marines
(Washington: HistBr, G-3 Div, HQMC, 1960). additional graduate work at Georgetown
Among other official histories consulted, the University. He served in Vietnam with the
most useful were Reports of General MacArthur:
Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area
101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) in 1968
and Reports of General MacArthur: MacArthur in and 1969, first as an artilleryman and then as
Japan: The Occupation: Military Phase (Washing- a historian. He has written and edited several
ton: GPO, 1966).
Primary documents on the Marine participa- works on the early history of the Marine Corps, among them Marines in the
tion in the occupation of Japan are held by the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-
Washington National Records Center, Suitland,
Maryland. Although division, regiment, aircraft 1783. He is also the author of U.S. Marines in Vietnam: High Mobility and
group, battalion, and squadron War Diaries pro- Standdown, 1969; co-author of U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year, 1968
vide monthly summaries and day-by-day
accounts, the best overviews are to be found in in the official chronologies of the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War; and the
the After Action or Operational Reports of Task author of Angels From the Sea: Relief Operations in Bangladesh, 1991, the first vol-
Group 31.3 (Task Group Able and Fleet Landing
Force); V Amphibious Corps; U. S. Eighth Army;
ume in the division's series on Marine Corps humanitarian relief operations.
U.S. Sixth Army; U.S. Fifth Fleet; 2d Marine
Division; and 5th Marine Division. The Marine
Corps Oral History Collection contains numer-
ous interviews with occupation veterans, among
them Samuel G. Taxis; Fred D. Beans; James P.
Berkeley; Norman T. Hatch; Ray A. Robinson;
Joseph L. Stewart; Thomas A. Wornham; and
John C. Munn. The Historical Center also holds
a number of important personal papers collec-
tions, the most helpful of which were those of
James P. Berkeley; Joseph A. Bruder; Thomas E.
Watson; Norman T. Hatch; and Raymond L.
Doyle. WORLD WAR II
Among other volumes used or consulted
were: FAdm William F Halsey and LCdr J. Bryan
III, Admiral Halsey's Story (New York: McGraw- THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in
Hill, 1947); RAdm Benton W. Decker and Edwina the World War II era, is published for the education and training of Marines
N. Decker, Return of the Black Ships (New York: by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps,
Vantage Press, 1978); Robert L. Eichelberger, Our
Jungle Road to Tokyo (New York: The Viking Press, Washington, D.C., as part of the U.S. Department of Defense observance of
1950); VAdm Emmet P. Forrestel, Admiral the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
Raymond A. Spruance, USN (Washington: GPO,
1966); Samuel Eliot Morrison, History of United
States Operations in World War Ii: Victory in the
Pacific, 1945 (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES
1960); John R. Skates, The Invasion of Japan:
Alternative to the Bomb (Columbia: University of DIRECTOR EMERITUS OF MARINE CORPS HISTORY AND MUSEUMS
South Carolina Press, 1994); Richard W. Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)
Johnston, Follow Me! The Story of the Second GENERAL EDITOR,
Marine Division in World War II (New York: WORLD WAR II COMIVIEMORATI17E SERIES
Random House, 1948); Howard M. Conner, The Benis M. Frank
Spearhead: The World War II History of the 5th CARTOGRAPHIC CONSULTANT
Marine Division (Washington: Infantry Journal
Press, 1950); Bevan G. Cass, History of the Sixth
George C. MacGillivray
Marine Division (Washington: Infantry Journal
Press, 1948); William P. Banning, ed., Heritage EDITING AND DESIGN SECTION, HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISiON
Years: Second Marine Division Commemorative Robert E. Struder, Senior Editor; W. Stephen Hill, Visual Information Specialist;
Anthology, 1940-1949 (Paducah: Turner Publish- Catherine A. Kerns, Composition Services Technician
ing Co., 1988); 2dLt Ernest B. Furgurson, Jr.,
USMCR, "The 4th Marines: A History,"
(Unpublished manuscript, 1955); Tom Tompkins, Marine Corps Historical Center
Yokos u/ca: Base of Empire (Novato: Presidio Press,
1981); Sgt Robert T. Scott, USMC, Occupation of Building 58, Washington Navy Yard
Ja pan: Marine Aircraft Group Thirty-One Washington, D.C. 20374-5040
(Yokosuka, 1946); and William F. Nimmo, ed., 1997
The Occupation of Japan: The Grass Roots: The
Proceedings of the Eighth Symposium Sponsored by PCN 19000314200
The General Douglas MacArthur Foundation, 7-8
November 1991 (Norfolk: General Douglas
MacArthur Foundation, 1992).
For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328
ISRN n-i A-n4QtTh-7