William Brooks Allen |
William Allen, 2002 | World War II, 1939-1946
Marine Corps
Regimental Weapons Company, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
Parris Island, South Carolina; Roi Island and Namur Island (Marshall Islands); Saipan and Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater
Sergeant
Chattanooga, TN
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Iwo Jima was William Allen's fourth island invasion in the Pacific Theater and by far the
most horrible. Though he had been told the operation would last only 72 hours, the battle
to take the island lasted almost a month. He was supposed to be among the first off the
boat on the opening day of the battle, but he was held back by his commanding officer
and his replacement lasted only ten steps onto the beach before he was killed. The
Japanese resistance was fierce, the island's terrain offered many hiding places, and the
enemy offered a new piece of artillery: phosphorous shells whose fragments burned
through clothing and skin. (Allen's account of Iwo Jima begins in Part 3 of the interview
at the 4:30 mark.)
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