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Contact Info
Home Town Newport
Date of Passing Feb 17, 2019
Location of Interment Saint Columbus Cemetery - Middletown, Rhode Island
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Luzon Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
April / 1945
Description On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.
Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, that included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city and, on February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.
As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. It was necessary to take this stronghold because troops there can block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until 13 April, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.
In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.
MARSHALL ISLANDS OPERATION
Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls: 29 January - 8 February 1944.
1 Star
ASIATIC-PACIFIC RAIDS - 1944
Truk attack: 16 - 17 February 1944.
Palau, Yap, Ulithi, Woleai raid: 30 March - 1 April 1944.
Truk, Satawan, Ponape raid: 29 April - 1 May 1944.
1 Star
HOLLANDIA OPERATION
Aitape - Humboldt Bay - Tanahmerah Bay: April - 1 June 1944.
1 Star
MARIANAS OPERATION
Capture and occupation of Saipan: 11 June - 24 June 1944.
Battle of Philippine Sea: 19 - 20 June 1944.
Third Bonins raid: 3 - 4 July 1944.
Capture and Occupation of Guam: 12 July - 15 August 1944.
Palau, Yap, Ulithi raid: 25 - 27 July 1944.
1 Star
WESTERN CAROLINE ISLANDS OPERATION
Capture and occupation of South Palau Islands, 6 September - 14 October 1944.
Assaults on the Philippine Islands: 9 - 24 September 1944.
1 Star
LEYTE OPERATION
Third Fleet supporting operations for Okinawa attack: 10 October 1944.
Northern Luzon and Formosa attacks: 13 - 14 October 1944.
Luzon attacks: 15 October - 16 December 1944.
Battle of Surigao Strait: 25 - 26 October 1944.
1 Star
LUZON OPERATION
Third Fleet supporting operations - Formosa attacks: 3 - 21 January 1945.
Lingayen Gulf landing: 4 January - 16 February 1945.
Third Fleet supporting operations - Luzon attacks: 6 - 7 January 1945.
Third Fleet supporting operations - China Coast attacks: 12 - 16 January 1945.
Third Fleet supporting operations - Nansei Shoto attack: 22 January 1945.
1 Star
IWO JIMA OPERATION
Fifth Fleet raids against Honshu and the Nansei Shoto: 15 February - 4 March 1945.
1 Star
OKINAWA GUNTO OPERATION
Assault and occupation of Okinawa: 17 March - 28 May 1945.