Edmund G. Love - The Hourglass

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The Hourglass

A HISTORY OF THE 7 TH INFANTRY DIVISION IN WORLD WAR II

BY

EDMUND G. LOVE

Table of Contents

Contents

Table of Contents

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER

O Lord, I ask Thee not that Thou forgive me,

I ask Thee not for everlasting life.

I thanked Thee not when Thou gave peace and plenty.

Ill ask Thee not to spare me through the strife.

I only ask if this day be the last day

I go to meet my Maker as a man.

And though the hand of fear may grip me tightly,

Lord, please help me do the best I can.

SAMUEL STEPHENS

1 st Battalion, 17 th Infantry

A HISTORIAN, NO MATTER WHAT HIS SUBJECT, SUFFERS FROM having to limit his account to the pastrecalling what has gone before. He cannot be concerned with the vivid actions of the present or bright hopes of the future. Minds grow hazy on old circumstances and memories distort facts. Innumerable incidents of human interest, stories of great personalities, tales of personal or small group exploits must be omitted from a chronicle of the activities of a division, because they necessarily would be colored and even prejudiced. There are too many happenings that the historian cannot knowsmall, but important; many events, tales, incidents that are personal property of the small group affected.

Therefore, this history of the 7 th Infantry Division is an attempt at cold facts. Official files and records have been the principal source of its material. It is believed this is the best way, allowing each man who has been a member of this unit to put into these pagesread between the lineshis own memories, secrets, problems, funhis own personal life with the 7 th Infantry Division.

This narrative was prepared from official records of the 7 th Infantry Division, from interviews with members of the 7 th Infantry Division in the field, and from personal observation of the Division in action. The author wishes to thank Col. S. L. A. Marshall for his help many years ago in teaching him how to write the combat history of a division in action and for use of material in this book. The author also wishes to thank Capt. Russell A. Gugeler for allowing the use of portions of his work, The 7 th Division on Okinawa, in the preparation of this history. Without Captain Gugelers excellent monograph it would have been impossible to tell of the eighty-two days the Division spent in the line in that last battle. The author wishes to thank Brig.-Gen. Wayne C. Zimmerman, Col. John M. Finn, Lt.-Col. Robert Fergusson, and all the others who gave their time and help in reviewing the manuscript.

E. G. L.

Aleutian Islands

Operations on Attu

Kwajalein Atoll (Carillon)

Gea Island (Carter)

Gehh Island (Chauncey)

Kwajalein Island (Porcelain)

Ebeye Island (Burton)

Philippine Islands

Leyte Island

Shoestring Ridge

Island of Okinawa

Tenth Army Advance

The Drive to the South

The Pinnacle

Skyline Ridge

Closing in on Shuri

Last Stand on Okinawa

THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT A MAN CAN ATTEST TO FROM LONG and intimate observation. There are other things of which he can write only from hearsay. In going back over the period of the 7 th Infantry Divisions existence between the time of its activation on 6 July 1940 and the day it sailed for the Aleutians in April 1943, T find much that should be told, but little that I can visualize. I find early attempts at a Division history referring to the Hourglass as the California Division. I find constant references to the long period in the Mojave Desert in 1942. There is much talk of Fort Ord. I suppose these things are as much a part of the 7 th Division as Attu, Kwajalein, Leyte, or Okinawa, but I find it hard to believe.

The 7 th Division may still refer to itself as the California Division. Certainly a large proportion of its men came from California, and up until the time it sailed from San Francisco almost its entire existence had been spent in the great states on the Pacific, but by the time it finished at Hill 89 I dont think anyone had mentioned that title for a long time. After eighty-two days on the line between the Hagushi beaches and Mabuni it was simply The Division. Everyone on the island of Okinawa took pride in the 7 th , including the Marines. The truth is that the 7 th Division was a fighting outfit that had proven itself long since. The qualities that made it such a splendid machine didnt come from California particularly. They came from the United States as a whole. They came from Vinegar Joe Stilwell, from Wayne Zimmerman, from Graydon Kickul, from Archie Arnold, from Johnny Bosworth, from Pappy Wallace, and Deini, the one-man army.

You can say that the 7 th Division was activated at Ford Ord, California, on 6 July 1940. Its infantry regiments in those days were the 17 th , the 32 nd and the 63 rd . You can say that the first division commander was Maj.-Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. He was a tough man in those days, too, and when he finished with the 7 th it was a crack outfit. It was perfectly conditioned. It was a fighting division already. You can say that in the summer of 1941 the 7 th Division left California for its first and only time. It moved up to the State of Washington for Fourth Army maneuvers. It stayed there until September and then came back to Fort Ord. It was only three months before Pearl Harbor and there were changes to be made. Many of the men were nearly through with their one year. They had to be mustered out and new men had to be trained to replace them. The biggest loss of all during this period was Uncle Joe Stilwell who moved on, campaign hat and all, to better things. The next time the 7 th saw Vinegar Joe in the flesh was down on southern Okinawa after it was all over. He was still wearing the campaign hat, but he had four stars. The Division Band played the 7 th Division march for him and he had no trouble recognizing it, even though the band was a little the worse for wear. There werent many of the old band left around that played the piece back in 1940 and 1941. The band had a peculiar habit of getting tapped for duty as litter bearers in the intervening years and some of them just werent available any more.