Wake Island, Invaded Again! July 2015

Wake Island is one of my favorite places.  I have visited there many times since the early 1990s to conduct archaeological and environmental compliance projects for US Army.   Its tropical beauty is only surpassed by the tragic history that abounds among its beaches and concrete pillboxes.  Wake is not only a military installation, but a bird sanctuary and a National Historic Landmark for the World War II siege and battle that occurred there.  Wake is over 2,000 miles west of Hawaii and one of the most isolated US outposts.
 


Wake Island (actually a coral atoll composed of three islands, Wake, Wilkes and Peale) was once a thriving military base.  It is now inhabited only by a hand full of Air Force military and civilian personnel and a crew of Thai workers who keep the facilities and airfield open for use.  The main "customer" now is the US Missile Defense Agency.  This month Typhoon Halola passed over the low lying atoll and most of the personnel were evacuated as the storm approached.




The storm caused quite a bit of damage and littered enough debris on the airfield that supply rescue aircraft could not land.  On July 20, 2015 Wake was invaded again, but this was a different invasion than the one that occurred in December, 1941. 

Waking Up Wake

Reblogged from here - http://r.listpilot.net/c/afa/9uc7vf8/ldaok

Special operations airmen from Kadena AB, Japan, executed a parachute jump onto Wake Island in the Western Pacific to clear the island's runway following a typhoon earlier this month. "Special tactics operators and MC-130 aircrew provide a rapid response to difficult problems that makes it safer for the next guy to get the job done," Lt. Col. Edmund Loughran, commander of Kadena's 320th Special Tactics Squadron, said in a release. All personnel were evacuated from Wake ahead of Typhoon Halola, leaving it vacant since July 15, according to officials. The 353rd Special Operations Group airmen surveyed and cleared the runway permitting contingency responders aboard a C-17 to land 20 minutes later to begin reopening the base. "It was critical that we open the airfield and get Wake Island back online quickly," said 36th Contingency Response Group Commander Col. Lee Anderson from Andersen AFB, Guam. The 353rd SOG flew the mission aboard a 1st Special Operations Squadron MC-130H Combat Talon II on July 18.

353rd SOG aids Wake Island airfield opening

By Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer, 353rd Special Operations Group Public Affairs / Published July 24, 2015



WAKE ISLAND AIRFIELD -- Members from the 353rd Special Operations Group deployed to Andersen Air Base, Guam, July 18, 2015 to support the 36th Crisis Response Group with the opening of Wake Island airfield after a typhoon hit the island.

Prior to Typhoon Halola’s arrival, more than 125 Department of Defense members were evacuated July 15, 2015 leaving the island vacant. After the typhoon moved past the island, a Special Tactics Team from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron was tasked to conduct the initial assessment of the runway.



Aircrew from the 1st Special Operations Squadron and Special Tactics
operators from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron, conduct mission planning
for the opening of Wake Island while enroute to Andersen Air Base, Guam,
July 18, 2015. Members from the 353rd Special Operations Group worked with
the 36th Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to open
Wake Island air field after Typhoon Halola passed through the island. (Photo
courtesy of Staff Sgt. Matthew Sharp)

“The 353rd SOG responded quickly and efficiently to support the 36th CRG,” said Lt. Col. John Trube, 353rd SOG deputy commander and mission commander. “This operation not only demonstrated the SOG’s ability to quickly deploy anywhere, anytime in the Pacific, but it also showed seamless interoperability between the 36th CRG and the 353rd SOG that led to mission success.”

Staged out of Andersen Air Base, Guam, an MC-130H Combat Talon II from the 1st Special Operations Squadron provided airlift for a Special Tactics jump clearing team and combat search and rescue team to infil Wake Island. After conducting military freefall operations onto an unmarked drop zone, the operators were able to clear the runway, assess the airfield environment and receive the first aircraft within 20 minutes allowing the arrival of a C-17 Globemaster III from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, carrying a team from the 36th CRG and Wake Island Airfield staff.




The view from an MC-130H Combat Talon II flying over Wake Island July 20,
2015. Members from the 353rd Special Operations Group worked with the 36th
Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to open Wake Island
air field after Typhoon Halola passed through the island. (U.S. Air Force
photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer)

A rescue jumpmaster from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron uses rescue
jumpmaster procedures to allow a special tactics team to conduct military
freefall onto an unknown and unmarked drop zone. Members from the 353rd
Special Operations Group worked with the 36th Contingency Response Group
from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to open Wake Island air field after Typhoon
Halola passed through the island. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt.
Kristine Dreyer)

“The sheer size of the Pacific can turn an ordinary mission into a real challenge,” said Lt. Col. Edmund Loughran, 320th STS commander. “Special Tactics operators and MC-130 aircrew provide a rapid response to difficult problems that makes it safer for the next guy to get the job done. I am very proud of what the Team was able to accomplish on Wake Island.”



A special tactics team from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron jumps out of
an MC-130H Combat Talon II to infil onto Wake Island July 20, 2015. Members
from the 353rd Special Operations Group worked with the 36th Contingency
Response Group from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to open Wake Island air field
after Typhoon Halola passed through the island. (U.S. Air Force photo by
Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer)

Once access to the island was gained, the crisis response Airmen from Andersen Air Base worked with the local residents to further assess the area for damage and reestablish the airfield, so normal operations could resume as quickly as possible.




A combat controller from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron clears the first
C-17 Globemaster III from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to land on
Wake Island July 20, 2015 after it was hit by a typhoon. The special tactics
team was the first to arrive to the island by military freefall jump from an
MC-130H Combat Talon II. Members from the 353rd Special Operations Group
worked with the 36th Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Base,
Guam, to open Wake Island air field after Typhoon Halola passed through the
island. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer)

"It was critical that we open the airfield and get Wake Island back online quickly,” said Col. Lee Anderson, 36th CRG commander. “The team from 353rd SOG showed up with skilled operators ready to execute. It's always a pleasure to work with the Quiet Professionals."




A special tactics team from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron unloads
equipment from an MC-130H Combat Talon II on Wake Island July 20, 2015.
After conducting military freefall operations onto the unmarked drop zone,
the operators were able to clear the runway and receive the first aircraft
within 20 minutes. Members from the 353rd Special Operations Group worked
with the 36th Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to
open Wake Island air field after Typhoon Halola passed through the island.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kristine Dreyer)

Wake Island airfield, located in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii, is ran by the U.S. Air Force and is managed by the PACAF Regional Support Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. In addition to being a strategic location in the Pacific, Wake Island serves as a divert airfield for overseas flights.

A Citizen Soldier Wins the Navy Cross

 

By Mark Hubbs

I had intended to post this blog on April 29, the birthday of the hero in this story.  However, travel away home distracted me.  Here is the story of Dr. Shank.

Lawton Ely Shank is one of America’s forgotten heroes.  The Indiana doctor is the only civilian, and, to my knowledge, the only Army Reservist to receive the Navy Cross.

The Navy Cross

Lawton Shank was born in the little town of Angola, Indiana in 1907 to Lyle and Lulu Shank.  After medical school he worked in a local hospital where he met his future wife.  He was only married for four years to the former Ruby Ricker before he left the hospital to work for Pan American Airways.  This was near the end of the Great Depression, and we can only surmise that the airline offered pay and travel they he could never expect to enjoy in small town Indiana.

Shank's first assignment was in Canton China, the terminus of the Pan American’s China Clipper route.  In early 1941 he was reassigned to tiny Wake Atoll on at the Pan American layover station in the mid-Pacific.  Pan Am maintained a four star hotel on Peale Island at Wake Atoll.  The China and Philippine Clippers of the Pan Am fleet made over night stops at Wake during trans-Pacific flights to Asia.  The wealthy passengers paid dearly for their seats on the clippers and demanded the finest lodgings during layovers at Wake.



The Pan American China Clipper at the seaplane dock on Peale Island, Wake Atoll c.1937.
 From: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/sfo_museum/exhibitions/aviation_museum_exhibitions/K3_archive/china_clipper/03.html#top

 

War clouds were gathering in the Pacific.  The US military began to fortify several islands in the Pacific to serve as a first line of defense should Japan flex its military muscle.  A consortium of several construction companies formed the Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases (CPNAB) to construct naval and airbases and Wake and other remote locations.  Civilian construction contractors, mostly employed by the Morrison-Knudson Company - part of the CPNAB,  began deploying to Wake Atoll soon after Shank arrived on the island.  Although his Pan Am duties included caring for sick passengers and workers at the Pan Am Hotel, the doctor was also "loaned" to CPNAB to care for their workers until a physician could be hired and brought to the island.  Within a few months, over 1,000 CPNAB workers were busy building a new submarine, seaplane and airfield on the atoll.

Dr. Shank left his Pan Am job and Wake Island for home in July 1941.  Remarkably, he was back in just three months later, this time on the payroll of the CPNAB.  As the threat of war intensified, the military presence on the island also grew.  By November, over four hundred Marines and sailors were assigned to Wake. 

The predictions were correct and war came on December 8th, 1941.  Within a few hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese bombers from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Island flew 600 miles north to bomb Wake.  Wake is east of the International Date Line, so it was a day later than Hawaii.  This was the first of a series of almost daily air and sea assaults from Japanese forces. 

Dr. Lawton Shank, "Lew" as his friends called him, was the only medical doctor on the atoll.  Almost 1,600 hundred men, civilian and military, would rely on him in the days to come.  He and his small staff were ill prepared for war.  Scores of men were killed and wounded on the first day, and the makeshift hospital that was established to care for them was bombed on the second day.  The care that Dr. Shank provided for his patients, usually under fire in the worst conditions possible, earned him the respect of every man who knew him.  Below is the citation for the Navy Cross awarded posthumously to Dr. Shank after the war.

To All Who Shall See These Presents Greeting:

This is to Certify that The President of the United States of America Takes Pleasure in Presenting

THE NAVY CROSS TO

SHANK, DR. LAWTON E. (POW)

Citation: The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Dr. Lawton E. Shank, Civilian (U.S. Army Reserve), U.S. Civilian, for extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy as Physician to American Contractors, Naval Air Station, Wake Island, while associated with the naval defenses on Wake Island on 9 December 1941. At about 1100, while in the camp hospital, during an intensive bombing and strafing attack in the course of which the hospital was completely destroyed and several persons therein killed or wounded, Doctor Shank remained at his post and supervised the evacuation of the patients and equipment. With absolute disregard for his own safety, and displaying great presence of mind, he was thus enabled to save those still living and to establish a new hospital in an empty magazine. Doctor Shank's display of outstanding courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Born: April 29, 1907 at Steuben County, Indiana Home Town: Angola, Indiana

An American ammunition bunker near the north end of Wake Island.  This is probably the bunker that
Dr. Shank used to shield his patients. Photo by author.

 

The garrison endured daily air attacks and on December 11th repelled a naval and amphibious assault with its heavy seacoast guns. A larger, more determined invasion force arrived two days before Christmas and the well-trained force of Japanese Special Landing Force troops finally overwhelmed the garrison after heavy fighting. In the dawning hours of 23 December 1941, the Japanese captured 1,621 Americans with the fall of the atoll.

All but 360 of the Americans were transported to POW camps in China three weeks after the surrender.  Lew Shank stayed behind to care for those me who were put to work building island defenses for the Japanese.  In September, 1942 another 260 Americans were transported to Japan from Wake Island.  Lew Shank volunteered to stay behind and provide medical care for the remaining 98 POWs.  Dentist James Cunha, and a surgical nurse named Henry Dreyer also stayed to assist Dr. Shank.  Lew Shank was mentioned and praised by many men who knew of his dedication during the battle and during those first few months in captivity.  However, all that we know of Lew and the other 97 POWs left on Wake Island in September, 1942 comes from testimony during war crimes trials that occurred after the war.

Dr. Shank and 97 other American Civilians were murdered by the Japanese on October 7th, 1943. 



The beach where Dr. Shank and 96 other American civilians were murdered by the Japanese in October, 1943. 
Photo by author.

When the war was over, the murders had occurred more than three years previously.  The public had already been outraged with the news of similar massacres in the Philippines and in the European Theater.  No national acknowledgement of the Wake Island massacre ever materialized.  However, Wake Island commander Winfield Scott Cunningham did not forget the heroism displayed by Lew Shank and recommended the doctor for the Navy Cross.  The posthumous award was issued on May 6, 1947.

In Section G of the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu there is a large, flat, marble gravestone. At 5 by 10 feet it is the largest in the cemetery. On it are listed the names of 178 men. This common grave holds the remains of all the unidentified military and civilian burials repatriated from Wake Island in 1946.  Many of these men were killed during the siege, and circumstances did not allow proper burial and identification. Of these names, 98 represent the men who were murdered by the Japanese in October 1943.  Dr. Lawton "Lew" Shank lies mingled among them.

The memorial stone marking the unknown dead of Wake Island at the Punchbowl Cemetary, Honolulu. 
Photo by author.

 

Dr. Shank's parents lived long after World War II.  The family added a memorial to Lew Shank on their headstone in Angola, Indiana.  From: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31644842

 

For more details about the ordeal of American POWs at Wake Island, see a series of previous blog entries that start here:    http://erasgone.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-wake-island-helmet-part-one-dodging.html

 

 

 

History That Tugs at the Heart

Not all history is about impersonal tales from the distant past.  Some stories, even those from several generations ago, can have an closeness and intimacy that can stir emotion.

Christmas Card sent home by Carlton Church, his last correspondence before
capture by the Japanese in December 1941.

I started writing about Wake Island almost 15 years ago. First in magazines and later in my blog. I get correspondence off-an-on from family members of men who served at Wake Island or were murdered by the Japanese there in 1943. They used to come by US mail, but they increasingly come by email, especially since I launched my blog last year.  When I did the first article on the massacre of 98 Americans on Wake Island by the Japanese in 1943, I mentioned in the article that I wondered if there were still sons or daughter or brothers or sisters who still remembered and thought about these men.  I have learned that after that after seventy years have passed, there are indeed many family members who still mourn the lost.  I suspect the dead of WWII, from all over the world, still have family who think of them. 

Some, like my new friend Gary Binge, tracked me down and phoned me.  The story of Gary's grandfather, and the helmet he brought home from the War, generated the article you can find linked below, and much of the new correspondence that I have received.

http://erasgone.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-wake-island-helmet-part-one-dodging.html

 

Some letters seek information, that sadly I usually cannot provide.  Some write to give me more information, which is very much appreciated.  Some just write to thank me and let me know that families of the "Murdered 98" have found my articles and appreciate them.  I was surprised by how many loved ones did not know the details of their loved one's death, until they found my articles.  Those are the most precious to me.  Here are parts of emails I've received over the last few months.  I've removed full names and hometowns so I would not violate the privacy of these fine folks.  These letters are humbling and gratifying at the same time.  It makes all the research and writing worthwhile. 

 

Dear Major Hubbs,

I'm writing to thank you for helping solve a long standing family mystery. My wife is the great-niece of Charles M Villines, one of the Wake 98. For all of her life, the ultimate fate of Charles had been unknown to her family. The family had known that he was on Wake island, and had assumed that he had been taken to China, although no record was ever found of it. Charles had married and had had a child before he went to Wake, but his wife had divorced and he and the rest of my wife's family lost contact with her before the war started. We assume that the notification sent in 1946 to the families went to her, although she may well have not received it, having moved in the interim. We do know that his mother, Zula Villines never received any notification and never knew what had happened to her son.

 Although Charles is listed as being from Salt Lake City, he was an Oklahoma farm boy, born and raised in Pottawatomie County. He had moved to Utah looking for work. Charles had two brothers, James and Tony. They both fought in the Pacific Theater and survived the war. Tony died in an oil-field accident in the 1950s. James is still alive, though in very ill health. James has one daughter (my wife's mother) three granddaughters (including my wife), and five great-grandchildren. For my wife and her sisters that unknown fate of their lost great uncle was a wound that was passed on from generation to generation.

 Today my wife was telling our daughters about her lost uncle and our elder daughter, became curious and started searching the Internet and found your account at yorktownsailor.com. I had done an Internet search years ago and found nothing. Knowing what happened to Charles, as horrible as the fate was, has brought a great deal of relief to my wife and her sisters.

 Thank you,

David S.

 

 (Author's note: This letter from Bonnie C. was especially poignant, and includes a poetic tribute to one of her WWII veteran uncles.)

Dear Friend

 Jack Fenex who was in the mass murder is my uncle. I wept when I read your account that my daughter found. We had many answers, but we had some doubts. My uncle, Elmer Christler was also there, but he became a prisoner of war for four years and came home. My Dad, Walter Christler, wanted to go, but he was turned down because of a bad knee (thank goodness). He served in the Army in the states and left just after I was born.

 I was a baby when the war ended, but the war stories have greatly impacted my life. My uncle Melvin Christler flew "The Hump." My uncle Bill Fenex, walked it. As a child, I remember my mother reading Uncle Jack's letter and crying.

 I know that the stories of sacrifice and service that I grew up with helped me face my trials. It was in my blood.

I was a fussy baby and my Grandpa Fenex rocked me as he listened for war reports. He wasn't sure if Jack had been beheaded because he heard there was a Jack that broke into the kitchen for food as well as the massacre. You simply can't judge.

 My uncle Bill Fenex passed away a short while ago. I wrote this tribute to him:

Good-bye, Uncle Bill

Uncle Bill fought for his country

As an "Honor and duty" with pride.
It scarred his mortal life for sure
In ways that he could never hide.
He held his head so very high
And conquered demons one by one.
May he find the peace he gave to us
With loved ones, the Lord, and blessings won.

 I have sent your article on to many family members and I told them to send them on their families. Again, thank you with all my heart.

 Sincerely, Bonnie C.

 

 

Maj Hubbs;

I just came across your article written about the POW Rock on Wake Island, and in it you mention that you travel there from time to time, I have a favor to ask.  If you should travel to Wake Island again, would it be possible to get a small amount of the coral sand from the area around the POW Rock?

Carlton Church's signature is partially obscured by a very fragile chin strap on Glen Binge's helmet.

 

 Please allow me to explain, though I never knew him, Carlton G (Graves) Church was my Great-Uncle, my Grandfather's brother on my mother's side of the family, and one of the 98 civilians murdered on Wake Island.  Ever since I took a simple picture of the memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific back in the 70's, I have been researching Uncle Carl and Wake Island.

 Just this past Tuesday, while going through old boxes of photos etc, I found a small metal lockbox that belonged to my Great Grandmother (Carl's mother), and in it I found a Christmas Card from Uncle Carl, bearing the return address of Wake Island, and written on the edge of the envelope is "last letter received"...it is postmarked San Francisco Dec 27, 1941.

 If you are interested, I can send you pictures of the cards, envelope and letter.

Thank you,

Philip M.


Carlton Church's last note home before his capture by the Japanese. 
Carlton was one of the 98 Americans executed by the Japanese in October, 1943.

 

Mark,



I want to thank you for the Blog you’ve established for relatives of Wake Island Americans who were attacked in 1941. My grandfather worked for the Morrison-Knudsen Co. as a dredge operator. I’ve read several books about the battle for Wake, but unfortunately, the military authors did not include much about the civilians who also bravely fought and suffered.

 Barbara M.

 

 

 Hello Mark.  

 My name is Ron.   Uncle, Redmond James (Jim) Wilper was one of the “forgotten 98” on Wake Island.  I have seen photographs of the Binge helmet and I see that my Uncle Jim signed it because you have listed the names of all who signed.  I would like to see a photo of the signature.  Do you have photos of every single signature?  If so, could you possibly send me a photo of Redmond (Jim) Wilper’s signature?  Perhaps you know how I could get in touch with the Binge family or pass my inquiry on to them.  I appreciate your help and I really enjoyed your blog.  Ron

 (Author's note:  I provided a close up of photo of Jim Wilper's signature as soon as I found this email.  The owner of the helmet, Gary Binge, was more than delighted for me to pass on the photo to Jim's family.  I received this reply)

 

Redmond (Jim) Wilper's signature on Glen Binge's helmet. 
Jim was barely out of his teens when he was murdered by the Japanese.

 

Mark: Thank you so much. It came through just great. Jim's little brother Frank, age 88 will greatly appreciate this as will my siblings and our children. It is very thoughtful of you Mark, and you Gary for sending this to us. The saga of Wake Island is still well remembered here in Boise. Best wishes. Ron

 

A Wake Island Helmet - Part Five "The Legacy of the Forgotten 98"

NOTE:  This is the last installment of five part series which began here:  http://erasgone.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-wake-island-helmet-part-one-dodging.html

 

 

News of the War's end came to Wake Island on August 15, 1945.  On August 18, Sakaibara ordered all of his officers to his headquarters.  According to War Crimes Trial testimony from Commander Tachibana, Sakaibara announced that, "I have just heard over the radio from Melborne that all criminals of war, whether they were ordered or were the officers who gave the orders, will be punished."  At that point it became obvious that they would be held responsible for the massacre of two years earlier.  A few days later, in another meeting, Sakaibara and his officers agreed on a cover story to tell regarding the murdered 98 civilians.  An American force was coming to take the surrender of the island

The mass grave on Wake lay forgotten for two years, but now Sakaibara decided to confuse the Americans in any investigation that might occur.  He ordered the dead Americans moved.  His men clumsily extracted the bones from the ditch and moved them to the U.S. cemetery that had been established on Peacock Point after the battle.  The remains were dumped into a small single grave.  The cemetery was roped off, and wooden crosses were erected and painted in preparation for the expected arrival of U.S. forces.

 

A Japanese Soldier bows at the mass grave of the
98 civilians.  Nat Archives

In accordance with the terms of surrender, Japanese garrisons were required to hold an official surrender ceremony.  Wake Island was no different.  The USS Levy, with a party of Marines, arrived off shore on September 4, 1945.  Rear Admiral Sakaibara (he had been promoted to Admiral near the end of hostilities) sat with Brigadier General Lawton Sanderson and signed his 1,250 man garrison over to the United State Marines.

Col Walter L.J. Bayler, reputedly "the last Marine off Wake" in December 1941,
is the first to set foot on the island in 1945.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 133688

 

Admiral Sakaibara signs surrender papers on board the USS Levy


 




 

US Marines raise the Stars and Stripes over Wake Island on September 4 1945

 

When questioned about the last 98 Americans left on Wake, each of the Japanese retold an identical rehearsed story.  The Americans had been placed in two bomb shelters to protect them from their countrymen's bombs.  One of the shelters had received a direct hit and all the occupants had been killed.  Those in the other shelter panicked, killed a guard and fought their way out of their compound.  They had been cornered on the beach at the north end of Wake Island and all had fought to the death.

"I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure"

Soon after the Japanese surrendered Wake Island on 4 September 1945, Captain Sakaibara and fifteen of his officers and men were arrested and sent to Kwajalein to stand trial for the murder of the 98 POWs.  Two men committed suicide en route and left statements that implicated the admiral and others.  While being held during the trial, Lieutenant Ito also killed himself and left behind a signed confession.  After being confronted with this statement, Sakaibara finally confessed that he had ordered the murder of the 98 Americans and stated that all responsibility should rest on his shoulders.  The trial concluded with a sentence of death for Captain Sakaibara and Lieutenant Commander Tachibana.

Eventually, a reprieve was granted for Tachibana, whose sentence was commuted to life in prison.  Sakaibara, however, was transported to Guam to await his fate.  There, on 19 June 1947, he was executed by hanging along with five other Japanese war criminals.  Sakaibara's last statement was filled with Japanese stoicism: "I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure."

 

According to Judgment at Tokyo by Tim Magna:

For some, the hanging of one of these six men had been a horrible tragedy and perhaps even a mistake.  Rear Adm. Shigematsu Sakaibara had enjoyed the reputation of “gentleman soldier” and protector of the common man.  Hailing from a wealthy family near Misawa in Tohokhu province, some 450 miles north of Tokyo, Sakaibara never forgot his roots.  Forever poking fun at the fast-paced Tokyo lifestyle, the rear admiral touted the value of rural living, the integrity and honesty of those who lived in Japan’s rugged north country, and Tokyo’s need to recognize their great contributions to the war effort.  Contemplating a postwar political future, he would be following in the footsteps of his politically influential family in northern Japan.  That future was linked to championing the rights of returning veterans and other have-nots.  Misawa had indeed had a heroic reputation as an important navy town and base for years.  Sakaibara had assisted in the training exercises held there for the Pearl Harbor attack plan in late 1941. His future seemed golden no matter who won the war.  But what some in his command called “The 1943 Incident” changed all that.

These events, Sakaibara admitted in his trial, had taken place in an atmosphere of near starvation and impending doom.  The defense counsel especially emphasized that point, asking the commission to understand and respect the pressures and strains on Sakaibara at the time of the incident.  But the commission was not in a forgiving mood. In the chaos of retreat or not, innocent civilians had been murdered.

Unfortunately for Sakaibara, several members of his former command expressed surprise on the witness stand when asked about the desperate situation on Wake in 1943.  These men insisted that Sakaibara and his defense team’s description of a starving, chaotic Wake was an exaggerated one.  There had been no unexpected miseries, confusion, or sense of peril, they said.  Sakaibara’s fate was sealed.

True to form, defendant Sakaibara offered a very literate final statement to the commission.  In contrast to so many of his colleagues on trial in Tokyo, on Guam, or elsewhere, Sakaibara, albeit with carefully picked words, admitted he was guilty of rash and unfortunate actions.  He appeared especially convincing when he noted that he wished he had never heard of Wake Island.  But his most memorable comments involved his own view of morality in war.  A nation that drops atom bombs on major cities, the rear admiral explained, did not have the moral authority to try so many of his countrymen.  With Hiroshima and Nagasaki in mind, Sakaibara claimed there was little difference between himself and the victors over Japan.  With that statement a legend grew, particularly in his home town, of Sakaibara, the victim of American revenge.

As late as the 1990s, some people there, not necessarily of the World War II generation, still bowed in reverence to Sakaibara family members out of respect for the “sacrificed” gentleman soldier.

 

 

An unidentified Japanese war criminal ascends the gallows in Guam in 1947

 

 

The war was over, the murders had occurred more than three years previously, and the public had already been outraged with the news of similar massacres in the Philippines and in the European Theater.  No national acknowledgement of the Wake Island massacre ever materialized.

In Section G of the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu there is a large, flat, marble gravestone.  At 5 by 10 feet it is the largest in the cemetery.  On it are listed the names of 178 men.  This common grave holds the remains of all the unidentified military and civilian burials repatriated from Wake Island in 1946.  Many of these men were killed during the siege, and circumstances did not allow proper burial and identification.  Of these names, 98 represent the men who were murdered by the Japanese in October 1943.  After several years of unsuccessful attempts to separate the remains and identify them, they were interred together during a ceremony at the Punchbowl in 1953.

 

 

A large marker at the Punchbowl Cemetery marks the resting place of the 98
and other unidentified American remains from Wake Island
Photo by author

 

"98 US PW, 5-10-43"

 

I visited Wake Island for the first time in 1994.  The bland black-and-white newsreels of the Pacific War that had burned into my psyche did not prepare me for the Technicolor paradise that I encountered at the Wake Island Launch Center air terminal.  A large sign declares "Wake Island Airfield, Where America's Day Really Begins."  Indeed it does, as Wake is on the west side of the International Date Line.  It was difficult to imagine Wake as the desolate hell that it was in 1941.

I drove past the end of Wake Island, across the causeway to Wilkes Island, to a point on the map that said "POW Rock."  A shiny new sign read: "POW Rock, no vehicles allowed beyond this point."  A coral gravel walkway led to the shore of the lagoon where a four-foot-high dome of coral thrusts its way up among smaller boulders.  Here an anonymous American chiseled a brief but poignant message that has come to symbolize the sacrifice of all 98 men.  As the afternoon sun tinged the lagoon with a warm yellow glow, and the surf crashed in the distance, I traced a roughly chiseled inscription in the rock with my finger.  "98 US PW, 5-10-43." 

Morrison-Knudsen had installed a bronze tablet that lists the names of the Ninety-Eight nearby.  This tablet and boulder with its simple inscription has become the island's memorial for a mass murder that took place nearly 70 years ago.

 

A bronze tablet list the names of the murdered 98

 

The sun helmet is also a memorial to all Wake Island defenders, but specifically to those men who autographed it for their comrade, Glen Binge.  The fragile cardboard and cloth headgear's survival is testimony to the perseverance of those men who came home, and a cenotaph for those men who died at the hands of a brutal enemy.

 

 

The Glen Binge Wake Island helmet.  Courtesy the Glen Binge Family

An earlier post announces the discovery of the massacre site at Wake Island:

http://erasgone.blogspot.com/2012/08/massacre-site-revealed.html

A Wake Island Helmet - Part Four "The Forgotten Ninety Eight"

The Forgotten Ninety-Eight

 





Glen Binge with his sons soon after his release from Japanese POW camps in 1945. 
He, nor any of the other survivors, knew the fate of their comrades who were left on Wake Island.
Courtesy of the Glen Binge family.

 



The day-to-day record of POW life at Wake ended when Russell clambered aboard the Tachibana Maru.  The routine of the remaining 98 did not change, however.  Only increasing U.S. bombing raids and the loss of one of the ninety-eight interrupted the monotony.  An American was caught stealing food in July 1943.  After a brief investigation, a Japanese lieutenant wielded the sword that removed the head of the unknown American.  Captain Shigimatsu Sakaibara, the new island commander who had been whisked ashore by an Imperial Navy bomber from Kwajalein in December 1942, presided over the murder.

 

Captain Shigimatsu Sakaibara, later promoted to Admiral.  The fate of the 98 Americans rested in his hands.
National Archives and Records Administration

 

The U.S. Navy also was tightening a noose around the atoll. Extensive submarine patrols harassed all shipping coming in and out of Wake.  This increased attention aggravated the island commander.  Sakaibara and his subordinates were certain that an invasion was imminent. In reality, the United States had no intention of forcing a landing on Wake.  As with most Japanese-held islands that did not have a tactical or strategic role for further campaigns, they were merely isolated from their source of supplies and left to wither on the vine.  Bombings were designed only to deprive the enemy of the use of their airfield, seaplane base, and port facilities.

POW Rock.  In May 1943 some anonymous American chiseled this inscription in a large coral boulder on the lagoon shore of Wilkes Island.
This rock has become a lasting memorial to the 98 POWs.  Photo by Author.

A U.S. carrier task force, which included the USS Yorktown (CV-10), arrived offshore on 5 October 1943.  During the following two days the task force dropped 340 tons of bombs on the atoll, and the accompanying cruisers and destroyers hurled 3,198 eight-inch and five-inch projectiles.  The raid did extensive damage to the infrastructure on the atoll, and 31 Japanese planes were destroyed on the ground.  This was the largest U.S. raid on the atoll up to that time. Sakaibara was certain that the armada assembled offshore included a landing force.  He decided that the troublesome prisoners must be killed to eliminate the threat they might pose during the coming invasion.

An American aircraft over Wake Island during the massive raid in October 1943.
National Archives photograph

 A heavy cruiser’s 8-inch guns bombard Wake, as seen from USS Minneapolis (CA-36), 5 October 1943. The two following ships are (in no particular order): USS San Francisco (CA-38) and USS New Orleans (CA-32). National Archives photograph

The Headquarters Company commander, Lieutenant Commander Tachibana, was ordered by Captain Sakaibara to move the prisoners from their compound to an antitank ditch on the northern tip of Wake Island.  There, in the waning afternoon light of 7 October 1943, Lieutenant Torashi Ito, of the Headquarters Company, had the Americans lined up and seated along the ditch facing the sea.  They were blindfolded with their hands and feet bound.  Three platoons of Tachibana's company assembled behind them and opened fire with rifle and machine gun fire. 

The lonely stretch of beach on the north shore of Wake Island where the 98 Americans met their fate.  Photo by Author
 

A Korean laborer who witnessed the massacre testified later, "All prisoners, both dead and wounded were bayoneted."  The names of nineteen of the dead men appear on Binge’s helmet.

The Americans then were unceremoniously dumped into the ditch and covered with coral sand.  The indignity suffered by the prisoners was not complete, however.  The following day, a report from an enlisted man that he saw one of the prisoners escape during the confusion of the massacre prompted the disinterment of the bodies.  The corpses were dug up and counted, then hastily reburied.  The sailor had been correct; one American was missing.  The Korean laborer also saw the man flee and recognized him as "Mr. John" his favorite among the Americans.  That man, whose full name has never been discovered, was re-captured a week later.  Captain Sakaibara personally beheaded the lone escapee.  There were two men named John who were among those murdered by the Japanese.  One was John Martin of Pomeroy, Washington who autographed Glen Binge's helmet many months before.  Could he be “Mr. John?”

Next Time, Part Five - http://erasgone.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-wake-island-helmet-part-five-legacy.html

You can see a complete listing of all the names of Glen Binge's Sun Helmet at this link:  https://sites.google.com/site/markehubbs/home/names-on-the-wake-island-sun-helmet