From the Readers:
Send some memories, good ideas, or information!
Arnold Gladson's Tarawa Diary
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 17:46:26 -0500
From: Jim Murray
Subject: Re: Tarawa/Makin
Jon-
Thanks very much for the web page. It was terrific to view and
follow the various links. My Dad also served- 2/6 Batallion Commander-
Lt. Col R.L. Murray USMC. He went on to serve in Korea and Viet Nam. He
retired in 1967 after 31 years, and has lived in Oceanside CA since then.
He still plays golf three times a week, and shoots his age from time to time.
Jim Murray
Subject: Re: Where on Tarawa?
Date: 2/6/99 2:26 PM Central Standard Time
From: OleSmoky@aol.com
THAT WAS INTERESTING SBOUT YOUR DAD..I had to wade a long way and ended on red beach..Things were sure messed up..no one knew where you were supposed to be..I ended up with a flamethrower. When it was all over there were only 6 left out of our group We were H&S Assault engineers. Is your dad still around..we seem to be getting older.
From: GunnyG - Dick Gaines, GySgt USMC Ret., (1952-1972)
Date: 22 Feb 99
Looking for Tarawa vets who knew my father
Message posted byCarter King
Date: 21 February 99
My father, Lester B King was a navy medic at Tarawa who recieved the Silver Star for rescuing 16 wounded marines under enermy fire,14 of them after taking 2 13mm rounds in his back. He was then pulled to safety by 2 marines. Their first names were James and Earl,as my oldest brother was named after them. I don't have any other info than that but i would like to hear from anyone who knew him. He died in 1991 while I was in the Persian Gulf War and I learned some about his wartime service from brothers and sisters, but if anyone out there knew him and can tell me more, I would greatly apreciate it.
Carter R King, SGT US Infantry
From: Glen Boren
Subject: Re: Tarawa
I kept a diary during my career on the A/C carrier. It is light on a lot of detail as we were 50 some miles from the island and all I got was from the pilots that I talked to after a strike. I know that we were shocked at the reports coming in about the progress of the fighting as we could not find targets to shoot at and bomb. once in awhile we would get a report of a certain target to hit but they were few and far between. You may use the diary....
Date: 13 Aug 1999
From: Sean Prizeman
Jonathan:
Nice to see website out there devoted solely to Operation Galvanic -
nice work. Speaking of books on the subject, Eric Hammel and John Lane's,
76 Hours: The Assault on Tarawa has just been revised and updated with more
than 250 previously unpublished photos of the battle. I bought a copy of it
yesterday($39.95 + S&H). You can order your own copy by contacting Zenith Books
1-800-826-6600. If you really want to see something quite interesting, go to
Washington, D.C. to the Naval Yard and visit the Marine Corps Historical Center
in Bldg. 58. You'll have to get clearance and permission (not difficult), but
go down to the basement. There's an archival room down there that has all the
combat maps used during the Pacific War, including 10-15 used during the battle
for Betio; they are stored in large flat-drawered filing cabinets. The maps have
all the situation markings on them, as the battle unfolded, and our victory
was as yet uncertain.
Sean Prizeman
Wheaton, IL
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999
From: Ted Eggum
Jonathan,
Just cruising the web for articles on Tarawa and came across your site.
I was in the Navy and had taken part in the WWII 50th commemoratives in
the South Pacific (Tarawa, Guadacanal, Iwo Jima, Philippines, Guam)
onboard the USS Germantown LSD-42, and I have been looking for footage
on vhs from these events. I know they must be out there somewhere as
CNN and other networks had crews out there for all these events. Have
you come across any videos? If you have could you please contact me
with information on how/where I could find them? Thank you for your
time.
Ted Eggum
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999
From: Dennis Conner
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the email and I am glad to see that you got to chat a little with
Gus. I will keep the homepage up and running for him. I can't post anything
on it right now because I don't have the password figured out, but I will
hopefully soon. I would also like to have it put on some search engines but
I don't quite know how to do that. I will have to do some research to see
how to do it. Thanks again and by the way did Gus know and or remember your
dad? I see both were radio-men....He passed away Sept. 30, 1999 of Leukemia,
which might be contributed to his exposure since the Second Marines did spent
time on the Island of Japan after the bombings. He was buried at the Riverside
National Cemetary in Californaia. Thanks again.......
Dennis
From KRyder2310@aol.com
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 07:26:56 EST
Trying to find info on Richard Randal Ryder fought there as a medic for the Marines?
copyright 1998 Wheaton, Illinois
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