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he men of the Fourth Division had their first glimpse of Maui from the transports on the way to
the Marshalls as the ships lay off Lahaina Road for a day to stock and supply the necessary
provisions. Among the men, Phil witnessed a very different landscape than that of his
hometown in Indiana: the vast expanses of corn and soybean fields |
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were now fields of sugar cane and pineapples; the oaks and pines were now banyan and palm trees;
the flat endless vistas were now covered with mountains and sandy beaches (Proehl).
However, the view of the magnificent scenery was fleeting, for a battle on another Pacific island
awaited. |
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In late February 1944, the Division returned victorious and battle-weary from
Roi-Namur, ready to make the camp on the north side of the island its home for the next
fifteen months. After disembarking the USS Sheridan at Kahului Bay, "the |
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long convoy of trucks wound from the docks through Paia and Makawao, and passed under
blossoming flame and shower trees, past hibiscus and wild roses, past green clapboard houses
from which curious islanders peered" (Proehl). At the end of the road, Phil and the other men
saw for the first time, the barren fields that would soon become Camp Maui, which as legend
has it, was intended for the Army, but they would have none of it. Soaring 10,000 feet in the
sky on the horizon was Haleakala, the largest extinct volcano in the world. |
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Over the next few days and weeks, civilization began to grow out of that barren
field. Buildings went up for offices, tents for living quarters, mess halls were
constructed, and roads were carved out of the swampy terrain caused by the endless rainfall
that drowned the area. Amenities such as baseball diamonds, movie screens and stages,
libraries, and chapels were also erected in the community the Marines had established on the
island of Maui. Electric lights were eventually installed in every tent, and public-address
systems were wired into the company areas, used for piping announcements and the latest music
to the camp's inhabitants (Proehl).
Entertainment was also brought to the camp in the form of nightly movies,
traveling USO shows and local hula troops. As the months passed, the Division organized
its own show named "The Fubar Follies," and the Twenty-fourth Marines had the "Just 4 Fun Show,"
a dance band that toured the Pacific and played the "foxhole circuit" on Roi, Saipan, Guam,
Tinian and Johnston islands (Proehl).
Athletics were an important part of the Marines' lives while at Camp Maui, for the
softball and football games, the boxing and handball matches, and the open recreational programs
kept the morale of the men high. There was always some type of sporting event going on, and
the men were more than willing to take part, whether it was simply for fun or if it was an
inter-battalion or inter-regimental competition. At times, they competed against the
Army and Navy, which were stationed on neighboring islands. |
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Despite the apparent fun and the sense of home the Marines enjoyed on the island,
they had not abandoned the true purpose for why they were there: training. The
island was home to a plethora of excellent and rugged training grounds, including over forty
individual areas in all. Amphibious operations were practiced and conducted in the waters
and on the beaches of Maalaea Bay. Haleakala became a super obstacle course with a
thirteen-mile hikes often taken through its crater. Near the camp were non-tactical
maneuvers in the gulches and over the rugged terrain. On the outskirts were a demolitions
area, a live grenade course, a pistol range and a 1000-inch machine gun range. Five miles
to the east was the bazooka training area (Proehl).
In this area, there also existed a 100-target firing range where Phil presumably
spent hours honing his targeting and shooting abilities. Although, according to the tales
of his heroics on Kwajalein, he probably did not need to practice all that often!
Along the coast, ten miles to the east, were combat firing ranges, and the Marines
participated in the maneuvering and firing of tanks and halftracks. The terrain was |
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used to train motor transport drivers in troop and supply movement under both night and day
conditions (Proehl).
According Fourth Division records, the available Army training facilities "consisted
of a jungle training center, a village fighting course, a cave fighting course, and an infiltration
course...The fortified jungle position consisted of twenty-two pillboxes and emplacements well
concealed in bamboo groves, under the roots of banyan trees, and in thick undergrowth" (Proehl).
Along with the areas used by the Army, the Marines' training courses provided virtually
every possible |
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situation Phil and the other men would encounter during the battles in the Pacific. |
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When the men were able to step away from the ferocity and intensity of the war
that training grounds signified they took liberties on Maui and neighboring Hawaiian Islands.
Mr. Ralston recalled one of the favorite activities that he, Phil, Walter Gammill and a
couple of other guys frequently enjoyed while on liberty: getting banana splits. In one of
the villages on Maui, there was a "cute little Oriental girl who served the ice cream and she
made the best banana splits you've ever had" (Ralston). Visiting her stand was "always a
treat," he remembered. The guys also often went to the movies in these towns before
returning to the rigors of the camp. |
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During one of the liberties after Iwo Jima, Phil, Mr. Ralston and Mr. Gammill
visited the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu on the island of Hawaii, and indulged in the
luxuries the hotel had to offer for a full five days. They swam in the pool, lounged on
the beach, enjoyed the gourmet food and visited the sights of the tropical paradise. It
was in Honolulu were this picture in the Photo Gallery was taken...
Click Here. Out of the forty-six men in 'E' Company, the three of them were the only
ones able to walk off of Iwo Jima unscathed. |
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Although Phil was thousands of miles away from his family, he still kept in
constant communication with them; sending off a letter whenever he had a moment between
his rifle practice, hikes or any of the other activities that kept him occupied while on
the island. All of the letters that he sent back to Indiana, both to his mother and
grandmother, have been found by his oldest daughter and are stored away with a wealth of
other original, personal documents Phil and his family saved from those years of his life.
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