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John Basilone who
was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on April 20th, 1948
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I wonder who the two at the first grave site were? Probably no info avail... The holster on the left man looks unusual, not like a 1916 pattern, almost looks short and has a second hole properly cut into the flap.
If I'm not mistaken in the Mini - Series " The Pacific" on HBO he was (John Basilone) one of the main Characters in it. He could just kept traveling selling War Bonds then was a instructor, but decided to go back to the Pacific Theatre then was KIA, Correct ?
Yes you are correct John Basilone was played by Jon Seda.Quote:
Originally Posted by imntxs564
That's right Frank, I think it was survivor's guilt drove the actual Basilone back to action. Not unusual.
Funny in the Pacific series on T.V John was taken out by a burst of MG fire on Iwo, guess it is more dramatic than an Arty round for viewing purposes that is. But in retrospect they were very desperate days on Guadal canal the poor chaps when the Navy had to leave otherwise be sunk to a ship. They were all heros which ever theater they fought British and her dominions and all the other allied forces.
In the movie he was up and about to get moving again, arty doesn't allow for that. It brings an end without warning. That doesn't make for good movie...his original act was quite something though.
The Death of Manila John
After knocking out the bunker, Basilone led twenty men off the exposed beach area to a location where they could take some cover and plan their next move. They were inside a crater that appeared to be made earlier by a U.S. bomb. John Basilone judged that they would need more men to advance against the next Japanese blockhouse. He ordered the men to stay while he went back to get more men and some heavy machine guns. The young soldiers waited and watched Basilone run back to gather more men. John Basilone gathered some troops and weapons and started back across the beach to the waiting soldiers. A Japanese mortar shell landed right in the middle of John and a few of the men he was leading. John’s reported last words, just before the shell hit him were printed in The New York Times, they were “All right, you guys, let’s go on in there and set up these guns for firing”. The shell killed several men next to John instantly, but John, held on. One soldier who witnessed his injury described it as very bad. The explosion had ripped his insides open and part of his intestines were exposed. John held his hands on his stomach as blood oozed all around him. A small puddle of blood formed and started to grow slowly. A medic was summoned. John Basilone’s only chance was if the medics could get him off the beach to a hospital ship. However, at the moment, there were no more ships coming in or going out. The beach was in chaos. There was a log jam of ships, wreckage, and bodies. No more ships would be landing until the U.S. was more organized and the incoming ships were not sitting ducks. The medic shot John with morphine to comfort him. At one point some men stopped to gaze at the fallen hero, but a sergeant yelled them off, not wanting to see them get shot while grieving for him. John clung to life for around thirty minutes before dying.
There are other versions
No mortar explosion is cited in Basilone's death in the official USMC casualty report drawn up on March 7, 1945 two weeks after he died. reads like this: "nature of wound, GSW, right groin, neck and left arm." Robert Aquilina of the Corps History Division reference branch in Quantico concludes that Manila John probably bled to death from these gunshots.
Fragment holes can appear to be GSW too...sounds pretty definitive though. Not much chance to sidestep what was coming either.