30 Jan 2023 Garand Picture of the Day

[Bob Womack]

A friend went in to Tarawa. He was a semi-famous radio announcer, joined the Marines, and became a radio specialist. The day before the landing, someone up the chain of command pulled him from his company and had him held until the third day, right after the island was secured. His squad was virtually wiped out on the first day.

After the island was secured he ended up basically marooned on Tarawa, which became a backwater, for the rest of the war. He said they would go swimming in the mornings but always did it in pairs, with one doing armed over-watch, because there were Japanese holdouts who would pop up and try to die taking down an American.

A guy from my hometown, Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., earned the MOH for his actions there. His body was recovered on Tarawa in 2015 and was buried with honors about a mile from my family's home.

Bob

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