DOC We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War against Japan by James R. Dickenson in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. There was another Marine program for officers in 1945By John C. ThompsonJames R. Dickenson; a Korean War Marine lieutenant; has done a marvelous job in telling about the 400 Marines who were part of the Marine's Special Officers Candidate School (SOCS). I found of great interest that not only were the "400" part of the Dept. Of Navy's V-12 college commissioning program; but all had to; also; attend Marine boot camp at Parris Island as privates before completing their officer training at Camp LeJeune; North Carolina. These 400; according to Dickenson; had plenty of practical hands-on training before being commissioned. Of equal interest; we learn the Marine Corps needed infantry officers so badly during the later stages of WWII that many of these 400 were plucked out of their cushy V-12 programs before graduating. More physically fit than most recruits; many of the SOCS class had played college sports while in the V-12 program. And according to Dickenson; nearly all the instructors of the SOCS class; whether at PI or during their final training at Camp LeJeune; were most impressed with the endurance and competence of these new Marines. Indeed; most drill instructors and others training them thought the 400 were far superior to any other enlisted or officer Marine recruits they had ever trained before. Interwoven among the Marines' stateside training and later fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa by the 400; Dickenson offers much detailed information on ten Marines that he felt best represented this elite group of still living 225 Marine officers with the 2001 publication of his; "We Few; The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan." He follows these ten men from when they first hear the news of Pearl Harbor being bombed; through their V-12 training; PI and commissioning at Camp LeJeune ; combat at Iwo Jima and Okinawa; occupation duty in Japan and China; to what they did with their lives following World War II and the Korean War; as some of the ten officers he gives information on remained in the active Marine Reserve after 1945 and were called up for the Korean War; which caused abundant hardship on their families and civilian job careers. So this in not by any means a typical WWII Pacific combat action account of a group of Marines but offers much more. While Dickenson shows that the SOCS group suffered horrendous casualties in their two Pacific amphibious campaigns during WWII and where some were even grievously wounded in the later Korean War; the truest measure of the proficiency of the SOCS Marines is shown in the far above-average number of combat decorations they received in World War II and the Korean War. In WWII these few 400 Marines won a staggering 6 Navy Crosses; 16 Silver Stars; 27 Bronze Stars; 20 Navy Commendation Medals and a total of 245 Purple Hearts; with 48 of the latter being rewarded posthumously as they were killed-in-action. For this ex-enlisted Marine; however; what I found most fascinating were the accounts of the V-12 program; the Marines' special PI and officer training that emphasized infantry tactics; as these 400 were going; for the most; to be immediately thrown into brutal infantry combat in 1945. Also the vast numbers of V-12 enlistees at often; Ivy League; universities seems; today-since Vietnam-astounding. Whoever heard of 622 Marine officer candidates coming from Dartmouth University since World War II? Patriotism was so high during World War II that;today; it almost defies imagination. Dickenson's remarks about the SOCS Marines being in better shape than other PI recruits; was not terribly surprising to me; as I; fortunately; know a still living 3rd Marine Division Iwo Jima Marine who purposely "flunked" out of his V-12 program at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster; Pennsylvania so as he could go active Marine duty and not miss World War II because of his college studies. My friend James "Jim" C. Steen;while still in high school; enlisted as an inactive Marine reservist on 13 March 1943. On July 1; 1943 Jim reported to Franklin and Marshall College; as part of it's first V-12 allotment of naval officer candidates. Jim said on later reaching PI he found many other ex V-12 attendees who had purposefully left their V-12 programs to join the Marine fight in the Pacific. He said news reels of the November; 1943 Tarawa landing showing dead Marines made him feel; somewhat; uneasy in that he was not doing his war part by being only in the V-12 Marine commissioning program. So staying out late "to eat a hamburger;" he acquired enough demerits to be removed from the V-12 program and reverted to an enlisted; Marine recruit headed for Parris Island. Jim said on arriving at PI you could easily tell the ex V12 enlistees from other recruits; as most of the V-12 participants were more healthy looking and as Dickenson relates; often had played on college sports teams. Besides ex-V-12 members there were even some PI recruits from the service academies who had done much the same as the V-12 dropouts did so as to not miss the War. One Marine; Fred Nelson Jessen; who Jim met in a later Marine photogrammetry school and became thick with; had first attended the U.S. Military Academy and purposely creased his pants wrongly so as to be dismissed from West Point. Later; this same Marine; because of his two prior years spent at a prestigious military prep academy and West Point; would be commissioned at Quantico--the normal location for where new Marines learn the trade of becoming an officer. Fred Jessen; unfortunately;was killed not long after landing at Okinawa with the Sixth Marine Division. Dickenson brings up this point of how young Marine second lieutenants died so quickly in combat and several times addresses what famous 1st Marine Division Eugene Sledge; himself an ex-V12 dropout and an enlisted Marine; said about officers: "We expected heavy losses of enlisted men in combat; but our officers got hit so soon and so often that it seemed to me the position of second lieutenant in a rifle company had been made obsolete by modern warfare." On leaving or retiring from the Corps. Dickenson makes clear the SOCS men often fell back on their Marine training and experiences to make successful transitions to civilian life. He devotes a chapter to "Postwar;" and the still living Marines of the 400 he talks to make it abundantly clear the Corps had given them the right stuff to succeed in the civilian world and all are still most proud of their Marine service in World War II and the Korean War. It's a pity that not enough V-12 participants are still alive today to see how well those that dropped out to serve as enlisted Marines did during WWII and after. Based on the several ex V-12 Marines Jim knew who purposely removed themselves from the V-12 program; it appears they did just as well in combat and postwar as their V-12 brothers who stayed with the program until commissioned. Among Jim's demolition team of normally 6-7 men of HS Co. of 1st Battalion of the 21st Marines on Iwo Jima; at least two more were V-12 members who had purposefully terminated their V-12 service. One was Paul Steele from Atlantic City; New Jersey who left Colgate University and after the war was a successful surgeon. The third V-12 dropout was Bob Weintraub who later was an economics professor for the University of California and at the time of his death in 1983 the senior economist for the Joint Economic Commitee of Congress in Washington. Another member of the demolition team; while not a V-12 member; was Joe Stepan who had attended the Michigan College of Mining and Technology in Houghton before becoming part of the Marines. After the war Joe completed his engineering studies there (now Michigan Technological University) and was a safety and mining engineer with the federal Mines Safety and Health Administration and; later; did the same type work for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration before he died in 2005. All of them were part of the 34th Replacement Draft that landed on Iwo Jima on D Day plus 12. Another demolition team member was a Marine named "Brown;" but Jim does not know what became of him. Finally; there was one other regular team member but Jim does not remember his name but says this Marine usally covered the front of a cave while other team members blew the cave from topside using 20 pounds of C-2 explosives packed into a dugged hole. Often the Japs inside the caves on hearing digging activity above them would try to escape or pitch grenades out and above the cave to stop the Marines. All members of the demolition team on Iwo were privates or PFCs and had no NCOs or officers to supervise their daily demolition duties as the senior men of HS company were either dead or gone by the time Jim's demolition group reached Iwo Jima on D Day plus 12. Their demolition team got up at dawn each day and loaded themselves down with explosives and went to the front line and blew caves that held Japanese. They did their gruesome work for 30 days with no NCOs or officers to give them orders. As I've told Jim he must have been part of the most intelligent demolitions team ever assembled in any army of the world; none of the team members; either; were killed or wounded on Iwo; just privates leading privates and doing what the Corps had taught them so well to do that they required no supervision. Really remarkable. As it was; some students of Jim's own V-12 program at Franklin and Marshall College were plucked out early to served in WWII before they graduated. Jim knows at least one Navy V-12 candidate that is still alive today who; like some Marine V-12 officer candidates; did not finish his bachelor degree until after World War II. After the War Jim Steen returned to Franklin and Marshall College and; eventually; graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. Even later; Jim would acquire a masters degree from the Univ. of Sussex in England and worked in nuclear plant construction and design for Bechtel and other large engineering conglomerates. In his last working years he was a self-employed real estate agent. Another good book to be done; and if the Marines were still alive today; would be to see how these officer candidates; who were in; yet; another special late WWII Marine commissioning program; except at Quantico; fared in postwar. We already know how they did in combat as these Marine NCOs were especially selected to attend this late commissioning program because of what they had already done in the Pacific. While not related to Dickenson's book; I bring the below info on this short-lived Marine officer program; as told to me by my late father; Owen Isom Thompson. I have at home dad's photo of when he got out of Officer Candidate School at Quantico on the 21st of November of 1945. I also have his Marine service record of seven years during World War II and after. His officer candidate class was a special class made up of battle-hardened NCOs; who all had to hold the rank of at least temporary platoon Sgt. to enter. In their class photo you can see their NCO chevrons and battle ribbons on. As dad said; "We had all seen combat in the Pacific as NCOs and there was none of the normal 'Mickey Mouse BS' that other officer candidates had to endured." In short; most of them had more combat experience than their officer instructors had. I'm not sure when this special commissioning program began but my dad; towards the end of the Iwo Jima campaign; was offered a battle field commission or he could take his chances at Quantico. He jumped on the option of going stateside; as after four invasions with the Fourth Marine Tank Battalion; that included Saipan and Iwo Jima; he was hoping to be in Marine officers training school when the invasion of Japan began. He started his training as an officer at Quantico in July of 1945 and was promoted from Sgt. to temporary Plt. Sgt. to attend the officer school. In his service record there are other junior NCOs shown on a long list whom also had to be quickly promoted to temporary Plt. Sgt. to attend the 16th officers candidate or platoon commanders school that dad was part of. I'm not sure when this program terminated; since the War ended not long after in Sept. of 1945. Basically; however; it was a "fattening" program to get more Marine platoon commanders for the upcoming invasion of Japan; which was planned for around Nov. or Dec. of 1945; just the opposite of what dad was hoping for. The dropping of the two atomic bombs; of course; ended the War before then. Dad after graduating from his officers school on 21 November was sent to serve with the 1st Marines in China. He stayed there for nearly two years as a reserve commissioned 2nd Lt. infantry platoon commander and a radio communications officer for the First Marines. He saw some; but most limited; combat in China against the communists there. He was promoted to regular USMC 2nd Lt. before leaving China and left the Marines in mid-1949. Dad attended no college but became a self-educated; electrical engineer after Marine Corps service and did quite well until post-war stress and heavy-drinking caught up with him in the late 1960s. He died in January of 1977 in Dallas; Texas but he was always proud of his Marine service during World War II. James Dickenson's book is a good read and; more importantly; offers new information about the training of Marine officers during World War II. It also contains several photos I've never seen before of Marine life in World War II.John C. ThompsonUSMC 1971-19737 of 7 people found the following review helpful. The Few; the Brave; the SOCSBy Edward P. MatosThe measure of a great book is not in the total sum of its pages; it is a book written concisely; informatively; clearly and with an abundance of information- "We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan" is that kind of book. For a book of only 248 pages Dickenson is able to fill those pages with details; facts; statistics; profiles of courage and much more.... Dickenson amasses large amounts of valuable data on the American military build up and; sadly; its losses in men and military armament during the war in the Pacific.Dickenson describes the purpose for the creation of the Special Officers Candidate School; or the SOCS Program; the motives of young college students into the SOCS and the training they went through to become lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Although the focus of Dickenson's book primarily focuses on telling the story of the SOCS Marine; but the book also devotes a good portion of its words to describing the World War II generation-a generation that when the "call to arms" went out; it was quickly answered by young Americans from all walks of life and from all over the country. They scurried to enlist in the United States Army; Navy; Air Force; and naturally the Marines and the Marine; and the Marine "Special Officers Candidate Schools" (SOCS). Those who would make it through the SOCS Program would became Marine Lieutenants.This book overflows with stories of leadership; heroism; and sacrifices by young Marine lieutenants. Dickenson writes of the enormous responsibilities that fell upon these young lieutenants. They were charged with leading their men; but leading by example. In the battles against Japanese forces; the Marine Lieutenants would make decisions that determined the fates of men under their command. In some instances these young lieutenants would make the ultimate sacrifice-their life. A clear and moving example of this can be read in the case of Lt. Jack Lummus;"Lt Jack Lummus; rose up to rally his men and was knocked down by a grenade blast. He got up; charged the position and killed its defenders with his submachine gun; and was seriously wounded in the shoulder by another grenade. He attacked another emplacement and killed its occupants. Directing the fire of supporting tanks; he again moved into the open; rushed a third heavily defended position; and killed the Japanese in it. He led his men in attacking individual foxholes and spider traps; and; twenty yards in front of his platoon; he motioned them to follow him forward again. He suddenly disappeared in a huge explosion. When the rocks and debris finished falling; his men could see Lummus and it looked like he was standing in a hole. He had stepped on a mine that blew his legs off. He yelled at his cursing; weeping men as they stopped to help him and urged them on to a three hundred yard advance across the area's ravines and ridges. The surgeons in the division hospital could only relieve his pain and give him blood transfusions to try to keep him from bleeding to death. They kept him alive for several hours "... He was smiling as he closed his eyes and died"."We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan" is a grand ccomplishment of military history; the statistics are awesome and saddening; the profiles in leadership and courage are inspiring; the details are at time frightening. It forces the reader to think of war in a different light. It is a winner and belongs on the shelves with other great military history books on World War II.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Good Behind the Scenes Portrait of WartimeBy Lloyd LeBlancThis is a fascinating and well organized story covering the rather unique Navy-Marine Corps "V-12" college officer program in World War II. The program was much larger than might be assumed. Using oral history; interviews and historical facts; the author follows a dozen or so members of a special USMC officer training program in 1944 -- abbreviated so that the men could be rushed into Pacific combat (Iwo Jima and Okinawa). Emphasis of the book is well balanced between early training and later combat experiences. This is a very good peek into the activities in our country "behind the scenes" of the grand theaters of war. It is also a rewarding affirmation of the quality and character of the nation's young men at that time. Good work; author Dickenson.