World War II Era
entombed within those ships affected Larry and his shipmates in ways that only those who experienced it could understand.
After a short time in port preparing the Heywood and its landing craft for battle, 2000 Marines from the 2nd Marine Division were loaded aboard. After stops in New Caledonia and New Zealand the Heywood arrived at an island named Espirito Santos, a part of the New Hebrides Island group. After three days of beach landings, in simulated battle conditions, Larry and the Heywood set sail for Tarawa. Tarawa is a part of the Gilbert Islands. A coral island made by a volcanic upheaval, Tarawa has a coral reef that extends out five hundred yards around the entire island. It had an airfield which commanded a vast area of the Pacific. Japanese engineers had turned the island into a man-made fortress. The island was manned by Japanese Imperial Marines. These were the finest fighting men the Japanese had, each one specifically chosen and sworn to fight to death. The commanding Japanese officer said that it would take a million men a hundred years to take the island! In the early morning of November 19, 1943, Larry loaded Marines into his landing craft, LCVP #13. His job was to lead the new amphibious tractors, Amtracks, to the beach. Under withering enemy fire Larry guided all the landing craft to the edge of the reef, which was as close as they could get, There the Marines unloaded and had to walk the last 500 yards to shore! Understandably, the losses the Marines and the landing craft took were horrible.
Once Larry had unloaded his Marines he headed back to the Heywood for
another load. As he pulled off the reef he saw dozens if not hundreds of wounded men in the water needing help. With complete disregard to the holes being shot in his LCVP, Larry stopped and filled his boat with wounded men. He then returned to the Heywood, offloaded the wounded, washed out the blood, and took on a fresh load of Marines. Three times that day Larry took Marines to the reef brought wounded the Heywood.
If we load up your boat with supplies will you take them in?” Without
hesitation Larry and his crew said, “Yes we will!”
and back to
That evening after unloading his third boatful of wounded Marines, a young Lieutenant Junior Grade by the name of Heimberger, also known as actor Eddie Albert, came to Larry and said “We have lots of trouble on the beach. Wounded men are on the only pier still standing. Some are dying, we have no blood plasma, and we need more medical supplies. We are low on mortar shells, machine gun ammo and drinking water. If we load up your boat with supplies will you take them in?” Without hesitation Larry and his crew said, “Yes we will!” Larry’s boat was quickly loaded with supplies. In a running firefight LCVP #13 fought its way to the end of the pier. While Larry and his crew laid down covering fire, the supplies were unloaded and every wounded man on the pier was loaded into the boat. Fighting the entire way, Larry made it back to his ship late that night.
Early the next morning Lt.
Heimberger came to Larry with another urgent task. “We have to get Marines to a different beach ASAP”. Under a wicked crossfire from Japanese machine guns, Larry led four landing craft to the beach and set troops ashore. As he had done the day before, Larry picked up wounded on his way back. With no more
Marines to take ashore, Larry’s small flotilla of landing craft went in to pick up wounded Marines. As they approached the beach, the gunfire was so intense that they had to retreat and regroup. With help from the destroyer USS Schroeder, and the three other landing craft giving covering fire, Larry’s boat went in, picked up a load of wounded and brought them out. This went on for most of the day. Later that day, Larry was ordered
to return to the Heywood for rest and repair to his boat. When it was raised out of the water to be placed on deck, Lt. Heimberger said that all around the boat you couldn’t lay your hand without touching a bullet hole. Coxswain Lawrence H. Wade was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for “Bravery and outstanding performance” during battle to take Tarawa. Lt. Heimberger, Eddie Albert, who nominated Larry for the medal said, “Coxswain Wade was wonderful. Without any armor protection, under heavy enemy fire, he had to stand up and steer the boat, keeping her steady against the strong current, and avoid grounding on the coral. If that wasn’t enough, he had to carefully hold the boat off the wounded men who had dragged themselves alongside to be lifted aboard. If it weren’t for Wade, a tall young squirt from Texas, I don’t think we would have saved a man!”
Larry finished out the war in the
Pacific. He was involved in other landings, but none as bloody as Tarawa. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in January of 1946. After the war Larry went to college where he earned two degrees. He then spent 40 years as a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. Thank you Larry for your service to our
country. We honor you and thousands of men and women like you that defend the United States to this day! h
VETERAN FAMILY NETWORK h AUGUST 2011 43
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