Marines fight off Banzai charge

26th July 1944: On Guam the US Marines face Japanese troops determined to die - and US casualties steadily mount

Armed United States Marines leaping from a LVT-1 (Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Mark 1) onto a beach on Guam

‘Stars and Stripes flies again over Guam.’

Plasma on Guam - Navy Hospital Corpsmen tenderly lowering seriously wounded Marine Pfc. [Private First Class] Arthur Norris Robison, 20, to the ground at a first-aid station on Guam on July 28, 1944,

On Guam the Japanese forces were once again well dug in and determined to fight to the death. The overwhelming might of the US naval forces ranged against them meant that they had no hope of defending the island.

However, the US Marines had to engage in a bloody and brutal assault in order to prevail. There was no respite for them even when well dug-in in prepared positions. At night there was always the prospect that individual Japanese troops would attempt to infiltrate their lines. Sometimes it was a lot worse than a few individuals.

With their bayonets gleaming in the light of sudden flares, they charged toward the Marine foxholes, throwing grenades and howling: “Ban-zai-ai!” like a pack of animals.

Alvin M Josephy¹ had landed with one of the first waves on the 21st, he was still with them on the night of the 25th/26th as they faced up to a suicidal Japanese counter-attack:

Toward midnight one of the men on watch noticed that the Japs were throwing a lot of grenades. On both sides of him, other Marines were hurling their own grenades back into the night. Many of these burst five and ten feet above the ground, the fragments showering on the wet dirt.

At about three A.M. a rifleman named Martinez heard a swishing of grass out ahead of him, like men moving about. Then he noticed the pang of pieces of metal hitting each other and a busy stirring in the darkness that made him uneasy. He peered into the mist but was unable to see anything.