Author: Kazuto Shimizu, Company C
Title: PUKA SQUARES: Club 100 EUROPEAN TOUR
Publisher: Puka Puka Parade
Source: Puka Puka Parade, September 1967, Vol. 20, No. 7
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In this article, Kazuto Shimizu, an early replacement in the first group of soldiers transferred from the 442nd RCT to the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), visits battle sites in Italy and recalls his early experiences with the battalion during a 1967 Club 100 European tour.
View Kazuto Shimizu’s Biography and Photo Collection
Pompei is still there, better organized for visitors than before, but that certain area and paintings some veterans of many years ago talk about is closed to the public – a disappointment to those who had cameras with photo-flash ready.
Cassino, as far as those who were there, was the highlight of this trip. Castle Hill and the ruins are still there. The houses behind the castle where Major Lovell [Maj. James Lovell (HQ)] got hit is leveled flat but the machine gun bunkers are still there.
We drove up Monastery Hill but couldn’t visit the rebuilt Abbey because it was closed until 3:00 p.m. and we couldn’t wait. But the most disappointing thing was that we couldn’t get to the side of the Abbey from which to look down the hill where the 100th came up towards Castle Hill. The look-out that overlooked the valley was on the “German” side and as far as we were concerned, it was one of little interest. But I did manage to get some pictures on black and white film so that you can use it for the Puka Puka Parade publication. I will mail the undeveloped film to you as soon as I reach New York. Take good care of the film because those pictures were taken with no blood but certainly with sweat and some tears.
When I realized that we couldn’t get any pictures in the direction of real interest to those not making this trip, I started to go down the look-out at the top in search of a better spot to take pictures. Then I saw a trail the road below from which we came up the hill. I took the pictures I wanted. I was also timing myself to be back within five minutes before I was missed. There was no turning back once I started on this “expedition” which took about five minutes longer than I expected. I had to run up the hill completely around the Abbey and I certainly misjudged the size of the Abbey and the distance around it. In the meantime the group that was scattered and milling around the top of the hill, some drinking soft drinks from a concession wagon nearby, suddenly decided it was too hot to hang around this area and everybody went back to the bus to get out of the area. Of course one person was missed. Can you imagine what can go on in people’s minds within a five minute period? There were several people below the look-out but none saw me go down toward the road. When I didn’t respond to the call from above, Fred Yamashige [Co. D], Kenneth Yoshiura [Co. A] and Richard Yamamoto [Co. C] had started a search party to look for me below the ledges. When I came trotting up the hill, met my wife with swollen eyes – she must have imagined and feared the worst. Poor Fred, Ken and Richard, they were puffing and perspiring more than I.
I felt sorry I put so many people to worry – but at that time I was determined to get those pictures. (The bus could not stop on the road by regulation). Remember, those shots are on the only black and white roll of film used by this group – take care.
Going down the hill, the bus driver violated regulations and stopped at two places on the “no stopping” road, the second stop at the top of Castle Hill.
Richard Yamamoto explained to me the route used by the 100th and the location of the machine gun nests, etc. It appears to me it was a wonder the 100th wasn’t wiped out here. Probably the only reason those who came up to the top survived was that they were too close to the enemy positions for the Germans to throw their heavy weapons on them. If Richard’s explanations are accurate, the 100th was inside the German stronghold and within five to ten feet from some of the bunkers – and I am not exaggerating. Now I begin to believe some of the stories I’ve been listening to at those all night stag parties. I can also believe Saburo Ishitani’s [Co. C] story about his setting his motor barrel only three degrees from the vertical and checking the level on the weapon each time he fired. He was firing almost straight up and that was the only way he could have fired to hit the enemy position. Yes! That was the only position where the 100th could have survived directly under the enemy guns. How they managed to get there, I don’t know.
Anzio was not on the itinerary but since it was so close to Rome, five of us, Fred Yamashige, Norman Oda [Co. C], Kenneth Yoshiura, Rusty Nakagawa [Co. C] and myself hired a car with an English speaking driver to take us into the area. It was a wild stab at trying to locate some land marks of recognition. We found Anzio all right but it was completely unrecognizable. We also found the beach front between Rome and Anzio completely occupied by resort and private beaches – completely changed. We found Mussolini Canal but couldn’t locate the exact spots that we occupied. The farm houses and the dirt road looked familiar but no houses or road intersections could be located as being “this is it”. Cisterna is completely rebuilt.
We also found Lanuvio and to my surprise, we found the exact battle grounds where the 100th Infantry attacked in an attempt to cut off the Lanuvio Road on June 2, 1944. Unfortunately we came upon this place at 6:00 p.m., two hours behind schedule and had no time to explore the area. But we were able to take five minutes to take pictures and talk to an Italian farmer who happened to be nearby. The farmer confirmed that there was a gulley further down the farm road which was the starting point of the attack. When asked if there were some American tanks destroyed in this area during the war, he answered he doesn’t know exactly but added that this was an area of heavy battle where in some areas, there were one American or German dead one meter (about a yard) apart.
This was the battle in which Company C suffered heavy casualties. Lt. Sueoka [1st Lt. Theodore T. Sueoka (Co. C)], Lei Yamashiro [Co. C], among others, lost their lives here. Rusty Nakagawa got wounded here.
How did we find this place? I cannot fully explain how but as we drove down the winding road from Lanuvio, we passed over a railroad that looked familiar. Then I saw some pine trees with the bottom branches trimmed so that the whole tree took the shape of a champagne glass. Suddenly I recalled seeing something like this before. We were approaching a road fork and I told the driver to stop. There was something familiar about this whole area. Right next to where we stopped there was a narrow dirt road between rows of grape vines planted in rows parallel to this same road which lead straight to some bushy area in the general direction of Anzio from where we were standing. Suddenly everything fitted together. We were standing on the road that was the 100th objective that day in June 1944. The farm house that stood in front of us next to the road fork was the house from which two German tanks emerged to destroy our supporting tanks during the attack. The terrain, the pine trees, the size of the dirt road, the size and direction of the rows in the grape vineyard all fitted together.
I am not known to have a good memory so those who know me may wonder how I can remember all this that happened in one day, twenty-three years ago. I wonder at it myself. Time is a wonderful healer and I thought I had forgotten some of the horrors that I experienced during the war. But time is wonderful. For many years I couldn’t talk about these instances of my life without trembling. Now I find that I can even write about it so I will take this opportunity to write what I remember of the “Battle of Lanuvio” as I will recall it.
I will not go into the details of the battle in terms of the larger Units, the 34th Division and the 5th Army. These can be found in the” Ambassador in Arms” and other publications. But I will mention that the 100th was to pass through the positions held by the 135th Infantry of the 34th Division. The 135th was a regiment in the 34th Division that suffered heavy casualties here before the 100th came in. This point is mentioned so that there will be no confusion of the fact that the 34th Division captured the town of Lanuvio, not the 100th Infantry Battalion.
The morning of the attack was nice and sunny. As we passed over the 135th position, I saw young replacement soldiers with brand new rifles and uniforms, huddled in fox holes in utter confusion while the Sergeant, probably their squad leader, took down their names from fox hole to fox hole. I thought to myself, what a horrible thing to be a replacement soldier joining the combat unit at the front lines! This could have happened to me.
Then I saw Sgt. Nakamoto deploying the 1st Platoon of C Company in a skirmish line for the attack as we left the 134th’s position. Lt. Sueoka was next to him, walking upright and forward. This glimpse was the first and last time I saw Lt. Sueoka who had replaced Lt. Jon Chinen [Co. C] and Lt. Okada who were our platoon leaders up until the night before the attack when both of them were wounded. This was the beginning of my initiation into combat. My first encounter with a German soldier was immediate. Not more than ten yards away there were two of them with their hands up. I did not see them raise their hands so they must have seen me first. Yoshio Tengan [Co. C] and Edward Ogawa [Co. C] were to my right. The three of us would have been easy target for their machine pistols if they had not decided to surrender. Their fox holes were well camouflaged. We were probably saved by the boldness at which we advanced which scared them into submission. From then on my eyes were bubbly wide and alert. I heard Sgt. Robert Takeo [Co. C] yelling at us not to waste time on souvenirs. I saw Edward Ogawa grab the muzzle end of a P-38 pistol and toss it into the bushes. We later found out that this pistol could have been exchanged for about $100 with one of the rear echelon soldiers or Merchant Marine personnel.
We advanced at a walking pace through the vineyard. Yasumasa Nagamine [Co. C] on my left was shooting in standing position at the enemy between the grape vines. He got several of them. The German soldier I encountered next was on his knees with all his weapons removed from him. I was scared but this German soldier was pale and white as a sheet. He had surrendered and would have done anything I told him to do. Here I was 20 years old pointing a gun at a man old enough to be my father. These thoughts went through my mind in fleeting seconds. But then the war couldn’t walt for these thoughts. All I did was frisk him to make sure there were no weapons on him and directed him to walk in the general direction from which we came. There was no time to hold or to escort prisoners. This prisoner was at the mercy of any mines along the way, or his comrades shooting him in the back as he surrendered, or from American troops in the rear that may mistake him for a German soldier, not a prisoner.
We kept on advancing until we reached a clearing. Our Squad (2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, C Company) reached this position without a single casualty. We had swept clear the right flank of the German first line of defense in this area. But the rest of the Company did not fare so well.
Lt. Mazano [Lt. Rocco Marzano (Co. C)], our Company Commander, and Lt. Mitchell [1st Lt. Norman Mitchell (Co. C)], our Company Executive Officer, were wounded and out of action. Our Squad was extremely lucky.
But the battle was not over yet. This was just the beginning. At this moment, I realized that I had fired only three rounds, and these shots were fired into possible concealments, not directly toward a definite target. How could I have gone through a fire fight at close quarters, like this without firing a clearly directed shot? It all seemed incredible.
Then suddenly in front of us, two German tanks with Identifying crosses, moved up from behind a farm house. The tank commanders had their heads above the tank turret. I Immediately took a head on one of them. Then someone to my right yelled “don’t shoot, those are tanks”. I thought to myself how can that be but held my fire since this was my first battle and I had to hesitate. In the meantime the German tanks were firing at our supporting tanks and moved out of sight.
And I wasn’t the only one hesitating like this. There was a German soldier behind a bunker with a white flag and Sgt. Takeo was yelling not to fire at him because he was surrendering. Tom Miyoken [Co. C], another replacement like me in his first battle, was yelling back “but they are shooting at our men!” The machine gun bullets that raked the ditch into which Toshimi Sodetani [Co. C], by some instinct, refused to dive into for cover probably came from this bunker. Comical to think about it now.
The Company dug in at this point for defensive action. A short while later some phosphorus smoke artillery shells started falling around us. One of these shells spattered incendiary particles on Rusty Nakagawa and he was out of action at this point.
We replacements were too green to recognize that these smoke shells are used to zero in on a target and that an artillery barrage will soon follow. The barrage was so intense the exploding shells made a rumbling sound instead of a series of explosions. But we were lucky again and although we were covered with dirt and debris, the only injury was Edward Ogawa’s large bump on his forehead and a trickle of blood down his face. He was bandaged by a Medic and returned to the Squad immediately. I will make no accusations but to this day I will swear that those artillery shells were coming from behind us, not from in front of us. This artillery was probably what prevented us from making further advances that day. We had to pull back from our forward positions out of the shelled area and formed a defensive position again. That was all for the day.
The next morning, Sgt. Takeo and part of our Squad Including myself went forward again in the area of our advance of the previous day on a reconnaissance patrol to see whether or not the Germans had returned to the positions we had evacuated. The patrol took the narrow dirt road that lead forward. We did not find any enemy, but this road and the rows of grape vines and the few pine trees in the vicinity was what I recognized 23 years afterwards.
The 100th moved forward the same morning, made a night attack near the Alban Hills moved forward to lead the 5th Army towards Rome. The 100th Bn. stopped short of Rome when enemy resistance ended and the 5th Army entered Rome that day. We saw the 5th Army roaring past us on all afternoon. Tanks, trucks, artillery units, Red Cross, everything movable.
The above is my story the way I remember it.