The Annoyed Man wrote:smoothoperator wrote:On this day in 1805:
http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/O'Bannon_PN.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When the combined land-sea attack commenced on 27 March, Lieutenant O'Bannon, with his Marines, a few Greeks, and as many of the cannoniers as could be spared from the field piece, passed through a shower of enemy musketry, took possession of one of the enemy's batteries, planted the United States flag upon its ramparts and turned the guns upon the enemy. After two hours of hand-to-hand fighting, the stronghold was occupied and for the first time in history the flag of the United States flew over a fortress of the old world.
His heroic service on the "the shores of Tripoli" is commemorated in the Mameluke sword worn by U.S. Marine Corps officers
Interesting. In 1945, Lt
Wilcie O'Bannon (
SOURCE) of Red River County, Texas, F Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, was one of two surviving officers in the battle for Cushman's Pocket on Iwo Jima. My dad, 2nd Lt David R. Smith, 2nd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, was the other surviving officer. There were 10 survivors in all. Two were rescued with Lt Wilcie O'Bannon earlier in the battle. The other 7, including my dad, spent the night behind enemy lines and evaded and were rescued the next day. Wilcie O'Bannon was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in Cushman's Pocket. He was killed at Okinawa.
My father-in-law, David Walter Tarshis, Jr. was in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines and was wounded on Iwo Jima March 3, 1945. He lived with me and my wife (his daughter) the last three years of his life 1998-2001, during which time he told me many details about his service, including that of his commanding officer, Wilcie O'Bannon, who was awarded the
Navy Cross for action on Iwo Jima from 25-Feb-1945 to 8-Mar-1945. Correspondence in 1997 between members of the 9th Marines indicates that Lt. Wilcie O'Bannon did not die in Okinawa, but was alive and living in California at the time.
Findagrave shows that Lt. O'Bannon eventually attained the rank of Lt. Col. and died in 2001 in California.
"Annoyed Man," you may be interested to know that there is still (3/21/2016) a surviving member of the battle for Cushman's Pocket named Larry Kirby, 92 yr. old, who also served in E Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment, apparently with your father. His almost two hour
oral history of his service in the USMC includes a description of the battle for Cushman's Pocket at time points between 1:20:02 through 1:27:15. He reports that Company E landed on Iwo with 231 men and left with 7. Company F suffered similar losses. My father-in-law was evacuated to Saipan on March 3, so he was spared Cushman's Pocket.
