Word: beaching
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Hour. The first wave had been ordered to hit the shore at 8:30. Correspondent Sherrod had been assigned to the fifth wave, commanded by Major Howard Rice, which would reach the beach 31 minutes later, presumably after the first four waves had established comfortable positions. But now it was obvious that H Hour would be delayed because the Jap fire had forced the transports to shift to a safer area...
Black Hours. A mile ahead something was happening. The early waves were not hitting the beach as they should. A control boat sped up and its officer shouted : "You'll have to go in right away as soon as I can get a boat for you. The shell around the island is too shallow to take the Higgins boats." The news was chilling. It meant something dimly foreseen but hardly expected: the shallow coral reef around Betio would bar landing save by special small, steel-plated boats, of which there were all too few, or by wading...
...small boat came alongside Correspondent Sherrod's party. An officer said: "Half of you men get in here. They need help bad on the beach." Jap shells began peppering the water. Major Rice and 17 men scampered into the small craft, which headed for the beach through a barrage of mortar and automatic-weapon fire. The Higgins boat milled around for another ten minutes, getting its share of near-misses. One Marine picked a half-dozen pieces of shrapnel from his lap, stared at them. Another said: "Oh God, I'm scared...
Said the wild-eyed small-boat boss : "It's hell in there. They've already knocked out a lot of boats and there are a lot of wounded men, lying on the beach from the first wave. They need men bad. I can't take you all the way in because we've got to get back out here safely and get some more men in there quick. But I'll let you out where you can wade in." The men crouched low. The little vessel was loaded with silent prayers...
After centuries of wading through shallowing water and deepening machine-gun fire, the men split into two groups. One group headed straight for the beach. The other struck toward a coconut log pier, then crawled along it past wrecked boats, a stalled bull dozer, countless fish killed by concussion. Those who got ashore did not know just how many of the 15 had been lost - probably three or four...