PhM1c JOHN HARLAN WILLIS

By D-Day + 9 on Iwo Jima, intense fighting was raging in several acres of low hills and gullies that would come to be known as the “meat grinder” just west of the central airfield.  Here a complex system of tunnels and bunkers gave the enemy the ability to pop up unexpectedly, sometimes behind surprised Marines.  The line of advance fluctuated hourly, Marines in the lead often found themselves suddenly cut off from their comrades, only to be re-united as the “front” shifted again.  Fighting was very close, at times foes were separated only by the crest of a hill or by the space between adjoining shell craters.  Canteens indifferently placed on the edges of fighting holes sometimes disappeared to thirsty Japanese hiding just a few feet away.  This day the Marines of Company H, 3^rd Battalion, 27^th Marines, 5^th MarDiv found themselves spearheading the advance on Hill 362A.

Like most corpsmen on Iwo, Pharmacist’s Mate First Class John H. Willis had been fighting a nine-day battle to save countless wounded Marines.  Exposing himself repeatedly to enemy fire, Willis had too often watched too many of his friends die.  This morning, while working to save a wounded comrade on the slope of Hill 362A, Willis himself was hit with shrapnel.

He had to be ordered out of the field, and Willis tarried at the battalion aid station only long enough to be bandaged.  Then without permission he returned to his company.  He found the Marines gradually falling back in the face of overwhelming mortar, grenade, and hand-to-hand fighting.  When two Marines were observed to fall in a nearby shell crater, Willis ran to their aid.  The corpsman began setting up a plasma infusion as the rest of his company continued to fall back.  The enemy quickly surrounded his shell crater, and a grenade thudded onto the ground at his knees.  Willis picked up the bomb reflexively and hurled it back in the direction from which it had come.  He turned again to his work–and another grenade landed at his feet.  Again, Willis threw it back.  Another, and yet another grenade landed, and each time Willis sent them arching.  The frustrated enemy now threw multiple grenades at once.  From a distance PhM3c Prince watched as his best friend began hurling these, incredibly launching eight grenades from the crater.  Then with his arm poised to throw the ninth, Willis and the Marines he was fighting to save disappeared in a violent explosion.

Third Battalion surgeon LCDR James Vedder recommended Willis for the Medal of Honor, which was accepted by his wife and the newborn child John Willis never saw.  He has been remembered with USS John Willis (DE-1027) and the Willis Gate on NSA Mid-South in Millington, TN.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  5 MAR 26

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 3 “G-K”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, p. 553.

Site visit.  Rose Hill Cemetery, Columbia, Tennessee, 14 May 2003.

United States Congress.  United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations.  Columbia Heights, MN: Highland House II, 1994, pp. 478-79.

Vedder, James S.  Surgeon on Iwo:  Up Front with the 27^th Marines.  Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1984, pp. 112-13.

Wheeler, Richard.  Iwo. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1980, pp. 182-83.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Witnessing the bravery of their corpsman inspired the Marines of How Company to renewed ferocity and rallied them to re-advance across the same territory (“How” was the WWII phonetic alphabet representation for “H”).  Willis’ body was recovered and buried in the 5^th Division cemetery on Iwo Jima.  The remains from all the temporary American cemeteries on Iwo Jima were re-interred after the war in Arlington, the Punchbowl, and other stateside cemeteries.  PhM1c Willis’ body was removed to Rose Hill Cemetery in his native Columbia, Tennessee.  Today the frequent earthquakes on Iwo Jima continue to expose lost remains of both Japanese and Americans.  Indeed, the Japanese government considers Iwo Jima to be an open grave.

Even more heroic than the actions of Navy corpsmen on Iwo Jima were the efforts of the stretcher bearer teams.  These combat Marines, usually junior PFC’s and privates, bore countless wounded comrades to safety, but the necessity to stand and walk to do so made them easy targets.  Mortality rates among stretcher bearers on Iwo Jima were higher than for any other combat specialists, as high as 80%.

Hill 362A was named for the height of its crest above sea level.  There were three hills of the same height in the area, designated 362A, 362B and 362C.  “Hotel” is the representation for “H” in our current NATO phonetic alphabet.

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