COMPANY ROSTER

Landing Strength: 2221
Killed In Action: 35
Wounded In Action: 1152
Sick (not returned): 1
Missing: 0
Total Casualties: 150
Not Present: 2

Casualty Rate: 68%


Replacements: 34
Killed In Action: 2
Wounded In Action: 14
Replacement Casualties: 16

Replacement Casualty Rate: 47%


COMPANY HQ3

Commander: Major William K. Stewart
Executive Officer: First Lieutenant Roy I. Wood, Jr.
First Sergeant: Howard L. Burton
Company Sergeant: Gunnery Sergeant Joe R. Driskell
Technical Sergeant: John A. Gibson, Norman S. Mayfield
Demolitions Sergeant:
Decontamination Sergeant:
Armorer:
Carpenter:
Signal: Sergeant Edgar W. Collins; Private Norman F. Lamphere
Clerk: Sergeant William J. Davis
Barber: Private William Knicely
Cobbler:
Driver: Corporal Russell G. Sanderlin; PFC Harn L. Mandemaker
Messengers (2)

Field Cook: Staff Sergeant Henry J. Hufnagle
Assistant Cooks (4): William P. Greco, James E. McAdams, Willard Roberts

Field Musics First Class (2): Harold J. Fritz, George H. Wolf

Duty Section (11): Sergeants Luther H. Diehl, John W. Donahue Jr, Lewis E. Gregory; Corporal Robert D. Price; PFCs Edward H. Bookwalter, James A. Howard, Donald Kardok, John F. Kirnan, George C. Marion, Leonard Ohlrich, Anthony P. Santagto, Herman N. Schwabl

MORTAR SECTION4

Section Commander: Second Lieutenant Walter B. Russell
Section Sergeant: Platoon Sergeant Wilbur E. Plitt (sk)

Squad Leaders (3): Corporals Hugh H. Bosworth, Frank B. Gosiewski, Edward L. Lykins

Gunners / Assistants (6): Corporals Bartholomew R. J. Wanagaitis, William J. Imm, Ronald R. Palmer; PFCs Ronald P. Bartels, Leo Ksiekievicz, Jack Sides

Ammunition Carriers (9): PFCs Charles R. Ward Jr, Otto E. Buchle Jr, John A. Casale, George W. Couch, Orville W. Franklin, Richard L. McClanahan, Howard R. Pratt, Raymond G. Proulx, Wallace R. Reeves, Maurice J. Rosenthal, Henry D. Schoenfelder Jr; Privates James W. Cavender, Edward P. Rezendes, Ernest W. Rollings Sr.

THREE RIFLE PLATOONS5

Platoon Leaders (3): First Lieutenant Marshall Salvaggio, Second Lieutenants George E. Burcaw, William H. Springman
Platoon Sergeants (3): Dallas M. Colburn, Leo C. Mann, Sink J. Sizemore
Platoon Guides (3): Corporal Alva Perry Jr
Demolition (3): Corporals Virgil M. McNutt, Laurent R. Palardy, Leon H. Roquet Jr
Messengers (9): PFCs Michael E. Ward Sr, Paul R. Scanlon

Squad Leaders (9): Sergeants Kenneth R. Gray, Oscar T. Hanson, Donald R. Hart, Edward J. Horan, Edward L. Stewart, Fred E. Thomas, Maynard S. Worthington, Joseph H. Wendte

Fire Team Leaders (27): Corporals Leon J. Abrams, Lee R. Anderson Jr, Lionel V. Bolduc, Kenneth L. Boylan, James J. Chvatal Jr, Henry F. Denson Jr, John M. Donnelly, Charles M. Fischer, Douglas B. Footit, Robert E. Gamboa, Cecil F. Hendershot, Robert S. Larson, William P. Loutzenhiser, Marion E. Lyon, James P. Marmion, Eugene L. Morris, James D. Redding, William J. Rewerts, Peteus J. Staeyert, George F. Svoboda

Automatic Riflemen (27): Corporals James H. Adams, John M. Corcoran, James W. Freeman, James W. Jackson, Ernest M. Jeffrey, Tommy Lynchard, Glen Marshall, Robert W. Mason, Roger W. Trimble, Kenneth S. Wilson, Robert K. Walton; PFCs William Becker, Norman R. Bell, Alfred D. Dennis Jr, Charles T. Etty, William J. Fox, Robert L. Glogowski, Wilford M. Goode, Arthur P. Goshorn, Richard J. Hammill, Ernest T. Henderson, Junior E. Jones, Andrew Loban, Joe P. Locke, Hubert D. Mauney, Herman C. Middleton, Lonnie D. Musgrove, Patrick T. Organ, Richard C. Rogers, Ervin D. Rothe, Edward J. Solak, Paul K. Steele, Odis Taylor, John A. Trotte, Howard L. Webber

Assistant Automatic Riflemen (27): Privates Harold G. Brunson, Manuel H. Gomez, Charles F. Powell Jr, Ralph W. Prater, Steve Previs, Ernest S. Rallo, Oakley B. Randolph, Alfred Ranieri (evac), Fred T. Rasberry, Robert L. Rast, Condon A. Raxter, Frank S. Skobel, William F. Stansberry

Riflemen (27): Corporals Robert M. Walter, Leonard Yush; PFCs John J. Cummings, James C. Fields, Leonard J. Forthaus, Joseph A. Fortin, Joseph A. Gilles, Franklin W. Gillett, Stanley Giza, Claude L. Godwin Jr, Johnny B. Haynes, Early E. Jordan, Henry C. Kelley, Edwin A. Metzger, James L. Moore, Floyd E. North Jr, Kenneth B. Olson, Robert U. Santerre, George W. Secor, Harold A. Stephens, Randolph A. Tyre; Privates Clifford W. Burnette, Allen B. Duncan, Russell E. Johnstone, John W. Mahaffey Jr, John J. Tierney, Calvin B. Tiller

MACHINE GUN PLATOON6

Platoon Commander: Second Lieutenant Thomas E. Drake
Platoon Sergeant: Thomas M. Hurley
Ammunition: Corporal Dominick Piccolomini
Messengers (2):

Section Leaders (3): Sergeants Clifford J. Devoy, Kenneth S. Gann, Paul Wakefield

Squad Leaders (6): Corporals Glenn E. Doster, Edward W. DuBeck, Prentis M. Parsons, William A. Peck, Peter Pecori, Joseph M. Peterpaul, James H. Pritchett

Gunners / Assistants (18): Corporals Peter Colombo, John A. Cuthbertson, Wallace W. Duncan, James A. Lemma, David W. Spohn; PFCs Peter J. Cabrelli, Walter Campbell, Clarence D. Foster, Daniel J. Girdano, Edward W. Greayer, Ralph L. Hatley, Robert Hurdle Jr, William F. Marcus, John McCarthy, Clifford R. Merchant, Joseph L. Pokorny, L J Thomas, Herbert H. VonCalio

Ammunition Carriers (27): Privates Charles E. Brown, Robert L. Brown Sr, Weston A. Burns, George H. Calcutt, Aloysius T. Callahan, James D. Chavers Jr, George H. Cornell, Earl R. Crom, Benjamin F. Cromwell, Matthew Garner, Joseph T. Gillette, John H. Hazelgreen, John Hicks Jr, Charles D. Hooks, Roland J. Hulslander, Jacob Ivey, Austin W. Johnson, Robert E. Langner

Unknown Assignment

Platoon Sergeant Charles B. Rogers Jr (737)
Platoon Sergeant Kermit Shaw (737)
Sergeant Dalton L. Criswell (614)

Not Present, On Muster Rolls

PFC George L. Hall (Machine Gunner)
PFC Lawrence J. Jaster (Machine Gunner)

Joined from 24th Replacement Draft, February 247

Corporal Paul L. Miller (Machine Gunner)
Private John Lukac (Machine Gunner)

MOS 610 - Anti-Tank Gunner
Corporal Ralph S. Philomeno; Privates Charles A. Alexander Jr, William C. Degen, David R. Gardner, Raleigh C. Gibson, William J. Leiss, George W. Lindstrom, Bernard A. Mausser, Robert E. Miller, Herman L. Mooney, Irven M. Morgan, Earl E. Nichols, Harold J. Oberheide, Delbert Oleson, Robert E. Opheim, Ardell W. Oster, Harry R. Parsons Jr

Joined from 30th Replacement Draft, February 288

Corporal Arthur N. Miller Jr (Rifleman)

MOS 521 - Basic
Privates Roy L. Hendricks, James D. J. Herman, Willard R. Layne, Emilio V. Merola, William P. Monahan, James H. Stevens, James B. Stewart, Claud T. Swann, Charles L. Tackett, Wayne D. Thomas, William Thomas Jr, Joseph Tommasiello, Lawrence A. Trapp, Paul Travis

1An F-series rifle company had, on paper, 240 effectives.

2This total includes those who were wounded and returned to duty, but not those who returned and were subsequently killed.

3Company Headquarters is close to full strength. Major Stewart holds an unusually high rank for a company commander; after his death, Lieutenant Roy Wood took command for the attacks on the Meat Grinder. Former commander Irving Schechter assumed command from March 8 to March 18, when Able Company was joined by half of Company C. Roy Wood resumed command at the end of the battle, and was promoted to captain on March 29. The duty section is composed mostly of very experienced men who likely held other vacant positions. Once the serious bloodletting began, their expertise would have led to their reassignment throughout the company.

4Lieutenant Russell, recently promoted from Gunnery Sergeant, took command of the mortar section after recovering from wounds suffered in the battle of Saipan. Wilbur Plitt was second-in-command; he was evacuated after a disaster on February 19 which left one mortarman dead, four wounded, and two “sick and evacuated” which may indicate shell-shock. His post may have been taken by Sergeant Dalton Criswell, who has the MOS of mortar NCO. The reason for the excess in strength is unknown.

5Rifle platoons are slightly understrength. The most obvious is the shortage of messengers; some of the riflemen would have filled in this gap in combat. Alva Perry claims to have been a scout in his memoirs (he has MOS 746 on the muster rolls) so it is likely that some other corporals held this position.

The horrifying casualties among the NCOs of the company is evident in that only three MOS 737 (Squad Leader) NCOs survived unwounded. Some of the higher-rated BAR and riflemen were probably team leaders; as the casualty rate increased, they stepped in as team commanders. Though many other companies on Iwo had junior NCOs acting as platoon leaders, this does not appear to have been the case with Able Company.

A fire team consisted of one leader, a BAR gunner, his assistant, and a rifleman. There were 27 teams per company under this T/O. Assistant BAR gunners have been assigned based on privates with MOS 746; once in battle, priority was given to carrying BARs, so this division is relevant on paper only.

6The machine gun platoon seems to be short-staffed in terms of ammunition carriers. The missing gunner is PFC George Hall, who remained at Camp Maui for unknown reasons. They have one too many men with MOS 600 (squad leader) - each of the corporals had been in the service since Namur, and were more or less equally experienced. Pritchett and Peck had been messengers, and one may have acted in that capacity until casualties required their reassignment.

7Marines with the MOS 610 were trained as antitank gunners. They were pressed into front-line service under the maxim of “every Marine a rifleman.” Their exact assignments with Able Company are unknown. The deficiency in training is evident in how many were killed or wounded in the short time they were in combat with Able Company.

8Marines with the MOS 521 are “duty Marines” - many of these were straight from training and knew little more than an accelerated boot camp education could give them. Their casualty rate reflects this when one considers they were involved in direct combat for only sixteen days.