We then turned from the road and went out through the fields close to the mountains. We passed dugouts littered with Japanese and American gear side by side. Here and there were places where the Marines had used heavy artillery and empty shell cases told a silent story of the terrific battle that had been waged, there only a few days before. There were communications lines still rigged and a little farther on was where the Marines had been laying the barrage. The houses were completely destroyed and a long line of fox holes still contained the enemy dead. Discarded equipment littered the ground and most of the fox holes were built near the bases of big trees. We went a few hundred yards further and came upon the scene of a big tank battle. We saw four Japanese tanks sitting there all covered with rust, silent evidence of the effectiveness of our bazookas. There were large holes in the front and sides of them. The burned and charred bodies of the crew were still in them. Ammunition of all kinds were stacked around and very little of it had been used. We found a whole box of Japanese hand grenades but we did not bother them. Everything we saw that belonged to the enemy was of vastly inferior quality compared to ours. As we moved on we came upon a large bunch of spare tanks for the planes, they were still in the wooden crates and several cars and trucks of American makes were sitting around. Everything was well shot up and wherever you looked you could see where the Japanese had paid dearly for the ground they held. There were several old houses here that had at least two walls left and near by was a clear section of ground with a cross in the ground and a Japanese helmet over the top. The simple words – "68 Japanese Dead Buried Here", were all that marked the end of the enemy who fought for a lost cause. These graves were very numerous and although thousands were buried many were still lying around. By then the fox holes were filled with mud and everywhere was mud drenched bodies and equipment. I remember particularly one foxhole which had 8 Japanese soldiers in it and nothing but their heads were showing and they were a dark green hue. As we went further on we came up in airplane engines stacked in the trees. These were 30 or 40 all crated up and some on racks and it looked as if the Japanese had been testing them. Most of these were in perfect shape.
We then turned and started back as we had traveled about 4 ½ miles up the island. We had gone but a short distance when we saw some members of a marine scout patrol. A little while later we heard the sharp crack of rifles. The marines had shot a sniper out of a tree only a few hundred yards away.
The marines who fought so valiantly on the island fought under terrific strain and even the elements seemed to make the going tougher. It rained almost daily and at night there was no let up. The flies on the island were by the millions and with dead bloated bodies everywhere they had no trouble increasing. I saw the marines come down from the front lines and talked to many. They had not had a chance to take a bath or change clothes in all this time. We had been there just a short time and they had aged quite a bit. Their faces were dirty and their clothes had been soaked with rain and mud. Their eyes were red and bloodshot and showed the strain they had been under for days and no let up at all. They had nothing to east but k-rations and they did not know what hot food tasted like. They told of Japanese shooting from caves and hiding in every conceivable spot.