Pacific Story #3 of 3 by GJ

Not far from Okinawa, a very large island which is not far from Japan, there is a tiny island named Ie Shima. ( eye ee shee ma.) There was a battle on Ie Shima, but it didn't rank up there with Iwo Jima, or others, because it was so small. And so late, with Japanese rescources failing. Our little LSM pulled up on the beach after the island was "secure," and the fighting was over. Some of us went ashore just to feel land under our feet and to see whatever was worth seeing. The first thing we saw was a crude, wooden marker that read "On this spot Ernie Pyle was killed." There was more, but I don't want to be wrong in recalling it. Pyle was the most famous war correspondent (print media) of WWII. He was the GI's "buddy," who spent a lot of time right alongside troops "on the line," and in the foxholes. He had recently arrived in the Pacific after long, hard years in Europe. That he volunteered to continue his work after VE Day is the real testament to his courage.

As we strolled along the beach, we came to a huge gathering of gray, four-wheeled, Ford farm tractors. They were probably intended to do beach "clean up," or other, maybe "Seabee" services.

We looked at each other and made ourselves ready to be tempted! (Most of us were only 18 or 19, remember.) What would it be like to DRIVE something, again? To steer, and accelerate (a little) and feel the wind in our faces, and pretend we were at the Indy 500? Sure enough, there were keys in the ignitions. We mounted and drove around and were just getting the hang of it when SP's showed up. (Shore Police. The Navy's Cops.) They informed us that we had better return the vehicles and go back to the ship. For one, we were trespassing, and two, they hadn't fully cleared the island of MINES!

Well, it was fun while it lasted, and the SP's could have been a lot nastier than they were. Seems to me we saw slight smiles on their faces as we departed. MINES? Hmmmm. They couldn't have been pulling our legs could they? Now that I'm a few (!) years older, I think they well could have.