DON MARSHALL'S ACCOUNT (2)

They did not know what was lying ahead of them:
"None of us suspected we were about to face the most formidable fortress in the world, much less become participants in a battle without massive troop movements or large scale planning, a battle destined to kill some 28, 000 men in a dirty, hate-filled, 36-day slugfest."
It was hot inside the amphib, "hot enough to cook food".
"The drive shoreward was easy, a clear day, no surf." Don had a limited vision through a slit "at eye water level".
"The island loomed ahead with amazing rapidity."-"Rolling barrage" from the fleet.-"passing through flotsam from yesterday's stricken ships"-"We landed about 8. 57 a.m."-There were difficulties getting on the beach:
"It felt like driving thruogh oatmeal, the grousers would not grab, we bellied down. I raced the engine and dragged the clutch, finally I got some traction. I drove across the beach and up the terrace."-"small arms fire from the third terrace level and the airfield"-"The ramp dropped, the troops raced out under machine gun fire."
His headlights were "knocked out", the cab was "peppered" "quite handsomely", part of the antenna "shot away".-"transmission bands were overheated"-Don was informed by his crew chief "the tractor had taken a fatal hit (I didn't feel a thing)"-They a had to abandon.-"Rhoads tried to disable the radio with a slug, its ricocheting was far worse than the enemy fire." Don "barrelled out the smal escape hatch".
They could unload the troops before being disabled. Nobody was injured. A shell penetrated the tool box "wrenches exploded like shrapnel." The tractor was pounded by enemy fire, "small arms and 50-caliber bounced like rain off our light half-inch armor."-"Sandbags lined the walls of our tractor"-"I heard a clang and felt a jar, sand poured over my bare back. A 47 mm had cut through our right side armour and a sandbag sliced through the pistol grip of our 30-caliber MG an exited the opposite side without exploding."-"We figured it was time to get out."-"We took turns, alternating sides as we bailed out. Frank dropped over one side, Ted Klein the other, then Marcus Guiterrez, Stoney and I bailed out last."