He was later transferred to Ennuebing Island, then to Kwajalein Island.
After the War he was moved and permanently interred at the
National Memorial Cemetery, Punchbowl Crater,
Located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
You can find him at Location F-798.
He was born in Bristol Connecticut, the third of ten children, to
Archie and Susan (LeFebvre) Woodard. Our grandparents were Fred
and Charlotte (Wilson) Woodard and Charles and Catherine
(Chagnon) LeFebvre.
Life was somewhat simple from 1925 to 1943 for us kids, and
growing up during those years was absorbed by school, home chores
and just plain fun and play. We Lived in a small house on the
outskirts of town and some of the luxuries included an outhouse
and no central heating.
I recall it was Fred's job to empty the "Sweet Pot" each morning,
a job I don't think he really cared for. He did however, love to
play ball, and one day he took his little red wagon to an empty
lot to play, and got hit in the eye with a pitched ball. His
friend Bob, pulled his wagon home for him, and for that day at
least, he lost some of his zeal for baseball.
As he grew older, he and some of his friends were caught smoking
in the cellar of the home of his friend Roger. Roger's dad,
being the one who discovered them with cigarettes, reprimanded
both boys and shared this secret with me.
On Halloween, he and his friends had great fun turning over the
outhouses of some not so popular neighbors. After Halloween I
don't think Fred and his friends were very popular with the
neighbors. Like all young boys they professed their innocence,
but I imagine the adults knew what was going on.
His interest in baseball never waned and he was a pretty good
pitcher for the Maplewood Browns in Bristol Connecticut. He
continued to play ball all through Grammar School and on into
High School. While in High School he took a part time job in a
shoe store to help support himself. At about this time he had
also found a girl friend and that presented a need for some ready
cash. This was especially true since he found himself growing
more and more fond of her. As time went on he found it necessary to visit her and her parents. I imagine a lot of that extra cash went for movies and treats afterward.
His girl friend had a brother who was also in the Marines and was lucky enough to survive the war. Both he and his family had a lot of respect for Fred because of Fred's strong sense of values, both for family and society in general.
One night on his way home, as he was walking up the path
leading to our house, he had a most unpleasant encounter with a
skunk. The skunk won the battle and Fred had to remove his
clothes and burn them in an attempt to rid himself of the
smell. That wasn't quite sufficient though, as the smell still
lingered on Fred. Needless to say, he spent a long long time in
the bath that day.
During this growing up period, all the young people joined in the fun of being young by participating in winter sledding on our streets and ice skating on a local pond. I remember trying to do everything my big brother Fred did because I admired him so much. He was my big brother! When he left I remember saving his size 12 skates and wanting to skate with them as he had done. I recall having to stuff paper into the toes in order to keep them on, but I was very proud because they belonged to my big brother.
In the summertime, I remember that Fred like to swim in a pond that was full of blood suckers. I could never quite figure out how he managed to avoid those hungry little critters since everyone else seemed to have problems.
It was about this time that I remember getting a pet rabbit and like most children I promised to take good care of it. Well I grew fond of the pet but I hated the job of taking care of the mess and making sure there was food and water available. It soon became obvious to everyone that I was not doing a very good job handling my responsibilities of caring for my pet rabbit, so Fred gave it to one of his friends. Later I found out they had rabbit stew one day for dinner and I was sorry I hadn't done a better job.
Fred had now reached the age of 17 and asked our parents to sign
a consent form so that he might enlist in the Marines. I recall
Fred and our parents argued for a long long time. However, the
next day they consented and off he went to become a Marine.
He and a friend had to hitch-hike to Springfield Massachusetts,
about 50 miles, in order to sign up. I remember very well that
snowy November night when he came up the pathway where I was
shoveling snow, and told me he had enlisted in the Marines. I
was so proud, not thinking for a minute he would never return.
Although he enlisted shortly after his 17th birthday in November
1942, he actually entered the Corps on January 30, 1943.
For his boot training he was sent to Parris Island, South
Carolina and from there he continued training at Camp Lejune, New
River, North Carolina. In the Spring of 1943 he came home on
leave and was bursting out of his Marine uniform from muscle
build up during training. At the time I was just a little kid
who was very proud of his big brother, and wanted to go
everywhere he went. He of course wanted to be with his friends
and bribed me from time to time with a nickel to buy candy.
Before he left to return to duty, we had a big party for him,
singing songs and enjoying good home cooked food. It was a good
time for the entire Woodard family.
In August 1943 , Fred's time on the East coast was over and he
was moved with a contingent of Marines through the Panama Canal
to Camp Pendleton, Oceanside California. There his training
became much more intense, including many amphibious exercises off
the coast of California as well as on the island of San
Clemente.
Fred didn't know at the time but the Marine Corps was in the
process of forming a new combat unit to be known as the Fourth
Marine Division.
As the Division came together there was training and more
training, much of which concentrated on amphibious landings and
jungle warfare. Part of Fred's training was with Colonel Evans
F. Carlson of Plymouth, Connecticut. His father was a
Congregational minister in Plymouth.
Colonel Carlson was the leader of "Carlson's Raiders" who made
the famous raid on Makin Island where they destroyed planes, fuel
as well as Jap soldiers. Other members of the Raider Battalion
was the Colonel's son, Capt. Carlson and Major James Roosevelt,
son of late President Franklin Roosevelt.
During the raid on Makin, 8 or 10 Marines were captured by the
Japanese and held prisoner on Kwajalein Island of the Marshall
Island chain. A movie, "Gallant Hours" was filmed and depicts
this raid by the 2nd Raider Battalion.
After much more training, Fred was transferred to the 1st Joint
Assault Signal Company, JASCO, the first of its kind in the
Corps. Fred's unit consisted of forty three (43) combat ready
marines, whose main task during an invasion, was to go ashore in
the first or second wave and secure an area suitable, and
establish a communications command post.
The 1st JASCO was not an integral part of the 4th Division, but
was one of many attached units, and was part of the division as
reinforced. The Fourth Division consisted of three Regimental
Combat teams, the 23rd Regiment, the 24th, Regiment and the 25th
Regiment. Each Combat Regiment consisted of three assault
battalions, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Each Battalions of each Regt. of
the Fourth was then assigned a JASCO team for each one. These
JASCO teams, numbering about forty three (43) men, were given
team designations. For example, the teams assigned to the
battalions of the 23rd Regt. were, Team 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3. For
the 24th the team designations were 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3. For the
25th Regt. the teams were 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. Fred's team was 3.3
and was attached to the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regt.
On January 13, 1944, the 25th Marines boarded the USS Biddle in
San Diego California and left for parts unknown, at least unknown
to the rank and file on board. It was much later that Fred and his friends learned they were going to be the first troops to invade what the Japanese considered part of their homeland, the Marshall Islands. The 4th Division's objective was to be the twin islands of Roi and Namur and was part of the operation code named "Operation Flintlock".
The Task Force assembled for this operation was the largest
convoy ever, up to that time, stretching some 22 miles long.
This massive flotilla made a brief stop in Hawaii where the ships
took on additional supplies and the men, who were restricted to
the dock area, were allowed to get off the ships and relax for
some horseplay. After a few hours they were underway and headed
for the Marshall Islands.
On January 31, the 25th Marines moved inside the huge lagoon of
the atoll and made ready to land on the small islands of
Ennugarret and Ennumennet which lay adjacent to Roi-Namur. As
happens so often in situations like this, there was much
confusion between the Marine Amptracs and the Destroyer Phelps.
Finally they got their act together and the Marines were loaded
on landing craft for the assault.
Each JASCO team consisted of different specialty sections. There
was a Radio section, a wire section, a Naval Gunfire section and
an Air Liaison section. Fred, along with a Naval observer,was
assigned to direct aerial bombing on the Island of Namur.
Someone overheard the Naval observer say, "If I had wanted to be
here, I would have joined the Marines". The 14th Marine
Artillery was also set up on these two small islands and used
extensively to shell the Japanese on the Island of Namur, in
support of the main invasion force landing there on February 1,
1944.
The night before the invasion of Roi and Namur, an attempt was
made from Namur to retake the island of Ennugarret being held by
the 25th Marine Reg. The landing attempt, made up of Koreans
and Japanese were repelled and most were killed in their futile
attempt.
Several of the team members of Team 3.3 that Fred considered
really good friends were, Corp. Raymond F. Dewey, later killed on
Iwo Jima, Sgt. Lynn Putman, who passed away in August 1997 after
a long illness, in Dallas Texas. He was also in the battle of
Midway Island, Corp. Tom Norton, who died with Fred in the waters
between Namur and Ennugarret, Private W. C. Reeves, who still
resides in a small town not far from Houston Texas, Henry O.
Thomas, still living in the small town of Iola, Texas, located
near Texas A & M University, Corp. Basil D. Duncan, originally
from Texas but living in San Diego California since the war, and
PFC Glen E. Young, still living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Corp. Basil Duncan was later wounded during the battle of Saipan and Tinian and subsequently returned to the states.
There was one other person Fred admired very much and that was
one Capt. James Headley, who was a Company Commander in the 3rd
Battalion, 25th Marines. The Battalion Surgeon noted in his
journal that, "He was a true leader of men under terrible and
extremely difficult circumstances." After the war he practiced
law and served one term as an Ohio Congressman from 1950-1952.
He is now deceased.
The battle for Namur, where the Japanese had their headquarters
for the entire area, started on February 1, 1944, and again there
was much confusion. Some Amptracs landed troops at the wrong
place, and the mother ships changed location, leaving several
Amptracs stranded in the lagoon out of fuel, resulting in some
being destroyed by enemy fire. The 25th Marines who had captured
the two small islands of Ennugarret and Ennumennet. were in
reserve for the assault on Namur, and were called on to assist.
Finally, everything came together and the Japs on Namur were soon
routed and either killed or captured.
One day during the assault on Namur, Marine units of the attack
force fired on what appeared to be some sort of block house and
the resulting explosion was the largest ever witnessed by the 4th
Division. Corp. Duncan who was located on a small tip of land
of the Island of Ennugarret across the water from Namur at the
time, reported that the concussion of the blast hurled him
backward about ten or twelve feet, and his position was several
hundred yard from the actual explosion. Many Marines, some of
whom were in boats out in the lagoon, were killed by the
explosion. The troops that fired into the bunker had no way of
knowing that it contained a huge underground storage of bombs
and torpedos.
One day as the fighting on Namur was winding down, a group of
JASCO Marines including Fred, decided to walk over to the Island
of Namur, to maybe lend a hand, but mainly to see for themselves
what the situation over there was. The tide was out and you
could walk over without getting your shoes wet during low tide.
However when the tide came in, it was between thirty and forty
feet deep and swifter than a river at flood stage. Not only was
it extremely swift, it came in almost without warning, and the
only way one could be sure it was coming was to watch the clock,
because it came at a very specific time each day and right on
schedule.
Besides Fred, his friends who decided to go with the group, they
usually did things together, were Pfc Allan Jones, Corp John
Bradbury, Corp Tom Norton, Pvt W. C. Reeves, Pvt H. O. Thomas,
Corp Basil Duncan and Glen E. Young. No one is quite sure who
suggested the group walk over, but Basil Duncan seems to remember
that it was Alan Jones who first suggested the trip, and besides
it seemed like a neat thing to do. After covering about 50 yards
Glen Young commented that he didn't think they had time to make
it over before the giant tidal wave came in. There was some
discussion with most of the guys continuing on, but Glen Young
and Basil Duncan turned back. As it turned out there wasn't
time.
At some distance beyond the halfway point, the giant tide came
pouring in and caught them almost without warning. Two guys,
Jones and Bradbury had found a cable stretched across, and
managed to make it to Namur. Thomas and Reeves were swept out
two or three miles into the lagoon, with Reeves being able to
swim back to their starting point and Thomas, who almost drowned
was picked up by a boat about a mile from the island. My brother
and Corp Norton died trying to swim to the Island of Namur.
The Marine Corps tried in vain to get boats and Amptracs in to rescue the two, but the water simply washed them out into the lagoon, with the engines running full power. Basil Duncan recalls it being one of the saddest days of his life. He was still standing at the edge of the water where they left from, watching and praying they would make it, and saw with horror the struggle
Norton and my brother made trying to make shore. All he could
do was watch as they disappeared from view.
It was impossible. No swimmer in the world could have beaten that tide. Finally, the tide was in and the water calmed and boats were able to make it to where the two struggling marines had last been seen.
Their bodies were located in about 60 feet of water. They were picked up by an Amptrac and returned to the island of Ennugarret from where they had started out.
Sometime later they were given a Military Service and buried on
the island of Ennugarret, not far from where they had landed just
a few days before.
Operation "Flintlock" would be the most important assault of the
Pacific War to that date. It constituted the first offensive
strike against the enemy to secure a base of operations, and the
airfield on the island of Roi was in use almost immediately.
The Japanese forces on Roi and Namur were under the command of a
Captain Seiho Arima who was killed in the battle for Namur. The
Kwajalein Atoll was under the command of Rear Admiral Monzo
Akiyama, Vice Admiral Koso Abe, Captain Yoshio Obaro and
Lieutenant Commander Hisakichi Naiki. They were all captured,
except Admiral Akiyama, held prisoner, and hanged in 1946 for War
Crimes, in accordance with the sentence handed down by the
Military Commision, for the beheading of the 8 or 10 Marines
captured during the raid on Makin Island.
The reason the Marines were beheaded was because the Japanese
Navy didn't want to detour a ship to the Atoll to pick up the few
Marines for transport to a prison camp in Japan. Therefore
orders were given to kill the prisoners and bury them in a mass
grave where they were. Research indicates the order did not
specify the manner in which they were to be murdered, but only
indicated they were to be eliminated. It was the decision of the
Command on the Marshall Islands to behead them.
To carry out the order, they asked for volunteers, specifically
three NCO's. For a time no one volunteered, but after a while
the men soon decided they would be in trouble if someone didn't
volunteer, and three NCO's stepped forward with one lower rank
soldier. The act was carried out and the men were buried in a
mass grave as ordered.
Our Brother, Frederick James Woodard, was born November 10, 1925,
the anniversary of the U. S. Marine Corps, and he was very proud
of that.
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