| Original caption: “Negro assault troops await orders on D-Day to attack the enemy shortly after they had come ashore at Saipan in the Marianas.” On D-Day at Saipan, black Marines pause at the beach’s edge before receiving orders to move inland. They carry a mix of M1 Carbine, M1 Garand, and M1903 Springfield 30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) rifles. They are not expecting immediate action because several men are smoking while they dig in. Saipan was the 1st target in the Marianas; D-Day occurred on June 15, 1944. The African American Marines assigned to the 7th Field Depot helped load the supplies of the assault forces of the United States 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions of the V Amphibious Corps. The unit was assigned to the ship unloading detail and to the shore parties of the assault echelons. Elements of most of the African American Marine units at Saipan got ashore on D-Day. A member of the 3rd Marine Ammunition Company, Sergeant Ernest W. Coney (November 21, 1916 – April 29, 1983), gave his version of the landing: “Sixteen men were assigned to the ships’ platoons and twenty-five to floating dumps [pontoon barges moored just off the reef’s edge as transfer points]. The rest got ready to disembark at 0700 Hours. At 0600 Hours, it was bright enough to see an island dead ahead, and smoke was pouring up from the earth as our planes were bombing and strafing. We went over the side at 0700 Hours and into the waiting landing boat. We shoved off toward the island, and as usual, we rode around in circles before going ashore. When we started for the island, shells began to fall all around us. We were given orders to turn around and get into an amphibious alligator ‘cause we could not make it in – in the landing boat.” We changed over and then waited. We hit the beach at 1400 Hours and immediately started digging in because it seemed as though the Japs had gotten the range. 1 team had an amphibious tractor shot out from under it as it was being unloaded – miraculously, all the men escaped without injury.” Others were not as fortunate; United States Marine Private 1st Class Leroy Seals (October 24, 1923 – June 15, 1944) of Brooklyn, New York, was wounded a few hours after the landing and died the next day. Men from the company positioned near the beachhead perimeter helped repulse an enemy counterattack during the night of D-Day and were credited with knocking out a Japanese machine gun. The depot companies were no less active on June 15; most of the men of the 18th and 20th Companies landed in support of the 4th Marine Division, while the 19th, which was part of the 2nd Marine Division’s shore party, sweated cargo out of the holds and into landing craft for the trip to the fire-swept shore. 1 platoon of the 18th attached to the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines landed on Blue Beach 1, directly behind the town of Charan Kanoa, about 2 1/2 hours after the assault wave had landed. As it disembarked, a mortar shell hit and exploded about 25 feet (under 8 meters) away. It resulted in 4 casualties – Private 1st Class Charles F. Smith (November 7, 1924 – June 6, 1997) and Privates Albert W. Sims (October 2, 1918 – April 26, 1965), Jeff Smith (December 35, 1913 – October 20, 1994), and Hayse Stewart (June 22, 1924 – April 25, 2007) – who were evacuated back to a transport. The platoon pushed inland to find cover from the enemy shelling. 1 squad was called up to replace riflemen in the front lines, which were not more than a 100 yards (90 meters) off the beach. During the night, small enemy groups probed the left flank of the 23rd Marines in the gap between that regiment and the 8th Marines to the north. Those who penetrated were mopped up by units in the rear, including the 18th Depot. When the line was stabilized, the 18th was pulled out to take over its regular duties of handling supplies. During this period, the company commander, Captain William M. Barr (October 12, 1896 – April 16, 1988), reported: “Mortar shells were still raining down as my boys unloaded ammunition, demolition material, and other supplies from amphibious trucks. They set up “security” to keep out snipers as they helped load casualties aboard boats to go to hospital ships. Rifle fire was thick as they rode guard on trucks carrying high-octane gasoline from the beach. A squad leader killed a Jap[Japanese sniper who had crawled into a foxhole next to his. They stood waist deep in surf, unloading boats as vital supplies of food and water were brought in…there were only a few scattered snipers on the beach. My boys accounted for several of these.” A brief account of the D-Day experiences of the 20th Marine Depot Company reached the American press in the account of its commander, Captain William C. Adams (October 5, 1897 – January 25, 1967): “My company landed about 1400 Hours on D-Day, on Yellow Beach Two, supporting the First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines. We were the third wave, and all hell was breaking loose when we came in. It was still touch-and-go when we hit shore, and it took some time to establish a foothold. My men performed excellently. I had previously told them: ‘You are the first Negro troops ever to go into action in the Marine Corps. What you do with the situation that confronts you, and how you perform, will be the basis on which you and your race will be judged…’ They did a swell job…Among my own company casualties, my orderly was killed. My men are still living in foxholes.” The orderly was Private Kenneth J. Tibbs (May 30, 1925 – June 15, 1944) of Columbus, Ohio, who died of wounds on D-Day. He was the 1st black Marine killed as a result of enemy action in World War II. The rest of the men in his company were not unmindful of the precarious situation on the beaches of Saipan and immediately took steps to improve their defenses. As Captain Adams noted: “They were very provident, and by the 2nd day had all types of arms they had never been issued, such as…machine guns, and even 50 caliber (12.7 millimeter) machine guns. The 19th Marine Depot Company did not come ashore until June 22. It remained as part of the 2nd Division shore party for 5 more days before it reverted to operational control of the 7th Field Depot. The 19th was a lucky outfit; it suffered no casualties on Saipan, nor was anyone hit when it took part in the Okinawa campaign nearly a year later. There were still other casualties in the Negro companies on Saipan, though, after the holocaust of D-Day. On June 16, Private Willie J. Atkinson (June 25, 1925 – January 12, 2012) of the 18th Company was wounded, and Private 1st Class Robert L. Neal (September 8, 1921 – August 22, 1983) of the ammunition company was shell-shocked and hospitalized. The next day, Private 1st Class William B. Townsend (August 22, 1922 – October 12, 1972) of the 18th Company was hit. 1 of the officers of the 18th Company, 2nd Lieutenant Edmund C. Forehand (June 27, 1920 – January 23, 1976), was wounded on June 21, and Private 1st Class Lawrence Pellerin, Junior (March 3, 1925 – November 20, 2005), of the 20th Company became a casualty the next day. As the fighting wore on into July, Private 1st Class John S. Newsome (December 26, 1918 – March 15, 1998) of the 18th and Private Willie S. King (December 25, 1919 – August 20, 2009) of the 20th were wounded on the 4th, Private John S. Novy (December 25, 1902 – January 1952) of the ammunition company was hit on June 9, and the last Africna American Marine casualty during the battle, Private Willie Travis Junior (July 21, 1922 – February 3, 1995) of the 18th Company, was wounded on June 13. The men in these 4 companies were not the only African American Marines on the island of Saipan. The action was such that areas typically considered “safe” and “behind the lines” were subjected to enemy fire. During Japanese shelling that dropped in on the headquarters compound of the 2nd Marine Division on June 20, Cook 3rd Class Timerlate E. Kirven (July 25, 1911 – September 7, 1985) and Steward’s Assistant 2nd Class Samuel J. Love, Junior (December 25, 1919 – December 14, 1993), both received leg wounds, thus earning the unwanted distinction of being the 1st Stewards’ Branch combat casualties of the war. The action of the African American Marines under heavy fire and in a situation of unremitting toll and danger on Saipan did not go unnoticed at Headquarters Marine Corps or in the national press and news magazines. The Commandant, United States Marine Corps General Alexander A. Vandegrift (March 13, 1887 – May 8, 1973), was quoted as saying: “The Negro Marines are no longer on trial. They are Marines, period.” Robert L. Sherrod (February 8, 1909 – February 13, 1994), the war correspondent, reported in Time Magazine: “Negro Marines, under fire for the first time, have rated a universal Four Point Zero on Saipan.” In the naval efficiency rating system, there could be no higher mark. Indeed, the black Marines had performed well under fire, and the units of the 7th Field Depot that directly supported the 4th Marine Division. 3rd Ammunition and 18th, 19th, and 20th Depot Companies were included in the award of the Presidential Unit Citation given to that organization for its combat role on Saipan and Tinian. The latter island, close to Saipan, was taken in a classic shore-to-shore amphibious assault during the last week of July 1944. No African American Marine casualties were incurred in the Tinian fighting. However, elements of the 3rd Ammunition Company did accompany the assault troops, and the depot companies provided, as usual, loading and unloading support. Montford Point, North Carolina, trained African American Marines, and they were in high demand for the rest of the war for the ammunition companies. Montford Point struggled to keep up with filling requests for replacements. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1516.jpg |
| Image Size | 630.01 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2896 x 2307 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 15, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Saipan |
| Country | Marianas |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-127-N-83928 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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