| Original caption: “Marines installing telephone lines under fire on Peleliu. In the background is seen part of the famous Bloody Nose Ridge, scene of the fiercest fighting on Peleliu.” Marine signals teams, laying wire under fire, were critical to keeping embattled units in contact with commanders behind the lines. If the telephone wire was cut by artillery fire or saboteurs, Signals teams were sent out to mend the break. Casualties were high among Signals teams, who often had to expose themselves to Japanese fire in order to complete their task. During the 1944 Battle of Peleliu, Operation Stalemate II, communications were critical and often disrupted due to intense combat, leading to reliance on runners, radio, and visual signals. The 4th Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO) supported the 1st Marine Division, while heavy Japanese fire from caves and ridges (Bloody Nose Ridge) frequently broke communication lines. Due to, or in addition to, radio failures, runners and visual signals were required to coordinate movements. Yet some front-line Marines disdained Signals teams, which they considered “rear-echelon” men who were shirking combat duty. United States Marine Corporal Eugene B. “Sledgehammer” Sledge (November 4, 1923 – March 3, 2001) recalled observing a Marine Signals telephone wire team in his memoirs: “After the breakthrough, we moved rapidly through areas where the opposition was light or absent. Our supply lines, communications, and casualty evacuation were struggling to keep up with us because the mud was still a serious problem. Although the rain fell less frequently, it hadn’t ceased.” “As our column moved along the base of a road embankment on one occasion, a Marine walking along the road above us, carrying a field telephone and a small roll of wire, shouted down and asked for the identity of our unit. His buddy followed him along the road at a little distance, carrying a roll of wire. These men were clean-shaven and neat. They looked suspiciously like rear-echelon people to us.” “‘Hey, what outfit you guys in?’ shouted the first man up on the road.” “‘K/3/5,’ I yelled.” “His buddy behind him asked him, ‘What outfit did he say?’” “‘K/3/5, whatever the hell that means.’” “The effect on us was instant and dramatic. Men who had paid little attention to what seemed a routine inquiry looked angrily up at the man. I flushed with anger. My unit and I had been insulted. The mortarman next to me threw down his ammo bag and started up the embankment. ‘T’ll show you what the hell it means, you rear-echelon sonofabitch! I’m gonna whip your ass.’” “I wasn’t given to brawling. The Japanese provided me with all the excitement and fighting I wanted. But I lost my head completely. I threw down my ammo bag and started up the embankment. Other mortarmen started up, too.” “‘What’s the dope?’ 1 heard a man back along the column shout.” ‘That rear-echelon bastard up there cussed K Company,’ someone answered.” “Immediately other Company K men started up the bank. The two men up on the road looked utterly bewildered as they saw bearded, muddy Marine infantrymen cursing, grounding their weapons, dropping their loads, and surging angrily up the embankment. One of our officers and a couple of NCOs saw what had happened and rushed up ahead of us.” “The officer turned and yelled, ‘You people get back in ranks on the double! Move! Move!’” “We stopped, each of us knowing that to disobey orders invited severe disciplinary action. The two men on the road had become frightened, and we saw them hustling along the road to the rear. They looked back anxiously several times to see whether they were being followed. We must have been an angry, menacing-looking bunch from their viewpoint. I suspect those two Marines knew the real meaning and essence of esprit de corps after that experience.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii2247.jpg |
| Image Size | 909.55 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2680 x 1984 |
| Photographer | Paul Dorsey |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 1, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Peliliu |
| Country | Palaus |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-408157 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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