4/18/1945
CPT George Clifford “Clifford” Sarauw, 2LT Arthur J. Zellmer, T/SGT Francis H. Zurn, and T/5 CPL Elmer J. Craddock were killed, and T/5 CPL Raymond J. Rondeau was presumed killed on 18 April 1945. They were assigned to 92nd Ordnance (Bomb Disposal) Squad. They were participating in the assault landing on Ie Jima (also called Ie Shima), Okinawa when their landing craft detonated a landmine. The 92nd Ordnance (Bomb Disposal) Squad had been patrolling for mines southwest of Ie Jima, where these obstacles had been thickest, discouraging Navy supply craft from landing. CPT Sarauw was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and Purple Heart Medal.
Additional Facts Service Number: O379813; Born: 29 May 1914, Los Angeles, California; Age: 30; Enlisted: Maryland; Hometown Plattsburgh, New York; Buried: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl National Cemetery), Honolulu, Hawaii, Plot: N, Row: 0; Grave: 685.
Note: Copied from page 101 of Combat Loaded: Across the Pacific on the USS Tate:
“Ernie Pyle did not have to wait long for a good look at what Ie Shima had to offer. Approximately 300 yards from Gen (BG Edwin Hubert) Randle’s command post, a huge explosion occurred where a bomb disposal squad was loading a truck with Japanese bombs that had been excavated from the road. All but one of the squad’s men was killed. When Randle returned to his command post after investigating the blast, Ernie Pyle was off exploring a cave.” Ernie Pyle was killed later in the day.
