_The 3d Battalion, 28th Marines, finds the terrain on Iwo Jima more
broken and forbidding than the black sands of the beaches as they
advance in a frontal attack northward against unremitting fire from
determined Japanese troops._]
The issue of replacement troops during the battle remains controversial
even half a century later. General Schmidt, now faced with losses
approaching the equivalent of one entire division, again urged General
Smith to release the 3d Marines. While each division had been assigned
a replacement draft of several thousand Marines, Schmidt wanted the
cohesion and combat experience of Colonel James M. Stuart’s regimental
combat team. Holland Smith believed that the replacement drafts would
suffice, presuming that each man in these hybrid units had received
sufficient infantry training to enable his immediate assignment to
front-line outfits. The problem lay in distributing the replacements in
small, arbitrary numbers--not as teamed units--to fill the gaping holes
in the assault battalions. The new men, expected to replace invaluable
veterans of the Pacific War, were not only new to combat, but they
also were new to each other, an assortment of strangers lacking the
life-saving bonds of unit integrity. “They get killed the day they
go into battle,” said one division personnel officer in frustration.
Replacement losses within the first 48 hours of combat were, in fact,
appalling. Those who survived, who learned the ropes and established a
bond with the veterans, contributed significantly to the winning of the
battle. The division commanders, however, decried the wastefulness of
this policy and urged unit replacements by the veteran battalions of
the 3d Marines. As General Erskine recalled:
I asked the question of Kelly Turner and Holland Smith and the
usual answer was, “You got enough Marines on the island now; there
are too damn many here.” I said, “The solution is very easy. Some
of these people are very tired and worn out, so take them out and
bring in the 3d Marines.” And they practically said, “You keep
quiet--we’ve made the decision.” And that was that.
Most surviving senior officers agreed that the decision not to use the
3d Marines at Iwo Jima was ill-advised and costly. But Holland Smith
never wavered: “Sufficient troops were on Iwo Jima for the capture
of the island ... two regiments were sufficient to cover the front
assigned to General Erskine.” On 5 March, D+14, Smith ordered the 3d
Marines to sail back to Guam.
[Illustration: