_LVT-1s in the first assault wave enter the lagoon and approach the
line of departure. LVT-2s of the second and third waves proceed on
parallel courses in background._]
Communications were ragged. The balky TBX radios of Shoup, Crowe, and
Schoettel were still operational. Otherwise, there was either dead
silence or complete havoc on the command nets. No one on the flagship
knew of Ryan’s relative success on the western end, or of Amey’s death
and Jordan’s assumption of command. Several echelons heard this ominous
early report from an unknown source: “Have landed. Unusually heavy
opposition. Casualties 70 percent. Can’t hold.” Shoup ordered Kyle’s LT
1/2, the regimental reserve, to land on Red Beach Two and work west.
This would take time. Kyle’s men were awaiting orders at the line of
departure, but all were embarked in boats. Shoup and others managed
to assemble enough LVTs to transport Kyle’s companies A and B, but
the third infantry company and the weapons company would have to
wade ashore. The ensuing assault was chaotic. Many of the LVTs were
destroyed enroute by antiboat guns which increasingly had the range
down pat. At least five vehicles were driven away by the intense fire
and landed west at Ryan’s position, adding another 113 troops to Green
Beach. What was left of Companies A and B stormed ashore and penetrated
several hundred feet, expanding the “perimeter.” Other troops sought
refuge along the pier or tried to commandeer a passing LVT. Kyle got
ashore in this fashion, but many of his troops did not complete the
landing until the following morning. The experience of Lieutenant
George D. Lillibridge of Company A, 1st Battalion, 2d Marines, was
typical. His LVT driver and gunners were shot down by machine gun fire.
The surviving crewman got the stranded vehicle started again, but only
in reverse. The stricken vehicle then backed wildly though the entire
impact zone before breaking down again. Lillibridge and his men did not
get ashore until sunset.
The transport _Zeilin_, which had launched its Marines with such
fanfare only a few hours earlier, received its first clear signal that
things were going wrong on the beach when a derelict LVT chugged close
astern with no one at the controls. The ship dispatched a boat to
retrieve the vehicle. The sailors discovered three dead men aboard the
LVT: two Marines and a Navy doctor. The bodies were brought on board,
then buried with full honors at sea, the first of hundreds who would be
consigned to the deep as a result of the maelstrom on Betio.
[Illustration: _Three hundred yards to go! LVT-1 45 churns toward Red
Beach Three just east of the long pier on D-Day. Heavy fighting is
taking place on the other side of the beach._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 64050
]
Communications on board _Maryland_ were gradually restored to working
order in the hours following the battleship’s early morning duel with
Betio’s coast defense batteries. On board the flagship, General Julian
Smith tried to make sense out of the intermittent and frequently
conflicting messages coming in over the command net. At 1018 he ordered
Colonel Hall to “chop” Major Robert H. Ruud’s LT 3/8 to Shoup’s CT Two.
Smith further directed Hall to begin boating his regimental command
group and LT 1/8 (Major Lawrence C. Hays, Jr.), the division reserve.
At 1036, Smith reported to V Amphibious Corps: “Successful landing on
Beaches Red Two and Three. Toehold on Red One. Am committing one LT
from Division reserve. Still encountering strong resistance throughout.”
[Illustration: