Help is a drop of water
"One day we are killing each other and the next day we are trying to save them'
By Special to the Times
Published August 28, 2005
It was about the 10th of July 1944. We had just finished the fighting on Saipan. Paul Scanlon, a good friend, and I were trying to get close enough to the ocean to take a swim. We had not changed our clothes or had a bath for about 30 days.
After a short walk, we came to Marpi Point, a cliff on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly a small girl with a suitcase came out from behind a boulder. Right on her heels was a young boy about 6 years old and an old man and lady, both about 60. She stopped about 5 feet in front me and opened the suitcase. Paul became agitated and yelled to me that I should be careful - she might have a booby trap. I edged a little closer to see what she was trying to tell me.
She was talking to me in Japanese, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying. She became very agitated, stepped closer to me and tapped on one of my canteens. She then held her hand up to her mouth as if she was drinking.
I looked closely and realized that she and her family had been drinking seawater. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had foamy spittle in the corners of her mouth. I decided to let her drink from my canteen. She took the canteen and handed it to the old man, who took a drink and then passed it to the old lady. Eventually the canteen went round the whole group and it was empty. She reached in the suitcase and took out a clock. She placed it in my hands as a gift and turned to walk away. I stopped her and gave the clock back to her.
I was so engrossed in helping these people I hadn't noticed that about 10 new people were near. At first I thought we were in trouble, as some of them were dressed like Japanese soldiers. The people standing in front of me were forming a line. It was obvious that all of them had been drinking salt water, and all they wanted was a drink of fresh water.
Paul found a discarded C ration can and we started to give each person about 2 ounces of water from the three canteens we had left. I looked up and now there was an even longer line.
We didn't have enough. I suggested to Paul that he go back to our company headquarters and talk to Capt. Schechter, our C.O.
After all the water from our canteens was drunk, I looked out to the ocean and in the distance I noticed hundreds of round objects seemingly floating on the surface.
As I walked toward the edge of the cliff, I saw people everywhere - men in uniform, women, babies, all sick from drinking seawater. As I reached the edge and looked over the side, I saw some broken bodies. Most of the Japanese were swimming out as far as they could. I counted at least 50 heads bobbing in the very distant water.
No way could they make it back in. It was obvious they were going to drown.
In a few minutes I heard a motor running. An old Japanese truck came barreling down the hill, and it was Paul. He also had about half the water our company had left: two 5-gallon cans. No sooner had we set up then we had another long line of people hoping to get a drink.
Suddenly we heard a loud voice yell to us, "What the hell do you guys think you are doing?"
It was a Marine Corps major in brand new dungarees. He had a loudspeaker horn in his hand. He told us he was a Japanese interpreter. I explained that all of these people were committing suicide. I asked him to try to talk to them.
He started talking on the horn to the Japanese in their native language. They were not moved by anything he said. They didn't react at all. They just kept getting in the water and swimming.
Just then a new detachment of Marines came up. They too had on new dungarees and looked like they had come ashore right out of boot camp. They noticed the heads bobbing out in the ocean. Suddenly I heard a rifle fire. I looked up to see these new Marines shooting at the bobbing heads. I went over to them and told them that these people were trying to take their own life and I thought they should let them die with dignity. They ignored me and kept shooting. One of the Marines said something about getting a Japanese before he had to go home.
The water was all gone now, and Paul and I took our two empty 5-gallon water cans, got in the truck and went back to our company. We couldn't help any more.
I often think about what happened to Paul and me. No doubt the Japanese would have beheaded us if the situation had been reversed. The Japanese preferred to die rather than give up. We had killed over 30,000 on Saipan and Tinian. They had wounded or killed 8,000 of us. War is crazy, the most obscene experience I have encountered in my lifetime. One day we are killing each other and the next day we are trying to save them.
-- Alva R. Perry, Clearwater