Frank Pomroy begins the interview by talking about the living conditions on Guadalcanal. Living conditions were as basic as they could possibly get. He would curl up in the fetal position at night and try to sleep as best he could on the ground. Tents were not an option because the tents would attract Japanese bombers. Pomroy would keep himself dry by wrapping himself in a blanket at night but that generally wouldn't last too long. Many of the guys got a sort of pneumonia from sleeping on the ground so much and had trouble breathing and walking. Pomroy was given shots of penicillin to cure his ailment in a hospital. He received a shot every four hours for three days. He was told that he would be evacuated because he was so sick. The following morning Pomroy went AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave] from the hospital and went back to Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division]. He describes the food as terrible. The Marines lived off of coconuts and coconut milk most of the time. Japanese rice was also a staple for the Marines. Pomroy was assigned a work detail one night to separate the rice from the maggots that were eating the rice in preparation for the next day's meals. He recalls one instance when he and his patrol came across a Japanese camp that had sake, fish heads, and rice. The Marines stole the food and ate Japanese rations for a few days. Most of the Marines had malaria at some point while on Guadalcanal. Pomroy discusses Atabrine and how the Atabrine made the Marines' skin turn yellow after they started taking it to ward off the effects of malaria.

Frank Pomroy arrived on Guadalcanal from New Caledonia after being left aboard the troopship George F. Elliot [Annotator's note: USS George F. Elliot (Ap-13)]. He was able to hitch a ride with a US Navy destroyer to get back to Guadalcanal to rejoin his unit. After landing on Guadalcanal, Pomroy was able to locate Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] which was emplaced along the Tenaru River. Pomroy was listed as missing in action; Company H believed that he had been killed when the George F. Elliot was sunk on the 7 August [Annotator's Note: 7 August 1942]. His sergeant, Lawrence, told him to get back to the company and take his place among the men. Lawrence also told Pomroy that the company was expecting a Japanese attack that would probably take place that night. Pomroy discusses how the Marines prepared for the Japanese attack that they knew was coming. The Marines placed a single strand of barbed wire across the sandspit near the mouth of the Tenaru River and dug in 37mm antitank gun positions to fend off a possible assault. Pomroy was assigned as a replacement gunner on the 37mm in case the regular gunners or loaders were either killed or needed a break. He describes firing a 37mm that wasn't properly dug in and destroyed itself upon its first firing. The 37mm fired grape shot [Annotator's note: grape shot and canister shot were rounds filled with small steel balls which essentially turned the 37mm gun into a large shotgun] and they were only issued 55 rounds to last for the night. He was instructed to not fire the weapon unless he could physically see the enemy because if they were to continuously fire they would run out of ammunition within a half hour. Pomroy describes having to stand up behind the weapon and being exposed to enemy fire from the chest up. He describes how when the weapon was fired, the Japanese simply disappeared. Just before dark, Jacob Vouza [Annotator's Note: Sir Jacob Charles Vouza served with the Solomon Islands Protectorate Armed Constabulary and later as a scout for the 1st Marine Division during the campaign on Guadalcanal], a native scout came into the Marine lines and warned Company H that the Japanese were on their way. Because of this warning the Marines were able to further prepare their defense and ready themselves for the Japanese attack. Pomroy describes the Japanese attack by saying the Japs [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Japanese] would come across the beach screaming and yelling in large groups. The Marines opened fire all along the river and continued to fire all night long. In the morning there were piles of dead Japanese in front of Pomroy's 37mm gun lying half buried in the sand.

Frank Pomroy and his fellow Marines walked down to the sandspit at the mouth of the Tenaru River and stared at the dead Japanese. He reflected on how short life could be when he looked at the dead Japanese soldiers. He talks about Johnny Rivers who had killed many Japanese soldiers and is credited with being the first man to open fire along the Tenaru River. Near Pomroy's gun some Japanese got as close as 15 or 20 feet from his position but the riflemen or machine gunners finished them off before they got to the 37mm. The battle started off relatively slow with a couple of shots back and forth. The Japanese and Marines traded insults across the river at each other, then they screamed Banzai and came pouring over the river. Pomroy speaks of Colonel Ichiki [Annotator's Note: Colonel Kiyono Ichiki commanded the Ichiki Detachment, the unit that attacked the Marine positions along the Tenaru River on 21 August 1942]. Pomroy tells a story of how he returned to Guadalcanal in 1984 to help the Japanese locate where the majority of the 1,200 Japanese dead were located at the Tenaru River so that the Japanese could bury their war dead properly. The Japanese officials dug in the spot that Pomroy told them to dig and located a mass grave of dead Japanese that were killed at the Tenaru River. Ten days later, a Shinto priest arrived to perform the burial ceremony along with family members of the dead.

When the battle initially started, Frank Pomroy was positioned with a water-cooled machine gun [Annotator's note: .30 caliber M1917 water cooled machine gun]. James Mangin and Pomroy were then assigned to the 37mm [Annotator's Note: 37mm anti-tank gun] and fired the weapon throughout the remainder of the battle [Annotator's Note: the Battle of the Tenaru River on 21 August 1942]. In the morning, most of the Japanese were dead but there were a few sporadic shots throughout the morning. The Japanese came across the sandspit at the mouth of the river because it was the easiest place to cross. It was also directly in front of the 37mm anti-tank gun that Pomroy was manning. In the morning when the battle was pretty much over he had 2 or 3 rounds left for the weapon. When the flares went off during the night he could see Japanese across the river coming at him. When the weapon was fired, its sheer strength would clear a path through the Japanese and kill everyone in its path. Pomroy says that when in battle, you see what is directly in front of you and don't worry about what is happening around you. His gun was located down closest to the ocean at the sandspit. Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] was replaced on the front lines by a National Guard outfit. Many of the National Guard troops were older men who were married and had children. They asked the young Marines for advice on how to fight the Japanese. Pomroy stayed with the National Guard unit the first night they were relieved to assist them and then moved on to Company H's new location.

Frank Pomroy describes Johnny Rivers in detail saying the he liked to drink quite a bit and punched a hole in their barracks wall. He describes Rivers as a quiet, nice guy whom everybody liked quite well. Rivers was a pure blood American Indian who manned a machine gun on the Tenaru the night of the 21st [Annotator's Note: 21 August 1942]. Al Schmidt is described the same way, a friendly guy who was well liked by his fellow Marines. [Annotator's Note: Rivers and Schmidt were both part of the same machine gun crew and were credited with firing the first shots at Tenaru and were both awarded the Navy Cross. Rivers was killed soon after the battle began. Schmidt continued firing the weapon after being blinded by a Japanese grenade.] Pomroy says that the deaths were light for the Marines as compared to the Japanese. [Annotator's note: There were an estimated 1,200 Japanese killed at the Tenaru River and an estimated 40 Marines killed.] Pomroy names the members of Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] who were awarded the Navy Cross as a result of actions performed at the Tenaru River. When the men of Company H were taken off of Guadalcanal, they were tremendously weak and sick from malaria and various jungle diseases. Pomroy relates that when the Marines got to Melbourne, Australia they wouldn't drink as much beer as many men said; the milk shakes were just as popular with the Marines because it helped to fatten them back up after losing so much weight on Guadalcanal. When they did do their drinking, the Marines would get together at Young and Jackson's in downtown Melbourne. On 24 October 1942, Japanese battleships came down the slot near Savo Island and shelled Henderson Field relentlessly. Pomroy relates the shelling with great detail. He helped to dig out some of his fellow Marines who were buried alive when some of the Japanese shells landed close enough so that the concussion blew the trees down around the Marines.

Frank Pomroy estimates that the Japanese battleship bombardment [Annotator's Note: on the Marine positions on Guadalcanal on the night of 14 October 1942] lasted an hour. He remembers Washing Machine Charlie [Annotator's Note: nickname given to lone Japanese aircraft that flew over at night, primarily in an effort to prevent American or Allied forces from getting any sleep] who was a Japanese pilot that flew over the Marines at night to drop a single bomb simply to keep the Marines awake at night. Pomroy relates how there was no such thing as being out of danger on Guadalcanal. The Marines were bombed almost daily by Japanese bombers based off of Rabaul. [Annotator's Note: There is a skip here where tape 1 ends and tape 2 begins.] Pomroy discusses the island of Pavuvu [Annotator's note: an island in the Russel Islands where the 1st Marine Division trained after the battles of Cape Gloucester and Peleliu]. The rats were everywhere, there was constant rain, mud, and land crabs. The Marines were finally given tents to sleep in and could get off the ground. Pomroy saw Gary Cooper on Pavuvu as well as Jerry Colona and Bob Hope. The food was on Pavuvu was very bad as was the island as a whole.

Frank Pomroy had decided to go on a third invasion regardless of whether or not he would be sent home. The Marines drew straws to see who would go home and he didn't attend the drawing as he wanted to stay for one more fight. Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] and the rest of the 1st Marine Division went back to Guadalcanal for amphibious training before the invasion of Peleliu. The Marines were told that the Peleliu operation would only last a few days and it shouldn't be a tough operation. Pomroy was put on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] prior to landing on Peleliu to load onto an amphibious tank [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked] so that they could make it to the shore first. The rations aboard the LST were terrible, apples and coffee is what the Marines survived on on the open decks of the LSTs on the thousand mile journey to Peleliu. The men would strip and wash when it would rain and do their best to bathe. There were no facilities whatsoever for the Marines aboard the LSTs.

Frank Pomroy relates how the amphibious tanks [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehivle, Tracked, or LVT] went out of the LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] towards the shore of Peleliu. Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] was on the beach getting pounded by artillery as they lay there waiting on the second wave of Marines to come ashore. Japanese fire covered almost every inch of the beachhead and didn't allow the Marines to move forward at all. Pomroy describes how he saw three dead Marines from his company who were killed before they landed on the beach. The dead men were floating in the water behind his amphibious tank. John LaCroix, his assistant machine gunner was hit in the hand almost immediately after landing on the beach and was evacuated when the next wave came in leaving Pomroy without an assistant gunner. He describes how he made his way up the beach towards a ridge and slowed down because of the machine gun he was carrying; Marines rushed past him towards the ridge and were killed when a Japanese artillery barrage landed on the ridge. Pomroy picked up another assistant gunner and set up his machine gun on the apron of the airfield when the Japanese began their tank assault across the airfield. The tank came rushing at his position. Pomroy rolled away as the tank came towards them and the tank crushed his machine gun. The Japanese tank assault was stopped short of the beach by bazooka men nearby Pomroy.

The following morning, Frank Pomroy was told that they would cross the airfield [Annotator's Note: on Peleliu] at a fast trot to take the other end of the airfield from the Japanese. Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] had sustained heavy casualties between the landing, the airfield and the beginning of Bloody Nose Ridge. He describes the rough coral terrain on Peleliu near Bloody Nose Ridge as the Marines began their initial assault which was repulsed. That night, the Japanese made a small attack into the Company H lines. A Japanese soldier assaulted Pomroy that night and Pomroy shot him in the stomach as the soldier came at him. The Japanese regained himself and assaulted again and Pomroy shot him in the head. Pomroy looked at the Japanese he had just killed and found a picture of his family. The dead man looked to be about 17 years old. The following morning, the Marines attacked the ridge again and this time succeeded. The Marines were low on ammunition and Pomroy volunteered to go to the beach and get some more ammunition. On his way to the beach he ran into Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: USMC Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, also known as Chesty] who was directing his Marines near the beach. He relates a story of how a Japanese soldier in an American uniform trotted past him with ammunition and was immediately killed by the Marines on the beach. Marvin Hattan was instructed to go to shore and get water. Upon returning, he had no water and told a story of how the water was infected with fuel oil and therefore undrinkable. Hattan was hit by artillery fire upon returning and died a slow painful death late in the evening of the third day on Peleliu. Pomroy describes this event in great detail.

Frank Pomroy went back to get the wounded Marvin Hattan who was screaming and moaning from his wounds [Annotator's Note: Hattan had been hit by shrapnel during combat operations on Peleliu]. Another Marine threatened to kill Hattan because he was making so much noise. Pomroy held Hattan's hand all night long. Hattan died during the night. The following morning, Hattan's face was covered with crabs which were eating his face after he had died. Pomroy then relates a story of how he visited with Hattan's parents after the war several times. Pomroy had dug himself a foxhole in some coral and had heavily armed himself. He heared some Japanese chattering to themselves then saw two Japanese soldiers emerge from around a corner, one pulling a machine gun cart and an officer with a samurai sword. Pomroy shot the man pulling the machine gun cart first in the head. The officer stopped moving and tried to pull his sword. Pomroy shot the man twice in the stomach and dropped him as he started to scream in Japanese and attempt to pull a grenade. Pomroy decided to stay in his foxhole and wait for the officer with the grenade to die as he was out of water and food at this point. The officer died within an hour and when Pomroy went to get up he didn't have the strength to move. He was severely dehydrated and weak from lack of food. He was also wounded with three machine gun bullets in his right leg and a bayonet wound in his left knee. An American amphibious tank [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked, or LVT] happened by and pulled Pomroy from his position and brought him to the beach for medical treatment.

Once Frank Pomroy was brought to the beach he was treated by a Navy corpsman and evacuated from Peleliu to a hospital ship where his wounds were treated. While aboard the ship he met a friend of his named Joe Ferrara from Company H [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division]. Ferrara had been wounded by a Japanese soldier with a samurai sword while on Peleliu. He overheard doctors saying that they thought that Ferrara wouldn't last through the night. After awakening from the effects of a sleeping shot, Pomroy was told that he had gangrene in his leg and the leg had been given treatment while he was sleeping. It was then that he was told that his friend Joe Ferrara had died during the night and was buried at sea. The hospital ship brought Pomroy to the Admiralty Islands to an Army hospital for further treatment. He describes how he was given a copy of the photograph taken of him while on Peleliu by his friend Bill Holloman from Company H.

Frank Pomroy tells the story of how he and Bill Hollman became friends. He was on Guadalcanal for five months and Peleliu for six days and in Pomroy's opinion, Peleliu was worse than Guadalcanal. Shells were going off all over and snipers were everywhere. He states if your head was above ground you would lose it in a hurry. Pomroy concludes his oral history by telling of how he went back to Peleliu for the 65th Anniversary.