U.S. Marine Corp. 1st Marine Division Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion,
81 MM Mortar Platoon
Interview by Johnnie Faye Taylor
Curtis is the son of M.F. Beall and Vera Bush Beall. He was born and raised in the Brewton Community of Laurens County, Georgia. Curtis graduated from Dublin High School in 1940.
He began his college education at Middle Georgia College in Cochran, Georgia. Curtis attended Middle Georgia College on a basketball scholarship. After one year, he transferred to the University of Georgia in Athens. Curtis planned to graduate with a degree in Agriculture.
On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Curtis attended Sunday School and Church with his family at the Brewton Baptist Church. When church was over, they went home for a typical Sunday lunch. They turned the radio on soon after their arrival. Radio reception was not very clear in those days. There was considerable static, however, they did hear the constant broadcast of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Much information and misinformation was given throughout the afternoon and evening.
It wasn't until Monday, December 8th that correct reports of the attack were given. Again the radio broadcast regular reports. The reports gave more accurate information about the number of people killed; property damage done in Hawaii and the number of ships that had been sunk in the attack.
Curtis knew that life was changing for everyone. He hoped to complete his degree before going into the military. He chose to attend college in the summer as well as the winter in order to graduate sooner.
He was a good student and very active in student activities. Curtis became a University of Georgia cheerleader. This was the year that Georgia played in the Rose Bowl and won the game.
Politics was one of Curtis' interests. He ran for office and was elected UGA Campus Leader. He was also selected Outstanding Senior while there.
In an effort to defer his military time until after graduation, Curtis signed with the Marine Corp in the new V-12 Program. This was in September 1942.
After entering the Marine Corp V-12 Program, Curtis was sent to Duke University for the remainder of his education. This became a problem because Duke was on the semester system and his UGA courses had been on the quarter system. The credits he had earned at Georgia didn't transfer well so he needed more courses to graduate at Duke than he would have needed at UGA. Another problem was that Duke did not offer an Agriculture Degree.
While at Duke, Curtis and the other young men in the V-12 Program were issued uniforms and did some physical exercises. However, their curriculum was mostly academic.
When the basketball coach at Duke learned that Curtis had played basketball in the past, he asked him if he would play on the Duke team. Curtis agreed and the Duke team won the Southern Conference Championship that year. (This was a good many years before the ACC.)
In March of that year with one credit still needed to graduate, Curtis received orders to report to Parris Island, South Carolina for Basic Training. He joined a number of other young men in the V-12 Program when he arrived at Parris Island. They received the same Basic Training as the other boots (new enlistees). This was required even though in the V-12 Program they would later become officers. The training was intense. Sometimes Curtis thought they might have been just a little tougher on the men in the V-12 Program just because they knew they would become officers.
After 3 months training at Parris Island, Curtis was ordered to report to Camp Lejuene, North Carolina for more training. He remembers crossing the bridge as he was leaving Parris Island and thinking that he hoped he never saw the place again.
At Camp Lejuene, the training was like Advanced Boot Training with the difficulty increased. This time there were no barracks for the men. They lived in tents while going through this part of their training. Curtis recalls one day they were scheduled to go to Onslow Beach to practice beach landings. That morning they walked the 10 miles to Onslow Beach. When they were in the boats, the drivers would stop about 75-100 yards from the beach. They had to disembark carrying their complete packs weighing about 62 lbs. each. They were soaking wet with salt water and some sand when they reached the beach. After they got on the beach, they were ordered to hike back to the base.
The men were chaffed and very uncomfortable before reaching the base where they thought they would get showers and clean clothes. Upon reaching the base, they also thought they had reached the end of their endurance level. They were then ordered to run an obstacle course that involved swinging on a rope over a body of water. About 80 percent of the men fell into the water and had to repeat the exercise until they successfully completed it. Curtis remembers this rough day and the lesson he learned. When you think you can't do anymore, you really can when pushed to perform additional tasks.
Curtis got leave while at Camp Lejuene and wanted to come home for a visit. Curtis got to the Raleigh-Durham Airport but couldn't get a commercial flight. About the time he had exhausted all possibilities for getting to Georgia, a B-26 airplane taxied up to the building. The pilot and co-pilot went into the building. Curtis asked where they were going. Their destination was Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah, Georgia. Curtis asked about a ride with them to Savannah. They said okay. When they reached Savannah, Curtis thumbed a ride on to Brewton where he enjoyed being home for awhile.
Curtis' next orders were to report to Quantico, Virginia where he attended Officer Candidate School. This program lasted 3 months.
His next orders were to go to the Reserve Officers School. It was now 1944. Just before Curtis was to graduate, he had to have an appendectomy. After recovering from the surgery, he had to wait about 2 or 3 months for the next class before he could complete the program. The ROS was located at Quantico, Virginia. This was a good place to spend time waiting because it was so close to Washington, D.C. Curtis would often take the train into Washington for sightseeing.
On January 1, 1945, Curtis reported in at Camp Pendleton, California. He again lived in a tent as he received more training in preparation for overseas duty. This involved training with different troops. Curtis was assigned to Tent City # 2.
Tent City # 2 was located about half way between Los Angeles and San Diego. There was nothing to do in the area during their free time. Curtis and a friend went to Los Angeles one weekend. They looked for a car to purchase but nothing was available except a hearse. They purchased it and drove back to Tent City # 2. Each weekend after that, the hearse was kept busy. Eight to 10 boys paid Curtis about $2.00 each. This allowed them to sit on their buckets (normally used to shave and bathe) and ride to the city. One weekend they drove the boys to Los Angeles and the next weekend the hearse delivered it's passengers to San Diego. It would have been better had there been seats in the back of the hearse but riding on a bucket was better than spending the weekend in a tent.
New orders were received and in April 1945, Curtis and 5999 other men embarked on a converted ocean liner that was renamed the USS Admiral Hughes. As Curtis was going up the gangplank, he heard that the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had died.
The USS Admiral Hughes was supposed to be fast enough to outrun any subs or enemy ships in the Pacific. It was a relatively uneventful trip to Hawaii. The men were looking forward to some time on the island prior to resuming their journey to their destination. One day before reaching Hawaii, word was received of an outbreak of Spinal Meningitis aboard ship. The men were not allowed shore leave and spent their time on the ship while it was in port.
Next stop on their journey was Guam. The troops were able to leave the ship during their two week Guam stopover. This was a welcome change from being on the ship.
There had been many American casualties on the island of Okinawa. After the men boarded the ship in Guam, they departed for Okinawa where they would be a replacement battalion. Their arrival in Okinawa was at night.
Curtis and the other men were able to land successfully on Okinawa. The 1000 Navy Seals working as underwater demolition teams had destroyed all the underwater obstacles. Every square yard within two miles of the landing zone had been shelled. Nobody was killed during the landing though they were all vulnerable to sniper fire.
The Naval group at Okinawa consisted of 1467 ships. There were 450 troop ships, 10 battle ships, 50 submarines, 150 destroyers and various other types of military ships in the total number of ships involved there. The personnel involved in the naval group amounted to 500,000 men from the Marine Corp and the U.S. Navy.
The invasion occurred on Easter Sunday, April 1,1945. There was no real opposition at first. Just token opposition from the Japanese.
The fighting further inland could best be described as hot. The arriving men had to be fed into the combat lines at night. There were 185,000 Marine and Army Personnel on the island. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions and two Army Divisions (one of those was the 27th) made up the total number of personnel.
Okinawa is about 50 miles long. Curtis doesn't remember the exact width of the island however; he does recall the island being divided militarily into two sections with the Marines in the north and the Army in the south.
Japan's objective on Okinawa was to put up the most resistance possible in order to prolong the fighting. This would keep the American troops from the Japanese mainland for a longer period of time.
The Japanese had a well-prepared defense that was almost perfect. The Japanese equivalent of our West Point was located on Okinawa. It was called Shuri Castle.
The Marines were able to control the northern sector of the island in a fairly short period of time. The southern sector had the major lines of defense located there. The Army had their hands full. The terrain was rocky, hilly and had numerous caves. Fighting the Japanese in that area provided a real challenge.
The Marines were ordered south to assist the Army with the invasion of the Kneshi Ridge-Shuri Castle-Naha Line. The right flank was made up of the 6th Division. The defense line around the castle was a hard line to crack. It took three weeks to achieve that goal.
During that time it was monsoon season. It rained day and night. The soil was of such quality that the mud was of a bad gummy type. It would literally pull the soles off shoes.
Curtis' platoon had to go back at night to bring in replacements. They would bog down in the gummy mud. At one point the Americans and the Japanese had to postpone fighting for awhile until it got drier.
Aircraft could not fly in with supplies because of the heavy rain. This meant no rations. The hillsides had POJ sugar cane growing on them. Also growing in the area were sweet potatoes. Curtis remembers living on the sugar cane and sweet potatoes after their C & K rations were used up. Most of the men in his platoon were Yankees. They had never eaten sugar cane or sweet potatoes and they didn't think much of the idea of trying it. When they became hungry enough they did try it though.
Fleas were really bad. The hillside had concrete tombs built into them. These tombs were used to house urns containing the cremated remains of the dead natives. Fleas got in the urns and made their homes in the concrete tombs. The Marines used the tombs as protection from the Japanese Artillery. The men were severely bitten by the many fleas.
An 81MM Mortar Platoon should have 65 men according to the Table of Organization. It was impossible to get or keep that number of men in Curtis' platoon.
Shuri Castle was built as a stronghold. The walls were very thick and were made of a very hard material similar or like constatina. Curtis remembers being on a hilltop near Shuri Castle and looking down at the USS Missouri as it fired upon the castle. The ship's 16-inch shells couldn't penetrate the walls. Curtis' platoon was directing fire from the hilltop.
The Japanese refused to surrender and the Americans refused to surrender. No prisoners had been taken up to this time.
Nights were particularly rough. The Japanese troops were excellent night fighters. The American troops would dig two man foxholes. During the nights, one man slept while the other man stayed awake and on guard. Several men were killed when they got out of their foxholes during the night. Others were killed when both men in a foxhole were asleep. Those times a Japanese soldier got down in the foxhole and killed the men with bayonets.
Kneshi Ridge was finally cracked. Though the Japanese ruled the nights, American men owned the days.
The Japanese troops traveled south. They were spotted pulling out of the area and heading south by an American cub plane flying observance. American orders were to fire everything to try to stop them. Barrels on guns were very hot.
A mortar platoon has four gun crews. When they got into position, they dug out places to put the guns. White phosphorus shells were stacked next to the gun positions. One day the Japanese hit a phosphorus pile with an artillery shell. A terrible explosion occurred with eight American men being killed, seven seriously wounded and several others suffered minor wounds.
Up to this time, Curtis was an officer in the platoon. He took charge of it two days after the white phosphorus incident. Platoons pulled back temporarily while waiting for replacements. The platoon was brought back up to strength and the offensive line started south.
Fred O. Miller was a very colorful member of the platoon. He had a bright red moustache trained in the handlebar style. Fred was best known to the men in his platoon as Fredo. Fredo was an expert at "requisitioning" items whenever he could find them. The platoon always used the word "requisition" instead of using steal when describing the way Fredo got the goods.
The platoon had been living on C & K rations when they could get them. An Army Division was on the platoon's left flank. Fredo "requisitioned" a case of 10 in 1 rations one night. These rations were in gallon cans. They had such delicacies as marmalade, peanut butter, etc. in them. It was like Christmas to Curtis' platoon.
As the platoon traveled south, they were on a road that may be best described as a dam road. The left side of the road was a mud bog like a rice paddy. The platoon was about half way across the bog area when the Japanese opened fire from the other side with two Nambre machine guns. The platoon hit the mud. After the firing stopped and the men began surfacing, Fredo was the last one to come out. He was muddy all over and had the last 10 in 1 ration on his shoulder. He was supposed to have a base plate for one of the guns.
The Japanese troops were compressed on the southern tip of the island. Propaganda had been spread among the Okinawa civilians of the horrible things Americans would do to them if they were taken as prisoners. Due to those rumors, many chose to jump off cliffs into the China Sea.
An estimated 500,000 civilians lived on Okinawa when the war started. At the end of the Campaign 200,000 had been killed. Japanese soldiers were responsible for many of those civilian deaths.
Japanese troops stayed in caves and tunnels. They came out occasionally and got in a group of 75-100 Okinawa civilians. The Japanese hid grenades under their shirts, under their arms and even in their crotches. They dressed as women sometimes and got in a large group of women and children. When Americans came in the area, they threw grenades in their midst and killed many of them. It was a kill or get killed situation for the Americans.
The line in the south part of the island did not have much action. However, all troops were on alert. The objective was to capture Japanese stragglers.
About this time, Curtis was sleeping on his new makeshift bed. It was made of potato vines. Fredo got a tent ("requisitioned", of course) and gave it to Curtis. They were located behind a cave in the mountains. Previously, the Japanese used the cave as a hospital.
Curtis knew his brother, Fillmore, was on the island somewhere. About 12 noon one day his brother woke him up. They had established a code using song titles. When writing to their mother, they used these titles to show their locations. She had relayed the message by their code method to his brother. They were very happy to see each other. They had not seen one another for about 2 « or 3 years.
About the first thing he said to Curtis was "You are about the dirtiest thing I have ever seen". Curtis felt dirty too. Their only source for water was water caught in the bomb craters. It was very muddy. Even when he bathed, he was still dirty.
Curtis' brother invited him to visit at his camp. He sweetened the invitation by telling Curtis that he would take him out into the China Sea in an Amphibious Tractor and scrub his back. Curtis accepted. Years later Curtis' brother got great pleasure, when in groups of people, by telling about how dirty Curtis was and how he muddied up half the China Sea.
Finally after heavy fighting over a period of time, the Japanese on Okinawa surrendered. At the surrender ceremony, Curtis had a detail of men present from his platoon. The war in Okinawa was over.
During the Okinawa Campaign, the 1st Marine Division suffered 128 percent casualties. This number included replacements and that's why it was possible to have 128 percent.
Curtis points out that the battles were different in the South Pacific. The land masses were for the most part small so the battles were fought and won quicker than those fought in Europe. Okinawa was one of the larger islands and required more time to conquer than many of the smaller islands in the Pacific.
After the surrender, Curtis and his platoon were ordered to go north to Motobu Peninsula. They set up camp and formed work parties to put up the tents. They were scheduled to get re-supplied with men and equipment for the invasion of Kyushu, Japan. They also were scheduled to get Tetanus shots, etc. This was in early August 1945.
They began training again. The quartermaster built crosses to put on graves. The Marine Corp carried their own crosses as they went to battle. Everybody noticed what the quartermaster was doing but nobody mentioned it.
On August 2, 1945, the men had been training on a big bluff on the north tip of the island. At the end of the day Curtis and the other officers gathered at the Officers Club. This is when they heard on the radio of the atomic bombs that had been dropped in Japan. The Officers Club was actually not a building but an area with wooden benches where the officers could meet for conversation and radio listening. The radio was a gift to Curtis from his brother, Fillmore.
The war was finally over. Japan had surrendered! Instead of returning home as the men hoped they would, the platoon was ordered to China. Their mission was to repatriate the Japanese troops.
Sometime before their scheduled departure from Okinawa, plans changed. They had to embark one week early due to a typhoon approaching Okinawa. It was decided that the men would be safer in ships on the China Sea than they would be if left on Okinawa in the crude manner they had to live. The ships departed Okinawa fully combat loaded with men and equipment. Three days out the typhoon hit. The ships were right in the middle of it. Everybody in all branches of the service was seasick. The ships were scattered "here to yonder" after the typhoon passed by.
They made port at Taku, China in the middle of the night. No lights were used because of the combat status. The only place close by that could be found in the dark was a salt warehouse. This is where the men bedded down for the remainder of the night. Curtis remembers the salt made a hard bed. It got harder as the night went on and by morning felt as hard to the men as concrete would have felt.
The following morning there was a very disorganized group of men. The 1st group was last and vice versa. The destination for Curtis' platoon was Tientsin, China. It was located about 40 miles from Taku. The platoon had no way to travel so the men commandeered four trucks. These trucks had pot bellied type stoves on the rear that burned charcoal for power. When Curtis and his men arrived in Tientsin, other troops were beginning to arrive. Some had traveled by train.
The Chinese people were happy to see the Americans. They provided the Americans with a great reception. The Japanese soldiers had not been very civil to the Chinese. In lots of cases, the Chinese had been treated very badly. A large Victory Parade downtown was the first order of business. The American troops occupied the British Concession while in Tientsin. The Japanese had occupied it during the years since they had invaded China.
Japanese troops became very humble. There were no problems. Weapons were taken away from them. The Japanese were shipped to Taku where they boarded ships for their return to Japan.
While in China, the Chinese entertained the Americans well. There was an officer exchange program in place. Sometimes the Chinese officers came to Tientsin to visit the Americans and American officers visited with them in Peking. In Peking (now Beijing), Chinese officers took the American officers on sightseeing trips to all the interesting sights in the area including the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Tiennamen Square. Curtis enjoyed all the sights and entertainment except for one. He didn't care for the Chinese Opera. He recommends it only for people with lots of patience.
During the time of sightseeing in Peking, Curtis didn't really appreciate fully the opportunity he had to see the Chinese historical sights. Now he does appreciate the fact that he was able to see them.
Many Americans including Curtis suffered from Hepatitis while in China. Several men died. The only treatment available there for the illness was hard candy and grapefruit juice. The hospital was one the Japanese had used. It was in poor shape. The windows were not tight and the weather was cold. Curtis remembers stuffing toilet tissue and everything else he could find around the windows to try to keep the cold out. Some of the more seriously ill were put on hospital ships and sent back to the States. Curtis and most of the men overcame the illness with the hard candy-grapefruit treatment.
About 99 percent of the American military men in China wanted to get back to the States. The Marines sent men back to the States based on a point system. It took 45 points to qualify for returning home status. The day Curtis had his 45 points was a happy day.
Curtis went to Taku, China where he embarked on a ship (an A.P.A. personnel carrier) for the trip home. While en route, he was the commanding officer of the 385 men on board. Only 1 other officer was in the group of returning Marines. He was a Chaplain.
They were at sea for 18 days before reaching the California coast. They traveled past Alcatraz Island and under the Golden Gate Bridge. Curtis recalls the bridge being as beautiful underneath as it is from the top. It was a welcomed sight indeed.
Curtis spent one night in San Francisco before boarding an airplane for the remainder of his journey to Georgia. From San Francisco, he flew to Los Angeles and then to Dallas, Texas. There was a thunderstorm over the Grand Canyon. It was somewhat frightening to look out the airplane window and see all the lightening. It really lit up the Canyon. Though a beautiful sight to see, there were a few times when Curtis thought he had survived the war only to come back to the States and crash into the Grand Canyon.
In spite of the storm, the small airplane made its way to Dallas where Curtis changed planes for the remainder of his trip to Atlanta. In those days the passenger planes were small and would only carry about 30-35 people.
Curtis had called his fianc‚e, June Clark, and she was at the Atlanta Airport with about five of her friends when his plane landed about 2 or 3 AM.
The girls had rented a two- room cottage on Peachtree Road. The girls all decided to share one room and give Curtis the other one. He had arrived in an old uniform and having traveled for so long, he felt tired and dirty. When Curtis went to his room to shower, he was met with girl's underwear and hose drying all over the bathroom. He was to wonder as he showered if a ladies bra strap would hang him before he finished his shower.
There was not much in the way of transportation to Brewton. He called a family friend, Lehman Keen, and told him he was coming to Dublin. Curtis rode the bus from Atlanta to Dublin. Mr. Keen met him at the bus station and drove him home for the happy reunion with his family.
When his leave was over, Curtis was ordered to Parris Island, South Carolina. He thought he would be discharged but instead he was put on inactive duty.
Curtis and June Clark were married about six weeks after he returned from the war. Curtis wanted to go into the farming business. He bought land and equipment for farming. They settled into a farming way of life. Two children were born to the young couple. They named their daughter, Anita, and their son, Curtis Alton Beall, Jr.
In 1951, June took a letter out to Curtis where he was working at the time. The letter was from the Naval Department and contained orders for him to report for active duty. The Korean War was taking place. Curtis was one of 1800 Junior Officers sent to Quantico, Virginia for the Junior Officers School.
While training at Quantico, Curtis injured his back as he was struggling to mount a 37MM gun bi-pod. He was hospitalized for a month or two. Curtis was then put on inactive duty. After six or eight months, he was discharged.
Curtis had earned his degree from the University of Georgia in Agriculture. This qualified him for a position when the Government started educating veterans in farming. In 1952, Curtis began farm classes for veterans in Dexter, Georgia.
Sometime later the Brewton Community wanted to start having agriculture classes taught in their community. Mr. W.H. Lovett loaned his trucks to a group of Brewton residents. They built a building having used Mr. Lovett's trucks to haul the building materials. Curtis started teaching a class there.
Also in 1952, Curtis was hired by the Federal Land Bank to work in their Dublin office. He was manager and president before his retirement in 1983. He had 31 years of service with the Federal Land Bank.
Upon his retirement, Curtis decided to open his own appraisal business. He also was interested in the Christmas tree farming business. He planted some trees and got into the Christmas tree business. He enjoyed both of those businesses but things change as we age. He wanted to spend more time with June and doing things together that they enjoyed.
In 1998, Curtis got out of the appraisal business. In 1999, he had his last year as a Christmas tree farmer. His nephew, Sam Beall, has become the new Beall's Christmas tree farm proprietor.
After Curtis returned from World War II in 1946, he had not heard from any of the men in his platoon. About 11 years ago, one of the corporals whose name is Bill Mikel found Curtis. He knew that Curtis was from Georgia but didn't remember what town. Bill called an Atlanta telephone operator and asked if she had a phone number for Curtis A. Beall. She gave Bill the phone number for Curtis A. Beall, Jr. in the Atlanta area. Bill Mikel talked to Al and discovered that Curtis was alive even though a rumor had gone around among the men in the platoon that Curtis was killed in the Korean War. Al told Bill that his daddy would enjoy hearing from him.
Bill Mikel did call Curtis. He invited Curtis to attend a platoon reunion. They were to meet in Columbus, Ohio for their 1st reunion. Curtis and June traveled to Ohio where a very emotional reunion took place.
They have not missed a platoon reunion since the platoon started meeting annually. The first two were very emotional for all the men. One of the men returned a K-Bar knife 45 years after getting it from another of the men. The platoon wives met each other and became friends as well.
The platoon is down to only 27-28 men now. This makes each reunion more important to those still here. Curtis is the only officer in the platoon. He gets kidded a lot by the other men. At one reunion, they demoted Curtis and told him that he was just too nice to be an officer. One of the prized possessions at the Beall home is a framed paper with the signatures of the men in the platoon. Cape Cod will be the location for the platoon's year 2000 reunion. Curtis and June plan to be there.
The Bealls also plan to attend the reunion of the 1st Marine Division this year. The 1st Marine Division reunion will be in San Diego, California. Curtis and June's children will accompany them to San Diego for the Division get together.
Four years ago, Curtis and a man from Alabama hosted the platoon's reunion in Savannah, Georgia. Parris Island sent a bus to pick up the platoon and their wives. They were treated to a fine day at Parris Island. They were there for the flag raising ceremony one morning and stayed all day at the base. Curtis had an opportunity to visit with the Commanding General early in the day. Curtis told the General that of the 29 men there 28 were Purple Heart Recipients and several of the men had also been awarded silver stars, bronze stars, etc. The General was so impressed that he asked to have his picture taken with the platoon.
Curtis is one of those Purple Heart Recipients. He also has several other medals that he earned during the war. Curtis' platoon received several Presidential Unit Citations for their war time contributions.
The Beall's are active members of the Brewton Baptist Church. Curtis taught the Intermediate Sunday School Class for 24 or 25 years. He is now an alternate teacher in the Adult Men's Class. He has served on various committees at church and has strived throughout the years to serve the Lord as a good layman.
Seventeen young men left the Brewton Community for military duty during World War II. A homemade flag was sewn with a star on it for each of the young men. The flag has been framed and is now hanging in the Brewton Baptist Church in honor of those men. A few years ago, Curtis and 15 other men from the original 17 met and had a reunion. The men enjoyed the visit and seeing each other again.
Mrs. Zapora Kidd was principal of Dublin High School when Curtis was a student there. She had a motto "It can be done". This is something that Curtis has always remembered. He is very modest about his wartime service. There was a job to do and he did his part well. The success he is enjoying now is proof that he has done many good things and is continuing to enjoy life to the fullest.
