Like most baby boomers, neither I nor any of my 8 siblings really knew what our father went through in the war. My father, Jim Sterling, fought in WWII, but he rarely talked about it. He refused to even speak with Tom Brokaw's producer in 1984 for an NBC interview marking the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Guam. Turns out, my dad was a hero. When my dad died suddenly in 1991, he took his war with him. I never got to thank him or ask him a million questions. And so my journey began.
I was talking to my brothers and sisters about dad's war service. It went something like this,"Dad was a lieutenant I think," and someone else said," Dad got a purple heart,"and, "Dad fought off a tiger." And it occurred to me that no one really knew the story. When I asked my mom she said,"Your father never really liked to talk about it." The next time I saw my mom she gave me a bag of stuff and said,"Here honey, here's your dad's stuff from the war."
Stuff in bag
1 army lieutenant dress jacket and insignia
1 Video 1983 NBC/Guam travel bureau on the 40th anniversary of liberation
1 box of letters, unopened or not replied to from J.P.Hilko and 77th reunions
1 Japanese officers Katana style battle sword with his name inscribed inside
I was completely lost in my journey to tell his story. The research and interviews took me more than a year. Then I wrote a detailed story and gave a copy to each member of my family for Christmas the following year. I didn't realize then that this was my way of grieving. It felt good to talk to my brothers and sisters later and hear everyone saying,"I had no idea." Here is His Story.
He was in New York City with his brother in law Don when the news of Pearl Harbor broke. Don said they bought a special edition newspaper that just came out after the radio announcements. He said they were stunned and just sat there trying to figure things out. His father was a pilot so he wanted to be a pilot too. But he had astigmatism so he agreed to join the merchant marines with Don. At the last minute, however, fate intervened and he switched to the Army infantry for a unit called the Liberty Division because they had an education deal they were offering.
Instead of Murmansk runs on merchant marine liberty ships, Michael James Sterling became a serial number and billet in the 307th regiment of the 77 Army Infantry Division, the Liberty Division. After basic he went to OCS for officers training. He emerged in late 1942 a second lieutenant and rejoined the 307th. The regiment was sent on numerous training evolutions to prepare them. They all knew they were training to fight the Japanese in the Pacific, they just didn't know where exactly. Their training included swampy river tactics in Louisiana, extreme heat and water conditions in Arizona and amphibious landings on the Chesapeake Bay. In February 1944, the entire Liberty Division boarded high speed troop trains bound for San Francisco. On March 24, they slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge on troopships bound for,"Destination: unknown."
The Liberty Division sailed to Hawaii for even more training and they were issued jungle fatigues. The Division commander, Col Hamilton, briefed the officers on July 7 and the group sailed on the next tide for the Invasion of the Marianas Islands. Called Operation Forager, the Navy's plan was for nearly 150,000 ground troops to assault the three main islands and secure them for airbases to be built capable of bombing of Japan. The troopships joined an armada of nearly 800 warships and transports. A month or so after D-Day Normandy, this fleet, a half a world away, under command of Nimitz, began the beginning of the end for Japan. While they were en route, the naval battle of the Marianas was going on. The Japanese lost 3 more carriers and 8 other warships and nearly 400 planes. Today we know it as the Marianas Turkey Shoot but back then, I am sure, to my 22 year old dad, those reports meant only one thing- the war was very, very close.
The 77th was moved up into the main attack on Guam on July 21st. Guam was surgically dissected. The marines landed near the capital Agana and the Army 77th landed 5 miles away at Agat, on the other side of the Orote peninsula trapping the main force in a pincers movement. Those unlucky defenders had withstood over two weeks of naval and air bombardment. But Guam was a lucky draw for my dad since it had been an American territory prior to the war. There were accurate maps of the entire island and the defensive positions were all identified prior to the attack. The naval record would later rank Guam as one of the best amphibious invasions. Even with all that, my dad saw one of his close friends, a fellow second lieutenant, cut in half by machine gun fire when they landed. There was a banzai attack on the first night in which 4000 Japanese were killed in a very small area. The beachheads were secure by the second day about the time the Army ran out of water. The drums of fresh water were contaminated in shipment, and so the division started suffering the effects- first dehydration and then dysentery. Almost all of the 307th was sick when they were ordered to secure the main well on the island in a village called Barrigada, 15 miles northwest. The terrain on Guam is very difficult with steep mountains and rugged valleys. As the force moved out, there were numerous skirmishes- small bands of defenders guarding the retreating enemy main force of 16,000.
(The details of these actions at Pago bay and Barrigada were from my dad's platoon sergeant JP Hilko. I conducted a series of telephone interviews in 1991/2. Hilko was the lead L-Company sergeant and was my dad's right hand man. He passed away in 1999)
On the way to Barrigada, there was fighting near the village of Yona. The advance was stalled and heavy fighting continued throughout the following days. The enemy was being cornered and was running out of supplies. The fighting became more fanatical. A week into the action there were reports of civilians in the nearby valley. My dad's platoon, L-Company, was selected for the recon mission. So a group of 12 volunteers set out late one night for Pago Bay. Early the next morning the squad came in contact with the enemy. Small arms fighting went on all morning until they came upon a work camp holding civilians. Although the Japanese main force had retreated there were small enemy groups scattered everywhere. The squad secured the camp and safely escorted the nearly 2000 native Chamorros civilians back to Yona.
After the elation of the rescue, the entire division and the 3rd Marine Division were side by side poised to attack Barrigada and secure the main well. There was a tremendous pre-attack barrage by the ships and planes from off shore. After hours of predawn bombardment, the force advanced. They were about a mile from Barrigada when incoming mortars stared dropping near. The Americans returned fire and the battle for Barrigada was on. It was an all out brawl for two days. My dads company was in the center of the formation and their attack brought them directly into the village center. Barrigada consisted of several buildings, a temple and several huts scattered around. Hilko and my dad would advance 10-15 yards or so and the company would cover in two groups. Then each group would slowly make its way up and they would continue on.
They crossed the center of the village to the right of the temple and went into a field. Across the field was a hut. As they came into the open, the company started taking heavy machine gun and mortar fire. They pressed forward towards the hut when there was an explosion several yards away from my dad. He fell to the ground bleeding profusely. Hilko applied a tourniquet and called for support. As the company came up, a tank burst out of the hut. The mortars were actually tank shells. My dad's leg was almost torn off by a tank shell. Two medics came up and pulled my dad out but the tank came back around to over ran their position and they threw him into a foxhole. After the tank rolled over him my Dad he said he,"Didn't remember anything after that." Hilko took command; he lasted all the way through the occupation of Japan without a scratch. And it was odd, Hilko kept referring to my dad as Mike...those memories locked deep inside and that name he never used again.
From there my dad made his way to the rear echelon. First to the landing beaches and then to the hospital ship Bountiful. He said the first thing he remembered was waking up strapped to the deck of a ship and being very sea sick. He is a shell-back (one who has crossed the equator) who absolutely didn't like being on ships. For several months he went with the ship to the New Hebrides and eventually to Hawaii and San Francisco. Ultimately he went to Walter Reed, where his leg was saved (probably because he was an officer) through early reconstructive surgery. He never walked with a limp, but his leg didn't suntan, and he rarely wore shorts.
In the end, some of my siblings were right. Dad did win the purple heart. He got a total of seven medals including the Bronze Star for the action at Pago Bay. But there are no tigers on Guam. As for the stuff in the bag, I sent the uniform to my nephew who is absolutely smitten with my dad's service. I still have the sword but often wonder if I should return it somehow. My dad was very humble and he would never humiliate someone. My siblings all had their own theories about how dad got the sword. But the sword was a souvenir that was put into his locker by well intentioned NCOs. I think my dad really didn't like it much. But he came out of the war alive and started a business in Arizona called Liberty Electric. And he was married forever and had nine kids and 13 grand kids and counting. Thanks Dad and all the Dads and grandparents who sacrificed so much.
