Author Scott Carmichael to Help Retieve Remains of Marines Killed on Guam

My father, Patrick E. Hickey ( carrying the tripod in the photo), died last April 25, 2010. Most of the young men in his WWII Marine Company - Able, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines were wounded or killed on this day. Author Scott Carmichael is completing a book on my Dad's Company and the battles that he never talked about for the balance of his life. I informed him that my cousin Willie had found my Dad's Seabag with the number 312 stenciled next to his name. Mr. Carmichael replied -

Wow. Do you know what the number 312 represents? The men used a numbering
system for their gear. They didn't take their seabags along as they rode
their amtraks onto the beach, of course. Seabags were left behind on the
LSTs, for later retrieval. The men numbered not only their seabags, but a
lot of other equipment and gear. 312 = 3rd Marine Regiment/1st Battalion/2nd
company. The headquarters company was always listed as the 1st company
(311). That made Able company the 2nd company in the battalion (312).
Thanks for the information about the photograph.
The photograph above was confirmed to be my Dad carrying the tripod of the machine gun.

Mr. Carmichael contacted me days after my Dad passed away. He was looking for the few survivors of Able Company. Marine Lt. Krawiec died in January 0f 2010, but the gentle and humorous Mr. Troup still lives with his wife and the horrible and multiple wounds he received on Red Beach 2 Sixty Six years ago. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Troup, back in May.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Scott Carmichael about the progress on the book and sent me two photos of Marine mess gear found by two Boy Scouts on the ridge above the Asan landing beaches, in 1961 - several Marines from the Headquarters Company were attached to Able Company in the assault on Bundschu Ridge and their bodies were never discovered and are believed to be on that ridge yet.

Scott Carmichael wants to assist in the recovery of these young men lost in July, 1944 while Liberating Guam. Here is the note -

Pat,

It’s ( profress on the book) coming along fairly well. Lately, I have been populating my outline with the many (thousands) tidbits of information which I developed during the research phase of the project – akin to putting a jigsaw puzzle together, to form a whole picture. So far, my outline runs to 180+ pages. Quite an outline. I’d estimate that the outline is 75-80% complete. Once the outline is complete, I will be either ready to write – or, burned out.

Ran into a snag while planning travel to Guam to look for the remains of our Marine on Bundschu Ridge – funding. My wife looked at the estimated cost and put her foot down. Well, I’m developing work-arounds. I’ve secured free lodging through a relative of a friend…, and I submitted an application to the USMC Heritage Foundation for a grant to cover the expense of airfare. Still waiting to hear from the Foundation regarding the grant. My travel partner – Joe Tuttle, who was one of the ‘young men’ who discovered the remains of a Marine on Bundschu Ridge circa 1961 – believes that he will be ready to go in November – just in time for your article, I suppose (though, Joe insists upon maintaining a low profile regarding this search for the remains. Joe feels fairly confident that he will be able to find them. But this is a very personal effort, for him. He feels quite guilty for leaving that young Marine on the ridge.). So…, if I get the grant, we hope to travel to Guam in November. Mention of the book project in the Irish American News would be a good idea. . . .

I don’t recall whether I provided the attached photos to you in an earlier email. Photos of the canteen found on Bundschu Ridge circa 1961 by Joe Tuttle and friends. This is the canteen which was found with the remains of that Marine. Thought you might enjoy it.

Scott Carmichael