60 Years Ago A CMH was earned,...

[SEATJERKER]

Schuylerville -- World War II veterans recall Troy natives who gave lives in battle for Saipan

By JAMES COLLINS, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, July 8, 2004

As taps played from a portable radio, four graying members of the 105th Infantry stood at attention Wednesday in the summer sun.

At ceremonies between the rows of white headstones at the Saratoga National Cemetery and in the rolling hills of St. Peter's Cemetery in Troy, each of the World War II veterans locked an unwavering hand in salute.

They were remembering their fallen comrades.

On July 7, 1944 -- exactly 60 years earlier -- Troy natives Lt. Col. William J. O'Brien and Sgt. Thomas A. Baker had given their lives in the bloody battle for Saipan, an island in the Pacific Ocean.

O'Brien, who is buried in Troy, and Baker, whose grave is in Saratoga, were both posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945 for their heroism during the weeks-long 1944 battle.

"It was like Custer's last stand," recalled Frank Pusatere, 82, of Troy, as he stood at the Troy grave site. "There were just hundreds of Japanese coming down at us, and there was the colonel, fighting right through it."

Capt. Ben Salomon, a third division member who is buried in Los Angeles, was also awarded the medal, making the 105th the only military unit in U.S. history to have three of its soldiers receive the nation's highest military honor for their efforts during a single battle.

As Pusatere retold the story in vivid detail Wednesday, he received nods of approval from Troy residents Joseph Meighan, 82, Nick Grinaldo, 83, and Samuel Dinova, 82, the other members of the 105th Infantry who helped lead the two brief ceremonies.

Following several days of advances by American soldiers, the Japanese launched a fierce "Banzai" counterattack on July 7, sending 5,000 troops to drive off the attacking U.S. force of just 1,800. During the battle, Baker and O'Brien both fended off dozens of advancing enemies, repeatedly jeopardizing their own safety.

Baker, despite being seriously wounded, refused to let his comrades carry him to safety, demanding instead to be propped against a tree on the battlefield. As U.S. troops withdrew, Baker continued to fight with just eight rounds of ammunition in an officer's pistol. When the Army found his body after the battle, he was surrounded by eight dead Japanese soldiers, according to the official citation that accompanies his medal.

Similarly wounded during the Banzai counterattack, O'Brien dashed to the side of his troops with a pistol in each hand. He fought side-by-side with his men, but eventually found himself surrounded by Japanese troops.

He was last seen alive, according to his own troops, manning a .50-caliber machine gun atop a Jeep, firing upright into the advancing enemy company. O'Brien was found slumped atop the jeep surrounded by dozens of dead Japanese troops.

At the grave site Wednesday, Pusatere said O'Brien was known as much for his compassion as his heroism in battle.

"You could go up and talk to him, even when he became a colonel," Pusatere said. "He was a soldier's man, despite being an officer."

The group also had lighter memories of the two.

Grinaldo recalled Wednesday that Baker was also known for his bravery when things got rowdy at the Honolulu bars. When a group of Marines once insulted a group of Army men, Baker dashed to his fellow soldiers' defense.

"He liked his beer, but he was one hell of a soldier," said Grinaldo.

O'Brien earned a similar reputation, even as an officer. For example, at one point during a lull in the long battle, shortly before the counterattack, a visibly drunk soldier approached O'Brien with four bottles of "top-notch" American whiskey in his hand.

O'Brien did the unexpected, Pusatere recalled Wednesday: Instead of reprimanding the man for his drunkenness, as most officers would have, O'Brien ordered his men to attach a trailer to a spare jeep and drag the entire lot of whiskey back to camp.

Everyone ended up with a bottle.

"We all wondered where the hell he'd gotten it, considering the Japanese had been on the island for so long," Pusatere said. "If it wasn't for O'Brien, we wouldn't have seen any of it."

The two soldiers' heroism received additional recognition last year, when Rensselaer County officials renamed part of Oakwood Avenue in Troy in their honor. Plans are under way for an exhibit at the Saratoga battlefield museum featuring all three men, said George Plant, president of the Tibbits Cadets, a Troy veterans' organization.


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