Former skipper wants Navy to recognize heroic crewman

Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 | 11:05 a.m.

There are many stories of heroism involving Americans who stormed the ashy sands of Iwo Jima during one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.

Capturing that 5-mile long, 2 1/2-mile wide South Pacific island that is one-third the size of Manhattan took 36 days and resulted in the deaths of more than 6,800 U.S. Marines and sailors, the wounding of 18,000 others and the awarding of 26 Medals of Honor -- more than half of them posthumously.

For Henderson resident Raymond Whalin, who participated in that fateful battle that marked the beginning of the end of Japan's imperialistic efforts to control Asia, there remains one unfinished piece of business -- proper recognition for a forgotten hero of Iwo Jima.

Whalin, 84, who skippered one of six tank transports used in the battle, has written letters to a New York congressman and the Defense Department to try to obtain a Silver Star for one of his crewmen, Paul Baker of New York.

It is a lost honor that to Whalin's disappointment won't be resolved in time for Saturday's 60th anniversary of the start of the battle of Iwo Jima.

Riddled with shrapnel, Baker, the ship's medical corpsman, binded the wounds of eight to 10 Marines on the USS LSM-70, an amphibious vessel that transported tanks. The ship was nicknamed "Hogan's Goat," taken from the old expression and referring to assignments that stink.

Baker's actions, with no regard for his own personal safety, were credited with saving the lives of the men he treated while the ship was being fired upon by the well-entrenched Japanese defenders.

"At first it (writing letters) was a nuisance because Paul should have got that medal 60 years ago," said Whalin, who spent 28 years in the Navy before retiring at the rank of lieutenant commander. "Now, it has become a quest."

Whalin recommended Baker for the Silver Star in 1945. However, two years ago, Baker, now 80, contacted Whalin just to shoot the breeze and the subject of the war naturally came up.

Whalin brought up the Silver Star and Baker said, "it was news to me" that he had even been put in for one.

"It was a stunning revelation that he did not get the Silver Star," Whalin said. "The original paperwork probably was lost."

Although so much time has passed, Whalin still recalls in great detail the events of Feb. 19, 1945, when as a 24-year-old officer, he led a crew of 60 sailors and 24 Marines and their six tanks toward the porkchop-shaped volcanic island that stunk from sulphur deposits.

"Body parts from men who already were on the island were blown onto the ship as we approached," said Whalin, who settled in Southern Nevada in 1991 after he toured America by motor home for 11 years with Betty, his wife of 63 years.

"Yes, I was scared, but I was too busy commanding the ship to think about it. I was frightened mainly for my crew. On a small ship like that you get attached to these sailors."

The ship, part of the third wave of the attack that occurred after 72 days of saturated bombing of the island, was struck by at least five Japanese shells, including one from a five-inch gun that hit the main ventilation compartment, the battle station of Pharmacist Mate 1st class Baker.

Moments later, Whalin received word on the bridge that the sailor who served as the ship's doctor was badly wounded and apparently out of commission.

Later, as Whalin was overseeing the deployment of the tanks on the beach, he was shocked to see a bleeding Baker, going from wounded Marine to Marine, binding their wounds with bandages and pieces of cloth.

Whalin asked his executive officer, Ensign Matthew Riordan, what was going on and was told that after an unconscious Baker was revived he refused to be treated and instead began doing his job.

After the battle, when the ship returned to its base, Baker waited until all of the wounded Marines were taken off before he was then put on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for treatment, Whalin said.

In a Sept. 21, 2003, letter to Baker's congressman, Rep. Jim Walsh, R-N.Y., Whalin wrote: "All of us who were aware of his bravery saluted him as he went by. He acknowledged by waving to us. That's the last we saw of him.

"Baker's treatments had succeeded in controlling the bleeding of several of the badly wounded Marines, which probably saved their lives."

On Whalin's orders, Riordan wrote the original recommendation for Baker to receive the Silver Star. Whalin says he signed that document.

Riordan, who unlike Whalin had actually witnessed Baker being wounded, has since died, leaving Whalin the task of righting the books to include Baker among the battle's heroes.

"That's why I'm doing all of this paperwork now," said Whalin, a father of five, grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of one. "I want to see this through because Paul really deserves the Silver Star."

Baker, who resides in Rochester, N.Y., says he is waiting for the last of three letters from shipmates who witnessed his actions to give to Walsh to submit to the Naval Department along with other documentation that supports his deeds.

"If I deserve the Silver Star, I'd like to get it while I'm still alive so I can enjoy the moment with my family," Baker, a retired chiropractor, said during a phone interview this week.

Dan Gage, spokesman for Walsh,said his office has been working for two years to help Baker get the Silver Star.

"It's not uncommon for it to take so long when we are talking about the Silver Star," Gage said. "This is one of the most important medals and the Defense Department just does not hand them out to anyone.

"They want to make sure that, when they don't have the original documentation, the reconstructed documents have accurate information."

Baker, in a three-page letter to the Sun, dated Feb. 9, made only a passing mention of being wounded and wrote nothing of his own heroics.

In that letter, Baker instead credited Whalin and three other shipmates -- radioman James E. Knizner, signalman William Collins and motorman Thomas Pratico -- for their "professional skills" under fire that saved the lives of every man on that vessel. All three ex-sailors are alive and in their late 70s.

Baker said as the Hogan's Goat approached the shore of Iwo Jima, one enemy shell exploded just three feet from him, knocking him 20 feet from his station. When he came to, he said he just did his job.

"You don't think about your wounds at the time because your adrenalin is flowing," said Baker who had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his right eye and several dozen in his legs and chest -- many of which still remain in him. He miraculously did not lose vision in his injured eye.

"All I knew on that day was that there were wounded Marines who needed help and I was the person who was trained to help them," Baker said, noting he gets emotional talking about Iwo Jima but does so to encourage people to remember.

"I've dedicated myself to keeping alive the memory of the crew of the LSM-70 and Iwo Jima so that today's young people know the sacrifices that were made by teenagers who were fighting a war," Baker said.

The battle for Iwo Jima, one of the most heavily fortified targets ever attacked by U.S. forces, remains one of the costliest efforts in the annals of American combat history.

World War II veterans, historians and military experts say the American casualty toll for capturing that eight-square-mile island greatly influenced the decision to avoid an invasion and instead drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hastening Japan's decision to surrender.

"We knew Iwo Jima would be a tough nut to crack, but no one could have imagined that there would be that many American casualties," Whalin said.

"The losses at Iwo Jima reinforced (President Harry) Truman's resolve to use the A-bomb. Otherwise, our casualties during an invasion of Japan would have been 1 million or more."

Baker agrees that Iwo Jima's casualty figures were an eye-opener to Allied leaders.

"I believe they realized what would have happened to us in Japan after seeing that so many Japanese were willing to fight to the death on Iwo Jima," Baker said. "It gave us an insight as to what resistance we would face when we landed on Japan's shores.

"I know the atomic bombs took tens of thousands of lives, but dropping them also saved millions of lives -- not only Americans, but also Japanese who would have died in an invasion. I still feel it was the right decision to use the A-bomb given what was learned from the resistance we faced at Iwo Jima."

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