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Prisoner of War
Vaughn hit the water hard and sank below the surface. He struggled to release the parachute, even as the shroud lines threatened to entangle his arms and legs. Finally breaking free, he tried to get his bearings in the choppy water. The shoreline seemed to be an impossibly long distance away, but it was his only salvation. As the struggling pilot neared shore, Superior Private Fukutaro Ishiwata threw him a line.
Vaughn was so exhausted, he could barely stand. Ishiwata remembered, “His lips were blue; his teeth chattered; and he shook too much to speak.” The Japanese escorted their prisoner to Major Yoshitaka Horie for interrogation. Horie recalled, “He [Vaughn] had Indian blood in him and was over six feet tall. The pronunciation [Texas dialect] of Lieutenant Vaughn was strange, and I had a very hard time interviewing him. He was a quite handsome man, and his complexion was very dark.”
While at Horie’s headquarters, Vaughn was placed with another captured American flier from Bennington, Ensign Floyd Ewing Hall. The two were able to talk freely and undoubtedly gained comfort from being together. After several days, Navy Captain Shizuo Yoshii took Vaughn to the Yoake radio station and turned him over to Petty Officer Fumio Tamamura, who had been born in San Fran guarded relationship—Tamamura called the American “Cherokee.” However, Yoshii ordered the petty officer to interrogate the American and to “be quick about it.”
Tamamura treated Vaughn well, allowing him the freedom of the radio station and, at one time, protecting him from the onslaught of several drunken sailors. He also tried to convince Yoshii that he was gaining valuable information, but the officer refused to believe it. When news arrived that the garrison on Iwo Jima had been annihilated, Yoshii announced that the American was being turned over to the Torpedo Boat Squadron for execution. As Vaughn was led away, he turned to Tamamura saying, “They’re taking me away. Good-bye and take care, my friend.”
Three days later, guards entered the tunnel where Vaughn was being held and took him out into the late afternoon sun. A large group of Japanese soldiers gathered as the tall American was led to a bomb crater.
Author Chester Hearn described the scene: “When Vaughn reached the bomb crater, Gilley [an islander] noticed that the flier cast a look of defiance. … A guard tried to tie Vaughn’s hands, but the Marine waved him off. Then a man behind him wrapped a towel around his eyes and made Vaughn kneel on a mat at the lip of the crater.”
A Japanese naval officer, Lieutenant Commander Yasuo Kurasaki, came forward and told the soldiers that the American was to be executed. Then he went up to Vaughn. Hearn continued, “Kurasaki approached and told Vaughn in English that he was about to be beheaded.
“Are you prepared to meet death?” Kurasaki asked.
“Yes,” Vaughn replied.
“Do you want to say anything?”
Gilley thought he heard Vaughn say, “Go to hell!”
“Then good-bye,” said the lieutenant.
“Semper Fi!” Vaughn shouted.
Retribution
On the afternoon of 6 Oct. 1945, the destroyer USS Trippe (DD-403) eased into Chi Chi Jima’s main roadstead and dropped anchor. Marine Col Rixey scanned the shoreline with binoculars. A Japanese flag on the radio tower fluttered in the light breeze, a defiant symbol of a defeated nation—Japan surrendered on 2 Sept. Rixey, a tough veteran of Tarawa and Saipan, went to Chi Chi Jima with the mission to demilitarize the fortifications and repatriate the garrison. He took with him a military police platoon of several dozen men, which grew to more than 500 with the arrival of 1st Battalion, Third Marine Regiment on 13 Dec.
The Japanese received Rixey’s men correctly, according him the status of the victor. Maj Horie, who represented Tachi bana, fawned over the Marine command seemingly in an honest and sincere manner. However, when Rixey questioned him about the number of American airmen who were listed as missing in action, Horie quickly responded, “Yes, we captured six. … Two were sent to Japan by submarine. The last four were unfortunately killed by your own bombs.” Horie’s answer was too perfect, but without proof, Rixey grudgingly accepted Horie’s explanation. “Somehow this story did not ring true.” Despite his misgivings, Rixey ordered the MP platoon to continue proc essing the thousands of Japanese soldiers for repatriation.
In mid-December, the former inhabitants of the island returned. Among them was a descendent of the original inhabitants. Fred Savory had been evacuated from the island in the summer of 1944 and taken to Japan, where he heard rumors that American pilots had been brutally murdered and eaten! Rixey was flabbergasted. “We had expected beheadings, of course. But never cannibalism! What man “Polite and cooperative—obedient soldiers, brave and fearless—but be neath this veneer—barbarians and worse.”
Rixey launched an investigation that implicated 21 Japanese officers and men in the brutal slayings of at least eight American airmen, including Warren Earl Vaughn. In addition, they were charged with cannibalism. LtGen Tachibana denied everything, but several officers swore that he issued the orders to kill the prisoners. VADM Mori also asserted that he did not know of the incidents, claiming that he was so busy with operational matters that he did not know what his units were doing.
Several junior officers confessed. One, Maj Sueo Matoba, attempted to excuse his actions by claiming that the Japanese hand that a soldier must never disgrace himself by becoming a prisoner of war. However, “it was general knowledge that [Matoba] ate human flesh,” which was not covered in the handbook.
In the fall of 1946, eight months after learning of the incidents, Rixey forwarded the completed investigation to Rear Admiral Arthur G. Robinson, USN, who presided over the War Crimes Commission on Guam. After more than 66 witnesses and 1,000 pages of testimony, LtGen Tachibana, Maj Matoba and three other officers were found guilty and sentenced to hang. On 24 Sept. 1947, Ma officer were given life imprisonment, and the others were given prison terms that ranged from five to 20 years.
Unfortunately, an exhaustive search of the island failed to discover the remains of Warren Earl Vaughn. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The inscription reads:
Vaughn Warren Earl
Second Lieutenant USMC Texas
Warren Earl Vaughn’s spirit still is with in all of us: Semper Fi.
Editor’s note: Retired Col Dick Camp is the Vice President, Foundation Museum Operations at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. He also is the author of several books, including “Leatherneck Legends,” “Battleship Arizona’s Marines at War” and “Iwo Jima Recon.” His latest book, “The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood,” was reviewed in the May Leatherneck. His books are available from the MCA bookstores, or online at www.mca-marines.org.