{"id":1080,"date":"2020-02-20T03:07:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T03:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2020-02-21T03:05:41","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T03:05:41","slug":"cecil-defla-spike-strawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/toddshistory.com\/?p=1080","title":{"rendered":"CECIL DEFLA “SPIKE” STRAWN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A PROUD MARINE TANKER AND VETERAN <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1922 – 2005<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By TODD A. BLOMERTH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I\nmoved to Lockhart in late 1981. Soon I started hearing about a fellow named\nSpike Strawn. He and his son Fla owned S&S Fertilizer with an office in a\nsmall building on Highway 183 about where the McDonald\u2019s is now. S&S also\nhad a crop-dusting service. Word was that you didn\u2019t want to get crosswise with\nSpike, as he was someone who didn\u2019t put up with a lot of guff or suffer fools\nlightly. He was a proud United States Marine who\u2019d fought for our country\nduring World War II, and his training, background, and combat experience made\nhim a fearsome adversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I finally\nmet Spike, I concluded that everything I\u2019d heard was true. Rawboned, tough as\nshoe leather, and plain spoken to be sure. But there was another side to Spike\nStrawn. He wasn\u2019t some caricature. He was complex, highly intelligent, often\nthoughtful man. Sure, he\u2019d let you know when he thought your thinking wasn\u2019t on\ncourse. But he was a loving father and grandfather, a raconteur, and, if he\ndecided you were okay, your best friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, Spike was\na living, breathing example of someone whose family had survived the Great\nDepression, who went through four major island landings in the Pacific against\nAmerica\u2019s most ferocious and merciless foe, and who\u2019d proved to himself and\nothers that he had what it took. Spike had grit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecil DeFla \u201cSpike\u201d Strawn was born on 4 January 1922 in Lytton Springs, Texas, the third of eight children of Littleton Lawson \u201cDill\u201d Strawn and Beatrice Lillie (Ward) Strawn. Besides farming, Dill did whatever it took to put food on the family\u2019s table. Dill was a gifted mechanic and could fabricate parts for just about anything. When he wasn\u2019t farming, he worked for various oil companies in the area. Dill also played semi-pro baseball for company teams. Beatrice took care of the growing family. She gardened, canned, cooked, and ensured that Jenella, Helen Louise, Spike, Doyle Ray, Marjorie, Juanita, Herschel and Pat were clothed and clean. The 20s and 30s were lean times, and everyone in the family was expected to contribute to keeping food on the family table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schooling\nstarted in Lytton Springs. The place had become an oil boom town in the\nmid-1920s. At that time, it boasted four grocery stores, a confectionary, a\nbarbershop, and Masonic Lodge, as well as several churches. Life was\nprecarious. Spike would often walk to school, sometimes barefoot, even in the\nwinter. In the second grade, he contracted pneumonia and stayed in bed for\nalmost two months. There were no antibiotics. As he recalled in 1995, \u201cthey\nrubbed you with liniment and hoped for the best.\u201d He survived, but a chest\nx-ray taken when he enlisted in the Marines showed his right lung stopped\ngrowing as a result of the disease. It never slowed him down. In the sixth\ngrade, his class had to submit to a series of twenty-one shots because of a\nrabid dog, which Dill eventually shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In high school,\nSpike played six-man football and basketball. The oil boom was dead by this\ntime, and Lytton Springs suffered mightily. He landed a job earning seven and a\nhalf cents an hour picking and sorting tomatoes. A long day would net him 60 to\n80 cents, which was substantially more than many grown men were making. Later,\nhe pulled corn and picked cotton. At one point, he earned 40 cents cutting and\nshucking corn for his uncle. At the end of the week, he\u2019d have $2.50 \u2013 a\nprincely sum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entertainment was simple. Square dances (without instruments, and only with singing), or catching a ride into Lockhart to see a movie. His best friend was his cousin, Frank Coopwood, Jr. The price of an evening in the county seat: 15 cents for the show, 10 cents for a hamburger, and 5 cents for a Coke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War news had\nbecome commonplace in the late 1930s. Hitler\u2019s Germany had bluffed France and\nEngland and recovered Sudetenland, stolen Czechoslovakia, and absorbed Austria.\nFranco\u2019s Nationalists, with the aid of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy was\nquickly putting finished to Republican Spain. China was under the boot heel of\nthe Japanese military, which had killed over 200,000 civilians in what was\nrightfully called \u201cthe Rape of Nanking.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Americans\nwere adamant that their country shouldn\u2019t involve itself in another world\nconflict. Over intense opposition, the first peacetime draft was enacted in\nmid-1940. Then in late 1940, the National Guard was nationalized for one year.\nThe country slowly awoke to the reality that \u201cthe Arsenal of Democracy\u201d needed\nto do much more than talk about helping its oldest ally, Britain. Any doubts as\nto the extent of the conflagration were put to rest when Germany turned on a\nfellow aggressor and attacked the Soviet Union in June of 1941.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the\nUnited States imposed an embargo on steel and oil heading toward Japan. It was\nthe last straw to the militarists controlling the Empire\u2019s government. Already\nbadly and surprising beaten when the Japanese Army made a move against the\nSoviets in Siberia and Mongolia, it turned its interests south, toward British\nand Dutch colonies\u2026 and the American Philippine Commonwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. America was \u201call in.\u201d Less than a year later, on 3 November 1942, Cecil DeFla Strawn enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After a night in San Antonio\u2019s Crockett Hotel, he and 98 other men from the area were loaded on a train for San Diego, California. Three long days later, they marched two miles to Camp Pendleton, had their heads shaved, and met the drill instructor. The DI quickly assured them that the training base\u2019s colonel was \u201cBig Jesus,\u201d that the DI was \u201cLittle Jesus,\u201d and that **** flowed downhill. Weeks of boot camp ensued, and then more training on the rifle range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spike asked to\nbecome a tanker, and surprisingly, the Marines agreed. Because the USMC didn\u2019t\nhave its own armored school, he spent several months at the Army\u2019s Armored\nSchool at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Dill Strawn, determined to see his son, rode a\npacked train from Texas, standing up the entire way, and spent four days at\nFort Knox, sleeping surreptitiously in the barracks with the Marine trainees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spike’s first 48 hour pass is noted on Armor School notebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As soon as he returned to California, Spike\nand his fellow tankers were shipped to Hawaii and became part of a replacement\ndetail. On the Big Island, he and three others were assigned to the 22nd<\/sup>\nMarine Regiment. He was about to enter the war. The 22nd<\/sup> Marines and\nits men soon learned they were to be part of a landing force in the Marshall\nIslands. Spike\u2019s life would never be the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
USS PRESIDENT MONROE – AP104<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On 16 January 1944, Spike and the 2nd<\/sup>\nSeparate Tank Company of the 22nd<\/sup> Marine Regiment boarded the USS\nPresident Monroe.<\/em> After a brief stop at Pearl Harbor (after training on\nMaui and the Big Island) Spike noted in his pocket notebook that on 23 January\nhe \u201cleft Pearl Harbor for the Marshall Islands.\u201d Ten days later, Spike \u201cwitnessed\nmy first air and naval bombardment in Marshall Islands.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 22nd<\/sup>\nMarines was part of a large American force attacking the Japanese occupied\nMarshall Islands in the advance toward the Japanese home islands. Initially\nheld in reserve during the landing on Kwajalein, the 22nd<\/sup> struck\nEngebi, and after fierce fighting, secured the island. Spike\u2019s notes of 19\nFebruary 1944 state: \u201cLanded on next island [Eniwetok] after Army 106th<\/sup>\nRegiment failed. Much more opposition than expected. So far in all operations 2nd<\/sup>\nSep[arate] Tank Co. has lost three tanks and 7 or 8 men.\u201d Over 800 Japanese\nwere killed on Eniwetok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The baptism\nunder fire continued. The island fighting was extremely vicious. The Japanese\nrarely surrendered. After three days and nights without rest, what Spike\ndescribes as \u201cthe last island\u201d in Eniwetok Atoll [probably Parry Island] was\nattacked. The Americans did a better job of softening up Parry than had been\ndone on Eniwetok. After two days, only 105 Japanese of the 1100 defenders\nsurvived to be captured. Spike\u2019s tank company lost ten more men killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, Spike\u2019s\ncompany was put ashore on a small deserted island in the Kwajalein Atoll chain\nsupposedly for \u201cgarrison duty\u201d \u2013 and immediately forgotten. With little food,\nthe men resorted to stunning fish with hand grenades. Three weeks later, someone\nfinally remembered the bedraggled bunch and pulled them off the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Spike\u2019s mail caught up with him. He discovered that his cousin and best friend, Frank Coopwood, Jr. had been killed in the mountains of central Italy on 23 December 1943 while fighting with the 36th<\/sup> \u201cTexas\u201d Division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
    • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
    • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
    • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      USS Comet AP-166, USS West Point AP-23, LST866, CVE 99 USS Admiralty Islands – some of the ships Spike traveled on in the Pacific<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In 1995, Spike recorded some recollections of his time in the Marines. One incident of the Marshall Islands stood out. One of the 22nd<\/sup>\u2019s mortar platoons had an undersized and very young Marine. The kid was deeply loved and treated as if he was the platoon\u2019s mascot. During some point in the fighting, Spike recalls the platoon coming off the line, and everyone in it was \u201cbawling like a baby.\u201d The young marine had been killed by a Japanese flamethrower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      After Kwajalein\nand Eniwetok, the 22nd<\/sup> Marines was shipped to Guadalcanal. for\nrefitting and training for the next landing. Many of the 22nd<\/sup>\u2019s\nmarines had trained in 1942-1943 in American Samoa. Over a thousand men were\ndiscovered to be infected with filariasis, a nasty tropical roundworm. Most had\nto be evacuated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  Not\nall deaths were combat related. Spike vividly recalled the death of a tanker.\nDuring one operation, the Navy \u201cgot scared\u201d and let off the marine tanks from\nits landing craft in \u201cabout 80 feet of water.\u201d A marine named Drumgould was in\nthe gunner\u2019s seat when the thirty-three-ton Sherman drove off the ramp and\nimmediately sank. Somehow, Drumgould pushed through an eight-inch opening, and\nmade it to the water\u2019s surface. His ears, nose and mouth bled from the pressure\nchange. The tank driver was trapped when the Sherman settled, blocking his way\nout. He died, and Spike recalled Dromgould, haunted by the event, \u201cwalking,\nwalking all night long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The regiment\u2019s\nstrength was rebuilt, and along with the 4th<\/sup> Marines and an Army\nregiment, formed into the 1st<\/sup> Provisional Marine Brigade. The newly\nrebuilt regiment trained intensely. The next stop \u2013 the island of Guam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
      • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
      • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        On 22 July 1944, the Americans began the attack to retake Guam, lost to the Japanese shortly after Pearl Harbor. Guam and nearby Saipan and Tinian could hold airfields within range of the Japanese home islands for the new B-29 bombers. The 1st<\/sup> Provisional Brigade landing was met by ferocious resistance. A beachhead was secured, and then the marines withstood repeated attempts to push them back into the sea. As the tanks landed, Spike spied seven dead marines lying behind a coconut log. All had been killed by a sniper. Spike\u2019s platoon leader, a young lieutenant from Cuero, had predicted he wouldn\u2019t survive. He was right. Within days of the landing, the young officer was killed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    Japanese light tanks were no match for the American\u2019s Shermans. But the Americans\u2019 armor took many losses from suicidal attacks with satchel charges. At night, Spike and other tankers withdrew into the marines\u2019 defensive lines to avoid the enemy\u2019s intense shelling, and sneak attacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
        • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          The island was officially declared \u201csecured\u201d on August\n10. By that time, over 11,000 Japanese had been killed. Several thousand fled\ninto the mountainous terrain. . As the mopping up continued, his tank company\nwas tasked with guarding a hospital on the north end of the island. Security\nwas relaxed \u2013 there seemed little risk. A young private in the company named\nParsons joined a volleyball game nearby \u2013 and was shot dead by a sniper.\nParsons was one of at least fifteen in the company killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The 22nd<\/sup> Marines shipped back to Guadalcanal to refit. Everyone anticipated that the closer to Japan the landings became, the more ferocious the resistance would become. While on Guadalcanal, the 22nd<\/sup> Marines became part of the newly formed 6th<\/sup> Marine Division. Spike\u2019s tank company was designated B Company, 6th<\/sup> Tank Battalion, 22nd<\/sup> Marines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The next landing \u2013 Okinawa. Sixty-six miles long and seven miles wide, it was the largest of the Ryukyu Islands and was considered one of Japan’s home islands. Seven American divisions \u2013 four Army and three Marine \u2013 landed on 1 April 1945 in the largest amphibious landing of the Pacific War.  Nearly 200,000 soldiers and marines,supported by the US Navy\u2019s hundreds of warships, splashed ashore and found virtually no resistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Where was the enemy? Soon, the Americans found out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Okinawa was soon split in two. The Sixth Marine\nDivision swung north. Resistance grew worse as the division advanced. Soon, the\nremaining Japanese were isolated and destroyed. As noted in Spike\u2019s notes the\nnorthern portion of the island was secured by April 22.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          A page of Spike\u2019s notes of the fighting in northern Okinawa<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The\nSixth Marine Division was ordered south. There, over 100,000 Japanese soldiers,\nmarines, naval personnel, along with conscripted Okinawan labor units had turned\nthe island\u2019s southern mountains into an almost impenetrable fortress. The\nAmericans\u2019 naval and air superiority seemed to have little effect against an\nenemy using an enormous array of tunnels, caves and ingenious defenses\ncommanded by the brilliant General Mitsuru Ushijima. Spike\u2019s notebook entries\nrarely contain personal reflections. However, the futility of the battle\nbecomes vivid in entry after entry of tanks destroyed, men killed, horrible\nweather, and combat exhaustion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      One\ncan\u2019t read these shorthand versions of hell, without being moved. Spike speaks\nof fifty days of rain, of mosquitoes, of casualty figures that beggar the\nimagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Shuri\nCastle, the Gorge, Tombstone Ridge, Dead Horse Gulch, Naha, Kakazu Ridge, the\nPinnacle, Wana Draw. These became names synonymous with misery and death. Rains\nbegan, and the front lines began to appear like something out of World War I\ntrench warfare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n