«Stories of courage and self-sacrifice, of men who fell in the line of duty. «Greek» participation in the fierce battles for the occupation of the island of Iwo Jima«.
Text – Research: Georgios Chalkiadopoulos, FB Greeks in foreign arms
SPECIAL THANKS: To Jay Tsapatsaris for his great contribution and help during my search!
James Scondras was born on October 3, 1919 and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. Throughout the 1930s, during the years of the «Great Depression», he lived in the Acre district, at 287 Dutton Street, where he grew up, socializing with other Greek children. Despite the great economic problems plaguing American society at the time, his immigrant parents, Peter G Scondras and his wife Katina, worked hard and supported their eight children in every way, trying not to miss them anything. The couple ran a small downtown restaurant, “The Busy Bee,” on Merrimack Street, allowing the large family to live decently. Peter Scondras, according to his individual information card, in the Massachusetts Male Registry, was born in Athens on December 15, 1884. Nevertheless, it is verified that his origin was from Lamia, in the Prefecture of Fthiotida, and he immigrated to the USA around 1905. It is worth noting that in Lowell, MA there was a strong Greek-American community that, during World War II, actively supported the US armed forces.
Since his teenage years, James Scondras has been a great athlete and was known by the nickname «The Chief», as a student, in Middle School and High School, he attended Lowell High School and was the «Captain» of his school’s basketball, baseball and American football teams. He possessed rare athletic qualities and the combativeness he displayed on the playing field, combined with his ethos and leadership, made him particularly popular among his classmates, but also among all the fans and residents of the wider area. Nevertheless, he never boasted about his successes and when he spoke about him, his words were governed by modesty, calmness and seriousness. In addition, his strong cheekbones sometimes gave his facial expression a serious look, reminiscent of the sullen style of an Indian Chief. However, he was very social and quite a good dancer. Because of all this, little by little his friends and acquaintances started calling him with the nickname «The Big Chief».
The star of the «Chief» began to shine from a very early age on the pitches. Whichever of the three sports he was involved with, during the 30s, he won firsts and distinctions. In each season he led his respective school teams to great victories, playing against overwhelming favorites. Starting as a freshman in high school, he excelled in baseball, «stealing» 8 bases in 20 games. In the next two grades, playing as a captain, he led the High School basketball team to the Massachusetts State Interscholastic Basketball Championship, winning the trophy as well as the title of the leading scorer of the competition. In High School, he was involved in American Football and his performance statistics were again impressive. It is reported that during one season, he scored eight winning «touchdowns», playing as an offensive lineman.
The top moments of his sports career are considered to be his participation, in 1936 and 1937, in the «Lowell High School» (American Legion Junior) baseball team, in which he was elected captain and, playing as a catcher, led it twice to the conquest of the trophy at the USA Junior Pan American Championships held in Middletown, Ohio. In the summer seasons of 1941 and 1942, while attending Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, Jimmy played with the Glens Falls New York team in the American North Interstate League. His powerful hits with the baseball bat marked the victories of «Glens Falls» against historical teams, such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Boston College. The 1942 season, however, ended earlier due to the war. In the spring of 1943, fourth-year student Scondras became one of the first in his class to sign up for the United States Marine Corps (USMC), being assigned to the Third Division. The ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program is a US Army program established by the US government in 1916. Its role was to draw from college students, and university-educated officer candidates who would staff the US armed forces.
On the morning of February 19, 1945, US Marines landed on the volcanic beaches of Iwo Jima, a small Pacific island that had two airfields of great strategic value. Also at that time, a third airport was under construction. On the island were 22,000 fanatical Japanese soldiers, well-fortified, who had sworn to fight to the death. Their leader was General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who had masterfully organized the defense in every part of the island. As soon as the amphibious catapults landed on the shore, the Marines ran across the first few yards of a sandbar, taking sporadic fire. Initially, the lack of strong resistance led US Navy commanders to conclude that their bombardment had overwhelmed the Japanese defenses as the Marines began to deploy on the beach at Iwo Jima. In absolute silence, they began to advance towards the interior of the island, in order to capture their first objective, the airport with the code name «Airfield Motoyama 1». However, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, had a very unpleasant surprise for them. After allowing the Americans to pile up men and machinery on the beach for more than an hour, he then unleashed a terrifying volume of fire upon them. Shortly after 10:00, a barrage of fire from machine guns and mortars to heavy artillery began to rain down on the packed beach, which quickly turned into a nightmarish bloodbath.
An American Marine, Peter Tsapatsaris, began running through the chaos of the battle, looking for a spot to take cover. Finding himself in the middle of a crossfire, he was forced to dive into a deep trench, which had been hastily dug in the volcanic sand, in which was another of his colleagues. Looking up, he was surprised to see a very familiar face smiling at him. It was Jimmy Tsaffaras, his best friend from his hometown of Lowell. Before they could exchange a few words, Tsapatsaris saw out of the corner of his eye another man, running out of the trench, desperately seeking cover from the Japanese fire. Instinctively he raised his hand and beckoned to him shouting, «Here man, come in here with us.» The marine quickly ran towards them and with an impressive leap landed at the bottom of the trench. Once he pushed back his helmet, which had fallen into his eyes, he gasped at his two colleagues, grimacing in surprise. Almost simultaneously the other two let out an exclamation of joy and burst into laughter. It was Jimmy Scondras who suddenly saw in front of him, his two close friends and classmates, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. Especially with Tsaffaras they had not seen each other for almost two years! Tsapatsaris, whom his friends called «Red» because of the color of his hair, recounted in a post-war interview: «Imagine three Greeks, who grew up together as small children, suddenly meeting in the heat of battle, diving into the same trench, being 7,000 miles away from home.»
It was impossible to think that such a thing could happen, but it was true. Sergeant James Tsaffaras, originally from Lagadia, Arcadia, Peloponnese, Second Lieutenant James “Chief” Scondras, from Lamia, Thessaly, and Corporal Peter “Red” Tsapatsaris, from Oitylo, Laconia, Peloponnese, was raised in “Acre”, an immigrant neighborhood, in Lowell , which was also known as “Greektown”, because of the many Greeks who lived there. All of them graduated from the local Middle and High Schools of the area, but entered the service at different times. Tsaffaras was the first to enlist in the Marines in April 1942, followed by Scondras in early 1943 and Tsapatsaris in November of the same year. Therefore, because they were serving in different Units, they had not seen each other for a very long time. But fate wanted them all to meet again together, in a hole, in the hell of Iwo Jima in an informal «reunion» that no one expected. Tsapatsaris continues his account: “Jimmy (Tsaffaras) quickly made us an omelette meal, first opening a can of pasteurized eggs. After talking for a while, then the ‘Chief’ and I had to leave, in order to search for our Units and join them.» The reunion of the three men lasted only 20 minutes. Having had time to hastily exchange their news, amid explosions that shook the atmosphere and bullets whizzing around them, at last they shook hands and embraced, in a hearty farewell. As soon as the intensity of enemy fire eased, they prepared to exit the trench, as each of them had a specific mission to perform.
When Scondras left that hole on the beach of Iwo Jima, saying goodbye to his friends, he knew well the grave dangers he would face next. What he didn’t know was the fact that he would never see them again. But in those moments, all he cared about was doing his duty and accomplishing his mission. Until then the young officer had given extraordinary examples of courage and skill on the battlefield. Seven months earlier, he had taken part in the landing to recapture Guam, on 21 July 1944. In the fighting there, Scondras had already been recommended for a medal, having been able to silence a Japanese machine gun nest, which had temporarily pinned down the Company of Marines. After crawling with difficulty to the edge of a rocky ridge, he managed to get within range and throw a grenade, killing the enemy soldiers. He then established a forward observer position at the site.
On Iwo Jima he again acted as a forward observer, coordinating the fire of American artillery as well as battleships and cruisers, which sailed off the island, striking Japanese defensive positions. Scondras, performing the duties of Forward Fire Controller, should also act as a scout. Together with his team, a radio operator and an observer, he would first try to locate the enemy fortifications, which were highly modified, hidden in caves and underground tunnels. Then by radioing the appropriate coordinates, he would have to direct the incoming firepower against them, with the necessary firing corrections. This work was dangerous and the men who did it were prime targets for Japanese snipers, who used their binoculars to spot officers or soldiers carrying radios on their backs. Many times the positions of the Forward Observers were destroyed by mortar or cannon fire. One such group was that of Second Lieutenant Benjamin F. Roselle. This particular officer was not of Greek origin, but his testimony fully represents the nightmare that the Marines lived on Iwo Jima.
“Within a minute a mortar shell exploded among my squad. I saw my left leg severed from the ankle down, as it was held only by a piece of flesh. Within minutes a second shell exploded near me and shrapnel ripped through my other leg. For almost an hour I wondered where the next missile would land. I soon found this out as a shell burst almost over me, and wounded me a third time in the shoulder. Almost immediately another explosion lifted me several meters into the air and hot shrapnel impaled both of my thighs. As I raised my hand to look at my watch, a mortar shell exploded just a few meters away. One fragment shattered the watch on my wrist, while another lodged in my arm. I began to understand what it’s like to be crucified little by little.»
By 11:30, some Marines had managed to reach the southern end of the Japanese airfield, the capture of which had been one of their primary objectives for the first day. Now, however, its occupation had become unrealistic, in front of the formidable defense that the Japanese put up. There they repelled a counterattack by 100 fanatical Japanese and managed to hold their positions on the outskirts of Motoyama 1 Airfield as night fell. By nightfall, 30,000 men had landed on the island. About 40,000 more would follow in the next few days. Aboard the command ship USS Eldorado (AGC-11), US General Holland M Smith, anxiously read reports of steadily mounting casualties and slow progress of ground forces. To the war correspondents covering the operation, he confessed: «I don’t know who the Japanese General is who runs this show, but he sure is a very clever bastard.»
For the next two days, the Marines concentrated on the capture of «Motoyama 1», and on the capture of the volcanic Mount Suribachi, which dominated the airfield, but also on the beaches where the American landing craft continued to arrive full of soldiers, equipment and vehicles. Excavated with underground tunnels that communicated with each other and equipped with weapons of every caliber, which were used against the marines on the beach and on the airfield, it was relentlessly bombarded by American battleships. On several occasions, the USS Nevada (BB-36), sailing within 550 meters of the shore, fired its main guns with straight-line shots against Suribachi’s gunnery. Lieutenant Scondras, who was in Guam, in August 1944, had already won the Bronze Star Medal, this time he would win another decoration, again displaying rare martial virtues. On February 22, 1945, thanks to the precise coordinates he transmitted on the radio, at the risk of his life, the heavy barrage from the guns of the American battleships and also from the ground artillery, caused heavy losses to the Japanese defenders of the airfield, weakening their defensive ability, resulting in its capture. The reasons for his awarding of the Silver Star Medal state the following:
«The President of the United States of America is proud to award the Silver Star to Lieutenant James Scondras (MCSN: 0-22226), Marine Corps, for extraordinary valor and intrepidity as a Forward Observer, assigned to Artillery D, in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, in the Volcano Islands, on 22 February 1945. Lieutenant Scondras gallantly supported advancing infantrymen, when they were suddenly and savagely attacked, just as they reached the edge of the airport’s runway, coming under heavy enemy fire and heavy fire, mortars and rockets. At that critical moment, Lieutenant Scondras stepped forward boldly, and despite a heavy barrage of enemy artillery, climbed to the top of a steep, jagged rock, from where he could best observe the enemy’s positions. Remaining steadfast in this exposed position, he then adjusted and precisely directed the fire of the ground artillery, as well as the guns from the Navy ships, to silence the enemy concentrations and allow the infantry to continue their advance. By this bold initiative, aggressive determination and indomitable courage, Lieutenant Scondras remained at his post in spite of extreme danger and contributed materially to the success of the arduous campaign on Iwo Jima. His brave devotion to duty throughout the fighting reflects his great faith in himself and in the United States Naval Service.»
On the morning of February 23, the Marines reached the summit of Mount Suribachi. They were men of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines. At first, they expected stiff resistance on the way to the top, but in the end there were only a few skirmishes, as most Japanese preferred to stay locked in the underground tunnels. Over the next few weeks they occasionally attacked the Americans but were eventually all exterminated. The placing of the American flag on top of it boosted the morale of the marines and became one of the most iconic photos of World War II. Associated Press war correspondent Joe Rosenthal, who took the photo, later won a Pulitzer Prize for this shot. Among the men of the 2nd Battalion present at the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi was a Greek, Marine George Arvanites, but he is not depicted in any of the known photographs. Arvanitis came from Lynn, Massachusetts, but his father, Peter, came from Koroni, Messinia, Peloponnese. At Iwo Jima, he fought bravely and was probably seriously wounded because after the war he became a member of the Disabled American Veterans Association. In the 50s and 60s he visited Greece twice. Finally, it is worth noting that three of the six men who raised the flag were ultimately killed in the ensuing fighting, as was the marine cameraman who captured the historic event on film.
The next day, on the morning of February 24th, another Greek-American officer set foot on Iwo Jima soil, but he did not stay long. It had been an hour since his engagement in battle began when he was seriously wounded by an explosion of a heavy-type cannon shell. It was Lieutenant Stanley Tsigounis, originally from Eastern Mani, Laconia, Peloponnese. Tsigounis served as a private in K Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Marines Regiment. In an interview he gave several years later, he recounted his painful experience in a poignant way:
«On the fifth day of the fighting (February 24, 1945) my Unit was ordered to the island. The enemy fire was terrifying as the Japanese had focused every square inch of ground from a gun, which suddenly protruded through a hole. Our job was to advance through the crossfire and neutralize these holes. That’s why on Iwo Jima the Marines suffered the most casualties of any battle. We lost 5,000 men! The platoon I commanded had 45 men and only five survived! Not even an hour had passed from the moment we came ashore and the attack began. Suddenly there was a big explosion next to me and I felt like I was hit. My Sergeant was killed, and so was the Navy spotter I had with me! As for me, the shock wave tossed me high into the air. I felt like I was floating in the air and seeing the white clouds in the sky, I thought I had died.»
Partially blinded and partially hearing, Tsigounis lay on the ground, badly wounded in the head and leg, as his blood-drenched the ground of Iwo Jima. Experiencing a strong traumatic shock and being unable to move due to unbearable pain, he simply began to pray. Suddenly in his delirium, he dreamed of his mother who knelt down next to him and took his gun trying to protect him. Shocked, he started yelling at her to run away because he will be killed! What happened next can only be explained if it is reduced to the realm of parapsychology! At the same time, thousands of miles away, in Jersey City, NJ, Stanley’s mother tossed in her sleep in terror and woke her husband crying. The father of the young Greek-American was a priest in the Orthodox church of the Greek community of the city and tried to reassure his wife, telling her that she just had a nightmare and advised her to go back to sleep. The woman insisted that she saw their child in her dream, injured in the leg and head! She anxiously asked him to get up and at least pray together for their son, which they did. When Stanley returned to the U.S. on sick leave a few weeks later and met with his parents, their accounts of the events of his injury and the cross-checking of the evidence left them all speechless.
As the Marines advanced into the interior of Iwo Jima, paying in blood for every inch of ground they gained, Tsapatsaris was seriously wounded, for the second time in his combat service. His first nightmarish night on the island, he had spent inside a blown-up concrete machine gun emplacement near the airfield, covered with a dead Japanese soldier on top of him to hide his position. As soon as dawn broke, the fighting intensified again. Tsapatsaris was manning a BAR machine gun and had just emptied a magazine against a group of Japanese when a grenade suddenly exploded near him and seriously wounded him. His colleagues carried him on a stretcher to shore to be transferred to a hospital ship. Tsaffaras was also hit, in one of the dozens of battles that took place on the island, but his injuries were lighter. He had previously suffered another injury during the Saipan landings in June 1944. On Iwo Jima he undertook missions as a forward observer, facing the same dangers as Scondras. In one of them he had marked on his map the coordinates of certain Japanese strongpoints and was preparing to communicate with the gunners. Suddenly a projectile exploded in the air, a few meters above the ground, launching an umbrella of shrapnel at the marines. Tsaffaras felt an excruciating pain in his shoulder blade as some shrapnel slammed into his body shattering the radio, which thankfully absorbed the force of the blows. Despite the bleeding, he stood up and ran towards his lines, met a fellow radioman and transmitted the precious coordinates to the artillery from his device. For this action, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
On February 25, 1945, Lieutenant Scondras went on one more reconnaissance mission, as a forward observer, but his luck had now run out. The unfortunate officer was struck and killed by shrapnel from the explosion of a mortar shell, having suffered multiple wounds all over his body. Peter Tsapatsaris recalls: “His radio operator was seriously wounded by the same shell that killed Jimmy. I know this well, for later his radio operator and I happened to be hospitalized on the same hospital ship, lying in adjacent beds. From him I learned details of Jimmy’s terrible death. We were sitting next to each other talking and couldn’t stop crying.»
The Marines now turned their attention to the north of the island, where the fighting intensified. Flamethrowers proved to be the most effective weapons against tunnels, caves and underground bunkers. It is typical that in March 1945, towards the end of the battle, on Iwo Jima, approximately 10,000 gallons of incendiary mixture napalm (a gelatinized form of gasoline) were used every day, in order to neutralize such installations and fortifications. If a tunnel was too deep or too dangerous to enter, the Marines would blow it up with explosives to seal it. The Japanese especially targeted the nurses and the wounded carriers and when they didn’t have a clear field of fire they used various dirty tricks. Hiding in a hole or behind a rock, they would impersonate the wounded and call for help, speaking in English to fool them. At other times, to attract them, they would simply call out “Corpsman” (the name given to US Navy and USMC nurses) and then shoot them as they approached. In any case the insignia of the red hospital cross, on the helmets or armbands of the Americans, meant absolutely nothing to the Japanese soldiers, who fired indiscriminately. George Tsalapatas, Pharmacist’s Mate 3c, originally from the village of Bresthena in the Prefecture of Laconia, who before the war studied Pharmacy, also fell victim to this murderous tactic.
He initially enlisted in the US Navy where he served for 14 months but later transferred to the USMC and was assigned to the 5th Division. In Iwo Jima, he served in Company B, 5th Medical Battalion. On February 28, 1945, he was attached to a Marine Rifle Company, which was engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese. During the heavy firefight, he spotted a badly wounded Marine lying in a shell crater. His body was lying a few tens of meters away, in front of the Company’s lines. Tsalapatas ran across the open field, pelted by enemy machine guns and rifle fire. Despite the voices of the others who tried to prevent him, he finally managed to reach the helpless wounded man and offer him medical treatment. Inside the crater, there was a rudimentary cover, but soon a Japanese sniper in an ideal firing position on the higher ground spotted him with his rifle scope, putting him in his sights. While the medic was trying to dress the marine’s wounds, the Japanese man pulled the trigger. The shot shook Tsalapata, who collapsed, mortally wounded, next to the man he was helping. The next day he died. His unjust death enraged his colleagues, who shortly afterward furiously attacked the enemy positions. For his self-sacrifice and disregard for the danger that day, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Among other things, the reason for the award states that: «He is awarded for his brave behavior and the courage he showed in the face of almost certain death. This act of his, with his unyielding determination and devotion to duty, inspired all who served with him. The fact that he bravely gave his life for his country is fully in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.»
Tsalapatas and Scondras were two of a total of 6,281 American soldiers killed on Iwo Jima. The fierce fighting that took place on the island lasted 36 days, from 19 February to 26 March 1945. Tsapatsaris, Tsaffaras, Tsigounis, and Arvanites were some of the approximately 17,000 wounded during this period. This was the only time in the Pacific War that US casualties (killed and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese who were almost all killed. Of the approximately 21,000 Japanese defenders, only 218 had surrendered by March 26, 1945. The survivors numbered approximately 2,500 men, but they remained holed up in the tunnels, continuing to resist. So over the next two months, the Americans killed 1,602 more Japanese soldiers and captured another 867. After the war ended, the last two who remained hidden on the island finally surrendered on January 6, 1949.
Another Greek-American Marine who Sergeant Albert G Pantelis also served on Iwo Jima, but no further information has been found about him.
Lieutenant Scondras was buried on Iwo Jima near the base of Mount Suribachi. His grave, among thousands of others, was distinguished only by a simple white cross, with its elements. On March 29, 1949, his body was flown back to the US for reinterment at Lowell’s local cemetery (Westlawn Cemetery). Also arriving from France on the same date was the body of his younger brother, Pvt David Scondras, who had been killed in action in Lorraine on 25 November 1944. The brothers’ parents, Peter and Catherine (Ivos) Scondras, had a total of six sons, four of whom served during World War II, two of whom were killed. So on March 29, 1949, the bones of the two brothers returned home and family members gathered at Lowell Cemetery to pay their last respects to the memory of their two heroes. A first cousin of the Scondras brothers, Sergeant (AF) Costas Ivos, had been killed on March 15, 1945, over Germany, flying as a radio operator in a B-17G of the 447th Bomb Group. His body had returned the same date from Europe, to be buried in Lowell’s native land, along with his cousins. His casket was placed next to the other two and all were draped with the American flag.
At the packed Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church where the funeral service was held, people flooded the surrounding area, flocking to honor the three fallen, as well as the other 36 Lowell soldiers who were killed on the battlefields of WWII. Also, present at the Marine Corps honor were the «Chief’s» friends, Sergeant James Tsaffaras and Corporal Peter Tsapatsaris, wearing their uniforms, with the decorations they received for their bravery and the wounds they suffered on Iwo Jima and other battles. «For all of us who knew him, the Chief will never die,» Tsapatsaris said at the time. «He will always be Lowell’s brightest star.» On February 14, 1965, the Lowell High School building was renamed «The James Scondras Memorial Gymnasium» in his honor. Also every Thanksgiving, the inaugural Scondras MVP trophy is presented at the American Football game between the Lowell and Lawrence teams. In 1986, James Scondras was inducted into the Lowell High Hall of Fame, while in 1990, he was also inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Of the seven men whose names were mentioned in this article, not one emerged unscathed from the inferno of Iwo Jima, and that is a fact that is certainly awe-inspiring. Today they have all passed into the Pantheon of Immortals. Most people may not know their names and stories, except their close relatives and friends. Nevertheless, among the 70,000 American soldiers who landed on Iwo Jima, it is statistically impossible that there were no other Greeks. For this reason, the research will continue in the future.
May their memory remain eternal!
SOURCES:
- https://magazine.holycross.edu/iss…/45_2_sports/45_2_chief
- http://www.lhsathletichalloffame.com/…/james-scondras…/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima
Discover more from Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας 