One Sunday afternoon in early July a group of us took a ride to the southwestern section of the island where the town of Itoman is located. Many other GI's had the same idea that day. The open entrance-way provided enough light for me to step inside the bunker for a quick look around. Lying on a bunk to my left was the body of a dead enemy soldier. His companions must have had to leave in a big hurry!
The landscape photos whether in black and white, or in color were all taken in the lower one-third of the entire island. From the very beginning we were told that the operation would not involve the remainder of the island, but I'm not sure if this is entirely true. There are some tents that can be seen to the extreme left in this photo. During the war, all my pictures were meant to be sent home so my family could see the progress I was making in regaining my health from the Basic Training days through the time I spent in the Pacific. There was always some buddy around to snap those pictures, like this one.
My recollection of the ammunition dump explosion occurred on July 5,1945.
