D+15 (30 June) marked a good day for the Army. After fierce fighting, the 27th Infantry Division finally burst through Death Valley, captured Purple Heart Ridge, and drew alongside the 8th Marines. Holland Smith gave due recognition: “No one had any tougher job to do.” The gaps on the flanks with the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions were now closed. In doing so, the Army had sustained most of the 1,836 casualties inflicted upon it since D-Day. The 4th Marine Division, however, had suffered 4,454 casualties to date, while the 2d Marine Division had lost 4,488 men.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 85222
Moving on the double, Marines go yard by yard through skeletal Garapan, flushing out the Japanese defenders.
Amidst the horrors of war, someone retained a sense of humor, and put up this pre-World War II Marine recruiting poster in Garapan.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 87109
The corps front now ran from Garapan, past the four pimples, to the 4th Marine Division’s left boundary. Here, it ran sharply northward to Hill 700. From there it ran to the east coast. Central Saipan was in American hands. Most of the replenishment supplies had been unloaded. The enemy had begun withdrawing to his preplanned final defensive lines. The Army’s official history summed up these days’ costly victories this way, “The battle for central Saipan can be said to have come to a successful end.”
SAIPAN
2–4 JULY 1944