Private First Class Obie Casey
Entered Service From: ArkansasService #: 17052665Unit: Company A, 542nd Engineer Shore Regiment, U.S. ArmyDate of Death: May 18, 1944 Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea (now part of Indonesia)Buried: Manila American Cemetery – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82Awards: Purple Heart"General Heavey assigned the task of landing elements of the 163d Infantry of the 41st Division at Toem and later on Wakde Island to Company A, 542d EBSR, under the command of Captain Ralph W. Jones, Jr. of Townsend, Virginia. On the night of D-l the convoy of 542d EBSR landing craft and a few naval support vessels left Hollandia under its own power on a direct course to the objective beachhead at Toem. The trip was uneventful, seas were calm, and the convoy arrived at its destination well before dawn. The landing at Toem was unopposed and proceeded according to plan, although, our boats encountered relatively high surf and had to go in on the shallow beach end-to-end. No boats were lost…The next afternoon the landing was made on Wakde Island. The Air Force and Navy had plastered the mile-long island from one end to the other for twelve consecutive days. Little if any resistance was expected since the two previous landings at Toem and on Isomanai had been unopposed. However, as a safety measure, the LCM flak boats were present and a rocket barrage was laid on the beach just ahead of the boat waves. Despite the intensity of the bombardment throughout the day before and the naval shelling immediately prior to the actual assault, the Japs managed to get to many of their light weapons in time to open heavy fire on the barges as they plunged toward the shore. It was later discovered that, in addition to these guns, the crafty Japs had also taken turrets from disabled planes and dug them into the sandy beach so that only gun muzzles protruded. The first two boat waves were scarcely three hundred yards from the beach when they ran into this hail of machine gun fire from both flanks. The passengers immediately fell flat on the bottom of the boats where the armor plate on the passenger's section of the LCVPs protected them. The boat crews did not have this protection. The coxswain had to stay in an exposed position in order to keep their boats in formation and under control. The bow lookouts had to watch for submerged coral heads and signal the coxswains how to avoid them. In running this gauntlet of fire many of our crew were hit, but as soon as a coxswain went down the engine-man or the seaman of his crew jumped up to take over the controls. Not a boat faltered as they plunged into the ever-increasing barrage. All the boats made the beach, although several of them were riddled with bullet holes. After the landing sixty-eight slugs and fragments of a 20-mm shell were found in one barge Every passenger was delivered safely. The Amphibs chalked up another successful landing but at the greatest cost of any yet encountered, considering its size. Three men from Company A, were killed: Tec/5 Byron B. Bull of Oak Hill, Kansas; Pfc Obie Casey of Dyer, Arkansas and Pvt. Emray F. Clark of Reobens Idaho. First Lieutenant Donald F. Ridgeway of New York City and twenty-seven enlisted men were wounded.Source: History of the Second Engineer Special Brigade, United States Army, World War II (1946 The Telegraph Press), pages 84-85Obie Case was first buried in 6911 USAF Cemetery, Finschaffen #2, British New Guinea – Grave 782 (D-D 932). After the war (between 15th May 1947 & 07 December 1947) his remains (along with 11,000 other American soldiers from the five Finschaffen cemeteries) were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Marion Casey), Private First Class Obie Casey was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82.
Entered Service From: ArkansasService #: 17052665Unit: Company A, 542nd Engineer Shore Regiment, U.S. ArmyDate of Death: May 18, 1944 Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea (now part of Indonesia)Buried: Manila American Cemetery – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82Awards: Purple Heart"General Heavey assigned the task of landing elements of the 163d Infantry of the 41st Division at Toem and later on Wakde Island to Company A, 542d EBSR, under the command of Captain Ralph W. Jones, Jr. of Townsend, Virginia. On the night of D-l the convoy of 542d EBSR landing craft and a few naval support vessels left Hollandia under its own power on a direct course to the objective beachhead at Toem. The trip was uneventful, seas were calm, and the convoy arrived at its destination well before dawn. The landing at Toem was unopposed and proceeded according to plan, although, our boats encountered relatively high surf and had to go in on the shallow beach end-to-end. No boats were lost…The next afternoon the landing was made on Wakde Island. The Air Force and Navy had plastered the mile-long island from one end to the other for twelve consecutive days. Little if any resistance was expected since the two previous landings at Toem and on Isomanai had been unopposed. However, as a safety measure, the LCM flak boats were present and a rocket barrage was laid on the beach just ahead of the boat waves. Despite the intensity of the bombardment throughout the day before and the naval shelling immediately prior to the actual assault, the Japs managed to get to many of their light weapons in time to open heavy fire on the barges as they plunged toward the shore. It was later discovered that, in addition to these guns, the crafty Japs had also taken turrets from disabled planes and dug them into the sandy beach so that only gun muzzles protruded. The first two boat waves were scarcely three hundred yards from the beach when they ran into this hail of machine gun fire from both flanks. The passengers immediately fell flat on the bottom of the boats where the armor plate on the passenger's section of the LCVPs protected them. The boat crews did not have this protection. The coxswain had to stay in an exposed position in order to keep their boats in formation and under control. The bow lookouts had to watch for submerged coral heads and signal the coxswains how to avoid them. In running this gauntlet of fire many of our crew were hit, but as soon as a coxswain went down the engine-man or the seaman of his crew jumped up to take over the controls. Not a boat faltered as they plunged into the ever-increasing barrage. All the boats made the beach, although several of them were riddled with bullet holes. After the landing sixty-eight slugs and fragments of a 20-mm shell were found in one barge Every passenger was delivered safely. The Amphibs chalked up another successful landing but at the greatest cost of any yet encountered, considering its size. Three men from Company A, were killed: Tec/5 Byron B. Bull of Oak Hill, Kansas; Pfc Obie Casey of Dyer, Arkansas and Pvt. Emray F. Clark of Reobens Idaho. First Lieutenant Donald F. Ridgeway of New York City and twenty-seven enlisted men were wounded.Source: History of the Second Engineer Special Brigade, United States Army, World War II (1946 The Telegraph Press), pages 84-85Obie Case was first buried in 6911 USAF Cemetery, Finschaffen #2, British New Guinea – Grave 782 (D-D 932). After the war (between 15th May 1947 & 07 December 1947) his remains (along with 11,000 other American soldiers from the five Finschaffen cemeteries) were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Marion Casey), Private First Class Obie Casey was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82.
Private First Class Obie Casey
Entered Service From: ArkansasService #: 17052665Unit: Company A, 542nd Engineer Shore Regiment, U.S. ArmyDate of Death: May 18, 1944 Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea (now part of Indonesia)Buried: Manila American Cemetery – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82Awards: Purple Heart"General Heavey assigned the task of landing elements of the 163d Infantry of the 41st Division at Toem and later on Wakde Island to Company A, 542d EBSR, under the command of Captain Ralph W. Jones, Jr. of Townsend, Virginia. On the night of D-l the convoy of 542d EBSR landing craft and a few naval support vessels left Hollandia under its own power on a direct course to the objective beachhead at Toem. The trip was uneventful, seas were calm, and the convoy arrived at its destination well before dawn. The landing at Toem was unopposed and proceeded according to plan, although, our boats encountered relatively high surf and had to go in on the shallow beach end-to-end. No boats were lost…The next afternoon the landing was made on Wakde Island. The Air Force and Navy had plastered the mile-long island from one end to the other for twelve consecutive days. Little if any resistance was expected since the two previous landings at Toem and on Isomanai had been unopposed. However, as a safety measure, the LCM flak boats were present and a rocket barrage was laid on the beach just ahead of the boat waves. Despite the intensity of the bombardment throughout the day before and the naval shelling immediately prior to the actual assault, the Japs managed to get to many of their light weapons in time to open heavy fire on the barges as they plunged toward the shore. It was later discovered that, in addition to these guns, the crafty Japs had also taken turrets from disabled planes and dug them into the sandy beach so that only gun muzzles protruded. The first two boat waves were scarcely three hundred yards from the beach when they ran into this hail of machine gun fire from both flanks. The passengers immediately fell flat on the bottom of the boats where the armor plate on the passenger's section of the LCVPs protected them. The boat crews did not have this protection. The coxswain had to stay in an exposed position in order to keep their boats in formation and under control. The bow lookouts had to watch for submerged coral heads and signal the coxswains how to avoid them. In running this gauntlet of fire many of our crew were hit, but as soon as a coxswain went down the engine-man or the seaman of his crew jumped up to take over the controls. Not a boat faltered as they plunged into the ever-increasing barrage. All the boats made the beach, although several of them were riddled with bullet holes. After the landing sixty-eight slugs and fragments of a 20-mm shell were found in one barge Every passenger was delivered safely. The Amphibs chalked up another successful landing but at the greatest cost of any yet encountered, considering its size. Three men from Company A, were killed: Tec/5 Byron B. Bull of Oak Hill, Kansas; Pfc Obie Casey of Dyer, Arkansas and Pvt. Emray F. Clark of Reobens Idaho. First Lieutenant Donald F. Ridgeway of New York City and twenty-seven enlisted men were wounded.Source: History of the Second Engineer Special Brigade, United States Army, World War II (1946 The Telegraph Press), pages 84-85Obie Case was first buried in 6911 USAF Cemetery, Finschaffen #2, British New Guinea – Grave 782 (D-D 932). After the war (between 15th May 1947 & 07 December 1947) his remains (along with 11,000 other American soldiers from the five Finschaffen cemeteries) were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Marion Casey), Private First Class Obie Casey was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82.
Entered Service From: ArkansasService #: 17052665Unit: Company A, 542nd Engineer Shore Regiment, U.S. ArmyDate of Death: May 18, 1944 Wakde Island, Dutch New Guinea (now part of Indonesia)Buried: Manila American Cemetery – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82Awards: Purple Heart"General Heavey assigned the task of landing elements of the 163d Infantry of the 41st Division at Toem and later on Wakde Island to Company A, 542d EBSR, under the command of Captain Ralph W. Jones, Jr. of Townsend, Virginia. On the night of D-l the convoy of 542d EBSR landing craft and a few naval support vessels left Hollandia under its own power on a direct course to the objective beachhead at Toem. The trip was uneventful, seas were calm, and the convoy arrived at its destination well before dawn. The landing at Toem was unopposed and proceeded according to plan, although, our boats encountered relatively high surf and had to go in on the shallow beach end-to-end. No boats were lost…The next afternoon the landing was made on Wakde Island. The Air Force and Navy had plastered the mile-long island from one end to the other for twelve consecutive days. Little if any resistance was expected since the two previous landings at Toem and on Isomanai had been unopposed. However, as a safety measure, the LCM flak boats were present and a rocket barrage was laid on the beach just ahead of the boat waves. Despite the intensity of the bombardment throughout the day before and the naval shelling immediately prior to the actual assault, the Japs managed to get to many of their light weapons in time to open heavy fire on the barges as they plunged toward the shore. It was later discovered that, in addition to these guns, the crafty Japs had also taken turrets from disabled planes and dug them into the sandy beach so that only gun muzzles protruded. The first two boat waves were scarcely three hundred yards from the beach when they ran into this hail of machine gun fire from both flanks. The passengers immediately fell flat on the bottom of the boats where the armor plate on the passenger's section of the LCVPs protected them. The boat crews did not have this protection. The coxswain had to stay in an exposed position in order to keep their boats in formation and under control. The bow lookouts had to watch for submerged coral heads and signal the coxswains how to avoid them. In running this gauntlet of fire many of our crew were hit, but as soon as a coxswain went down the engine-man or the seaman of his crew jumped up to take over the controls. Not a boat faltered as they plunged into the ever-increasing barrage. All the boats made the beach, although several of them were riddled with bullet holes. After the landing sixty-eight slugs and fragments of a 20-mm shell were found in one barge Every passenger was delivered safely. The Amphibs chalked up another successful landing but at the greatest cost of any yet encountered, considering its size. Three men from Company A, were killed: Tec/5 Byron B. Bull of Oak Hill, Kansas; Pfc Obie Casey of Dyer, Arkansas and Pvt. Emray F. Clark of Reobens Idaho. First Lieutenant Donald F. Ridgeway of New York City and twenty-seven enlisted men were wounded.Source: History of the Second Engineer Special Brigade, United States Army, World War II (1946 The Telegraph Press), pages 84-85Obie Case was first buried in 6911 USAF Cemetery, Finschaffen #2, British New Guinea – Grave 782 (D-D 932). After the war (between 15th May 1947 & 07 December 1947) his remains (along with 11,000 other American soldiers from the five Finschaffen cemeteries) were disinterred and brought to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (father, Mr. Marion Casey), Private First Class Obie Casey was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot D, Row 16, Grave 82.
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Entered the service from Arkansas.
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