Arthur Dickison, United States Marines. The Marines developed LVTs – Landing Vehicle, Tracked. An LVT had tracks like a tank but could float and maneuver like a boat. The tracks enabled the vehicle to climb over obstacles. LVTs were developed with a variety of weapons. Dickison was in command of an LVT at Peleliu.
His story:
I was with a new outfit, and we had never been to war before. We were the armored amphibians. I was in the 1st Division. We were the first to the LVTs. At first, I was an instructor, then I was taken off of that and given a tank to drive – an armored amphibian. The vehicles could operate in water or on land, either one. It was steered with levers. When you brake one side a little bit, it would transfer more power to the other side, and it turned the vehicle. It had hatches on it, but it was a closed vehicle. The reason they came up with these vehicles was that the Marine Corps was originally having terrible casualties when they landed. Just imagine a bunch of ships going up to an island. The enemy knew right away that they were getting invaded with that many ships coming close to them. They made the armored amphibians with two .50-caliber machine guns and a 50mm [cannon]on top. There was a four-man crew in the LVT. Two men ran the guns that were mounted on top. A driver and a radio operator were down below. Whoever saw a good target took over the 50mm gun. We carried approximately 40 rounds of 50mm ammunition. We would get off [the landing ships] a couple of miles out, and land about 20 minutes before the infantry arrived. Our job was to clean the landing area of any Japanese tanks, machine guns, mortars, or whatever.
On Peleliu
The first island we used the LVT on was Peleliu. From my point of view, out of all the fighting, that I was in overseas, Peleliu was the worst one. You can add the Marshall Islands and Okinawa together and they couldn’t match Peleliu. Peleliu was occupied by top notch Japanese infantry. We were able to save a lot of lives. At Peleliu I had the LVT shot out from under me. A sergeant and I were up in the top of the vehicle. The tank got hit right in the front. I still hear that shell hit. It makes a horrible noise. Steel on steel. It makes a noise you’ll never forget. It’s a twang but it’s so loud and fierce it really rings your ears. I remember that shell hitting the tank. The sergeant and I got out, but the other two down below never moved; the driver and the radioman were killed. When the two of us got ashore, we joined up with the infantry.
Left behind
A few years ago I got a letter from one of the guys in my outfit. He wasn’t in my company, but in the same battalion. He was writing about a tank sitting over there on Peleliu. He wanted to know if that was the tank I was in. Without seeing it, I would say yes. When I left there it was the only one on the island. It stayed there right where it had gotten hit.
