‘All hell broke loose’

Editor’s note: Bon Lovingood, who resides at Wood Dale Health Care Center in Dalton, is a U.S. Navy veteran who was aboard ship in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II. These journal entries are eyewitness accounts from the deck of the USS Tuscaloosa prior to D-Day on June 6, 1944, at Normandy on the coast of France, and in the South Pacific at Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. Military times have been standardized to a.m. and p.m. designations.

June 5, 1944 — Our captain (of the USS Tuscaloosa) passed the word that with the exception of an emergency, we would not open fire until 5:50 a.m. and only then at our designated target. At 11:15 p.m. Allied planes begin flying over us in force toward the coast of France, and then get anti-aircraft fire (from the Germans) as they begin to hit their targets. The hour will be 0630 on same day which is 40 minutes after we open fire.

June 6 — Landing craft prepare to hit the beach just after midnight. They are too numerous to count. At 1:10 a.m. a large task force of transport planes passes overhead. We are told they will land 20,000 paratroopers before we attack. Their purpose is to secure Axis air bases. In less than half an hour these planes return after dropping their troops in France.

At 2:37 a.m. we anchor off the coast of France waiting for the hour to go in. Large fires are visible on the coast caused from the Allied bombing, and at 3:30 a.m. all hell broke loose — the Air Force is in full swing and the coast is one mass of flames. The Tuscaloosa is still at anchor about 10 miles from shore, and in just over an hour we get under way to get nearer to our target, our planes protecting us from possible air attack.

Right on time we open fire on the enemy, and there’s plenty of action. The Tuscaloosa silenced Target 15 and was then assigned to Target 14-A. The USS Carey is sunk by enemy fire, but lost only five of its crew who had engine room watch. The Tuscaloosa almost hit by Target 14-A, then engaged in a four-hour battle with this target, which was an 11-inch gun on a freight car moving continuously back and forth upon a hill. Around 8 a.m. American troops landed on the coast without much loss as we know of at present.

At 1:55 p.m. the HMS Monitor Target 14-A with their 15-inch gun. Thanks to the Monitor as Target 14-A was beginning to make the Tuscaloosa angry! At 2 p.m. the Tuscaloosa is assigned a new target on the other side of a ridge, and we cannot see where she is hitting. Fire is being directed for us by a fighter plane. The Allied Air Force is hitting in force now, and huge fires and fragments can be seen from the Tuscaloosa.

At 2:27 p.m. the beach gets very quiet, but we are still putting the work to the fellow behind the hill with our 8-inch gun. A radio broadcast was heard from Germany that the Americans and English have invaded Northern France on a large scale. A message from Gen. (Dwight) Eisenhower is saying, “It’s going just as it was planned so far.”

By 3:15 p.m. more troops and equipment are landing on the beach. After firing most of the day the Tuscaloosa rested all night for the purpose of saving ammunition. The USS Quincy and USS Nevada shelled the coast all night, and the Nevada destroyed part of two Nazi motorized divisions this night.

June 7 — The Quincy used up all her ammunition last night and the Tuscaloosa relieved her. We scored 25 direct hits on enemy positions, 25 hits of 28 attempts — damn good shooting. The enemy tossed a few salvos at us which caused no damage. Today we picked up several enemy pilots and soldiers which were shot down this morning while trying to land paratroopers. We also picked up a few bodies which were floating in the water.

I watched our U.S. Air Force bomb the coast again this evening with little opposition.

June 8 — At 2:30 a.m. enemy planes attacked us causing unusual damage — two U.S. destroyers were sunk by huge water mines dropped by enemy aircraft. The USS Meridith and Tuscaloosa were not damaged, and we brought the survivors of one of the destroyers aboard.

The Iwo Jima invasion

Feb. 16, 1945 — The U.S. Third Fleet attacked shore installations on Iwo Jima. The task force includes approximately 100 warships including nine CVEs (escort carriers). On the same day Task Force 58 carried out large scale air attack on Tokyo and neighboring cities. Warships involved in attacks on the northeast section of the island include the USS battleships Texas, Arkansas, Nevada and Tennessee, the carriers Tuscaloosa and Salt Lake City, and 15 destroyers. There was light damage caused during the first day due to poor visibility. Air attacks during the night which caused little damage to our warships. One Jap plane was shot down by a destroyer.

Feb. 17 — Heavy bombardment by warships all day, with the Tuscaloosa using its main and secondary batteries (8-inch and 5-inch guns) most of the day, except at very close range we used our 40 mm guns on small boats and caves along the coast. The USS Pensacola was hit by shore batteries on the opposite side of the island, causing some damage to the ship and casualties to personnel.

Feb. 18 — Bombing and strafing by carrier-based planes and bombardment by warships continues. One landing craft was sunk and two others were badly damaged by shore batteries while discharging rockets close to the beach.

Feb. 19 to March 14 — Marines of the Fourth and Fifth Divisions landed on Feb. 19 supported by heavy bombardment by ships. Approximately 5,000 Marines landed during the day, including reserves of the Third Marine Division. Air attacks continued nightly on our warships, including hits by suicide planes, but eventually the island is completely occupied by U.S. troops. We continue night and day bombardments, and over 22,000 Japanese are killed, excluding those trapped in caves. About 100 prisoners taken. American casualties are about 5,000 killed.

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