Staff Sergeant Lynn R Maxson
Lynn Robert Maxson was born on September 29th, 1915 in Fort Madison, Iowa to Roy R Maxson and Mary Nye and became their only child. Lynn was only able to complete his freshman year of high school before dropping out, marrying Nellie Robinson in 1935, and getting a full time job as a cleaner in 1939. The next year, Lynn decided that the Marines better suited his interests, so he enlisted on September 29th, 1940, completed boot camp in San Diego, California, and was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Brigade on November 23rd. With World War Two raging abroad and tensions rising between the United States and Japan, it seemed inevitable that Private Maxson and the US would be dragged into the conflict. They were right. Just two weeks after he joined the 8th Marines, Japan launched a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii, and the next day, President Roosevelt declared war on the Axis powers. Lynn would be going to war.
Samoa
For the moment though, he remained in San Diego for a year where he became a clerk, was promoted to Private First Class, then to Corporal on November 19th. After a year, Pfc Maxson and the 8th Marines finally left the United States on January 6th, 1942 aboard the USNT Monterey, and disembarked at Tuitila, Samoa on the 20th. While they would not be fighting the Japanese yet, the next ten months were filled with extensive jungle warfare training on top of providing defense for the small island. While here, Maxson achieved the rating of Quartermaster, but would also get into some trouble. On April 15th, his commanding officer ordered him to stop carrying a pistol, which he “willfully disobeyed said order on June 9th” and was promptly demoted to Private First Class. Due to good behavior, his rank of Corporal was restored three months later, just in time for his regiment’s mobilization for the ongoing Guadalcanal campaign.
Guadalcanal
Cpl Maxson and the 8th Marines left Samoa aboard the USS Hunter Liggett on October 25th and quickly unloaded at Guadalcanal by November 5th. The regiment was ordered to the Matanikau River, with Cpl Maxson’s battalion holding its flank, where they provided security during the 182nd Infantry’s crossing on the 17th before being diverted to defend Henderson Airfield and then returning by early December. While Army forces advanced on Gifu, Cpl Maxson’s 8th Marines and the 6th Marines attacked through the hills and ravines of Point Cruz on January 13th, located along the northern coast, and their coordinated effort surrounded some of the surviving Japanese and led to their annihilation. Concurrently, the Japanese had deemed the battle to be lost and had begun evacuating their troops from the island, which was completed by February 7th. Two days later, the island was declared secure, and the 8th Marines left Guadalcanal for New Zealand the same day. The next 8 months in Wellington, New Zealand were used to refit and extensively train the Marines for the Invasion of Tarawa, such as rehearsing amphibious landings. In the meantime, Maxson was promoted to Sergeant on August 17th and returned to his duties as a Quartermaster clerk. Usually, clerks and other members of headquarters companies would be slightly more out of harm's way, but that would not happen this time.
Tarawa
In early November, the Marine task force assembled and began the journey to Tarawa, arriving on the 20th. The very next day, the allied ships began pounding away at the island's defenses and shortly after, the first waves of marines raced towards the landing beaches. Unfortunately, very few of the beach defenses were destroyed and as a result, casualties were very high, but they had managed to secure a decent toe hold on the shore. As they reported this back to command, General Smith decided to send Sgt Maxson’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines to reinforce the beachhead. The first wave left aboard the LVTs shortly after 11:00 AM and were stopped by the underwater reef and forced to leave their boats and wade ashore to Red Beach 3. By doing so, they became prime targets for Japanese gunners and suffered heavy casualties before barely making it to shore with 100 men. After seeing what happened to the first wave, Colonel Shoup, commander of the 2nd Marines, got the attention of the second wave and diverted them to his Red Beach 2, where they utilized a pier for protection but still suffered significant casualties. The last three waves were unable to reach the beaches and pulled back to regroup. Sgt Maxson was one of the lucky few who had reached the beach unscathed and was alarmed to see how precarious their position was. The Marines were pinned down by accurate enemy fire and could only advance a few feet at a time. By noon, what was left of the men on Red Beach 1 had cleared a beachhead about 500 yards wide and 150 yards deep, but that was the only significant advance made.
By nightfall, Sgt Maxson and the Marines were in a dangerous position. If the enemy counterattacked during the night, the allies would certainly have been driven to the sea and annihilated. For unknown reasons, that attack never came, and by morning, the marines let out a sigh of relief before getting back to the task at hand. While enemy fire was as murderous as it was the previous day, reinforcements landed to bolster the beachhead and Green Beach was successfully captured by 2:00 PM. On the third day, the Marines finally launched their attack, with Sgt Maxson’s 3rd Battalion attacking with 2nd Battalion to the east, taking out a deadly enemy machine gun placement and advancing to the east end of the airfield. Other elements of the 2nd Marine Division were also successful in pushing the enemy into a small concentration near the rear of the airfield. During the night, a heavy enemy counterattack was annihilated and on the morning of the 4th day, enemy resistance had crumbled as those who still had the will to fight were killed the night before. After advances were made against the remaining defenders, the island was declared secure at 2:30 PM on November 23rd after a bloody three day battle that caused over 3,000 marine casualties. The lessons learned from this battle would be applied to all future amphibious assaults made in the Pacific, including the ones Sgt Maxson was yet to participate in. But for now, the 8th Marines left the island aboard the USS Monrovia and arrived at the newly named Camp Tarawa, Hawaii on December 3rd to rest, refit, and receive replacements for the men they lost.
Saipan
Sgt Maxson was transferred to his regiment’s Headquarters & Service Company and later promoted to Staff Sergeant on March 4th, 1944. Two months later, the 8th Marines were off to the Pacific once again to participate in the Battle of Saipan, leaving on May 27th and conducting landing exercises in preparation for the operation. On June 15th, the battle commenced with each landing beach being pounded by naval guns, and at 8:40 AM, the assault waves rushed to the beaches. The 8th Marines landed at the Green Beaches and immediately came under strong mortar and artillery fire which caused heavy casualties. Nevertheless, they pushed onward and reached their assigned objective. SSgt Maxson and the regimental headquarters landed between Green 1 and Green 2, placing them directly at the front line as the latter had not been captured yet. By nightfall, the Japanese launched a number of small counter attacks against the center of the 8th Marines’ line which were easily repulsed. On June 17th, the 8th Marines commenced their attack through Susupe’s Marsh and had driven past a coconut grove by the next day. Overall, the first stages of the offensive had been successful and the Japanese were being pushed back. Active patrolling by SSgt Maxson’s regiment was carried out over the next few days to gain intel about enemy positions before attacking further. Finding no enemy resistance, they pushed towards the O4 objective on June 20th and strengthened the new lines for the night.
During the next few days, they captured a section of the ridge line of what was to be dubbed “Death Valley” by the Marines, took Mt Tapochau, and began advancing towards Garapan. These attacks caused SSgt Maxson’s headquarters company to suffer casualties amongst its commanding officers, which slowed movement briefly before command was shifted to someone else. By late June, attempts to capture Mt Tapochau’s foothills were hindered by heavy enemy fire, rough terrain, and lack of tank support. When the latter was provided, the marines had better luck and were able to capture the obstructions and continue towards Garapan. Due to their position on the island, the 8th Marines were spared from the massive Japanese Banzai attack that smashed through sections of the allied line on the night of July 1st, which caused heavy casualties before being beaten back. Heavy Japanese losses from this operation, combined with the already crumbling Japanese defenses, allowed a rapid advance from the allied forces that captured Garapan and the seaplane base of Tanapang Harbor by July 4th. For the 8th Marines, this was welcomed with the news that they would be pulled from the front for some much needed rest. Four days later, they returned to the line and began mop up operations, and on July 9th, the island was declared secure. But this would not be the end of SSgt Maxson’s time in the Mariana Islands.
Tinian
The small island of Tinian still needed to be captured, and the 2nd Marine Division was selected to conduct a diversionary landing near the Tinian Town beaches to divert attention away from the real landings elsewhere. On July 24th, SSgt Maxton and his regiment left Saipan and got into position for the attack. The next morning, the assault began. At 7:30 AM, the 8th Marines steamed towards the beaches, and appeared to be repulsed by Japanese fire. The bait was set, and the enemy thought they had fought back the assault landings. In reality, the true assault force landed without much opposition on the White Beaches and began advancing inland. The next morning, the 8th Marines landed at White Beach 1, with SSgt Maxson’s Headquarters Company landing first at 6:30 AM, and assumed the northernmost sector of the front line. Shortly after, they began their tough advance towards Ushi Point and secured the O2 objective by nightfall. The next day, the regiment swept all the way to the east coast, and were promptly placed in reserve after completing their assigned objective and being the unit which advanced the farthest in a single day. They returned to the line on July 30th, and the next day, attacked “the cliff” and after a short but furious battle, reached the heights of Tinian and held it during the night. After a final push the next day, the island was declared secure, and the mop up operation began. This task was assigned to SSgt Maxson’s 8th Marines, which would carry it out until late October. However, Sgt Maxson’s time in the Pacific was over.
On August 12th, he was transferred out of his unit and began the journey back to the United States, arriving on September 4th, and joined Service Company, Marine Barracks, at Parris Island in mid December. Instead of continuing as a quartermaster, Sgt Maxson became the assistant dockmaster at Port Royal, South Carolina, and it was here that he heard the news of Japan’s surrender on September 2nd, 1945, which ended World War Two. Unfortunately, Maxson still had two more years in the Marine Corps before he could be discharged. He carried out the remainder of his service at Port Royal and reached the title of dockmaster before being discharged on May 13th, 1947. Not much is known about his civilian life, other than he passed away on November 27th, 2002 in Arizona.
Samoa
For the moment though, he remained in San Diego for a year where he became a clerk, was promoted to Private First Class, then to Corporal on November 19th. After a year, Pfc Maxson and the 8th Marines finally left the United States on January 6th, 1942 aboard the USNT Monterey, and disembarked at Tuitila, Samoa on the 20th. While they would not be fighting the Japanese yet, the next ten months were filled with extensive jungle warfare training on top of providing defense for the small island. While here, Maxson achieved the rating of Quartermaster, but would also get into some trouble. On April 15th, his commanding officer ordered him to stop carrying a pistol, which he “willfully disobeyed said order on June 9th” and was promptly demoted to Private First Class. Due to good behavior, his rank of Corporal was restored three months later, just in time for his regiment’s mobilization for the ongoing Guadalcanal campaign.
Guadalcanal
Cpl Maxson and the 8th Marines left Samoa aboard the USS Hunter Liggett on October 25th and quickly unloaded at Guadalcanal by November 5th. The regiment was ordered to the Matanikau River, with Cpl Maxson’s battalion holding its flank, where they provided security during the 182nd Infantry’s crossing on the 17th before being diverted to defend Henderson Airfield and then returning by early December. While Army forces advanced on Gifu, Cpl Maxson’s 8th Marines and the 6th Marines attacked through the hills and ravines of Point Cruz on January 13th, located along the northern coast, and their coordinated effort surrounded some of the surviving Japanese and led to their annihilation. Concurrently, the Japanese had deemed the battle to be lost and had begun evacuating their troops from the island, which was completed by February 7th. Two days later, the island was declared secure, and the 8th Marines left Guadalcanal for New Zealand the same day. The next 8 months in Wellington, New Zealand were used to refit and extensively train the Marines for the Invasion of Tarawa, such as rehearsing amphibious landings. In the meantime, Maxson was promoted to Sergeant on August 17th and returned to his duties as a Quartermaster clerk. Usually, clerks and other members of headquarters companies would be slightly more out of harm's way, but that would not happen this time.
Tarawa
In early November, the Marine task force assembled and began the journey to Tarawa, arriving on the 20th. The very next day, the allied ships began pounding away at the island's defenses and shortly after, the first waves of marines raced towards the landing beaches. Unfortunately, very few of the beach defenses were destroyed and as a result, casualties were very high, but they had managed to secure a decent toe hold on the shore. As they reported this back to command, General Smith decided to send Sgt Maxson’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines to reinforce the beachhead. The first wave left aboard the LVTs shortly after 11:00 AM and were stopped by the underwater reef and forced to leave their boats and wade ashore to Red Beach 3. By doing so, they became prime targets for Japanese gunners and suffered heavy casualties before barely making it to shore with 100 men. After seeing what happened to the first wave, Colonel Shoup, commander of the 2nd Marines, got the attention of the second wave and diverted them to his Red Beach 2, where they utilized a pier for protection but still suffered significant casualties. The last three waves were unable to reach the beaches and pulled back to regroup. Sgt Maxson was one of the lucky few who had reached the beach unscathed and was alarmed to see how precarious their position was. The Marines were pinned down by accurate enemy fire and could only advance a few feet at a time. By noon, what was left of the men on Red Beach 1 had cleared a beachhead about 500 yards wide and 150 yards deep, but that was the only significant advance made.
By nightfall, Sgt Maxson and the Marines were in a dangerous position. If the enemy counterattacked during the night, the allies would certainly have been driven to the sea and annihilated. For unknown reasons, that attack never came, and by morning, the marines let out a sigh of relief before getting back to the task at hand. While enemy fire was as murderous as it was the previous day, reinforcements landed to bolster the beachhead and Green Beach was successfully captured by 2:00 PM. On the third day, the Marines finally launched their attack, with Sgt Maxson’s 3rd Battalion attacking with 2nd Battalion to the east, taking out a deadly enemy machine gun placement and advancing to the east end of the airfield. Other elements of the 2nd Marine Division were also successful in pushing the enemy into a small concentration near the rear of the airfield. During the night, a heavy enemy counterattack was annihilated and on the morning of the 4th day, enemy resistance had crumbled as those who still had the will to fight were killed the night before. After advances were made against the remaining defenders, the island was declared secure at 2:30 PM on November 23rd after a bloody three day battle that caused over 3,000 marine casualties. The lessons learned from this battle would be applied to all future amphibious assaults made in the Pacific, including the ones Sgt Maxson was yet to participate in. But for now, the 8th Marines left the island aboard the USS Monrovia and arrived at the newly named Camp Tarawa, Hawaii on December 3rd to rest, refit, and receive replacements for the men they lost.
Saipan
Sgt Maxson was transferred to his regiment’s Headquarters & Service Company and later promoted to Staff Sergeant on March 4th, 1944. Two months later, the 8th Marines were off to the Pacific once again to participate in the Battle of Saipan, leaving on May 27th and conducting landing exercises in preparation for the operation. On June 15th, the battle commenced with each landing beach being pounded by naval guns, and at 8:40 AM, the assault waves rushed to the beaches. The 8th Marines landed at the Green Beaches and immediately came under strong mortar and artillery fire which caused heavy casualties. Nevertheless, they pushed onward and reached their assigned objective. SSgt Maxson and the regimental headquarters landed between Green 1 and Green 2, placing them directly at the front line as the latter had not been captured yet. By nightfall, the Japanese launched a number of small counter attacks against the center of the 8th Marines’ line which were easily repulsed. On June 17th, the 8th Marines commenced their attack through Susupe’s Marsh and had driven past a coconut grove by the next day. Overall, the first stages of the offensive had been successful and the Japanese were being pushed back. Active patrolling by SSgt Maxson’s regiment was carried out over the next few days to gain intel about enemy positions before attacking further. Finding no enemy resistance, they pushed towards the O4 objective on June 20th and strengthened the new lines for the night.
During the next few days, they captured a section of the ridge line of what was to be dubbed “Death Valley” by the Marines, took Mt Tapochau, and began advancing towards Garapan. These attacks caused SSgt Maxson’s headquarters company to suffer casualties amongst its commanding officers, which slowed movement briefly before command was shifted to someone else. By late June, attempts to capture Mt Tapochau’s foothills were hindered by heavy enemy fire, rough terrain, and lack of tank support. When the latter was provided, the marines had better luck and were able to capture the obstructions and continue towards Garapan. Due to their position on the island, the 8th Marines were spared from the massive Japanese Banzai attack that smashed through sections of the allied line on the night of July 1st, which caused heavy casualties before being beaten back. Heavy Japanese losses from this operation, combined with the already crumbling Japanese defenses, allowed a rapid advance from the allied forces that captured Garapan and the seaplane base of Tanapang Harbor by July 4th. For the 8th Marines, this was welcomed with the news that they would be pulled from the front for some much needed rest. Four days later, they returned to the line and began mop up operations, and on July 9th, the island was declared secure. But this would not be the end of SSgt Maxson’s time in the Mariana Islands.
Tinian
The small island of Tinian still needed to be captured, and the 2nd Marine Division was selected to conduct a diversionary landing near the Tinian Town beaches to divert attention away from the real landings elsewhere. On July 24th, SSgt Maxton and his regiment left Saipan and got into position for the attack. The next morning, the assault began. At 7:30 AM, the 8th Marines steamed towards the beaches, and appeared to be repulsed by Japanese fire. The bait was set, and the enemy thought they had fought back the assault landings. In reality, the true assault force landed without much opposition on the White Beaches and began advancing inland. The next morning, the 8th Marines landed at White Beach 1, with SSgt Maxson’s Headquarters Company landing first at 6:30 AM, and assumed the northernmost sector of the front line. Shortly after, they began their tough advance towards Ushi Point and secured the O2 objective by nightfall. The next day, the regiment swept all the way to the east coast, and were promptly placed in reserve after completing their assigned objective and being the unit which advanced the farthest in a single day. They returned to the line on July 30th, and the next day, attacked “the cliff” and after a short but furious battle, reached the heights of Tinian and held it during the night. After a final push the next day, the island was declared secure, and the mop up operation began. This task was assigned to SSgt Maxson’s 8th Marines, which would carry it out until late October. However, Sgt Maxson’s time in the Pacific was over.
On August 12th, he was transferred out of his unit and began the journey back to the United States, arriving on September 4th, and joined Service Company, Marine Barracks, at Parris Island in mid December. Instead of continuing as a quartermaster, Sgt Maxson became the assistant dockmaster at Port Royal, South Carolina, and it was here that he heard the news of Japan’s surrender on September 2nd, 1945, which ended World War Two. Unfortunately, Maxson still had two more years in the Marine Corps before he could be discharged. He carried out the remainder of his service at Port Royal and reached the title of dockmaster before being discharged on May 13th, 1947. Not much is known about his civilian life, other than he passed away on November 27th, 2002 in Arizona.