S.C. World War II veterans remember fierce battles in the Pacific

Bill Paulis was an Air Force radio operator in the Pacific during World War II and a veteran of 36 combat missions when he was assigned to make a supply run to Australia, a respite from the war.

When he returned from the trip he received devastating news: his entire bomber crew had been shot down while he was gone. There were no survivors.

“Well, that was quite a shock for me,” said Paulis, who served with the 499th squadron of the 345th bomb group. “I lost my crew. I’m the only one of my crew to come back.”

Paulis, who is from Chapin, tells that story in “The Island War,” the seventh installment of “South Carolinians in World War II,” , a collective remembrance of the war chronicled from personal stories of South Carolina veterans. The installment airs May 14 on S.C. ETV. The eighth and final segment, “The Way Home,” airs May 21.

In the documentary, South Carolina veterans recount the grim, bloody fight to take the Pacific islands from the Japanese Imperial Army. They recounted harrowing beach landings, pounding by Japanese artillery and bombers and massive casualties. The Americans were stunned by the savagery of the Japanese, who attacked from underground bunkers.

“Their psychology that they had been raised under: To die for the emperor was glory. So therefore death was not something to be feared,” said Robeson Hughes of West Columbia, who fought with the 4th Marine Division.

Hughes was one of two men who emerged from a 17-man tank alive.

“We landed on Saipan in amtraks. The Japs were trying to climb into tanks to get at us,” he said.

The segment details the bloody battles for the Philippines, Peleliu, Bougainville and Iwo Jima, and recounts that iconic moment from the Pacific war: The raising of the U.S. flag on top of Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines.

Wade Sellers of Columbia’s Coal Powered Filmworks is director and editor of the series.

The episode has particular poignancy. The man behind the series, Camden attorney and philanthropist John S. Rainey passed away in March at the age of 77. Rainey served as executive producer of the series, a partnership with the S.C. ETV Endowment and The State newspaper, along with Elaine T. Freeman.

Last Wednesday, as veterans and special guests gathered at SCETV to preview the episode, Freeman spoke of Rainey’s intense desire to record the memories of the men and women who fought in World War II. He viewed those members of the “Greatest Generation” as a true legacy of South Carolina and role models for future generations, she said.

“I wish he were here,” said Jeff Wilkinson, a reporter for The State and producer for the series, who has interviewed more than 160 veterans over five years and accompanied veterans to Holland, France and Japan. About 184,000 South Carolinians fought during World War II.

In the documentary, the veterans recount the awful carnage of the Pacific battles, as they leapfrogged across the islands. “The Island War” also explores the role of women in the war effort, many of whom rushed out, just as their male counterparts, to enlist in the service and do their part for the Allied cause.

Many of the women’s parents were opposed to their daughters’ decisions, said Mary Gettys of Rock Hill. “Our parents did not think it was a ladylike thing to do.” But they were determined.

Paulls, like many veterans, returned home overcome by the loss of life and the carnage he had witnessed. He was severely depressed, he told those gathered last Wednesday, and tried to drown himself in a lake near his home. But when he didn’t succeed, he ran home “and I hugged my mother,” and after that he was determined to overcome his survivor’s guilt and lead a normal life. He married the sweetheart he had left behind.

In a taped televised message, the late John Rainey spoke about why he was so passionate about embarking on the documentaries.

“We have to preserve this so that those of us who have been born into this land of plenty, to this place of peace and safety, know that we have it because there were those who were willing to pay the price in blood to bequeath it to us,” Rainey said. “It is important today for the same reason it was important to Herodotus when he wrote his histories in the 4th century B.C. because he stated as a preamble to those histories that the purposes in writing those was to preserve from decay the remembrance of what men had done.

“And what we are trying to do today is to preserve the remembrance of what the brave men and women of the Greatest Generation did, and did for us.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 1:42 PM with the headline "S.C. World War II veterans remember fierce battles in the Pacific."