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| Sgt. Jay Hollifield, 27th Infantry Division, was killed on the last day of the Battle of Saipan. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60635428/jay-b_-hollifield https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Marianas/index.html |
Jay Bee Hollifield never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Jay was born on April 22, 1920 in North Carolina. His parents Ed and Victoria were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a timber cutter and later as a farmer. Jay had a younger brother and two younger sisters. By 1940 Jay had completed three years of high school and was living and working on his uncle's farm.
He was drafted into the army in September 1941. He reached the rank of sergeant in Company B, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The 27th ID was deployed in defensive positions in California right after the Pearl Harbor attack. In May 1942 it was sent to Hawaii to defend that location. It first saw action when it captured the Makin Atoll in November 1943.
The 27th ID played a major role in the attack on Saipan, landing on D+1, June 16, 1944. It was tough fighting taking on the center section of the attack and the 27th suffered more than 1,800 casualties in two weeks. There was no rest at night when the Japanese were most active with suicidal night patrols.
On July 7, 1944, the 105th IR was in the direct path of a last ditch pre-dawn Japanese banzai attack of at least 1,500 men. The 1st Battalion was cut off and surrounded. The ill-armed Japanese suffered horrendous casualties. When the attack ended a few hours later and the remaining Japanese withdrew, the 1st Battalion was down to 25 percent strength, it lost 349 men that day.
On the night of July 8-9, a few remaining Japanese troops tried to infiltrate through the 27th ID lines. They were repulsed, but Americans still died. Sgt. Hollifield was killed on July 9, 1944, the official last day of the battle.
His grave is at Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Last year on this date I profiled Okinawa fallen Wallace Bitton, 96th Infantry Division. You can read about Wallace here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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