Cooperative Living June 2020 - 13

COLONEL RIFFE
Before retiring as a colonel in 1972,
Soldiers head into combat
in the Battle of Okinawa.
artillery barrage and aerial attack. The
Japanese usually emerged from the
caves around 2 a.m. and fired at
American defensive positions, but Riffe
encountered them one fateful day when
he and his platoon came under small
arms fire.
" During the attack I moved forward
with two scouts and an automatic
rifleman - with the remainder of the
platoon held back 50 or 75 feet with
the platoon sergeant, " Riffe explains.
" My lead scout, who was about 10
feet in front of me, was killed instantly.
I heard my automatic rifleman cry out.
I turned around and saw him lying on
the ground, about 15 feet away, holding
his left leg. I crawled to him and saw
where a bullet had pierced his thigh,
apparently severing the bone. I called
to Shultz, my other scout, and told him
to go back to the unit and have the
platoon sergeant call for the first-aid
stretcher team. "
A medic rushed to the rifleman's
side.
" Here he was, dropping to his knees
right beside me, shoulder to shoulder, "
Riffe says about the medic. " When he
was pulling out a bandage from his firstaid
kit, the enemy opened fire. The
medic was hit. He slumped forward -
dead. I could hear bullets swishing on
both sides of my head, not more than
two or three inches from life ending.
Why not me?
" Suddenly there was a lull in enemy
action, so I told the wounded rifleman
that I was going back to the platoon and
have the area shrouded in smoke, at
which time Shultz and I would return
and carry him back to where a first-aid
stretcher team would take him to the
battalion aid station. Fortunately, before
co-opliving.com
The information
in this article is
based on military
articles by Col. Riffe
and WWII history
references, and
interviews in May.
the smoke lifted, we had carried him
out of harm's way. "
The Army awarded Riffe a Bronze
Star for his actions during the battle,
but from that day forward, he
wondered, " Why not me? "
JAPAN SURRENDERS
The Okinawa campaign ended on
June 27, 1945. The Americans suffered
more than 75,000 casualties. The U.S.
military estimates that more than
110,000 Japanese soldiers were killed
during the 88-day battle, including
conscripted Okinawan civilians.
In August, the U.S. dropped atomic
bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
On Aug. 15, Emperor Hirohito
announced on the radio that Japan
would surrender. The Allies gathered
for the official surrender on Sept. 2,
1945. Supreme Commander Douglas
MacArthur declared, " It is my earnest
hope and indeed the hope of all
mankind that from this solemn occasion
a better world shall emerge out of the
blood and carnage of the past. "
Three weeks after the war ended,
Riffe's unit was ordered to the
conquered mainland to collect guns
and swords. They also had to collect
wooden spears that Japanese authorities
distributed to civilian adults and
children with orders to fight the Allies
" to the death. "
Riffe says that tour of duty
convinced him the atomic bombings
prevented the loss of many more
Japanese and American lives if the
Allies had found it necessary to invade
the mainland to end the war.
The Army gave Riffe a commission
in the regular Army after the war. He
remained on active duty for 30 years.
Riffe earned two master's degrees, and
graduated from the Army War College
and the Army Command Staff General
College. He served in the famed 82nd
Airborne with a certified 100 parachute
jumps while rising to chief of staff of
the division. He served in operations
and planning in Berlin, Germany,
during the height of the Cold War.
In recognition of his duty in Berlin,
he earned the Legion of Merit award.
Riffe retired in 1986, intent on
traveling the world with his wife,
Beatrice, who is now his wife of 66
years. Together, they have visited many
nations. Except for Okinawa.
Nevertheless, Riffe still goes to
Okinawa in his memory. And though he
is hard of hearing now, he can still hear
1st Lt. James Riffe (left) and Capt. Donald
Diaz during the Battle for Okinawa in 1945.
the sounds of battle - the mighty blast
of artillery, mortar and mines, the zing
of bullets, and the staccato of machine
gunfire. The screams. And always the
question, " Why not me? "
" During the six weeks I served with
my platoon, seven brave, courageous
young Americans gave their lives for
their country - our country - and 14
were seriously injured, " says Riffe, who
received a Purple Heart for his wounds.
" When I was ordered to another duty, I
never saw the others again. But they
were, and always shall be, a very
important part of my life. And I think of
them every day. " ■
George Stuteville is a longtime
electric cooperative communicator
and former Washington bureau chief
for the Indianapolis Star.
June 2020 | Cooperative Living | 11
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
PROFILES OF HONOR COLLECTION/LIBRARY OF
VIRGINIA/VIRGINIA WWI & WWII COMMISSION
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2020

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