"They rescued the Jap pilot and he spoke English. They asked him what he thought of our defenses. He says, 'Your Navy gunfire stinks, but your pilots are damned good.'" (Video Interview, 49:12)

Charles D. Mason

Charles Mason [detail from video] War: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953 Branch: Marine Corps Unit: 1st Corps Medium Tank Battalion, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division Service Location: Tarawa Atoll (Gilbert Islands); Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); also: Korea Rank: Master Sergeant, E-7 Place of Birth: MO

Tanks aren't often associated with combat in the Pacific Theater of World War II, so Charles Mason's detailed memories of commanding a tank (named Cecilia) during several island invasions are important to our understandings of the mechanics of those campaigns. Just getting a tank off a landing craft and onto a beach took immense skill and fortitude. On Saipan, Mason watched as a Marine pilot who had just set down his plane immediately took off again to shoot down a harassing Japanese plane—whose rescued pilot gave a succinct assessment of American defense.