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MAJ Mark E Cooper
to remember
Plotts, Robert Lee, I, CSM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Fairbury
Last Address Linden, NC
Date of Passing Nov 14, 2009
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Last Known Activity:
CSM Robert L. Plotts I
LINDEN - Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Lee Plotts I, 83, of 7085 Plotts Drive, went home to be with the Lord, on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville. He was born on June 13, 1926, to the late Myrtle Galloway Plotts and Leon T. Plotts, in Detroit. Mr. Plotts served our country for 26 years during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, receiving a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and also the Army Commendation Medal. He also served in the occupation of Laos and the Bay of Pigs. The first part of his military career he spent in the 504th Infantry Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division. The final and longest part of his career he spent in the respected division, Special Forces. He was part of the 77th, 10th, 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Special Forces Groups. He was preceded in death by a son, Robert Lee Plotts II; and a daughter, Emma Marian Hales. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Mildred R. Plotts of the home; a son Johnny Plotts of Linden; a granddaughter, Becky Hales; and a grandson Bobby Plotts, both of Linden; two great-grandsons, Tommy Hales of the home, and Robby Plotts of Virginia Beach, Va.; a great-granddaughter, Taylor Polston of Fayetteville; four half sisters, Angie Plotts of Detroit, and Susan Plotts, Mary Lou Plotts and Judy Plotts, all of Michigan; four half brothers, Charles Plotts, Jack Plotts, Jerry Plotts and Larry Plotts, all of Michigan. The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009, at Rogers and Breece Funeral Home in Fayetteville. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009, at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, with Dr. Gerry Davis officiating. He will be laid to rest in St. Andrews United Methodist Church cemetery with the rendering of full military honors. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to St. Andrews United Methodist Church Building Fund, 121 Lofton Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28311-3426. Pallbearers: Dan Pietz, Gordon McRae, Steve McGraw, Ed Norris, Craig Morris, Mark Tomeucci, Ricky Knight and Bobby Salmon. Honorary: Faith Lessons Sunday school class, Hardees Liars Club and Dr. Godfrey Ohadugha. Services entrusted to Rogers and Breece Funeral Home of Fayetteville.
Operation Flintlock/Battle of Kwajalein Atoll
From Month/Year
January / 1944
To Month/Year
February / 1944
Description The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the US, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the Americans had penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US.
The U.S. forces for the landings were Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner's 5th Amphibious Force, and Major General Holland M. Smith's V Amphibious Corps, which comprised the 4th Marine Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt, the 7th Infantry Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Charles H. Corlett, plus the 22nd Marines, 106th Infantry, and the 111th Infantry regiments. The 4th and 7th Divisions were assigned to the initial landings at Kwajalein, while the 2nd Battalion of the 106th was assigned to the simultaneous capture of Majuro Atoll. The rest of the 106th and the 22nd Marines were in reserve for Kwajalein, while awaiting the following assault on Eniwetok, scheduled for three months later.
The 7th Infantry Division began by capturing the small islands labeled Carlos, Carter, Cecil, and Carlson on 31 January, which were used as artillery bases for the next day's assault. Kwajalein Island is 2.5 mi (4.0 km) long but only 880 yd (800 m) wide. There was therefore no possibility of defence in depth, so the Japanese planned to counter-attack the landing beaches. They had not realized until the battle of Tarawa that American amphibious vehicles could cross coral reefs and so land on the lagoon side of an atoll; accordingly the strongest defences on Kwajalein faced the ocean. The bombardment by battleships, B-24 bombers from Apamama and artillery on Carlson was devastating. The U.S. Army history of the battle quotes a participant as saying that "the entire island looked as if it had been picked up 20,000 feet and then dropped." By the time the 7th Division landed on Kwajalein Island on 1 February, there was little resistance; by night the Americans estimated that only 1,500 of the original 5,000 defenders were still alive.
On the north side of the atoll, the 4th Marine Division followed the same plan, first capturing islets Ivan, Jacob, Albert, Allen, and Abraham on 31 January, and landing on Roi-Namur on 1 February. The airfield on Roi (the eastern half), was captured quickly, and Namur (the western half), fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a satchel charge of high explosives into a Japanese bunker which turned out to be a torpedo warhead magazine. The resulting explosion killed twenty Marines and wounded dozens more. Only 51 of the original 3,500 Japanese defenders of Roi-Namur survived to be captured.
