On Saturday
November 24, 2007, we received the following information via
my World War II Stories -- In Their Own Words guestbook
entry... 7:37:15am
Your
Name: Ginger Morton
City/Country: Chesterfield, SC
Referred By: Web Ring
Comments/Suggestions: Thanks for a great
site on our military who served in the Pacific.
My G-Uncle,
LtCol. Tom Trotti of 5th Marine Division 3/26th was KIA on
Iwo Jima on 22 FEB 45. I never knew him...never have had
much information about him with the exception of the little
bits and pieces I have found via the internet. The following
is all I know about his service to our country...If by
chance, anyone remembers him of anything about him, I would
love to hear from you.
Tom Trotti,
commander 3rd battalion, 26th regiment
TROTTI AND
STAFF Battalion officers, 3/26, Trotti, seated
center
HERE
IS WHAT I KNOW:
The advance on
Iwo Jima was progressing more slowly than anticipated. In
order to provide impetus for the attack on this fourth day
of battle, Generals Rockey and Cates decided to effect
relief of some front line units. On the corps' left flank,
Colonel Grahams' 26th Marines moved out at daybreak with the
mission of relieving RCT 27 and continuing the attack
northward. Upon the passage of lines, 1/26, already at the
front, was to revert to its parent regiment and 2/27, in
27th Marines reserve, would become attached to RCT
26.
The 21st
Marines moved out at 0500 to relieve RCT 23 (with 2/24
attached) on the left of the 4th Division. At such time as
this relief was completed, the 23d Marines (less mortar
platoons of the 1st and 3d Battalions) would take up
positions along the northeastern part of Airfield Number 1
as VAC reserve. The mortar platoons were to remain in
position to support the attack of RCT 21. The 25th Marines,
with 1/24 attached, would remain on the division right,
while the 24th (less 1/24) continued as division
reserve.
With its 1st,
2d, and 3d Battalions abreast from left to right, Colonel
Graham's 26th Marines relieved RCT 27. The move was made in
a miserable downpour of rain, under extremely heavy enemy
fire, and as preparations for continuing the attack began,
so did a series of unfortunate events.
As so often
happens in battle, the relief of front line units while
under heavy fire brought about confusion and disruption.
Information concerning adjacent units was insufficient,
contact not what it might have been, and attack orders
hastily issued. Lieutenant Colonel Tom M. Trotti's 3d
Battalion extended 200 yards into the 4th Division's zone
and received demoralizing fire from a bluff on its right
flank. This elevation was 100 feet high in spots, and ran
down the west center of the island, curving across the 5th
Division's front near Airfield Number 2.
Rather than
attempt immediate adjustment of lines by lateral movement,
Trotti decided to accomplish this move gradually while
advancing toward the O-2 line. But heavy Japanese fire from
the dominant ground on the right flank permitted only minor
gains and caused many casualties. At about 0940, while
attempting to pull his battalion together, Lieutenant
Colonel Trotti was killed, as was his operations officer,
Major William R. Day. Since the battalion executive officer
had previously been wounded and evacuated, Captain Richard
M. Cook, commanding Company G, assumed command of the
battalion, to be superseded at 1200 by Major Richard Fagan,
5th Division Inspector.
By 1400, the
centermost units of RCT 26 had gained about 400 yards, but
with flanking units not abreast, it was necessary to pull
the advanced troops back to more secure positions. Between
1630 and 1800, uncoordinated enemy counterattacks on the
left flank, and to a lesser extent in the center, were
repulsed by artillery and infantry fire. heavy fire from the
bluff, as well as from positions to the front of the
regiment, continued to fall in RCT 26's zone, but by 1730
the three battalions held goo positions for the
night.
I WOULD LOVE
TO FIND OUT MORE. IF ANY ONE CAN OR HAS ANY INFORMATION,
WOULD YOU MIND SHARING IT WITH ME. IT WOULD REALLY BE VERY
MUCH APPRECIATE MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW.
Ginger Morton,
Chesterfield, SC...g-niece of Tom M. Trotti.
South
Connellsville Marine Given Purple Heart for Wounds
By
SERGEANT JIMMIE DUGAN of Los Angeles, Calif., a Marine Corps
Combat Correspondent.
ABOARD
A TRANSPORT ENROUTE TO IWO JIMA- (Delayed).
- Marine
Private First Class George W. Weimer, of South
Connellsville, Pa., recently was awarded the Purple Heart
for wounds sustained in January, 1944, during the
Bougainville campaign. Weimer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Weimer, of 126 Hyndman street, was presented the medal by
Marine Lieutenant Colonel Tom M. Trotti, of Chesterfield,
S.C.
Weimer
attended South Connellsville High School prior to his
enlistment in December, 1941.
Source: The Daily Courier, Thursday, March
22, 1945 Connellsville, Pennsylvania
Obituary found in Virginia Trotti Dormon
Miller's personal Trotti book. Probably from one of
the Charleston, SC, newspapers.
Lt.
Col. T. M. Trotti Killed in Action
Word has been
received in Charleston of the death of Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Mulloy Trotti, who was killed in action February 22
on Iwo Jima, while commanding the Third battalion of the
Fifth marine division. His wife, the former Miss
Jeanette Michel, of Charleston, who is residing at present
in San Diego, Cal., was notified Tuesday by the war
department, and sent word to her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
William Franklin Michel, of 90 Wentworth street.
Colonel Trotti
was born December 29, 1913, in Chesterfield, a son of the
late Dr. Louis H. Trotti, of that place and his wife the
former Miss Margaret Hanna. He was graduated in
1937 from the Citadel with a bachelor of science degree,
after majoring in pre-medical studies. In his senior
year, he won the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award and the
General William Moultrie saber, presented by the Daughters
of the American Revolution.
Upon
graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the
marine corps, and after attending a parachute school, became
a marine paratrooper instructor at Lakehurst, N. J. He
was promoted last year to the rank of lieutenant
colonel.
His marriage
to Miss Michel took place August 20, 1940.
Surviving are
his widow; his mother; two brothers, both in the armed
forces, and five sisters, one of whom is an officer in the
WACs.
Obituary found in Virginia Trotti Dormon
Miller's personal Trotti book. From one of the
Columbia, SC, newspapers.
Col.
Tom Trotti Killed in Action
Chesterfield,
March 14 - (Special) Mrs. L. H. Trotti has been notified
that her son, Lt. Col. Tom M. Trotti serving with the marine
corps, was kill in action February 22.
Lt. Col.
Trotti entered the marin corps immediately after graduating
from the citadel in 1937. He was a paratroop instructor
before going overseas, first seeing action in the invasion
of Guam.
His wife
now lives in California.
|
|
Taps for
Lt. Col. Tom Mulloy
Trotti
22 February 1945
Entered Service: Chesterfield, SC
3/26th, 5th Marine Division
World War II Veteran
United States Marine Corps
|
