Goodrich- It’s been 61 years since village resident Max Cantley witnessed the invasion of Okinawa from the deck of a battleship.
At dawn April 1, 1944, American troops rushed ashore on the small Pacific islands south of the Japanese mainland. The 68 day battle was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign and the last major campaign of the Pacific War and World War II. Total American casualties in the operation numbered more than 12,000 killed, including nearly 5,000 Navy dead and almost 8,000 Marine and Army dead leaving 36,000 wounded.
While Max watched from his ship as his older brother Elmo Canton went ashore on Okinawa with the Army’s 7th Division’in one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. Now, six decades later, Max, now 81, recalls the events leading up to the early April days of 1944 in the Pacific.
Born in Otter Lake, Mich., Max Canton was one of 11 children of Floyd and Grace Canton. In 1940 the family moved to a farm near Walker Road in Atlas Township.
Cantley graduated from Goodrich High School in 1943, and entered the Navy about three weeks later. After completing his initial training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Ill., he was transported to Bremerton, Wa., on the west coast.
‘I was assigned to the U.S.S. New Mexico, a 624 foot battleship,? said Cantley. ‘My job was pretty much below deck during battle stations, in the main battery in fourth turret with a 14 inch?50 caliber gun. I was a hoist man, basically rolling the shells over to be loaded and fired. The rest of the time I was top-side taking care of the port-quarter deck.?
‘We sailed to Pearl Harbor in October 1943, everything was pretty cleaned up there after Japan’s attack on Dec. 7, 1941. They were still pumping out the U.S.S. Oklahoma during that time, which along with the Arizona, were on the bottom of Pearl.?
During the next 10 months Canton sailed on the battleship New Mexico to Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, Guam and Siapan.
‘We were in several battles in those little islands. Some down below the equator toward Australia and Guadal Canal,? said Cantley. ‘We blew the bore out of our guns during one engagement in the Marshalls so we had to go all the back to Bremerton, Wa. for repairs. We arrived in August 1944 and I got a 27 day leave to go home during that time. I came home to Atlas Township for a while.?
Cantley returned to the New Mexico, and in October 1944 sailed back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii then west to the Leyte and Luzon islands, and the Philippines.
‘We had Kamikaze planes all over the place near Leyte,? said Canton. ‘In January 1945 near Luzon our ship got hit by a Kamikaze. It hit the bridge and killed our Captain Fleming. We lost about 30 other men. I was in the gun turret when the plane hit then exploded.?
After returning to Pearl Harbor for repairs the New Mexico sailed northwest to Okinawa and the invasion. Okinawa was strategic due to its proximity to the Japanese mainland as an American base for a possible invasion.
‘On April 1, I could see the troops going onto shore,? said Canton. I knew my brother, Elmo, was either part of that invasion or on his way to shore. He was in the 7th division, 32 Infantry of the Army. I thought a lot about him being there with me out on a ship. I could hear the battle on shore from the ship you could see planes. The Japs were really dug in that island.?
‘Later in the battle of Okinawa, they asked me and others if we wanted to go ashore and visit any blood relative that may be fighting. I could have went ashore, however, I had just broken my hand, and you needed to carry a side arm due to the chances of meeting some Japs. But I couldn’t because of the cast on my hand. So I to stayed on the ship.?
Cantley said the Marines had captured a Kamikaze pilot and were guarding him on board.
‘The Jap had a gash on his forehead,? said Cantley. ‘There were two Marines guarding him he was kind of a short guy. They told him he had to eat something or else.?
‘In May we got hit by another Kamikaze and this time killed about 50 sailors, I was on the ship in sick-bay because of my broken hand when the plane hit our ship. I got up and left because others were worse than me. I was just taking up space there in the hospital.?
The New Mexico was repaired off shore from Okinawa by an Landing Ships Tank vessel that came along side. The Navy carried extra equipment in the battle areas.
‘We knew the end of the war was coming. The rumor was that the peace treaty was going to be signed on our ship the New Mexico. But the Navy changed their mind because Harry Truman was from Missouri and so they signed it on the U.S.S. Missouri,? laughed Canton. Heck, the Missouri was in only one battle. We were going to make history with the treaty signing on our ship.?
In August 1945 news reached the ship regarding the Japanese surrender following the dropping of the atomic bombs.
‘We got orders to sail to Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender of Japan on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.?
‘We had to stay out in the harbor just in case the surrender was a trick by the Japs,? laughed Cantley. ‘I was on watch during the formal surrender. From the New Mexico deck I was close enough to mainland Japan to see school children playing. We sailed into the harbor only after the surrender.?
Following the surrender, the U.S.S. New Mexico sailed back to the United States via the Panama Canal and the south tip of Florida to Boston Naval Yard. The U.S.S. New Mexico was decommissioned July 19, 1946. Canton says while in Boston the ship was open for two days for the public to visit. During that time more than 24,000 toured the battleship. The ship received eight battle stars for combat and credited for shooting down 21 enemy aircraft.
Max Canton was discharged in February 1946 and returned to Atlas Township. Soon after his return he was employed at Fisher Body Plant 1 in Flint. He retired 1980. Max married Frances Mellon in 1949 and in 2004 celebrated their 55 wedding anniversary. She died that same year.
Elmo Canton survived the battle of Okinawa and returned to the Goodrich area. He died in 2002 at the age of 83.