JAMES BELL SHOLAR JR.

 


Army Dental Corps
 
James B Sholar was born December 04, 1919 and grew up near Gracey on the Trigg/Christian County line. He was the son of James Bell Sholar and Mary Gaines. He died May 02, 1973 in Hopkinsville, KY. Jim was a Navy corpsman during W.W.II. He was listed as a Pharmacist's Mate First Class V6 USNR, serial number 634-23-24. Jim entered active service on April 8, 1942. He saw action in the Pacific Theater and went ashore with a Marine Corps unit at Guadalcanal. He never talked much about his war experience. He said he never took his pistol out of its holster during any battle. Like the other medics in the Pacific Theatre, he painted over the Red Cross on his helmet and did not wear an arm band since it made him more of a target.
 
 While he was at Guadalcanal for the duration of the battle he would remember and  recall the the sound of "washing machine Charlie's" plane flying over Henderson Field at night. A terrible memory that haunted him was placing dog tags between the incisors of dead Marines before putting them into body bags. He also spoke of giving intentional morphine overdoses to the hopelessly wounded. He would never talk about Peleliu. I assume he lost a great many friends there. He was wounded in the left arm and chest by a machine gun blast as he tried to reach a wounded marine. The marine died, and it was hours before anyone could get to corspman Sholar.
 
Peleliu a six-mile by 2-mile coral islet with a fringing reef. Peleliu's western-facing beaches were chosen for the invasion of September 15, 1944
 
Peleliu was a fight to capture an airstrip on a far-flung speck of coral in the western Pacific. And, as with previous island battles, the Americans would prevail, but at a cost no one anticipated, against a fanatical enemy whose new defense strategy would make the invaders pay dearly for every chunk of coral taken.

Marine casualties on Peleliu (9/15/44-11/25/44) were 1,336 killed and 6,032 wounded. Navy casualties were 195 killed and 505 wounded. Army casualties (81st Infantry Division) were 110 killed and 717 wounded, with 264 killed and 1,335 wounded on Angaur (9/17/44-10/21/44). The Japanese lost an estimated 10,650 men. An additional 301 became prisoners of war.
 
 Unknown to Allied planners before the assault on Peleliu, was a series of coral limestone ridges in the interior of the island which the Japanese had suitably adapted for their new doctrine of "defense in depth". Unseen from the air because of thick jungle growth, the ridges were known collectively as Bloody Nose Ridge or the Umurbrogol. It was in this tortured landscape that the battle would rage for over 2 months and end when the last pocket of Japanese were eliminated. With defeat imminent and the Americans fast approaching, the Japanese commander, Col. Nakagawa, committed ritual suicide in his last command post.
 
 After the battle at Peleliu, James received the Purple Heart and was evacuated to New Caledonia. He did not see any more combat, although his unit went on to Iwo Jima where it was decimated. He always said that if he hadn't been wounded at Peleliu, he would have been killed on Iwo Jima.
 
 He was honorably discharged at the U.S Naval Personnel Separation Center Great Lakes, Illinois November 27,1945. For his actions and bravery under fire James Bell Sholar received the Good Conduct Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific  w/ 3 stars, & Victory Ribbon. He was also issued the Honorable Service USNR Discharge Buttons and Discharge Emblems. His Honorable Discharge was recorded in the Christian County Court House November 29, 1945.
Colonel James G. Sholar



  
This memorial is proudly contributed by Col. James G. Sholar.

 
 
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