Still no enemy fire. The beach remained quiet. Grevich wondered if the bombardment had worked, if the Japanese defenses had been destroyed, if the landing would be easier than expected. Fifteen minutes later, he would discover how wrong he had been and whether his unauthorized machine gun could accomplish what no standard-issue weapon could.
At 9:12 a.m., the Gravich landing craft crossed the starting line. The beach was 300 meters away. The first wave had disappeared into the terraces above the waterline. Still no enemy fire. The silence was unnatural. Forty-two Marines were on board. No one spoke. Only the sound of the engine and the lapping of waves against the hull could be heard.
At 9:14 a.m., the landing craft was 100 meters from the shore. Grevich could now clearly make out the beach: black volcanic sand, steep terraces rising 4.5 meters above the waterline, landing craft damaged by the first wave, but no Marines in sight. They had all gone inland. The beach seemed deserted. At 9:15 a.m., the ramp lowered. Grevich was the third Marine to disembark.
His boots sank up to his waist in the water. The sand beneath was unstable. Volcanic ash mingled with larger rocks. Each step was an effort. The weight of Betty Anne and the ammunition made progress more difficult. He advanced 20 meters to the beach, then 15 meters, then 10 meters. The first mortar shell landed at 9:16 a.m., 40 meters to the left of Gravich.
The explosion hurled black sand six meters into the air. The second shell landed five seconds later, about thirty meters to its right. The beach then erupted in flames. Mortars, artillery, and machine guns rattled from concealed positions on the terraces. The Japanese had waited, let the first two waves crash ashore, allowed the Marines to regroup on the beach, and then opened fire from their prepared positions.
Grevich reached the beach at 9:17 a.m. He concealed himself behind a slight sand dune, unfolded Betty Anne, set up the bipod, and searched for targets. Enemy fire was coming from casemates built into the terraces—reinforced concrete positions with overlapping firing ranges. The casemates were invisible until the enemy opened fire.
Then they disappeared into the smoke and dust. A marine, six meters to Gravich’s right, was holding an M1919 A6 machine gun. The gunner was adjusting the weapon. His assistant was loading the magazine. Both were exposed. A burst of Japanese machine-gun fire hit the assistant, who collapsed.
The main gunner grabbed his weapon and tried to reposition. A second burst hit him in the chest. The M1919 A6 crashed into the sand. The gun crew was wiped out in eight seconds. Grevich located the Japanese position: a bunker 70 meters inland. The firing port was 15 cm high and 60 cm wide. He shouldered his rifle, aimed at the port, and pulled the trigger. Ten rounds in one second.
The distinctive whine of the A&M2 cut through the din of the beach. 1,200 rounds per minute. The tracking scope indicated the impact of one in five bullets. All ten bullets struck around the firing port. The Japanese machine gun ceased firing. Grevich paused, let the barrel cool for five seconds, acquired a second target—a machine gun position 80 meters to the left—and fired another burst of ten rounds.
Silence fell. He moved on to a third target. Shot. Another target change, another shot. Each burst was deliberate, controlled, short enough to avoid overheating, but long enough to neutralize the target. The difference was immediately noticeable. The M1919 A6 fired 400 rounds per minute. A 10-round burst lasted 1.5 seconds.
Bettyanne fired the same ten shells in eight seconds, halving the exposure time and thus the time it took for enemy gunners to pinpoint Gravich’s position. The higher rate of fire also allowed for better suppression. The Japanese defenders could not effectively return fire against the 1,200 rounds per minute raining down around their position. Other Marines, equipped with the modified weapons, began engaging the targets.
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