David Arnold Grimm (Grim Grims Grimes)

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    World War II - David A. Grimm, 96th Infantry "Deadeyes" Division (WIA - Okinawa)
    
    
    CPL David Grimm, from Wyomissing PA, was a combat radio operator in the 10th Army, 96th Infantry Div. He was first wounded in hand-to-hand combat in the Philippines. Later, during the invasion of Okinawa, he was hit by a mortar explosion to the head. The shell caused a fracture of the skull and serious brain damage along with blindness for a time. When transported to the hospital ship, Comfort,he was thought to be dying and removed for those expected to live. The Comfort was hit by a Kamikaze which killed the doctors and all the wounded.
    
    
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    4/6/00
                                    
    
    A “Grimm” Reflection of The War
    “I was so, nervous, and I guess scared like anybody else that I kept looking at this one bush, and the more I looked at it, the more it looked like a Japanese soldier putting his head over the hill.”  Sergeant David Grimm, is a World War II veteran.  He was in the 10th army in the 96th infantry division, 381st regiment, C Company.  His rank was a Pfc. (private first class).  He was later made a Sergeant.  He was a radio operator for his company commander. 
    Mr. Grimm had originally wanted to join the Air Cadets but could not when a test proved that he had a tendency for a hernia.  He decided to have an operation that would eliminate the problem.  After the operation though, a spinal anesthesia caused him to go into convulsions and tear at the bandage around his waist.  This actually gave him the potential hernia.  He was now declared 4F.  David went to have another operation in order to be able to join the military.  The Air Cadets were out of the question so he went to Allentown to choose what service he wanted to be in.  Since he couldn’t be a fighter pilot he wanted to be down in the submarines with the Navy. 
    He was waiting in line and he saw that the man at the desk would ask the person, “Army or Navy?”
        The person would reply, “Navy.”
    The man would then stamp their paper for Army.  This happened to about three or four people in front of Grimm because of the shortage in the Army.  When he reached the desk the man asked him if he wanted Army or Navy.
        David replied, “You might as well give me Army like everybody else.” 
    The man looked at him kind of shocked.
        “Really?” He inquired. 
    So he stamped it Army.  David later found that every fourth person would be allowed into the Navy.  He was the fourth one and figured he would just be put in the Army like the rest, but had a chance for the Navy!
    David Grimm invaded Okinawa on April 1st of 1945 (Easter Sunday).  Because he was a radio operator he carried a 300-core radio on his back with an antenna during the invasion.  He was in the first wave that hit the beach.  The first night of the invasion, the Captain, his radio operator, David, and two other men, dug into the side of a hill.  They all took two-hour turns staying awake as a sentinel.
    Mr. Grimm states, “I was so, nervous, and I guess scared like anybody else that I kept looking at this one bush, and the more I looked at it, the more it looked like a Japanese soldier putting his head over the hill.” 
    He did not get any sleep that first night.  As he was lying awake he heard a gunshot and then a horrible moaning.  He later found out in the morning that a Japanese soldier had infiltrated their perimeter and was shot.  The rest of the day was spent moving forward.  David did not see any Japanese to shoot at himself for the fact that he was with his Captain near the center of his company.  His second night was sleepless as well for the same reason.  He was nervous, and everything he looked at had the semblance of an enemy soldier.  The third night David Grimm was in a foxhole with one other partner.  Due to the fact that he had been awake for two days and nights, he felt lethargic and couldn’t help but fall asleep this time.
    He remembers thinking to himself just before he fell asleep, “Well, if they get me tonight, I’ll sleep through it.”
    Japanese soldiers would often cling to the side of an American tank with a satchel charge strapped to their backs and then blow themselves, the tank, and any other soldiers near them apart.  For this reason Grimm found himself 27 days later, walking on foot along side a tank guarding it from any such soldiers.  The presence of the tanks caused Japanese artillery fire to shower down over them.  Mr. Grimm was trying to radio for a certain section to aim their weapons at the point from which the artillery fire was coming.
    He was not getting adequate reception so he stepped up onto a small mound hoping to get through.  When he finally made contact, the Japanese fired a mortar shell that blew up behind David.  The man that was directly behind him was instantly killed.  The shell fragmented and glanced off the back of David’s head.  Mr. Grimm was wearing his helmet tilted forward over his forehead with the back raised up exposing the back of his head.  The result was a fracture from the base of his skull all the way up to his forehead.  David fell to the ground but immediately started to get up. 
    He was stopped when the medic came running up to him yelling, “Stay down!” 
    He lay there while the tank moved in front of him for protection.  The plan was to pull him up into the tank through an emergency hatch.  They rolled him onto a poncho and drug him over to a wall where he was moved onto a stretcher.  Four men from his company began to carry him up a hill when suddenly they were being shot at by an unseen machine gun.  The soldiers dropped David Grimm and all dove for cover.  Luckily they quickly eliminated the sniper and put David back onto the stretcher and took him to the Battalion Aid Station. 
    The doctor there asked David, “How you doing soldier?”
        “I’m ok, I just need some blood.” He replied.
        David did not feel any pain from the blast, but he could feel the blood running down the back of his neck and shoulders.
        The doctor informed, “You’re going to be alright soldier.”
        Not sure of how much time had actually passed, David found himself on a medical ship.  Its name, “The Comfort.”  He was virtually blind from the shot and could only see light and dark but could not make out distinct images. 
    He overheard two men talking.  “Gee Bill, this guy’s still alive!” 
    David thought to himself, “Oh that poor guy.” 
    A doctor then came up to him and asked how he was doing.  It was then that David Grimm realized that they were talking about him. 
        Later, another doctor came and explained to Dave that they were going to take him off the ship and make room for some other soldiers that were in severe condition.  He didn’t know it at the time but the truth was that they thought he was going to die and they wanted to make room for somebody who had a chance.  David was placed back on the island.  “The Comfort” went out and was hit by a Japanese dive-bomber that wiped out the whole sick bay.  The ship later hobbled to safety.
    Grimm states, “I would have been on that ship, had they not thought I wasn’t going to make it.” 
    Later he was put on a ship called “The Solace.”  He was cared for in a hospital on Okinawa.  He then had skin grafting done in a hospital on Tinian Island.  Finally he was moved to the Hawaiian Islands, and then to McGuire General Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.  David was still being cared for and rehabilitating when the Japanese finally surrendered.
        David Grimm has many memories that he will never forget.  He remembers small huts burning, the large, American ships around Okinawa, waving to a fighter pilot, sleeping in an Okinawan tomb, and numerous other experiences.  One very vivid memory that sticks out in David Grimm’s mind is when a Japanese soldier rolled into Dave’s foxhole.  The soldier had a knife and tried to stab him but only skimmed his shoulder.  David quickly grabbed hold of the man’s arm and attempted to get the knife from him.  The partner that was in David’s foxhole with him, swung the butt of his rifle trying to hit the Japanese soldier, but missed and hit David in the thigh.  He backed off and waited for the two to separate.  Grimm’s grip was slipping on the soldier’s hand and he was cut on the wrist by the knife.  Eventually Grimm, with his free hand grabbed the soldier by the neck, and killed him.
    _    David Grimm explains the many people that saved his life during the war.  “The man in the foxhole with me saved my life; when I was shot, the medic who came and bandaged me up, I think there were so many people that I couldn’t just single out one.  We were all strangers but we became united very quickly.”
         David Grimm entered the Army at age 18, was shot at age 19, and was discharged at age 20.  That same summer he turned 21.  He received the Good Conduct Medal, the Victory Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Medal, as well as a Purple Heart.  He escaped many tragic, life threatening experiences during the war.  He went through much more than many soldiers did and he lives happily today with no noticeable disabilities.  His mind has recorded every aspect of his experience of World War II.
    Photo of Sergeant David Grimm in uniform