The preface of author William Manchester's award-winning 1978 book "American Caesar," contains the sterling honorific:

"To the 29th Marines...3,512 landed on Okinawa, April 1, 1945...2,821 fell in 82 days...the highest price ever paid by a U.S. Marine Corps Regiment in a single battle"

Perhaps in response to Manchester's assertion, James Hallas writes on page 210 of his 1996 book, "Killing Ground On Okinawa": '...Of the combat infantrymen who landed with the 6th Marine Division on 1 April, few remained by the end of the campaign. In the course of the fighting on Motobu, the Asa Kawa, Sugar Loaf Hill, and later on the Oroku Peninsula and Kuwanga Ridge, the division lost 1,656 officers and men killed, 7,429 wounded and 11 missing, not including casualties among Navy corpsmen. These were the highest casualties of any U.S. division at Okinawa.' As backup for his own statistics, Hallas subsequently footnotes his assertion on page 219 with the following rejoinder:

"It has been widely reported that the 29th Marines suffered the highest rate of casualties of any Marine Corps regiment in one battle, losing 2,821 out of its formally authorized strength of 3,512 over 82 days at Okinawa. A study of final casualty figures compiled by Statistics Unit, Personnel Accounting Section, Personnel Department, Headquarters Marine Corps, indicates that this claim is incorrect. However, the regiment's number of dead--551--does appear to be the highest of any single battle."

Having studied numerous other Marine Corps engagments covering both World War II and Korea, I've come to the conclusion that rare few Marines are quick to quibble over such dark statistics, and that every Marine rightly honors the dead of both his own outfit and those of all units. Thus my question here is this: Both Manchester and Hallas maintain that the 29th entered the Iceberg operation with an authorized strength of 3,152. I'm presently awaiting delivery of Bevin Cass' History of the Sixth Marine Division, so I don't as yet have all the information I need at my ready disposal. Is someone therefore in a position to offer the number of effectives with which both 4th and 22nd Marines individually entered battle on Okinawa on Love Day?

No urgency necessary here. Replies will be gratefully received if and when they arrive. Absolute highest regards to the men of the division. Thanks for providing the opportunity to offer questions and input. Very greatly appreciated. Here's to a very rewarding reunion.