Army & Navy - COMMAND: The Generals Smith
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On the ninth day Ralph Smith was relieved (technically, for disobeying an order to attack), and Major General Sanderford Jarman, who had come along as Saipan's postbattle commander, took over the 27th temporarily, fired several officers, including a regimental colonel. Thereafter, the 27th performed fairly well until its greenest regiment broke and let some 3,000 Japs through in a suicide charge which a Marine artillery battalion finally stopped, at great cost to itself.
Between these versions one thing was clear: when field commanders hesitate to remove subordinates for fear of interservice contention,* battles and lives will be needlessly lost.
* And one of the three-star generals in Marine Corps history. The others: ex-Commandant (now Minister to South Africa) Thomas Holcomb, and present Commandant Alexander Archer Vandegrift. * At least three other Army divisions in the Pacific have had their commanders relieved in mid-battle: the 32nd (Buna), the 7th (Attu), the 43rd (New Georgiathe latter two by admirals.
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