{"id":66411,"date":"2021-02-01T16:50:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T16:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/01\/100-year-old-army-veteran-recalls-fighting-on-hacksaw-ridge-getting-shot-twice-on-okinawa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:46:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:46:35","slug":"100-year-old-army-veteran-recalls-fighting-on-hacksaw-ridge-getting-shot-twice-on-okinawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2021\/02\/01\/100-year-old-army-veteran-recalls-fighting-on-hacksaw-ridge-getting-shot-twice-on-okinawa\/","title":{"rendered":"100-year-old Army veteran recalls fighting on Hacksaw Ridge, getting shot twice on Okinawa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) \u2014 James Chapman witnessed events of world importance <\/a>during his 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman, who was to mark his centennial on Sunday with a small group of relatives at his home, was born in Chapman, near Louisa in Lawrence County. His parents were Joseph and Nora Chapman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centenarian said he dropped out of Louisa High School to voluntarily serve in World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman served in the infantry in the South Pacific. As a staff sergeant, he was wounded twice and received two Purple Hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman describes that he was \u201chalfway\u201d drafted. He explained he received a draft notice from the Army and went to the recruiters\u2019 office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Oct. 20, 1942, recruiters were loading other young men on the bus to take them to Huntington for an exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey all got on the bus but me and (the recruiter) said, \u2018We can\u2019t take you,\u2019\u201d Chapman said. \u201cI said \u2018Nah, I\u2019m here. I\u2019m going.\u2019 And I got on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t have to go because his brothers were drafted, but he said he wanted to go,\u201d said Lisa Hutchinson, his granddaughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After basic training in Georgia, Chapman went to the west coast to further train before heading to the Pacific War, or the fight across the Pacific toward mainland Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went to the Hawaiian islands and I took jungle training over there for about a month,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said his unit trained for an invasion of Yap Island, an invasion that never came. Yap Island was leapfrogged during the island-hopping campaign of the Pacific theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey said they had a bigger project for our company,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cWe went and hit the Philippine islands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was where Chapman earned the first of his two Purple Hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got shot in the left shoulder in Okinawa<\/a>,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI got blown out of a hole with an artillery shell in the Philippines. I couldn\u2019t hear for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That injury is responsible for much of his hearing loss now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman was then ordered to Okinawa. His company hit on April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat all I saw was pretty rough. Okinawa was something else. They say it was one of the bloodiest islands in World War II,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cI got shot twice on there, but one time it was just marks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman\u2019s unit fought on Hacksaw Ridge. He explained the Japanese had dug into the island and had tunnels and passages connecting underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey had a rock crest hollowed out and they could climb up there with field glasses and see the whole island, where everyone was,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cThat island was honeycombed; there were caves all over it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said the Japanese used these caves to be able to hit troops from behind. It was these dug-in locations where Chapman was shot, earning him his second purple heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went too far, I was out ahead of my men,\u201d said Chapman, who was a staff sergeant at the time. \u201cI was out ahead when I got shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said he went over the hill and up a holler where the Japanese had machine guns slightly buried into the ridge about 200 yards in front of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got in behind a rock. Every time I\u2019d move they\u2019d turn those machine guns on me,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cMy BAR gunner … I heard something and here he came a crawlin\u2019 down the hill to me. He\u2019d been hit and blood was running down his face and this, that and the other. He wiped it off and he got a towel out of his backpack and he bandaged me up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said \u2018What are we going to do? We can\u2019t get out of here, every time we move they turn them machine guns loose on us.\u2019 I said, \u2018We\u2019ll just work it out \u2018til it gets dark.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said once it got dark, the two managed to get back over the hill and headed toward the command post. The post had moved, but the pair was picked up by a jeep. After the vehicle transported him to the aid station and then the field hospital, Chapman was put on a ship and taken to Saipan, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt healed up on the outside but didn\u2019t heal up on the inside,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cI had to go back and have another operation and they found one stuck in behind the shoulder blade. It still gives me problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the operation, Chapman returned to his unit in preparation for the next stage of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe went back to the Philippines after Okinawa and were getting all new equipment, loading the ships, we were going to hit Japan,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cWe were all real happy it was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just thank the Lord that I got through,\u201d Chapman added. \u201cYou had to lean a whole lot on (your faith while deployed).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n