Character Name: Roland Griff
Nickname: "Griff"
Character Age: 21
Character History: Roland Griff grew up in Southeastern Massachusetts, near the Rhode Island border. His father, Arthur served in the First World War as an infantryman in the Big Red One. He was injured at The Battle of Saint-Mihiel in September 1918. He returned home after convalescing in a French Hospital and found employment working for Jostens Jewelers factory in North Attleboro, MA. He married Henrietta Ludwig of Foxborough, MA and they purchased a family home on South Washington St.
Arthur and Henrietta had five sons and two daughters; William, 25; Robert, 23; Roland, 21; Margaret, 20; Janet, 18; James, 16 and Richard, 13. Arthur did quite well for himself, receiving a promotion to production supervisor and then in September, 1929 he was promoted to Production Manager. Although the depression slowed business for the Jewelery manufacturing company, they retained most of their employees -- only three of their newest were let go. The family did not go without during the depression, but did practice frugality.
Roland was not the brightest in his class and did struggle with reading at an early age. By the time he arrived at secondary education at North Attleboro Junior High School, he caught up with his peers. Roland preferred sports over academics like most boys his age.
Roland and his friends enjoyed playing football, baseball and boxing. They called it boxing, but it was more like bare-fisted brawling. No one was upset with each other during these play-fights, which more often than not ended up with someone getting a black eye or a split lip. On one occasion, Roland broke a bone in his pinkie finger of his right hand, but never told anyone about. Sure it was tender, but it healed up naturally. In those days, boys fighting on the playground or in a park on the way home from school was normal. No one batted at an eye at watching a couple of boys fight. In fact, some people would stop to observe or put money on one boy over another.
Roland's parents became increasingly concerned about the rumblings of war in Europe and the new Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler. He appeared to be a very charismatic figure attracting many followers in his own country. He implemented socialistic policies which helped the people of Germany. The Griffs were frightened by the man and worried that he would eventually drag the US into a European War. They preferred the US remain out of it.
Roland paid no attention to what was going on in Europe and had no knowledge of what was happening in China. The events leading up to what would become World War II could have been happening on Mars for all Roland cared. They were foreign events with absolutely no impact on his sports and school filled world in the small town of North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
Roland graduated High School in 1939 and took a machinist job at the Jostens company working with his father. He didn't mind working for his dad initially but after a year, he quickly grew tired of having to listen to his father's speeches both at home and at work. 'There must be another opportunity', he would often question internally. But would never say anything to his parents about this, in fear of some unspoken repercussion.
Finally, in August of 1940, he had enough and joined the Army, just to get away from his father. Roland spent the next 14 weeks in Basic Combat Training and Advanced Infantry Training before being assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division then stationed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York. Roland was indoctrinated in the ways of an Infantryman in the US Army and went with his unit to Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 4 February 1941. While at Ft. Devens, Roland learned the role of a Scout, BAR gunner, Assistant BAR gunner, Sharpshooter and grenadier. His platoon leader felt it important that every soldier in the platoon be familiar with each of the jobs in the squad.
As part of their training, the 1st Infantry Division participated in both Carolina Maneuvers of October and November before returning to Fort Devens on 6 December 1941. While participating in the Carolina maneuvers, Roland received extensive training as a member of a rifle squad. His squad participated in combat patrols and reconnaissance patrols. He went on ambush patrols and reconnaissance and security patrols. His squad and platoon participated in platoon and company Defense training as well as infantry company on the attack.
After returning to Ft. Devens, Roland considered taking leave to go see his family in North Attleboro. After all, they were only about an hour away. Then, on December 7th, 1941 at approximately 2:30 PM, the local news station in Boston, MA announced that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in an unprovoked raid that killed several thousand Americans and sunk several of the United States' first line capital ships to the bottom of the harbor. Many American warplanes and facilities were seriously damaged or destroyed during the Japanese raid.
The news of this attack shocked Roland Griff. He knew nothing of what was going on in Asia and was now confronted with the reality of war, which was declared the next day by the Congress of the United States of America. The weeks following the attack on Pearl Harbor was a cathartic time for 20-year old Private First Class Roland Griff. Now was the time to take the training he had been enduring seriously.
On January 2nd, 1942 Roland Griff was promoted to Corporal and assigned as Assistant Squad Leader of 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, E Company, 2-16 IN. Over the course of the next three months, the members of E Company were split up, promoted and sent to various unit to take Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant positions of newly forming units. Corporal Roland Griff was then elevated to the Squad Leader position of 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon.
During this time, the 1st Division was returned to Ft. Benning, Georgia and then against sent to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania awaiting deployment orders to Europe. On 1 May 1942, Corporal Roland Griff was promoted to Sergeant, five days before his 21st before; 6 May 1942.
He received several new recruits into his squad including the following personnel
Corporal Leonard Hathaway, assistant squad leader of Hoboken, New Jersey
Private First Class Richard Fairson, the squad's BAR gunner from Bakersfield, California
Private Ross Michaels, the assistant BAR gunner from Clearwater, Florida
Private First Class Connor O'Shaughnessy, sharpshooter from Quincy, Massachusetts
Private Heath Zewinski, Grenadier from Knoxville, Tennessee
Private First Class Jeremy Husk, scout rifleman of Great Falls, Montana
Private Timothy Gritch, scout rifleman of Flagstaff Arizona
Private Raymond Lyles, rifleman of Medford, Oregon
Private Daniel Mathews, rifleman of Dodge City, Kansas
Private Robert Zalinski, rifleman of Albany, Georgia
Private George McCulloch, rifleman of San Antonio, Texas
Nationality: American
Selection: Enlisted
Preference: Infantry
Example Play: Training Op -- Conduct an Ambush at FIG, PA:
While at Fort Indiantown Gap, E Company of the 16th Infantry participated in several training exercises including a force on force mission against L Company, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry. Good old Lima Company was chosen by the regimental commander to play the bad guys during the entire time they were at "FIG".
Second Lieutenant Edward Haskell was a pointer graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York in the class of 1941. Sergeant Griff didn't have a whole lot of respect for the man, but had to respect the rank. That was all he held for the dimwit who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag. 'That butter bat is going to get his ass shot off the first time we go into combat,' Griff thought to himself. He never spoke ill about this platoon leader to anyone including his fellow squad leaders or the platoon sergeant, Staff Sergeant Norman Wolfram.
Now the platoon daddy, SSG Wolfram or "Wolf" on the other hand was very well respected by everyone in the platoon. Everyone in the three 12-man squads, the two 3-man .30 caliber Machine gun teams, the two 2-man bazooka teams and the five privates selected as Platoon Runners; all fifty-one soldiers had the utmost respect for "Wolf". He took care of the men by getting everything they needed including chow and money. He may not have cooked the food or paid the men out of his own pocket, but he was the guy who got them to the chow hall and the paymaster every single time. He was the man who took care of whatever problem they were confronted with. He was their mom, their dad and their counselor.
Lieutenant Haskell assigned 2nd Squad a mission to conduct an ambush patrol along a route in what may have been deemed "No Man's Land". They were to push out across the Line of Departure/Line of Control (LD/LC) at 2030 hours and occupy their ambush site no later than 0030 or what is more commonly known as "Zero Dark Thirty". If they had no contact with the enemy by 0400, they were to exfiltrate from their ambush site back along a different route of march into friendly lines and report to the Platoon Leader (PL).
Sergeant Griff established a support element consisting of the BAR team lead by Corporal Hathaway. The security element would consist of PFC Husk and Private Gritch as left and right security. Sergeant Griff, the Grenadier, the sharpshooter and the five riflemen would make up the assault element. The order of movement would be the security element, Sergeant Griff as patrol leader (PL), the support team, the assault team and finally Corporal Hathaway as the assistant patrol leader (APL).
The squad camouflaged their clothing with vegetation and used burnt cork to blacken their faces. they crossed the LD/LC at exactly 2030 hours and moved along their predesignated route to the Objective Rally Point (ORP). Once in the ORP, the PL moved out with the two security men plus the squad's sharpshooter, PFC O'Shaughnessy. Corporal Hathaway remained in the ORP and adjusted the perimeter.
At the ambush site, Sergeant Griff placed PFC Husk on the left side of the squad's position and Private Gritch on the right side. They would let the PL know if anyone passed through their Area of Operations (AO) while the squad leader (PL) was away. Sergeant Griff and PFC O'Shaughnessy returned to the ORP. They needed to know the right password to get back in. Then, Sergeant Griff gathered up the rest of the squad and returned to the ambush site. He placed the support element in the center of the line with the assault element spread out on both sides of the support element. PFC O'Shaughnessy would actually cover the rear of the squad to insure that no one snuck up on them from behind.
The men of 2nd squad, 1st Platoon were tired. They struggled to remain awake. At various times, the sound of someone snoring could be heard softly floating through the Pennsylvania forest. As instructed, a "buddy" would smack the sleeping soldier upside the head to wake him up. "There will be no fucking sleeping in my God Damn Ambush!" was the speech Griff gave the squad members during the Patrol Order before they left the platoon position. The sound of the Sergeant's voice flash backed in everyone's minds as they laid in the moist dirt and leaves of FIG.
At around 0215 hours, a group of six men came walking slowly along the path, the 2nd squad was using as their kill zone. Corporal Hathaway waited until the middle soldiers were right in front of PFC Fairson's BAR. The APL hit the BAR man on the back. The BAR man initiated the ambush with the slow methodic thumping noise of the Browning Automatic Rifle. As soon as the BAR began firing on full automatic at the six men caught in the kill zone, the remaining nine soldiers on the line opened fire with their M1s or 03A3s. Sergeant Griff allowed 60 seconds of firing and then blew on a whistle he had tied to his Load Bearing Equipment (LBE). With the whistle blown, the BAR stopped shooting and the assault element stood up to assault through the kill zone (KZ). The seven men of the assault element ran across the KZ providing a "double tap" or two shots to those hostiles who may appear to be still alive until they reached the far side of the KZ.
Two soldiers, previously designated as the demolitions team, pretended to prepare composition B, detonation cord and fuze cord. Two other soldiers provided far side security while Sergeant Griff searched the pockets of the "dead" soldiers for possible intelligence. Private Zewinski gathered the soldier's rifles and piled them up in the center of the kill zone.
Private Lyles, serving as demo man had the composition B ready and was about to light the fuze. "Go!" Sergeant Griff told Lyles.
"Fire in the Hole!" yelled Private Lyles. On the first command of Fire in the hole, the Support element stood up and ran back to the ORP. "Fire in the hole!" yelled Private Lyles a second time. the assault element minus Sergeant Griff followed the support element. "Fire in the hole!" Private Lyles yelled a third time and lit the fuze. He, Sergeant Griff and the security element followed the assault element back to the ORP. Since they were substituting a block of wood for the Comp B, there was no explosion. Since the soldiers were all using blank cartridges, no one really died and the training casualties in the kill zone stood up and waited for instructions.
Once inside the ORP, Sergeant Griff called out for the ACE report. The ACE report is an acronym for Ammunition, Casualties and Equipment. Everyone reported that they had all their equipment and no one was a casualty. Ammunition was at eight clips for the M1s and 16 boxes for the BAR. Once the ACE report was given, a captain who was watching the entire thing from a distance stepped out and said, "ENDEX! ENDEX! ENDEX! Grab your equipment and report to the sand table for an AAR!" ENDEX is the acronym for End of Exercise and AAR is an acronym for After Actions Report.
As soon as Sergeant Griff and 2nd Squad settled down at the sand table, which looked more like a children's sand box with yarn and scraps of paper identifying operational terms, the men pulled out their zippo's and Lucky Strikes. "Smoke em if you got em, boys!" Sergeant Griff called out before the Captain arrived. The six soldiers from Lima company who were "killed" in the Kill Zone, joined 2nd Squad at the sand table.
