U.S. Marine Corps
Battle of Saipan Genaust served in the
Pacific Theater during
World War II and was posthumously awarded the
Bronze Star Medal with
Combat "V" and
Purple Heart Medal in September 1945, for heroic actions using a
rifle in a firefight on
Saipan where he was wounded on July 9, 1944. He was recommended for the
Navy Cross by
Norman Hatch, his photo section commander, but the nomination was turned down because Genaust was a cameraman and not an
infantryman. Marine photographer Staff Sergeant
Lou Lowery accompanied the patrol and photographed the Marines and
Navy corpsmen climbing to the top of Mount Suribachi, the Marines tying the flag on the pipe, and the men around the flagstaff after it was raised. Around noon, Marine photographers Sergeant Genaust and Private Campbell were ordered to go up Mount Suribachi. Under Lt. Schrier's orders, the larger flag was raised as the smaller flag was lowered. Genaust's film also captures other Marines on the summit as they gaze up at the flag during the second flag raising. After talking with two photographers at Iwo Jima, Genaust's friend, Lieutenant-Colonel Donald L. Dickson offered the following account of his death in a letter to his widow: :As I understand it, a group of Marines were clearing caves of die-hard Japs.
Grenades were thrown in one cave and it was believed all the enemy were killed. The Marines wanted to double check and asked Bill if they could borrow his
flashlight. Bill said he would go in with them. They crawled in and Bill flashed his light around. There were many Japs still alive and they immediately opened fire. Bill dropped without a sound. As the bearer of the light he had been the first target for a number of bullets. I feel sure he never knew what happened to him. :The Marines forced the Japs deeper into the cave but could not get them out. More men would have been killed in carrying out of the narrow cave Bill's lifeless body. :
TNT charges were quickly placed at the cave mouth and exploded. The whole cave mouth was blocked with earth from the explosion and Bill's body was completely buried by it. Photo section commander
Norman Hatch gave some detail on the circumstances around Genaust's death. He reported that, because of poor lighting conditions on Iwo Jima, Genaust had joined an infantry team clearing caves and tunnels. At one cave, a Japanese soldier was found sitting at a table and shuffling routine paperwork. The Marines called out but were unable to get his attention. An interpreter, a lieutenant, was brought in to speak to the soldier in Japanese, but he received no response. As the patrol leader got ready to go underground to investigate, he asked Genaust for his flashlight. Genaust said he would go in himself and talk to the Japanese soldier. Two-thirds of the way into the cave Genaust was shot by machine-gun fire coming from a hidden entrance. The lieutenant ordered the cave closed, and Genaust's body was buried in the blast. Despite renewed search efforts in 2007, the body of Genaust has not been recovered. He is among 250 Americans listed missing on Iwo Jima, although most of those were lost at sea. == Military awards ==