Oral History Interview with Urban Bellinghausen, February 14, 2014

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Urban J. Bellinghausen. Bellinghausen was born on 3 March 1926 in Munday, Texas. He joined the Marine Corps on 15 June 1944. He attended boot camp at San Diego. Following that he had 3 more months training at Camp Pendleton. Then he deployed to the Pacific, a 33 day crossing from San Diego to Saipan, arriving 10 November 1944. He was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines. While Saipan was in Allied hands, there were still some Japanese troops left to deal with. His unit then sailed to Iwo Jima but returned to Saipan. There they trained for the Okinawa invasion. In Okinawa, they participated in a decoy landing on D-Day minus 1, pulling Japanese forces away from the beaches where the actual landings took place. Never actually hitting the beach, Bellinghausen stayed on board the landing ship, eventually returning to Saipan. After the atomic bombs were dropped and the armistice signed, he was sent to Nagasaki for 10 months. Then he caught a ship at Sasebo for the States, arriving in San Diego 17 July 1946. He was discharged 10 days later