Guadalcanal Diary Page #2

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ls that C company over there?""

lt isn"t funny. Don"t laugh.

lf any of you run over

to see if C company is over there,

what kind of chow C company"s having,

you"re liable to end up chow yourself.

Honourable bullet, take honourable death

of honourable Japanese.

Keep an eye out for snipers all the time.

See a bunch of bananas in a coconut tree,

shoot "em down. That makes sense, don"t it?

Hey, wait a minute.

This ain"t government issue.

No, that"s Flatbush issue.

lf it"ll make the Japs happy to die for

their emperor, l"ll try to make "em happy.

Going to take the island all by yourself?

That would cause no surprise

in certain circles in Brooklyn.

And one more thing.

Watch out for booby traps.

Don"t go round picking up anything

the Japs leave laying around.

What if you promised

a certain party a souvenir?

Just forget about it. You"re liable to find

it"ll blow right up in your kisser.

lf you see any .45 with

a beautiful pearl handle, leave it lay.

- The most beautiful pearl in the world?

- Hiya, Father.

- How many Japs they got on that island?

- Hard to say. Several thousand.

- Any natives?

- About 16,000.

- Uh... cannibals?

- No, l believe they"re strict vegetarians.

But then of course

they"ve never tasted marine meat.

Don"t worry. Perhaps we"ll land on Friday.

- Well, Chick, looks like it won"t be long now.

- Looks that way.

- Tomorrow morning maybe, eh?

- Maybe.

Hey, Taxi, what time is it

back home now anyway?

- How many hours" difference is there?

- 19 between here and San Francisco.

And three more to home.

But l never can tell which way it is.

That"s the trouble with me too. l can never tell

whether it"s yesterday or tomorrow.

- Would you like to hold him a while?

- Sure.

- Take it easy, boy. l"ll see you later, kid.

- Yeah, so long.

- Geting bald?

- lt"s beginning to look that way.

- How will Edith like that?

- She won"t.

By the way, if you need any hair restorer

l have an ample supply. A going-away gift.

What do you suppose

they"re doing about now?

Sleeping, l hope.

Quite a difference to the days

when l sat in your class

and listened to you propound

the great philosophies of the world.

l don"t know. Philosophy might

come in pretty handy these days.

Jim. How do you feel?

Scared?

l suppose so.

l try to look at it as just ajob, like selling

a big order when there"s sales resistance.

Funny that we two should end up like this.

The first two companies in.

- Three to one says my outfit lands first.

- Three coconuts to two says you don"t.

Good.

lt"s odd we haven"t been atacked

by a submarine. Surely they spoted us.

Yes, it is rather odd.

Couldn"t be a trap, could it?

By the way, we ought to be there by morning.

l hear the zero hour should be about 6.20.

Approximately.

l"d say the landing would be nearer 8.30.

- Beter not go ashore with the first wave.

- And why not?

That"s when l"ll be needed the most, isn"t it?

l guess l"d beter look down below

and see if anybody"s got the jiters.

And now at last the great day itself:

Friday August 7th, 1942.

The day for which we"ve trained so long.

The day of landing.

There"s none of the gaiety and song

which filled the few preceding days.

Every nerve taut.

Perhaps this is because the thing

that"s happening seems like a dream.

Here and there a man wets his lips.

Breathing is a little harder.

Waiting, eyes strained.

Field glasses pointing toward that high,

irregular mass lying beyond the water.

Toward Guadalcanal.

Well, there she is.

We must have almost passed their bateries.

- Either it"s a trick or they"re awful dumb.

- lf it works out, it"ll make a swell story.

Let"s not think of it any other way.

lt"s got to work.

- Well, Sarge, looks like this is it.

- Yeah.

Unbuckle your chin straps

and your cartridge belts.

This ain"t no turkey shoot. Make "em all count.

Don"t worry, Sarge. l will.

- Well, Sarge, looks like this is it.

- Yeah.

- What they handing you?

- Something till they put up the galleys.

Biscuit, sugar, soluble coffee

and meat and vegetable stew.

Sounds just like Thanksgiving, huh?

Thanksgiving!

Sorry we"re not going in the same boat.

No use puting all of our eggs in one basket.

Funny how we can stand here preparing

to force a landing on the enemy shore

and act as if it were

the most normal thing in the world.

Yes, it is rather.

You know, Sarge,

times like these make me wish

l was back in Brooklyn.

Driving my cab

and keeping an eye on them Bums.

When the Yanks get another crack at them

they"ll take "em apart.

l should live so long!

Hey, what am l saying?

- Good luck.

- Same to you.

Hey, look. Our planes.

Heads down below the gunwales.

That ought to knock out any machine-gun

nests or any artillery emplacements.

Hit the deck.

Watch every tree.

- What"s up?

- l thought l saw a Jap in that tree.

You"re learning fast. Beter to waste

ammunition than take any chances.

l"m all wore out

landing against such heavy fire.

- Don"t worry. We"ll hear from them yet.

- So far so good.

l hope it isn"t a trap.

The second wave"s coming in.

Captain Davis.

- Captain Davis!

- Aye-aye, sir.

- Any sign of the enemy?

- l think they"re hiding in the hills.

Push right on, but be careful.

- How about those coconuts you owe me?

- l thought it was a photo finish.

- You moving up?

- No.

Colonel Grayson wants me to hold

this village until the MPs move in.

- They sure must have left here in a hurry.

- Yeah.

Wasteful, l calls it.

- Hook, there"s somebody in there.

- Where?

Watch out, kid.

Ah, for the love of...

Give me a cigarete.

- Since when did you start smoking?

- l"m starting right now.

Come on.

Easy through the door, fellas. That"s it.

- Hey, what are you going to do with that?

- Sleep in it, l hope.

Just what l needed for Saturday night.

- l wonder what the Japs use it for?

- l wouldn"t know.

l got me a case of Jap beer.

Hey, Bowman.

Caviar. l thought these monkeys

lived on fish heads and rice.

Yes. lt"s hardly the primitive diet

on which they"re supposed to subsist.

- Tastes good too.

- Provided, of course, it isn"t poisoned.

lf nothing happens to you, let me know.

Gangway!

- Gangway!

- Padre, where"d you get the bike?

- Hey, where did you get it?

- Plenty more where this came from.

Must be a couple of hundred Jap trucks there.

No telling how many radios, guns.

l guess we really caught them

with their pants down.

That"s one way of puting it.

But from the reports from Tulagi,

l"m not so sure they did over there.

Where"s me helmet?

Hey, Hook. This is it.

- lt"s only three monkeys on a rope.

- Pretty small, eh?

Ugly, ain"t they?

Hey, Snow White,

where"s the rest of the Seven Dwarves?

- Hart, Schaffner and Marx.

We found them under a bush.

We thought it was a trap and let them have it.

A couple of them got away.

- Are these the monkeys we"re fighting?

- No, these are labourers.

We can"t get much out of them, sir.

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