The New Fourth Marine Regiment,
Fox Company 2nd Battalion - Pacific Campaign

The Invasion of Emirau March 1st, 1944

Emirau, a spot of coral, 4 miles long and 1/2 mile wide covered with heavy tropical undergrowth, 75 miles from the Japanese base of Kavieng and New Ireland, our command had discovered that in this little place would close the pincers on the great Japanese bases of Kavieng and Rabaul, putting them effectively out of the War.

On March 1st, 1944, the 4th Marine Regiment went ashore - to be greeted by friendly natives, all Seventh Day Adventists, who had bitterly resented the Japanese when the enemy had landed patrols there a month or more previously. There were no Japs left when we landed, and hence the capture of the island became known as the "Jawbone Campaign". The island was humid and hot, raining all the time that it was almost impossible to find a comfortable place to sleep among the jagged coral rocks, in addition there was no fresh water, and the only food available were "C" rations that must have been left over from WWI . "C" rations were made up of one can of HARD dried biscuits that you couldn't crush with a hammer, but it did give me an idea.

Since food was scarce, I decided to try to catch fish that appeared in great numbers in the channels that flowed between the main island and outlying miniature islands several hundred yards
offshore. Since we had no fishing equipment available, I came up with what I thought was a good idea (our demolitions packs). They contained twelve blocks of one lb. TNT. Using a ten second fuse and a can of biscuits thrown out on the surface should work. But how was I going to get out into the channel?

Whether mental telepathy played a part in this I don't remember, but all of a sudden I thought about the dugout canoe owned by the local native chief.

I thought if i could borrow the canoe for a couple of days, I could harvest enough fish to feed our entire platoon.

I must have bribed the native chief with whatever, but he agreed to let me use his dugout canoe. I would paddle out between the minature islands where there was a strong current and throw out about six biscuits which would float for hours. After the biscuits were floating and a school of fish would swim up to feed, I took one of the blocks of TNT, attached a ten second fuse and threw the TNT in the middle of the feeding fish, then I quickly paddled away. By paddling rapidly I could get far enough away so the explosion would not ruin the dugout canoe.

This scheme worked out wonderfully the first day with dozens of fish floating to the top after the explosions. Needless to say, my platoon buddies were thrilled to have fresh fish cooked many different ways! Until the next day ......!

I used the same technique as the day before, only this time as I hurriedly tried to paddle away, the paddle slipped out of my hands and the ensuing explosion split the dugout canoe down the middle and sunk in the channel. Needless to say, the Native Chief went berserk! This became a very serious affair with our top officers and public relations withthe natives, especially since I had never bothered to obtain permission for this endeavor.

After some very serious discussions it was agreed that I would forfeit two months of my pay on our return to Guadalcanal (which would be our R&R location). This of course made the Native Chief very happy, otherwise he would have never seen that much money in his lifetime.

So in spite of the war and its trials and tribulations, there were humorous occasions - occasionally!

— Andy Mazzanti April 2002