Carlson's Raiders, Fox Co.,
2nd Battalion - Pacific Campaign
This picture was taken in the Tassafaronga area on Guadalcanal
in 1944 following our invasion and capture of Guam. Guadalcanal
was our R&R base plus our training area for our next mission.
The circumstances of the sword is rather unusual: our company
(Fox Co., 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment) in the invasion of
Guam, made up of Col. Carlson's Marine Raiders was hastily
summoned to reinforce another Marine company in trouble with
an enemy force far too large to contain. In our haste to respond,
we had to doubletime with our combat packs over the many miles
to our target. This situation required a rest break. During
this break I decided to do a little reconnoitering. I climbed
down a steep hillside and found a huge burned out cavern which
was about 15 feet high and wide. Upon closer inspection, I
saw a dark tunnel in one side of the cavern. I slowly approached
the tunnel with my back to the wall and my 45 auto extended
in front of me. After sneaking slowly in about 15 feet waiting
for my eyes to become accustomed to the darkness, I saw a
Japanese soldier lying face down with his hands over his rifle
feigning death. Even though I tried to be very quiet, he must
have heard me because he started to slowly raise his head
. Seeing this movement, I shot him in the face. Even though
his face was shattered, he still tried to rise and use his
rifle. I shot him again, this time through his throat practically
taking his head off. Hearing the shots, one of my friends
came running down to investigate. I asked him to bring a flashlight.
With the light I continued into the tunnel past the dead soldier
only to find a pile of dead Japanese soldiers at the end of
the tunnel. I immediately saw two swords sticking up out of
the pile of bodies. I gave my friend one of the swords and
kept one for myself. To this day, I still can't figure out
why that soldier was protecting those dead bodies. Whether
they were relatives or members of his unit is still a puzzle
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 |
