Inspecting the Japanese Tank

A few days had passed and we did what we could do to make it easier for the building of the Receiver Station. Then we decided to look at a Japanese 2 man tank; it was very small compared to U.S. tanks; we looked inside and wondered how the men could work in that small space, but then remembered how small the Japanese were. The tread on our side looked a little off, but we couldn't see structural damage, so it must have been disabled or run out of gas. There was another one at jungle edge. We always did a visual of everything each a.m. and all had looked o.k., so we were unprepared to see that the generator now only had one tarp! Oh, oh. Some Japs must have swiped it and thought we wouldn't notice. We reported it to the stupid Lt. and he said he would make a report. That day it was my turn, with another guy, to be part of the 2 men left behind routine and we had the same thought; the Japs who stole the tarp are probably close by - nice! We decided to sit back to back or at least one would be looking back while the other was looking forward. El Stupido finally had chow and came back for us - no problem. Several days later we were all working when we suddenly heard a shot; then silence, and then movement towards us. We grabbed out carbines and waited. It was 2 Chamorros and they were carrying an older guy, probably in his forties. He had come upon some Japs, who shot him in the stomach. We directed them to the jeep which the Lt. had turned over to us as he "had things to do at camp", and one of the guys drove the three Chamorros back to the Medics. We never learned whether he lived or died, but assumed he died. Should have asked Little Joe, but forgot each time.

Duties at Barrigada

An extremely large generator was placed right next to where the Receiver station was being set up and was covered by two tarps for protection. We started clearing the area and one of the guys raised a board and suddenly white smoke came pouring out. We quickly put some distance away from this presumed danger, while trying to decide what it was; it looked like white phosphorus and we said "phosphorus bomb!" but couldn't decide what that meant either; so we just kept our distance until finally it ceased emitting the white vapor and we worked on other things. Talking later with the Marines we decided we were in no danger - it was spent. Then we realized some creosoted logs were in the wrong place, but we didn't have the gloves to handle them so we later requested Seabee help when they brought in equipment to knock down some coconut trees. We decided to do something else to save whatever could be used in the building of the station. It was sort of a lost day in our minds. The Lt. came in about chow time and took all but two of us in the jeep (no room for any more); we immediately wondered about the wisdom of leaving only two people but the Lt., a 90 day wonder, said all would be o.k. After we all had dinner, including the Lt. (!) he went back and picked up the other two people, who after all had their carbines in case they needed them! We started being wary of this Lt's direction.

Warning: Little Joe is on our side

After Little Joe left the guys told me what he had told them the first day he met them: It turned out that when the Japanese occupied Guam Dec. 12, 1941 it was the first American outpost to fall. The Japanese bombarded Guam for five days after Dec. seventh. The Chamorros were very American friendly, and extremely loyal, but they had no choice, obey or die. The Japanese demanded and got sexual favors from any woman they chose, or else; Little Joe's wife was no exception. It was impossible to stop them and Little Joe wasn't stupid; he just waited his time and the hatred of the Japanese was smoldering. Therefore, on the day the Americans landed he shot or used his machete on the head of two Japanese who were at his thatched roof house or hut. He said his wife was hysterical that the Japanese might win the battle, but he smiled and told the guys he knew we would win!! It turns out he was an expert shot, but he was just as good with a machete and I had later heard first hand that it was the machete he used! It turned out he was quite friendly and his smile opened up - but not a lot. He was on a mission - to kill as many Japanese as he could. It didn't matter whether it was the gun or the machete! He could carve up coconuts in seconds it seemed like. His machete was super sharp! I will tell you something that I should probably save for later but before I left Guam I heard he had killed 31.

"Little Joe" at Barrigada

(Cont'd) I had heard of other battles where the Japanese were in a hopeless situation; drank Saki and then charged the Marines. Quite often this involved hand to hand combat and the Marines were very good at this also. I thought of the private, er sergeant, er private at Camp Pendleton. Anyway, my first day had a surprise for me. The Lt. asked me to "post up" and be the guard, for today. We rotated this assignment. The Lt. returned to camp and I assumed my guard duties. I hadn't done this for very long when I suddenly looked to my left and out of the jungle came a little brown man! I quickly turned to face him and realized he had both hands in the air, with a gun in his hand. I was slowly bringing my carbine around, with the muzzle not pointed exactly at him and I yelled to the guys to watch out when several yelled, "Don't shoot, that's Little Joe! He's not a Jap, he's a Chamorro!" I kept my eyes on him and he was watching me all the way. I was very relieved when he walked up and greeted the other guys, who had met him a day or two before. He looked every one of us in the eye, talked very little, smiled only slightly; looked the area over quietly and after a short while left just the way he had come. He was only about 5'1", but he was a powerful package it turned out. Little Joe! (Cont'd)

Ah, Lovely Lovely Barrigada!

My first day I'm to go to Barrigada the Lt. asked me to do a chore for him and he said he would be back for me shortly so he took as many of the men as his Jeep would hold and then came back and got the rest of us. As we approached the sentry the Lt. noticed he had just taken the previous sentry's place and when we told him we were going to Barrigada he sort of paused and then he told us, "You guys are crazy to go in there; the Japs are still out there and last week some Navy people went out there and were killed!" The Lt. didn't say anything but, as we cleared the sentry, he said it was true that men were killed but the Marines "had cleared the area." The Lt. felt it was o.k. to go out. We all had our carbines & ammo and we understood we were only going about 500-1000 yards so we felt confident we were o.k. Also, the Seabees had cleared about a hundred yards or so from where we would be so it would be hard to sneak up on us. Naive, that's what we were. As we went in we greeted the other 4 guys who were clearing an area by hand; we observed there was a Japanese 2 man tank that was disabled; all over the area there were canteens and as we picked them up they were made of aluminum because they were very light. I opened one and could get a liquor smell, probably Saki, and it looked like this was a major fighting area. It was confirmed it was. Probably the Japanese had seen the situation wasn't good and had Saki and then attacked, probably took a few lives and then were killed.

Is that big building for us?

Food in the field k rations is healthy we understand but taste-wise it doesn't come close to Mom's food. We eat daily, but what we're really absorbed in is, just what is that large framed building going to be used for here? "Oh, that is to be Admiral Chester Nimitz's headquarters. He has been named Pacific Fleet Commander of the Southwest, and that includes all areas that General MacArthur doesn't command. He is being set up on Guam and our duty is to send, receive and give him instant messaging relating to his new command. " And what is that other good sized building for? "Oh, that's to house the Red Cross. Why? Because that will be a place for officers to sit back and relax in." Oh, I see, I think. We are finally told that a few of us have been chosen for a special detail and I'm one. We move to another safe location where we re-set up the tents and I promptly get Dengue Fever! Yep, it hurt my back; I had a fever; got lots of liquids and then I seemed to recover pretty fast. I went to our new base camp about a day or two after the others got there. There were about eight of us. We found we were all, Navy, Marines and a hut right near our tent, inhabited by Chamorros, being guarded 24-7 by Marines, with modern BAR (Browning Automatic Repeat) rifles and hand grenades. At Agana we had been issued carbine repeating rifles, ammunition, plus belts to carry it; and instructions on cleaning and taking care of our pieces. I loved my carbine and I felt confident in the event I had to use it. We were all given instruction regarding hand grenades, but not issued any.

Guam - Above Agana & Bored

We still have not sent out any Morse Code since we ended Radio School in Farragut, ID (Feb 1944)! Also, we won't until we get set up, so what is holding us up, we ask? "Patience, patience - we just need to wait until the Marines take out a few pockets of Japanese soldiers at Barrigada, which is where we will set up a Receiver Station first and then we will have normal operations!" We nod our heads and then find we are in constant briefings, like this one: "There is a lot of dysentery and dengue fever, with flu like symptoms. No one knows what causes the dengue fever, but the medical community think it is caused by the fly, because there are so many! On the dysentery we feel it is caused by poor sanitation, so wash your hands and body parts that touch anything not YOU! Wow, that clears that up! Try not to catch dengue because it is back breaking painful!" But, we don't know what causes it - right? We left this briefing scratching our heads and that is why I remember it. Except for the hourly briefings each day we just do our own thing; write letters; take a makeshift bath when we think it's time; wash our duds and we are all anxious to hear from loved ones, or friends, so mail call is fun. We get a "smoking and beer break" every day and every day it's the same for me - I give my "smokes" to Bill Evans, from San Francisco, who loves to "French smoke - where you drag the smoke in and as you open your mouth you let the smoke out only to draw it back into your lungs!" Ugh! I don't like beer that Grandma Sophia Don doesn't make so I give this away too; usually 1 to buddy Joe Duran, who is from Durango, CO, and the other to any friend who wants one. Someone always does.