Evening star., 1942-10-31
BY OLEN w. CLEMENTS,

DALCANAL, Solomon
Islands, October IL (Delayed) -
Night comes swiftly on Guadalcanal
Island.
And with it comes bowling hell
that American fighting men create
and share with the best that the
Mikado can throw in there. Only
the young and the very brave can
stand it for long.
Guadalcanal is a primitive and
predatory land. On its shores the
bloodiest battle the United States
has fought in the Pacific is raging
and had been raging for weeks.
Men are fighting with all the saw
ageness that men who hate can
put into it. They do most of their
work after dark. Their implements
are made of steel-cold and hot.
For the vanquished there is but one
relief-death.
We landed in this turbulent,
equatorial land an hour before sun
set and went straight to visit the
stockade for Jap prisoners. Marine
Pvt. j. D. Dupre of Durham, N. c.,
who stood guard, pointed to them.
Separated From Workmen.
There they are" he drawled,
indicating the prisoners of war who
were separated from Japanese work.
men interned when the Marines hit
Guadalcanal on August 7.
And" chirned in Corpl John T
Benton of Butler Pa, that's all
there are out of the 5000 Japs we
have met"
That is the story of Guadalcanal,
a mountainous island where neigh
Dor feasted on neighbor until mod
ern blitz war drove the cannibals to
the high hills
But Guadalcanal with all it's
bloodshed has its lighter moments,
even after dark. From the prisoner
stockade we went with our pilot,
1t. Clyde S. Shields of Aberdeen,
S. OAK, to the mess tent AS we en-
tered, the American bomber pilots
saluted It. Shields with Hi. fell
low! We thought you were dead"
1t. Shields recently went down at
sea. but made land on a raft.
1t. Shields grinned, slapped
Capt NJ Whitaker of Kentucky on
the back, and said:
Hey, White, heard you smacked
13 Jap zeros with two bombs at
Buka today How could you tell
there were 1872"
He Counted Wheels.
Capt. Whitaker swallowed hunk
Of salmon and shot back:
Counted the wheels and divided
by two"
A mile away in the front line
American and japanese machine
guns began to chatter Rifle shots
echoed up and down and reverber-
ated against the mountain range
at the Japs' back.
Everybody went on eating. The
lights popped on, for strangely the
nearer the front line you get the
brighter the lights, until an all
raid starts.
Say" hollered 1t. NJ V. Smith
of San Bernardino, Calf, guess
the name of the song leading the
Hit Parade this week"
1t. c. H. Mcconnell, fresh from
Oahu, frightened
That's easy" he shouted Say
a Prayer for Pal on Guadalcanal!
:. And. they all laughed.
Artillery Opens Up.
Back down the way, the marine
artillery opened up on the Japs
and the big shells whistled over
head. The bomber pilots filed ou,
of the mess tent to another.
Said 1t. Shields to his new CO.
pilot, 1t. j. NJ. Kleiman of New
York:
Son, hear those shells whistline
up above? Well, they're moving
slow compared to Jap zero. Yol
never see a zero-you just hear il
60 pft-t-t-t and minute latel
you hear something smack the sidt
of your flying fortress that sound.
like rain, but it amt"
1t. Kleiman gulped.
And the noise of the front lint
increased
Three sergeants suolled past tht
tent. One yelped:
They amt made no Jap bulle
with my name on it
; His companions chorused:
"Oh yeah? How about all thos'
addressed To whom it may con
; cern?'"
Back to Foxhole.
, They were on their way to q fox
hole, for it was time for Loui
and Louise and Washboard Willie
two Jap bombers, to pay thei
nightly visits. Also, in little whil
Spotlight Charlie was due to brin
his Jap cruiser offshore, pick ou
a target and let go salvo. O
for Oscar the sub to creep toWar'
short and toss few over.