Evening star., 1942-11-11
BY NORMAN KAHL,

MARINE BASE, QUANTICO, Va,
Nov. 1.-THE Marines here yester-
day celebrated their 18TH birthday
anniversary by practicing how to
shoot Japs.
They could have had brass bands,
roster of distinguished speakers,
liberty for the day. But somehow
none of them seemed right. Not |
while Marines were fighting and
dying on Guadacanal.
So the Marines here observed |
their anniversary by training and
studying and drilling just as if it
were any other day. There were
just two features of the days pro-
gram that gave the tralnees here at
Quantico an idea that yesterday
was little different from other
days. One was turkey for dinner.
The other was brief message from
Post Commandant Maj. Gen P. H.
Torrey, delivered in the evening.
A handful of us was invited to
come down and spend the day with
the Marines, but we were warned |
that there would be no special pro-
gram-that we would see the officer
candidates class and the reserve
officers training group go through
precisely the routine they went
through on any other Tuesday.
Taken Into Swamp.
So we went, unsuspecting And
We were led meekly to little clear
ing in the heart of the Chopawami-
sic Swamp, where a couple of hun
dred trainees were about to be
given a taste of simulated battle
conditions.
A Marine officer said, Follow me-
And we followed-through thickets
and over stony knobs and across a
stretch of ankle-deep mud Then
the officer said, Maybe you fell
lows had better roll up the cuffs
of your trousers. We're going to
run into some mud here"
We looked at each other ques-
tioningly, and then we thought of
Wake and Bataan, and Corregidor
and the Solomon 1slands-and we
rolled up the cuffs of our trousers.
We swished onward through the
mud of the Chopawamisic until we
came to makeshift bridge con-
sisting of four logs lashed together.
| Below us, at the tips of our toes,
feet Of swamp water threatened
us. So we pointed our toes outward
and did our best to negotiate sew
eral hundred feet of treacherous
bridgeway. Somehow, miraculously,
none of us slipped.
Safe Despite Bullets.
We balanced ourselves on the logs
and waited Machine gun bullets
were whipping over our heads.
Rockets were bursting uncomforta-
bly, close. A dense screen of smoke
was creeping up. But We were really
as safe as a babe in a cradle COM
pared to what the Marine candi-
dates were going through.
They came, presently, over the
ridge and plunged into the swamp.
They couldn't cross on logs. They
had to swim, or wade, or get across
any way they could. They had to
sprawl and wallow in mud and fight
their way through meshes of barbed
wire while live ammunition buzZed
around their ears and the deafening
sounds of battle smothered them.
They had to grapple their way up
steep ridges, swing over ravines, bat
ter their way through dense entan-
clements of brush. Barbed wire bar
riers that looked like spider webs
barred their path everywhere.
The officers admitted that there
were probably more obstacles than
then men would encounter under
actual battle conditions. But they
had to be ready. This is big world
and you couldn't tell what part of it
a Marine might be expected to land
on. The Marines have to be ready
for anything.
Incredible 500 Yards.
We wove our way back throurh
the swamp and got into jeeps. 1t
was raining by then and jeeps aren't
exactly town limousines. So we
slithered and jounced and got
soaked. When we alighted, after a
brief prayer, we watched the officer
candidates come up the steep en-
bankment that brought them across
the finish line.
They squirmed through some more
barbed wire, pulled their way up the
sides of the drop while machine-gun
bullets whistled around them. When
they completed the most incredible
500 yards man or beast has ever
travelled, they were expected to run,
with rife and bayonet fixed, to the
top of the ridge. where doctors and
4 pharmacists mates were waiting.
After that-a hot shower, a nap and,
for those who suffered even the
4 slightest scratch. an extra shot Of
tetanus.
Tough? Certainly. It's got to be.
These are the fellows who, In few
short weeks from now, will be on one
of Americas rapidly expanding battle
fronts, where they play for keeps.
Maybe there won't be so many
obstacles to overcome within such
| q short stretch, but the bullets viii