Evening star., 1952-09-25
XVI.

49,. XVI.
Later in the day. however, the
Caine steamed bravely through
the channel between Jacob and
Ivan. together with a hundred
other ships Of the attack force
The American flag was flying on
both islands. The Caine dropped
anchor in the lagoon. Queeg Or
dered the posting Of armed guards
all along the sides Of the ship to
shoot any stray japanese SWIM
mers, and dismissed the crew from
battle stations. There was moth
ing else to do. Hemmed in by
transports, cargo ships and de-
stroyerS, the Caine couldn't have
fired at. the beach even if Or
dered to.
z 1t wasta queer battle, the fight
for Kwajalein. to be a young
mans initiation into warfare. Pos
sibly it was the queerest that has
ever been fought. It had been
won thousands Of miles away.
months before a shot was fired.
The admirals had guessed cor
rectly that the Mikado's "unsink-
able carriers" were short of an
important commodity - planes.
With the mere arrival of the
American array of ships and men.
the battle was theoretically over.
There was. nothing at Kwajalein
but a few thousand japanese SOL
4diers to face, the monstrous feet
rising out Of the sea.
Willie enjoyed and applauded
the spectacle with no thought of
its fatality. He occasionally
yawned. a tired but thoroughly
entertained spectator. This obliv-
iousness on the part of both
Americans and Japanese to the
TACT that the opponents were
human beings may perhaps be
cited as the key to the many mas
sacres of the, Pacific war. The
.Kwajalein invasion, the first of
these, was grand classic of sea
warfare. a lesson for the genera
tions.- There has never been a
more wisely conceived and surgi-
-eally executed operation. AS a.
young mans first taste of war
however. it was too rich, too easy.
too fancy, too perfect.
Steak for Officers.
Whitaker poked his head over
the top Of the ladder to the flying
bridge and said. "Chadan, Mistuh
Keith" Stars were already wink
Ing in the sky. Willie went below
and fell-to with the other officers
on an excellent steak dinner.
When the table was cleared.
Willie. Keefer, Maryk and Hard
Ing remained around the green
balze, drinking coffee.
Well" said Keefer to Maryk.
lighting cigarette, what did
you think Of the performance of
Old Yellowstain today?"
A11OCA lI'Ou, 1Om.
THAT was something, wasn't 1t.
turning tail before we ever got
70 the line Of departure and leav-
ing tnose poor slobs in the LVTs
70 navigate for themselves?"
Tom. you weren't even on the
bridge" said the, executive officer
shortly. you don't know what
you're talking about"
Keefer turned on Willie sud-
denly. What do you say?" Did
we goof off like a scared rabbit
or didn't we?"
Willie hesitated for several Sec
onds. "Well, wasn't on the ali
dade. Urban could easily have
read the bearing wrong"
Willie, you had the deck all
.nay: Did you ever see Capt. Queeg
: on the side of the bridge that was
: exposed to the beach?"
The question startled Willie and
IN q shocking flash he realized
that he never had.
MaryK rose and walked to the
door. setting frayed overseas cap
: on his head. 'All right" he said.
= IN q dry voice. "Mr. Keefer. the
name Of the commanding officer
. OF this ship is Capt. Queeg. I'm
his executive officer. I don't want
any more Of this name-calling in
my presence, do you hear. None
OF this Old Yellowstain or any,
thing but plain Capt. Queeg."
= AT dawn next day another en-
tertainment was staged for En-
sign Keith by the Northern Attack
Force.
The whining bangs Of the gen.
eral alarm brought him, half
dressed. scampering up to the
bridge. in a misty blue twilight
torn by zigzags and parabolas and
bursts of red-and-orange fire. The
crash Of big guns made his ears
ring. He hastily cbewed up two
OF the sheets Of toilet paper he
kept tucked in his life jacket for
this purpose and thrust the wet