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Marine TeUs of 6-MonthStay in Solomon IslandsMalaria Is His SouvenirBy Norma Kofahl.IITHEN DANIEL Blake left Ce-»» dar Rapids March 10, 1941, he was an 18-year-old who felt he could “learn more in the marine corps than in high school.”Today Daniel Blake has a corporal’s stripes, the Guadalcanal service emblem, a presidential citation bar, campaign bars for pre-war service, Asiatic and Pacific service, and malaria.The son of Mr. end Mrs. Daniel Blake, 913 Eighth avenue SE, Blake spent six months in the Solomon islands, four and one-half of them on THAT island Guadalcanal.“The best thing that ever happened to me was when 1 gotback to Iowa—elm trees!” saidBlake with a broad grin.Enroute to land on Guvutu, one if the Solomon islands, Blake re-alled, the motor of the Higgins oat in which he and his platoon vere landing failed completely, doming into port under enemy ire men were lying flat, stacked hree deep. Blake was in charge f a light machine gun squad. Jombs were falling on the shore ine.“We rounded the island, which lad a steep hill in its center, to ;et up defenses, as we thought it vas partially secure,” Blake con-inued. “Immediately, Japs began ihooting from caves in the hill. 3oth corpsmen, attached to the company to rescue wounded men, vere killed early in the action.“These men wore red crosses on their uniforms and carried noarms. After that, corpsmen carried weapons, rather than wearing the crosses.”—Oaaett* photoDANIEL BLAKE.The Japs had to be cleaned out of the ''aves and hills with the help c f.N.T.Blake’s battalion then went toanother island, where they spent three weeks setting up defenses. Early in their stay there, a Jap “tin can” (destroyer), followed by a cruiser, opened fire on the American forces. Thb destroyer “knocked the front off the only building then standing on the island.”When the marines landed, thisstore building was the only erect structure on the island, and it had been hit several times. Using pieces of tin from the roofs of wrecked homes on the island, marines fashioned huts in which to sleep. A fiber rug salvaged from a home was Blake’s bed.“From here on I lost track of time. We ate when we could and slept when we could,” commented Blake. “Each man was provided with a two-day supply of rationswhich he carried at all times. Rations consisted o* two cans of iron rations—two 12-ounce tins, one wet, one dry. The wet was meat and beans, meat and vegetable stew or meat hash. The dry heldfive biscuits, flat and hard; five pieces of hard candy and a can of soluble coffee. You get all the! vitamins this way, but it doesn’t fill you up.”He told of replacing their “iron ration” menu with Japanese rice, toward the end of their stay on the islands. This was an attempt to conserve their own depleted rations. “Jap rice isn’t as good as American rice,” testified Blake.Coming in at night under fire, and making a forced march through coconut groves to reachHenderson field, Blake’s battalion landed on Guadalcanal. “The Japs were more organized here. They liked to fight at night.” Speaking of “Sewing Machine Charley” and “Washing Machine Willy,” as familier enemies, Blake said: “They came over everynight about 10 or 11 o’clock, just to keep us awake.” These were pet names marines used for planes which carried out nightly raids.Before leaving Guadalcanal Blake contracted malaria. Whileon Tulagi island, in a swampy area known as “Mosquito Hollow,” the fever set in. From here Blake was sent to hospital, units for transfusion and treatment.Although he weighed 175 . pounds when he left the states,! the scales stuck at 129. He stayed ' in a San Diego hospital from March 18 to June, is now spend-ihg a 30-day leave with his parents. He will then go to the Gre.it Lakes naval hospital for further treatment.i3New ShipbuildingProgram PlannedWASHINGTON (AP) — The navy is planning a $3,922,637,400 ship construction program envisioning 480,000 tons of vessels ranging in size from small boats to aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers, congress learned Monday.Disclosure came in testimony
Newspaper Details
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US
Tue, Jun 08, 1943
Page 2
Full Page
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USA 20 May 2019
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