THEY CAN FORGET THAT ISLAND FROM NOW ON (19, November 1943)

 They Can Forget That Island From Now On

By: Seaman 1/c James J. Fahey

Fahey, James J., S1C, USN

Friday, November 19, 1943:  Things are pretty quiet at Bougainville.  I guess the Japs’ back is broken.  They can forget that island from now on.
    They allowed a few men from each division to go on the beach this afternoon, for a few hours of recreation.  There is nothing over there but jungle and swamp.  There is a native village further inland but only officers are allowed there.

    Some of the men who visited the Denver while she was in port said that twenty-five men were killed and many were wounded.  The wounded consisted of men with broken backs, eyes blown out, bodies crushed, etc.  The flooded compartments have sailors floating around in their waters.  One of their dead, a chief, still had his pipe in his mouth.  The odor from the bodies, still sealed aboard, is overwhelming.  They cannot retrieve the bodies until dry dock is reached.

USS Denver (CL-58) circa December 1942

    Sunday, November 21, 1943:  We are still at Purvis Bay.  A great many of the men are washing their blues.  We have hopes of being in Australia by January of ‘44.  We had movies on the forecastle for all hands as it was too hot below.  Our regular movies were held in the hangar deck but because of the extreme heat, this was impossible.

    Today I went to church services on Tulagi.  This was the first time on the beach in over a month.  We sang hymns.  The same ones I used to sing in grammar school.  It brought back memories.  I could hear the birds singing in the jungle.  It’s much better here than at Purvis.  This time last year, the Marines were fighting the Japs on the same spot.  The fighting that took place here was a nightmare.  Now peace and quiet has returned.  The Japs are buried close by.  Many are sealed in caves that are not too far away.  They refused to surrender.  It was much easier to seal them in their natural graveyard than risk huge losses.  All of the huts are made of big leaves cut from the jungle.  It doesn’t take the natives long to build a hut.  The little church is also made of the same substance.  Bamboo is also used in these crude living quarters.  The floors are generally dirt.  As for the natives, they are intelligent in appearance.  A large cage is teeming with birds.  I never saw such striking colors before.  The birds were captured by the natives from the jungle.  Some were of enormous size while others had a resemblance to parrots.

    I spent quite a bit of time talking to a fellow who was on one of the invasion barges in action at Bougainville.  He said that the Japs mowed down over 300 Marines in nothing flat while they were attempting a charge on the beach.  That we were only taking a small part of Bougainville, enough for our airfields.  The Japs were to be pushed back into the jungle and there they would starve.  If an attempt was ever made to clear the island of Japs, the process would take years to accomplish.  There are thousands of Japs there and many of them are veterans of the China War.  When the airfield is in operation, Rabaul will be rendered useless.  The Japs will be forced back to their powerful island of Truk approximately 700 miles away.  Truk is the Pearl Harbor of the Japanese Empire.  No white man has set foot on this island in over twenty-five years.  A formidable fortress, Truk can boast of its thousands of troops stationed there, ready and waiting to defend its shores.

    I returned to the ship after church services on Tulagi.  The Denver left for the States today.

    Wednesday, November 24, 1943: Sitting at anchor in Purvis Bay, we took on fuel today.  Espiritu Santo in a few days is the word.  I hope so.  Nothing fit to eat in over a month.  A troopship arrived this morning.  It left this afternoon for Bougainville.  It steamed up from the Fiji Islands.  This will be the last ride for many of those troops.  Some will come back crippled for life.  Going, they are young and in the best of health.  Returning, they are old and beaten shells that once were men.  Troops are transported there nearly every day.  Crowded landing barges are usually their lot.  The barges are very small and many of the troops are stricken with seasickness.  On rainy days they are hearded below where the heat is unbearable and no air reaches them.

USS Foote

    Yesterday, the destroyer Foote left for the states, half of its bow was blown off.  It happened at Bougainville in our sea battle.  The patch job was a credit to the Navy.  Jap torpedoes were the damaging agent and it was a sight to behold.

    A number of the men were diving off the side of the ship having a grand old time until an officer happened by.  Result . . . No diving . . . 

    Twenty new “boots” are on board today.  They arrived by transport.  No movies last night on account of rain.  One of the movies that we have viewed while here was Edison, The Boy.  Mickey Rooney was the star.  It was enjoyable.  

    About a month from now, summer begins.  It’s hot enough as it is.  I can imagine what we will be in for weather-wise.  For now, darkness creeps in at about 7 P.M. Listening to the news report, I learned that the invasion of Tarawa in the Gilberts has begun.  It’s over 1000 miles to the north of us, north of the equator.  It gave no date of the invasion . . .