Carlson's Raiders, Fox Co.,
2nd Battalion - Pacific Campaign
This picture was taken in the Tassafaronga area on Guadalcanal in 1944 following our invasion and capture of Guam. Guadalcanal was our R&R base plus our training area for our next mission.
The circumstances of the sword is rather unusual: our company (Fox Co., 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment) made up of Col. Carlson's Marine Raiders was hastily summoned to reinforce another Marine company in trouble with an enemy force far too large to contain. In our haste to respond, we had to doubletime with our combat packs over the many miles to our target. This situation required a rest break. During this break I decided to do a little reconnoitering. I climbed down a steep hillside and found a huge burned out cavern which was about 15 feet high and wide. Upon closer inspection, I saw a dark tunnel in one side of the cavern. I slowly approached the tunnel with my back to the wall and my 45 auto extended in front of me. After sneaking slowly in about 15 feet waiting for my eyes to become accustomed to the darkness, I saw a Japanese soldier lying face down with his hands over his rifle feigning death. Even though I tried to be very quiet, he must have heard me because he started to slowly raise his head . Seeing this movement, I shot him in the face. Even though his face was shattered, he still tried to rise and use his rifle. I shot him again, this time through his throat practically taking his head off. Hearing the shots, one of my friends came running down to investigate. I asked him to bring a flashlight. With the light I continued into the tunnel past the dead soldier only to find a pile of dead Japanese soldiers at the end of the tunnel. I immediately saw two swords sticking up out of the pile of bodies. I gave my friend one of the swords and kept one for myself. To this day, I still can't figure out why that soldier was protecting those dead bodies. Whether they were relatives or members of his unit is still a puzzle to me.