{"id":9958,"date":"2023-02-20T23:04:23","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T06:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lindacollison.com\/?p=9958"},"modified":"2023-02-20T23:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T06:10:00","slug":"my-guadalcanal-diary-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/my-guadalcanal-diary-2\/","title":{"rendered":"My Guadalcanal Diary – 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unspoken Word<\/h1>\n

\u00a0by lscollison<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Field Notes:<\/h2>\n

Before you send in the troops<\/h2>\n

you’ve got to know where<\/h2>\n

you’ve got to know what<\/h2>\n

lies ahead, the lay of the land<\/h2>\n

– rivers, ravines, ridges, roads –<\/h2>\n

where the high ground and where the low<\/h2>\n

You’ll want to number those hills<\/h2>\n

measure those heights<\/h2>\n

define that perimeter beyond which the enemy roams<\/h2>\n

make maps from aerial photos taken by<\/h2>\n

cameras mounted on the fuselage of<\/h2>\n

our Cactus Air Force and<\/h2>\n

developed undercover of a tent in the dark of night<\/h2>\n

The darkest dark I’ve ever seen broken<\/h2>\n

when\u00a0 tracers and artillery shells flash their hellish light<\/h2>\n

Maps drawn in the field by us combat engineers<\/h2>\n

without maps we are fighting blind<\/h2>\n

we can’t see the jungle<\/h2>\n

for the trees and vines<\/h2>\n

without them we can’t know this I-land<\/h2>\n

we’re defending with our lives<\/h2>\n

— lscollison 2023<\/p>\n

Unspoken Word,<\/em> or My Guadalcanal Diary<\/em>, is part of a work-in-progress inspired and informed by my father’s World War II experiences in the South Pacific, on Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, and Guam. In August, 2022, Bob and I joined Valor Tours<\/a> led by John Shively on Guadalcanal for a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps landing August 7, 1942. Shively is the author of The Last Lieutenant; A Foxhole View of the Epic Battle for Iwo Jima<\/a>,<\/em> a portrait memoir of his uncle’s war experience.<\/p>\n

Part one of this narrative was published on this site as My Guadalcanal Diary, or Unspoken Word:<\/p>\n

Unspoken Word, part 1<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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