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thedrifter
01-10-07, 11:01 AM
Film traces Red Arrow Division
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By Greg Chandler
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- About a month before U.S. Marines scored a major victory in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, National Guard soldiers from West Michigan battled heat, humidity and malaria to defeat Japanese troops in the Battle of Buna, the first U.S. military victory of World War II in the Pacific theater.

However, few heard about that battle.

"We had no media with us when we went over the (Owen Stanley) Mountains," said Bill Sikkel, one of only two surviving members of Company D of the Michigan National Guard's 126th Infantry who fought that battle.

The soldiers from Company D were part of a larger National Guard group known as the Red Arrow Division -- nearly 3,800 men from Michigan and Wisconsin who fought for three years in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines as part of the South Pacific campaign.

A new documentary by students and professors at Grand Valley State University traces the history of the Red Arrow Division and its contribution.

The Holland Museum on Thursday will present two showings of the documentary, titled "Nightmare in New Guinea: Michigan's National Guard in World War II."

"This is an overlooked campaign in the second World War," said Chris Kleinjans, a military history enthusiast and the museum's education director. "(The producers) really go into detail on what it was like for the guys on the ground."

Two GVSU professors, history department chairman James Smither and Frank Boring of the university's communications program, directed 15 students who worked on the project, which included interviews with soldiers such as Sikkel, as well as rare film footage and photos. Smither said the project provided a living history lesson for the students.

"You're making a direct connection between the people here and now, and the people who live as part of history," Smither said.

Reservations are required for viewing the film, with seating limited to 60 people per showing.

The documentary has been included in the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project, and also is slated for broadcast on PBS stations. No air date has been set.

Ellie