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Osotogary
01-14-07, 04:59 PM
Today, while shopping at a local supermarket, I met a gentleman and his wife. The gentleman was an Ellice Island Marine veteran (circa 1943). He told me an interesting story about how the Marines were going to invade Nanumea (the northwestern most island in the country now called Tuvalu). The intelligence that they were given said that there wasn't anybody suppose to be on the island. When they arrived on shore with an invading force of, I believe he said 800 Marines, they saw nothing but a Japanese flag flapping in the breeze. Then the saw what looked like Americans coming towards them. It came to be that the island, contrary to intelligence, was occupied by the SeaBees used the Japanese flag to ward of Japanese bombers while they were building an airfield.
This fine gentleman also mentioned that he thought a Marine named Schmidt(?) should have received the Congressional Medal of Honor for holding off and killing Japanese soldiers with his machine gun while blinded, as well as pulling the pin from his 45 and inserting it into his machinegun to keep it firing.
I saw the car that he was driving. It had a U.S. Marine Corps license plate in back a "Once a Marine Always a Marine" plate in front and two U.S. Maine stickers on the car windows.
What this Marine made me do, without him knowing it, was make me do some searching on the internet so that I could pass this story on to all of you, correct spelling of the islands etc.
Adios.
Gary