We boarded the USS President Hayes at 11:30 January 12th and pulled away at 5pm. We rested on the ship; didn't even get shot at.

It took 24 hours to get to Guadalcanal. We pulled in at 5pm and stayed on the ship overnight.

We were off the ship at 9:30am January 14th, and had working parties on the beach, unloading and setting up tents in the rain.

On the 15th the wind blew down a coconut tree that fell on the bunk of Phillip Calalano and killed him. The tree was weak from naval gunfire that had gone through the tree when the Marines landed there in 1942, and also from the rain-soaked ground.