"Days after the raid on Makin, found myself on a ship heading for the Solomon Islands.
No POWs to rescue this time, but the objective is simple. Take an island called Guadalcanal, hold the line, stay fucking alive on said island.
The Japs got off lucky on Makin, the 1st Marine Division landed with very little resistance, but battles at the Tenaru River, Japs are giving us a wake-up call, now we've got the whole fuckin' Jap army facing down right at us.
Now I've got my chance, I'm servin' in my Pop's old unit, the mighty 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. These bastards might just be the bravest unit yet, I know the stories from my father who was there, who lived the grime and the shit that happened, only they fought the krauts back then. This is a new enemy, this enemy right here might be the fuckin' real deal, the way they've hit, it's like they want to actually take over the world.
Haha, well these bastards didn't expect it to be that easy, did they? Because they've awoken the devil and the 1st Marine Division will want its pound of flesh.
I'm a part of Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. This is my fight."
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"It's been 2 weeks since we've been on Jungle patrol, lack of hot chow and decent asswipe has been difficult, with only our wits, instincts and fieldcraft skills, it's been a hard battle to keep moving with very little shut-eye.
For every Jap patrol we've encountered, we've used up a 3-week supply in nearly under a week, playing hide and seek with them isn't the best strategy, but we make do with the tactic we've got.
Alongside myself I've got Jameson Bacciarelli with me, we were friends in boot camp back in Parris Island. Helluva Marine to know, he wasn't in Bataan, nor was he at Guam or Wake. But he's good people and good to be around.
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Chapter 4:
October 20th 1942
Deep in the Jungles of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, Japanese soldiers were on patrol through the jungles, the mosquitoes clung to the soldiers' skin as they traversed through the jungle.
But unknown to them, lying in wait was a Marine who stood out of sight of them and manoeuvred so that he was in firing range at their front. Carrying the 30-round M1 Thompson SMG, he pulled the bolt quietly back.
The Marine in question was Joseph Capelli.
Hearing their footsteps get closer, Joe's blue eyes lit up with fire as he came out of cover and fired on the Japanese patrol, obliterating the patrol that came into his path, cutting them down like they were logs of wood being cut to pieces.
When he was sure the patrol was killed. He took cover again and looked back towards a set of dead Japanese soldiers that had been killed previously as Joe said, "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"
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Retreating back, he met up with a squad of his own Marines from Easy Company who had said, "Sarge, I swear you get into more trouble than we do."
Flashing what everyone called, 'The Capelli Daredevil Smirk' Joe replied, "Just entertaining the Japs, besides they kill one of our boys, we kill 10 of theirs. Eye for an eye, tooth for a fuckin' tooth."
"How'd we get so lucky to have you with us, Joe?" the voice who said it was Jameson Bacciarelli, he was tall, considered to be a hardworking Roman-Catholic. He was a married man who married when he was 17, he was already a father just after his 18th Birthday giving birth to a son named Stefan.
He had dark brown hair, brown eyes that were very dark, enough to be able to tell they were soulless.
"My charming personality, Sergeant Bacciarelli." Joe had said to his old friend.
Jameson smirked, "Just like boot camp, always a pain in the ass."
Laughing, Joe had then said, "Let's get back to the Company."
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Gearing up, the squad headed back to the Company on the other side of the area they called 'Grey Territory' the squad made it back to the battalion's frontline.
The trek had taken 3 days of walking back to the 5th Marines.
Arriving back at the 2nd Battalion's staging area, they were stunned that during their absence, the entire battalion had been levelled by the Japanese.
There were constant signs of damage, trees were blown apart, and the rows of dead Marines laid on the side of the road as Jameson asked rhetorically, "What the fuck happened here?"
"While you were in the jungle, fuckin' Jap Navy's been poundin' our fuckin' asses to the dark ages." One Marine had said.
Joe then asked, "Casualties?"
"20 wounded, 5 dead, two foxhole got hit directly with a booby trap, some little lady, had 10 gallons of explosives took out the foxholes." The same Marine said with his helmet off his head.
Joe and Jameson looked at each other as they took their helmets off as well, Jameson then said, "What now?"
"Battalion wants all NCO's at the CP." The same Marine said as he left. Joe and Jameson looked at each other in dismay as they walked to the CP, their weapons in their hands as they linked with the other NCOs of the regiment.
Positioning themselves, the Battalion Commander then said, "Our Battalion will be positioned right alongside the 1st Marines. The 7th will undoubtedly face resistance along the coastal road going straight to the south of the airfield."
"It's rough terrain all that way. Our position will be singled up on the line, in the event that we lose airfield, our orders are to fight as guerrillas. This will not happen, which means, all companies will be singled on the line, 2 platoons per position." The Commander ordered.
"AYE, AYE, SIR!" all NCOs cried out.
The Commander dismissed the NCOs as he ordered, "Capelli, Bacciarelli, hold it there!"
Joe and Jameson stayed behind as Battalion CO then said, "Weapons Platoon lost their Sergeant in the bombing last night, I need one of you to go over and step in as Platoon Sergeant for this gathering, I don't care who, but get your ass over there soon as."
The pair looked between them as Jameson smirked and said, "Well, I'll take over as Platoon Sergeant, sir. I'm already sick of this asshole."
"Good riddance you ugly bastard, I'll try not to get everyone killed." Joe smirked. Jameson rolled his eyes as he said, "No promises in combat, Sergeant."
The commander smiled as he said, "Get your teams together, standby to move out, gather as much supplies as you can."
"Yes sir." Jameson said.
Joe nodded, "Sir."
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Heading back to the platoon, Joe then said, "2nd and 3rd Platoons, fall in on me, at the double. Let's get hustlin'!"
Grabbing what was left of his standard ammo supply, he strategically placed it in his pockets, so that he could reach it more easily. He then turned to his squad and said, "Alright, you guys, we're spreading out along the line, it'll be very thin, 2 men a foxhole. One man stays awake at all times. In case we get overrun, you stand your ground. Fight hand-to-hand if you have to."
"Aye Sergeant!"multiple replies came out of the Marines' mouths.
By mid-afternoon, the entirety of the 2nd and 3rd Platoons were singled up on the line, they were waiting for the eventual attack.
Joe had set up a position, straight ahead of the line. He was on his own, just singled up there.
He signalled to 2 Marines as he said, "Cover this position here, I'm gonna check somethin' out!"
"Alone?!" one of the Marines asked.
Joe smirked, "I got this, hang back and cover the rear."
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The two Marines looked on in shock as Joe went about business and went to check the lines.
Keeping the men on the line motivated and filled with confidence ahead of the battle, this had been a habit with Joe, he took after his Father and Uncle in inspiring the men, it even stayed with him during the Philippines too in the few months that he had spent fighting the Japanese.
By the time he made it over to Jameson's position, the tall Sergeant had said, "All good, Joe?"
"Yea', how's your position?" Joe had said. Jameson then said, "Thin, I've got 1-man foxholes and trying to spread the gaps and cover all fields of fire. I don't even like this, we're all on our own, no air cover, no artillery support and not even a single hope we'll get some reinforcements."
"Work with what we've got. Marines make do." Joe said.
"2/5, retreat, hell!" Jameson recited the 5th Marines' motto.
"Retreat, hell, Sergeant Bacciarelli!" Joe smiled with his usual smirk.
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By the evening, it was raining heavily. Joe stood on the line, in the pouring rain. Rain didn't both him, he was a Marine, a Marine who stood on the horizon and awaited for the fight to begin.
In the distance to his right, he could hear distant sounds of explosions impacting the ground, he could see it shake amongst the rain that patted the ground.
The sleeves on Joe's uniform were rolled up, there were slight tears in the thread of his uniform, his pant legs were tucked into his boots, they weren't torn at the seams, but were well-maintained even in the time he had been on Guadalcanal.
Up ahead he looked towards the Jungles, he thought he saw silhouettes moving through the rain, the thunder cracked and the lighting lit up the jungle as Joe aimed his Thompson straight ahead from the hip as he pulled the bolt back quietly as he now realised, this is it.
The rain soon ended Joe had gotten on the radio, the forward outpost had reported an entire Japanese force headed towards the Marines.
Joe was soon enough right that his own gut had said the Japs had snuck through using the rain as their cover.
Signalling to the Marines, Joe had then said, "Japs aren't coming up the Matanikau, they're coming towards us, lock and load. We will hold this line. Retreat?"
"Hell!" the Marines shouted.
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Moving into position, the Marines readied themselves to fight as Joe aimed down the sights on his Thompson and readied himself, a flare went up and mortars came down on top of the Marines trying to soften them up.
The mortars stop as Joe checks on the men but before he checks on 2nd Platoon, another flare goes up lighting up Joe's entire body, he then looks to see Japanese soldiers taking down the wire as he shouts, "JAPS CLOSING IN!"
Firing a burst from his Thompson, he directs fire onto the charging Japanese soldiers that are shouting, "Banzai!"
Directing suppressive fire into the Japanese soldiers, he was trying to conserve ammunition firing only 2 shots per soldier. Mortar fire continued to hammer the Marines' positions as Joe moved along the line directing the men's line of fire whilst laying down suppressing fire on the Japanese himself.
The battle wasn't going well, soon enough, a squad of Marines was taken out leaving Joe defending and the line collapsed.
Meanwhile, Jameson had been traversing through the Jungle, accompanied by a machine gun team, they were heading to reinforce Joe's line and help cover the perimeter.
Jameson told the squad to hold position, he then circled round the Japanese infiltrators, his knife was drawn and he went about cutting down every Japanese soldier he could see.
He was soon tackled by a Japanese soldier who had his bayonet in his hand and was trying to kill Jameson with it, but Jameson with smart thinking, clutched hold of a rock and smashed it three times into the soldier's head and kicked him off before pulling out a sidearm and shooting him dead, he heard more footsteps and turned to shoot the Japanese soldiers as he breathed heavily.
He looked to the Marines with him as he said, "Let's get going, they need our help!"
The tone of voice Jameson used was frightening, but it masked what he was feeling, obvious anger, fear and hatred in his voice had the Marines hurrying to reinforce Joe's frontline.
At the frontline, Joe was holding on with whoever was left from his platoon and the remainder of 3rd platoon too. Joe was fighting a battle to hold the Japanese back, he was struggling against a soldier who had him on the ground, with a bayonet at his throat, but looking to see Jameson approaching behind him, Joe soon felt the fight back in him.
Letting the bayonet cut his hand, Joe then kicked the soldier off him and got back up pulling his pistol up with one hand firing two shots.
He got to one knee and fired one more shot as he brought up his Thompson and fired into the charging soldiers as he shouted, "MARINES, HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!"
Firing their Thompsons, Joe and Jameson stood side by side each other firing their Thompsons into the charging Japanese soldiers, their men reinvigorated by the fighting spirit to win a battle against the Japanese soldiers, as they fire into the charging hordes.
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By the morning after the battle, the ground had many Japanese soldiers littering the ground, the Marines had their casualties lined up against one of their foxholes.
The bloodstained face of Joe Capelli looked out beyond the battlefield. Joe's wound on his left hand had been bandaged up several hours ago. His Thompson had remained with an empty clip showing that Joe hadn't had the opportunity to reload his weapon, his blue eyes were haunted over the night's events, he didn't even hear the Battalion's CO and Company Commander approach from behind him in the process.
Hearing his name being said, Joe turned as he said, "Sorry sir, you say somethin'?"
"That was good work last night, Sergeant. You held the Japs off and did so in a violent manner." The Commander had said. Joe nodded, "It wasn't just me, it was the men of Easy Company, sir. They fought well and fought valiantly."
"I'm putting you up for a medal, Sergeant Capelli. We're gonna move up heading towards Lunga, for now, get yourselves some hot chow and rest up." The company CO had said.
Joe wanted to object, but he couldn't say a word. Even Jameson was surprised he didn't object. But to Jameson's trained eye, he looked down to see Joe's hands shaking.
Jameson had seen Joe's hands shake once during this campaign but to see them shaking again. Jameson worried for his old friend, during the battle, Joe had a look on his face that Jameson only knew as 'The Stare'.
Joe had held no concerns got his wounds that he suffered, but cared more for the men who were wounded during the battle, it was a mystery as to what Joe had seen during the Philippines, Jameson never found the strength to ask what had transpired during the campaign and the days after everything happened.
Jameson himself had those moments in the campaign, often wondering if he'd be the same after the war was over, but both men knew that there was no answer for it.
Their own objective, stay alive, keep fighting and get everyone home in one piece.