A Quilt for Jenna (21 page)
Authors: Patrick E. Craig
The men quickly ate some of their C rations, packed their gear, and moved out. As Reuben slipped through the jungle with his patrol, he thought about the picture of the Japanese family in his pocket. Once again he found himself offering up a silent prayer.
Lord, let me get home to Jerusha.
A wry grin crossed his face.
I guess there really aren't any atheists in foxholes, Lord.
T
HE MONTH AFTER THE INVASION
hadn't gone well for the Americans. On the second day after they landed, the Japanese sent a fleet of cruisers and destroyers to attack the landing fleet off Guadalcanal. In the naval battle that followed, five American cruisers were sunk or disabled. The outcome of the sea battle wasn't good news to the Marines. Rumors began to circulate that the troops were now cut off, that the whole invasion was going to turn into another Bataan. All the men were gloomy about the reports. And to top it all off, it began to rain. Soon the Marine scouts were slogging through mud and swamps, searching for the enemy. The Japanese had many trenches and foxholes where they hid until a patrol passed, and then the concealed enemy would open up on them. Casualties were not yet high among the Marines, but they were mounting.
For Reuben and Bobby, August was a long nightmare of marching, scouting, hiding in the jungle, and staying away from any real fighting. The first episode with the sniper had been their only face-to-face confrontation with the enemy. During that time, however, they had scouted out several detachments of Japanese soldiers, called in artillery and air strikes on their positions, and then slipped back into the jungle without contact. The men were tired, hungry, wet, and miserable.
But by September, much of Guadalcanal had fallen into American hands, though the Japanese continued to put up fierce resistance. On September 8, Bobby and Reuben's platoon was ordered to accompany Colonel “Red Mike” Edson up the coast to attack the Japanese positions on the Taivu Point and capture the village of Tasimboko. They boarded some small transports equipped with landing craft for a quick trip up the coast.
Fortunately, just before they arrived at their destination, a small convoy of American cargo ships escorted by destroyers passed by them. Their mission was a completely different one, but when the Japanese at Tasimboko saw all the ships together, they assumed a large invasion force was landing, so most of them ran away. The Marines landed with very little resistance, and once again Reuben and Bobby were out of the fighting. They mopped up a few stragglers and some snipers and then headed back for the main camp on the Tenaru River.
On Sunday, September 13, after returning from Tasimboko, Reuben and Bobby's platoon had gone to bed. Shortly after that they were awakened and told to move out and up to the top of the ridge that formed the main line of defense for Henderson Field. During the day there had been many skirmishes with Japanese patrols, and a major attack was expected that night. The ridge was fifteen hundred yards from the airfield and was defended by Marines from the engineer battalion and the First Marine Division.
Gunnery Sergeant Thompkins got his men into the trenches along the top of the ridge, where they waited for the enemy. They didn't wait long. Several flares lit up the night sky. By the flickering light Reuben could see a wave of Japanese soldiers running up the hill toward the American positions. They began screaming, “Banzai!” and firing their weapons.
The main force began to converge on the knoll where Reuben and Bobby's platoon was positioned alongside Red Mike Edson's men. They were obviously trying to push the Marines off the ridge and open the way to recapture the airfield. Reuben sighted down the hill at the oncoming horde and as he did, a strange and new feeling began to rise up from deep within him. It wasn't fear; it was more than that. It was primitive and raw, a consuming rage and terror that overwhelmed him. Suddenly Reuben was firing his rifle into the massed men below. One, two, three Japanese went down under the chilling accuracy of his shooting.
To the left and right of him Bobby and Sergeant Thompkins were firing into the mass of charging men with terrifying effect. Twenty or more Japanese were dead or dying on the hill in front of them. The line coming at them wavered and broke, and they turned and ran back down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, Reuben could see officers with swords screaming at their men and pointing back up the hill.
A large detachment of Japanese soldiers appeared out of the jungle and joined the group that had retreated. They all turned and once more began advancing up the hill. Red flares lit the night sky again, and the scene reminded Reuben of what he had always thought hell might look like. The Japanese began firing their submachine guns with great effect. Up and down the line Marines were going down.
The sniper patrol responded with withering fire, making every shot count. Once again they turned and ran down the hill, leaving more than a hundred of their dead behind.
During the lull, Reuben felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look into the eyes of his friend.
“I knew you'd come through, Reuben, I just knew it,” Bobby said. He had a bloody furrow along the side of his head where a submachine gun bullet had barely missed him, and his eyes looked the way Reuben felt inside.
Sergeant Thompkins moved quietly along the line, checking his men.
“Check your ammo, keep down, and keep concentrating your fire on the main group as they come along the ridge. If they can push us off this knoll, there's nothing between them and the airfield. We have to hold.”
Just then Colonel Edson came along the lines. He was dirty and sweating, and his uniform shirt looked as if it had been cut with a knife, but he was unharmed.
“We got into a little hand-to-hand down the line there,” he said, “but we ran them off. You boys are doing an incredible job. Keep up the great shooting. They'll be coming back. You have to hold here, boys.” The colonel moved down the line to rally his men.
Suddenly the red flares lit the sky again. “Here they come,” someone shouted, and another wave of Japanese began moving up the hill.
“Marine, you die!” someone screamed from the Japanese ranks.
“Come and get it, Tojo, we're up here waiting for you,” someone yelled back, and once again the roar of gunfire rose to a horrible pitch. Shells from American artillery flew over the top of the ridge with a horrible humanlike scream and landed among the Japanese. Grenades flew up the hill, some to explode harmlessly outside the trenches, some landing among the Marines with deadly effect. Throughout the night, wave after wave of Japanese climbed the hill and broke like the rising tide, higher and higher on the ridge. Slowly the Marines farther down the hill were pushed back until most of the men were gathered in the trenches and foxholes around the last knoll on the hill.
At around four in the morning, red flares lit the sky again, and the Japanese came on once more. The men around Reuben were running out of ammunition. Some had pulled out their pistols or grabbed ammunition off the body of a fallen comrade. Reuben fired until the barrel of his rifle was too hot to touch. All around him was the screaming and moaning of wounded and dying men and the battle cries of men fighting to the death. Suddenly a live grenade bounced into the trench where Bobby and Reuben were fighting.
“Grenade!” yelled a voice behind them, and then the hulking body of Gunnery Sergeant Edgar Thompkins flew through the air and landed on the grenade. There was an explosion, and the sergeant was blown into the air. When he landed, he was writhing in agony, half of his arm blown away. Bobby also went down in a heap, and from the way he fell, Reuben figured he must be dead.
The Japanese soldiers advanced again with more screams. “Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!”
Suddenly Reuben was looking at the battle as though from above, detached and analytical. He heard himself begin to scream like an animal, a horrible, growling, gurgling sound torn from the very center of his being. He grabbed his bayonet and leaped on the first soldier, pulled it out and whirled away from a thrusting bayonet. He snatched up a rifle and clubbed the next soldier trying to come into the trench. He sensed another soldier behind him and then felt a sharp pain shoot through his upper arm. He had been stabbed, but he didn't stop. He grabbed his K-Bar knife out of his belt as he pulled himself off the bayonet stuck in his arm. He leaped forward and struck the man in front of him with it.
Then Reuben began striking out at anything that moved. One of the men was able to raise his rifle part way and get off a round. Reuben felt a blow to his side but it didn't stop him. He leaped forward and jumped on the man. Frenzied Japanese tried to pull him off their comrade. Suddenly there was a terrific explosion as an artillery round went off close by. The concussion blew the enraged group of men into the air. They landed in a jumbled mass in the trench. Reuben was at the bottom underneath four Japanese soldiers. He tried to push them off but they were all dead. He could feel blood seeping out of his wounds.
So this is how it ends. Goodbye, Jerusha...
And then he slipped into darkness.
Jerusha crawled up next to the little girl, who instinctively held out her arms.
“Where's your mama, honey?” Jerusha asked as she pulled the little body close to her.
“My mama's asleep. The bad man gave her something and she went to sleep.”
“The bad man?” asked Jerusha. “Where is the bad man now?”
The little girl snuggled closer to Jerusha. “He fell in the water and then he was gone...out there,” she said as she pointed to the pond. “I thought you were an angel.”
Jerusha pushed her way under the seat cushion and clothing and tried to get warm. Suddenly the struggles of the last few days overwhelmed her. She felt a great weakness come over her, and she knew she was passing out. She pulled the little girl close to her.
Is this how it ends, Lord?
And then the darkness closed in.
R
EUBEN AWAKENED TO THE STEADY ROLL
of waves under a ship. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Sun was shining through a round window in the wall. It was cracked open, and outside he could hear the cries of gulls. Everything in the small room was white, the bed he was lying in was soft and warm, and the sheets smelled fresh and clean.