Dorchester High School for Boys - Red and Black Yearbook (Dorchester, MA)

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-'vs' Pistol P3l3kiH, Photographer A letter from Put. Edward P. Laudanskyi, ,BQ Signal Corps, Pacific Area. -L YS iklw ' Q -Haig if ,'v'f,, -fi I .ai ff I Ulf ii 4 51 Dear Folks: Well, now it can be told. I hope my last letter didn't frighten you, but here is the story in a nutshell. I was with the troops that took Makin Atoll in the Gilberts. I am allowed only to tell my personal experiences so here goes as best I can. I couldn't write you very well while we were on maneuvers and much less while we were aboard ship. We trained well for this offensive, and it was just like another maneuver when we got off the barges. No one was too scared, nobody too excited. On the morning of No- vember zo, we sighted Makin about 6 A. M. whole .Iap fleet and us as we eased up into the barges and thought. Boy we In the meantime a I was expecting to see the air force come down on to the island. We loaded headed for shore, so we rode and rode and rode. squall came up and in less than it takes to write, We were soaked through and everyone was cussing and swearing, myself included. We would cuss every time a wave came over the bow of the barge, and that sort of kept our minds off the thought of facing fire while going in. Then th-e signal came that we were to page sixty-four go in. While we were heading for the beach, the squall subsided and the sea grew fairly calm. All this time my camera was getting wet and my temperature was going up. We were sup- posed to be in the third wave, but I think we hit before some of the other waves had. The beach they selected for us to land on was a lulu. Boy, if I have to do it again, I don't want it on that kind of beach. Our barge hit the reef and we slid over. Then we had to pick our way through jagged coral boulders under the water. About one hundred and fifty yards from shore, our boat tore its bottom out on a boulder, and we had to go off the ramp. As soon as they lowered the ramp, the barge started to fill with water and sink. All this time my camera was my biggest worry, but I had to go: so I jumped. I only went in up to my neck among the boulders with my camera and a light combat pack over my head. I luckily kept them dry, but all the films I had in my pockets, my wallet, and the sixty pound pack on my back were all soaked. I would try to walk and find I could stumble a few feet, and then a wave would drag me back. Lots of fellows were going under and then come up spluttering. All the while the Navy was shelling, bombing, and strafing the beach. I finally found that if I used the momentum of an oncoming wave, I could slide over the boulders with the help of my lifebelt. I finally made that one hundred and fifty yards in about twenty minutes, but I think I aged ten years. We charged the beach, all the time your truly reeling one reel of film after the other of the operation. We had expected machine guns on the beach, but the .laps had evacuated to their village leaving only snipers in our path. I started right out behind the assault troops. All this time we didn't know where the .laps were. Then in the undergrowth I lost sight of them, but I kept going. I went about a half a mile without any incident. All this time I thought that the first wave had already come through

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and cleaned out this section. I looked around behind me, and there came the first wave through the palm trees. I, Edward P. was in front of both the Japs and my own side. This wasn't for me, so I hightailed it for the beach. Back there I got some beautiful shots of the boys feeding some of the natives that had come over to our side. Later, I met one of our other cameramen, and we teamed up and headed for the front. All this time there was a terrific racket from both sides. We worked up slowly and careful- ly, but then we ran into trouble. The snipers were all around us. We decided to try to work our way along the beach. We did this pretty successfully with only a limited bit of slugs whistling near us and rounded a cove that looked upon the main Jap positions. From the cover of a fallen tree we could see the whole show. It was impossible to get pictures because we were still quite a distance away, but we watched our planes give those sons of heaven -Hell. It finally got too hot there, and we followed some troops moving up the road. We were forced to skirt the road alongside of the palm I trees. All this time the fire got heavier and the noise of the weapons nearer. On the road ahead of me I saw what looked to be a flashy sedan, It was a DeSoto of about IQ4I model that the Japs had abandoned after we hit it strafing. One wheel was gone to make sure we wouldn't use it. Qur tanks started to move up and were passing the auto. It was a beauti- ful shot. I knelt down to take a shot of it and Wham. --I hit for the trees. This kept up for about half an hour with my rushing out about half a dozen times and some sniper trying to pick me off. Then I fooled him. I ran across the road, snapping as I went. I got a picture although it was slightly blurred. We moved up until we came to our forward CP. The bullets were whistling all around. The Japs were using machine guns along with their rifies. I took cover and things quieted down a bit. To give you an idea how heavy the brush and undergrowth of the jungle was, there was a First Aid Station, fifteen feet in front of me and I didn't know it. I crawled up there but couldn't get any pictures. I leaned up against a tree, half sitting, and whing, a bullet took page sixty-five