

As HBO revisits WWII in the Pacific, a Guadalcanal vet recalls the real war of attrition


The bodies of dead Japanese soldiers cover the beach, stretching nearly as far as the eye can see.

The scene is from a recent episode of the HBO series "The Pacific." A follow-up to "Band of Brothers," which told stories of World War II in Europe, "The Pacific" focuses on the war against Japan. Recent episodes have highlighted the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Many people have watched it. Ralph Whitsett can still smell it.

The 87-year-old Hampton resident fought on Guadalcanal with the 1st Marine Division as part of a mortar crew. His memories, still sharp after more than 65 years, paint a vivid picture of that pivotal battle.

The Marines landed on Guadalcanal in 1942 and initially faced light resistance. But the Japanese mounted a furious bid to retake the island, which is strategically located along the approaches to Australia.

As the Japanese stormed forward and the Marines held fast and waited for relief, it became a battle of attrition.

"We had the utmost faith in America, that they would come in there," Whitsett said. "I've read we were there six months. It seemed like an eternity."

Left on their own and running out of food, Whitsett and his comrades lived for a time on rice and powdered milk that the Japanese had abandoned. Black bugs had infested the rice, but the Marines improvised by combining ingredients.

"The black bugs would float on top of the milk," he said. "We'd take our spoon and skim the black bugs off and throw them on the ground and eat the rice."

That worked to a point.

"A few days later, we found out there were maggots in the rice," he said, smiling. "At least we got our protein."

To cook meals, he packed sand in an empty tin can and drenched it with gasoline. The makeshift stove would burn for at least 15 minutes.

Unlike their comrades now fighting in Afghanistan, these Marines didn't have unmanned drones or U-2 spy planes to scope out the enemy. They strung wire from palm tree to palm tree for communications hookups.

One night, Whitsett was on guard duty when he heard a man whistling. It was an American tune — the title escapes him — but the song saved the man's life. He had been checking the lines and Whitsett held his fire.

"If he had snuck along the telephone lines, we would have shot him," he said. "You don't ask questions on a dark night."

Prior to landing, they climbed down rope nets into boats, being careful to unstrap their helmet chin straps and pack straps in case they fell in the water.

The HBO series missed that detail.

"I look at it very critically," Whitsett said.

But the scene of the dead Japanese on the beach — that hit home. Whitsett recalled sleeping close enough to the dead bodies to smell the rotting flesh.

Today, he can walk down his neighborhood and know right away if an animal has died nearby. It is a smell that people never forget.

"I was there," he said, recalling that beach scene. "I saw the same thing. They just came madly rushing at us. We killed them all, I guess."

The Marines got by with World War I-era bolt-action rifles and ate rations that had been on the shelf for years.

Meanwhile, Whitsett and his mortar crew lobbed 81-millimeter shells over the night-time battles to illuminate Japanese positions.

For a 20-year-old kid from Roanoke with no combat experience, Guadalcanal provided a lifetime of memories.

His adventures didn't end there. Whitsett later fought in the Battle of Peleliu, where he was wounded during the landing, receiving a Purple Heart. In between, he had some downtime in Australia and paid attention to a pretty girl named Shirley.

They might have gotten married, he said, but Whitsett had a practical streak.

Each Marine had a $1,000 life insurance policy and Whitsett knew he would return to battle.

"If I married her, I'd probably live with her a week or two at the most," he said. "If I got killed, she would get the thousand dollars, which was a lot of money back then. And my mother who raised me wouldn't get anything. I didn't marry her on that account."

Revisiting these old memories has its advantages. During an interview, Whitsett learned something by recounting one of his old questions — why the pubs in Australia always closed early.

"We'd go to the pubs and have our boilermaker — a shot of whiskey and a glass of beer — and we throw that down and go on leave," he said. "It just dawned on me right now, they probably closed early to keep us out! That's exactly the reason. I never thought of that."

More information online To watch scenes from "The Pacific," including the one referred to by Ralph Whitsett, go to click on "The Pacific."

•To see rare color footage from Guadalcanal, go to and search for "Guadalcanal: Marine's Home Movie."

•For more information on Guadalcanal and other Pacific battles, go to the Navy's history Web site,, and click on "WWII Pacific."

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