15
In the Cave of the Cyclops
The Corpsman
Saturday, August 8, 1943 was the day my squad went crazy. One minute they were hunkered down pouring concentrated fire into a bunch of caves on a ridge and the next minute my guys are cutting up a bunch of j**s with their bare hands while I’m standing there with my mouth open.
We were on Tulagi, one of those little islands right off the coast of Guadalcanal. It was August 8, the day after we watched while the 1st Division guys and the Raiders went over the side on D-Day, Guadalcanal. There was grumbling as they sailed off in the Higgins boats, but Lieutenant Crandall told us that the brass were saving “the hammer,”—that’s us—to bail out the other guys when they get into tight spots. So we waited all day and all night for something to happen. T
