| Show f Mud Slime and Jungle Worry Americans 1 j jIn In New Guinea More Than Jap Soldiers i Seth This li Is the nut lint of 01 tour four the of Yank rank Acme Acm mal war whose whom pictures of 01 American troupe troop In action In la N New t tare hare bru bete to the nations nation's newts newt papers through the th photographic pool pool Print mAt bi has Jut just returned to America By FRANK I FRIST PRIST As Told to Jean Graffis Grams Through the slime and stench lof of New Guineas Guinea's green hell American fighting men are painfully pain pain- fully ully and slowly slowly but but with desperate desper- desper ate te sureness sureness hacking hacking out a highway highway highway high high- way to Tokyo Engineers airmen Infantry all 11 are heroes Not the kind dramatized dramatized dramatized dra dra- in movie scripts Fight Fight- Ing ng is too commonplace In New Guinea To die In front of Japan Japanese se guns sometimes seems easier than togo to togo togo go on living in this strange battlefield battlefield bat bat- where nature has Joined the combat as a vicious third antagonist I know because I have just come back from there there the the first American civilian to return since our soldiers took over a major role iri in pushing the Japanese across the mountains and jungles to o the sea at Buna Joined at Tort Port Moresby As an accredited war photographer photographer pher I accompanied our forces from Yom the time they left lef t Port Moresby Moresby Moresby Mores Mores- by until sweeping up the northeast coast they closed their side of f the trap on the enemy From the very first It was apparent apparent apparent ap ap- parent that there were to be no heroics about the Job When the Japanese last fall pushed to within with with- in 35 airline miles of Port Moresby Moresby Moresby Mores Mores- I by the hardest thing we all aU had hado to o do was wait So we waited wafted in and around Port Moresby for marching orders Work was plentiful Supplies had to be unloaded and distributed Living quarters were improved constantly There was training to o adapt our men to mountain jungle conditions they would have to meet Our U. U S. S engineers many of them Negroes were busy cutting jeep trails through virgin jungles and mountains to our jumping off point The only relief from mosquitoes mosquitoes mosquitoes mos mos- flies fUes heat rain and work was the daily dally Jap air raid Hear of Fall Meanwhile the Australians were driving the Japanese backup back backup backup up the trail and across the moun moun- We heard had fallen fallen fallen fal fal- len and then after Australian commandos entered Gona we got the signal to start This was real war war minus minus the shooting There were no Japa Japa- nese There was no sudden death But neither was there any sun nor water to drink nor rest for forlong forlong forlong long hours which often added up to days There was only the interminable interminable interminable able struggle with the Jungle Every foot was won with terrific exertion With heavy knives the themen themen themen men hacked and chopped through dense matted vines and under- under They struggled along with field packs through thick sharp kunai kunal grass seven to eight feet high which stings hands and face They forged through treacherous treacherous treacherous erous foul smelling swamps where sludgy goo weighted down feet feet A mile mUe In two hours was making making making mak mak- ing good time At the start rest periods were 10 minutes out of every 60 This was soon re revised revised revised re- re to 10 minutes in every 30 and still stin wasn't enough Mosquitos Like Stu And there were other things Mosquitoes which bored in like flies fUes in swarms rain which streamed down prodigally Streams and deep rushing croco croc croc- o Infested odile-Infested rivers had to be I crossed and dozens of times And rarely was there adry a adry adry dry place to sleep or anything but strongly chlorinated water to drink All AU were rested Our nex next move would be to stab northward at the under side of Buna where the Australians Australian were already closing their arm of the pincers So skillfully had the Americans 4 X 5 w r N r a c 4 r z 5 A 53 S a R y 55 T Man lUan power comes to the aid of horsepower as American soldiers soldiers sol sol- diers diem push an army scout car across a New New Guinea river river- one of the many often crocodile infested streams they crossed while hacking through the jungle toward their Japanese foes moved into position that the Japs Japs- had lad no idea we were there e Hoping to run into action which would make good picture material I started going out with our pa- pa rols Like the soldiers I wore a green camouflage uniform My cameras went along in a duffle bag It was typical jungle On my first patrol we covered only 25 miles in two days After the first two wo or three hours soldiers lightened lightened light light- ened their packs At night we fashioned our own beds eds The base was two six- six wide inch logs laid parallel the width of a pallet Across these went branches and twigs It was the he only way to avoid awakening with your head under water Our men indulged in some good- good natured griping when the going got rot too tough But most of ot the time ime they talked of what they would like to be doing back home Mothers Mother's cooking was the preferred preferred preferred pre pre- topic Many men had painted names of wives children and md sweethearts on rifle butts and helmets On one advance e coast up-coast our our contingent got l lost st in the Jungle The trail was cruel We had forded one river 15 times We had spent nearly two hours crossing one morass in slime and water above our hips When it rained which was often all equipment had to be covered At night we slept restively The monotone of pouring rain was broken only by the roaring of planes overhead and the wheeling wheeling wheeling wheel wheel- ing of mosquitoes for the attack We had even reduced our C rations but they gave out ally As I ate the last bit I thought of my mothers mother's admonition when I was a youngster youngster- Some day you'll be glad to have what you have to eat now She was right as usual We got out of the jam by following following following fol fol- fol- fol lowing a river down to the sea At a small mission there we found another unit which gave us a place to sleep and our first tea real meal in three days Although we could see their air patrols every day and occasionally occasionally occasionally occa occa- heard distant bombing by our own planes we had every reason to believe our own advance still sUIl had not been detected We wanted to keep it that way We had whipped the Jungle anc and were knocking at Bunas Buna's gates One more step forward f rw rd and nd we would close with our real enemy the the Japanese |
