TRUE ADVENTURE: RETURN TO GUADALCANAL

[Music] more Americans the Second World War began just before 8 o'clock December 7th 1941 it lasted three years 8 months and 28 days the 1423 days Americans fought and died in the 6 million square miles of the Pacific they stormed unnamed beaches they fought their way through jungles and swamps and the names of far-off islands became commonplace words in the news of that day name such as Guadalcanal the Russell's unda Brendan Dover Villa La Vela and Bougainville the tides of war King but in time passed over those islands and those beaches what are they like today well I want you to meet our in-person guests his name is Milo's Hinshaw and he's just returned from an extensive assignment for us throughout the Solomon Islands to capture this story - you want to tell us about it bill this was the most interesting trip for me I went into the Solomon Islands with a man by the name of Martin Clements in 1941 Clements was the district officer on Guadalcanal of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and when the Japanese invaded instead of fleeing the island like many others had done he stayed there he went up into the mountains taking with him several native boys and armed with nothing more than 303 rifles and a radio and due to his efforts and other men like him who had done the same thing on different other islands in the solomon chain they formed a unit called the coast Watchers and became the eyes and ears of the Allies informing them of Japanese ship movements and Japanese troop movements and building activities going on on the various islands they told the Allies that the Japanese were building a big airfield on Guadalcanal which later became the famous Henderson field and because of this information the Allied command decided to change their original invasion plans and come in on guadalcanal is a first step on the long road back I was privileged to come back to Guadalcanal with Martin Clements he hadn't been there since the war two decades had passed and revisit those spots and meet those people who had been so important to him at this time of his life and see these things through his own eyes bill we're on our way now back to the South Pacific down below stretched the thousands of islands and reefs that make up the British Solomon Islands tiny dots of land that lay forgotten by the rest of the world until World War two and then in the span of a few short months such names as Munda rend ova bella la Vella Guadalcanal and Bougainville became household words as American troops worked their way up the Solomons and inner jungle fighting against the embattled forces of Imperial Japan after a long and tiresome fight from Australia Guadalcanal finding looms up out of its tropical cloud cover and the once weekly flight lands on Henderson field Waddell canal today is peaceful the only sign of the savage conflict that took place here are a few pieces of rusted debris that dot the beaches in jungle [Music] the high humidity constant ray and he'd have made short work of what few pieces of equipment are still left at the canal still they serve as grim reminders of the savage conflict that raged here over two decades ago it was here at the canal that I first met Martin Clements Bill Martin was the district officer on Guadalcanal when the Japanese occupied at 1941 only instead of fleeing the island Clements went into the jungle and gathering some native police boys around him formed a guerrilla army to harass the Japanese and radio their activities to the American forces and now after an absence of twenty years he had returned to revisit the Solomons to see the places and again meet the people who form the most important part of his life well thanks to the excellent cooperation afforded us by His Excellency Sir David trenched the High Commissioner of the psalmist we boarded his ship the coral Queen for the start of our nostalgic journey leaving from Point cruise we passed out of the harbor and headed west following the shoreline of Guadalcanal a few miles away in Tsavo Island the site of the Battle of iron bottom Bay where the United States Navy suffered one of its worst defeats in history at the hands of the Japanese another historic spot we've passed was Cape Esperance where the Japanese forces were finally driven from the island aboard the ship with us was a group of gilbert e's natives bill they were on their way from Guadalcanal to their village on the island of Giza and the melodic sound of their native music certainly made the long trip pass more quickly [Music] [Music] finally we steamed into the harbor at Yan Dina in the Russell Islands although the Russell's were spared the horrors of war they served as an important supply and staging base for our drive up the Solomon Shan during the war the Russell's were a scene of immense amounts of military activity huge air bases were constructed here as well as rest camps supply depots and ammunition dumps now that's an island that thousands of xsg eyes will remember well with mixed emotions [Music] today the Russell's have recovered from the rigors of war and once again the business of growing coconuts is in full swing and every available piece of cleared land is filled with their swaying palms still cutting a swath through their stately trunks is the runway of the Bonita airfield except today instead of luring fighters and bombers taking off the only sound is that of a lonely Volkswagen during our visit to the Russell's we visited one of lever brothers plantations copra is the main commodity of the Solomons and most of the war torrente trees have been replaced with seedlings like these a new innovation instituted by lever brothers is a herd of cattle to keep down the underbrush which grows quickly in the tropics while most of the military installations have given away to the rigors of time one can still find a few ruins such as this rotted and decayed PT boat base on Bonita Island what stories these ruins could tell could they only speak [Music] still on Vinita we visited the site of a military equipment dump being uncovered by British salvage men and here they're digging out a fortune in abandoned trucks trailers sheet iron Quonset huts and yes thousands upon thousands of cases of coca-cola [Music] amazingly enough it's still captain drinkable a little flat but when you're thirsty it's it's passable typical of the type of equipment left behind and buried dumps is this four wheeled heavy-duty trailer now being used by lever brothers to transport loads of copra to the loading dock [Music] literal fortunes have been made in the salvage field bill here we see natives salvaging slugs from a buried small arms dump these bits and pieces of brass lead and copper are dug out by hand then they're placed in gunnysacks and finally packed away in salvaged 50 gallon oil drums and then they'll be shipped to Japan or Hong Kong as scrap iron [Music] when an occasional Japanese freighter pulls into port you'll find the docks weighted down with this valuable cargo of scrap metal destined for the ports of Asia and as I viewed this scene I couldn't help wonder if this very same metal would ever find its way back to being used against us in some future conflict [Music] well on the lighter side the British have found that abandon American airfields make excellent golf courses and here on banika as well as on Guadalcanal and Munda the British have converted runways to fairways complete with sand traps and all of the usual accessories of an American Country Club [Music] we're on our way again bill heading east towards New Georgia and Monday this area is typically south seas with colored reefs blue water and jungle green islands dotting the water's surface and finally in the distance we see Monday and Martin Clements was anxious now for here he was to meet several of his old Scouts men he hadn't seen for over 20 years what thoughts were going through his mind and these moments before landing I don't know but moving moments they were indeed for these were men who had great peril to their own lives had devotedly served him and the Allied cause well for without the help of these native Coast Watchers and guides the American campaign and the Solomons might easily have failed [Music] it was quite a sight bill these old soldiers comrades and arms reliving their days of glory this man was Clemmons sergeant blind and lame now and I think he expressed his feelings best of all as he told Martin I have waited 20 years to meet you again and shake your hand and now that I have seen you once again I can die [Music] [Music] 20 years after the Solomon campaigns bill but the natives haven't forgotten the deeds of our servicemen become legends now told in the folk songs of the islands this one tells of an American Marine capturing a Japanese machine-gun nests [Music] I heard it said that old soldiers don't cry but there were tears in the eyes of martin clemens as we pulled away from unda and headed for our last rendezvous with the past the island of Giza during most of the war Giza was Japanese occupied it's currently famous for one reason it's the closest place of human habitation to where john f kennedy's men went down in the pt-109 yes only a few short miles from this japanese-held island president kennedy and his crew hidden fear of captured by the japanese forces that were located here [Music] many of those who served as rescuers to Kennedy and his crew still live in this area this man is one of those and goes by the name of Benjamin he was one of the men who risked his life to bring the pt-109 crew to safety after they were discovered hiding on an offshore island now named plum-pudding Island his greatest thrill was when he was flown from his Salomon Island home to the United States for a television appearance a few months ago it was the first time in his life they had ever been away from his Island home this man's name is Aaron and he too wielded a skillful paddle during the Kennedy rescue effort in hand hewed dugouts like this one these loyal coast Watchers rescued countless Americans from sure captured by the Japanese [Music] two other men who were instrumental in the Kennedy rescue RB yuku gasa who first found Kennedy and carried the message written on coconut to the authorities and John Kerry head man of the village who organized the rescue operation of a pt-109 crew from plum-pudding Island this tiny spot of land where Kennedy and his crew swam to safety after their torpedo boat was cut in two by a Japanese destroyer we were fortunate bill to obtain an interview between John Kerry and Martin Clements relating to the Kennedy rescue efforts the old name is my name is Onika you were cursed watcher with mr. Evans on : Bangor yes no I'm bringing mr. Kennedy it's all mr. Kennedy is it he was on an island I'd bring bill Kuhn and Aaron oh it's a pity boat and they go to Nauru and to pick up mr. Kennedy there yeah after that we go through in the parties of Nauru now we go get a crew of mistake Kennedy there after that we bring them to render wise again where the basin of pity there mr. Kennedy very sunburned is mistaken and every something and hungry hungry do we pick up him for sit glad you picked him up we pick up Tina Biggar England and we are also very blunt - all right how many of the crew did you pick up ten of the crews and mr. Kennedy's message was written on a coconut yes yes sir mr. Kennedy keep that coconut mr. kendry keeping it keep the skin of the coconut and very surprised when you heard he was president no now I'm very surprised him to hear him hear that he our president now never is a surprise now we make good run now I'm very glad to hear he's very important now you want to send a message to him no I wanted to save him a message to him and the mother of the sallman Island to him yes would you like to go to America and see him sometime or if you want to me or I can go to America to see him they'd prefer him to come here and see you if he came to someone I don't know I will see him here another interesting place we visited during our journey through the Solomons was this Gilbert E's village tsch Jana this is an experimental program Bill of moving people from overpopulated Gilbert Islands to the Solomons with little population Tish Jana is a model village and has been in existence for a couple of years with apparent success unlike the dark-skinned Melanesians the Gilbert E's are fair skin called Micronesians and have managed to integrate nicely into the new way of life in the Solomon Islands still they cling to the old ways the old dances the only apparent concession to civilization being a set of t-shirts which the girls wear when dancing before Outsiders like ourselves [Music] [Music] [Music] ex-servicemen who fought in the vicious battles of Tarawa and macon will remember these people as being a friendly and warm-hearted group and these attributes still remain today [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] these are the Solomons today bill a quiet peaceful group of islands basking in the tropical Sun they're off the beaten path many of them primitive or even uninhabited but the world changes and the people of the Solomons will within the next few years be thrown into the turmoil of independence for around them there's progress and change and their peaceful existence but once more be disrupted this time by growing pains of nationalism and independence for many the Solomon Islands are a land of wartime memories but for me they're a land of true adventure [Music] - I think you've brought our viewers of most exciting and fascinating story and most nostalgic - how about the the natives of the Solomon Islands you know you hear much about how people feel about Americans and soldiers sailors and Marines how do they feel about our people and our soldiers 20 years after the war Oh bill they have the highest regard for the Americans I don't know what the XG is did down there but boy they they have sold the natives on the people of the United States matter of fact there's an organization called the marching rule which gives the British government quite a bit of trouble because it's they're like it's like waiting for the coming of the Messiah they're waiting for the day when ships will come sailing over the horizon loaded on with refrigerators and ice cream and especially American marines they really have taken a great liking to them Chiefs to me we called him Gede unk's in the old days thanks Tremont so on you know I joined the Navy of course after the war had started but I think I was in on a destroyer and I remember one battle in particular that we all spoke about was the Battle of Savile Island which was the most terrifying naval engagement it cost many thousands of American lives and Japanese lives what was your feeling as you sail across this this see what they they call it iron bottom Bay yes oh it's uh quiet and peaceful now it's the whole area you can't believe it when you go back the only signs are a few rusted pieces of equipment everything's very peaceful now modest I think - there's a thing that people always are interested in do you suppose by any chance that says many these islands are a moat that there might be some Japanese who have lived on after the war since they were cut off and perhaps still there hidden in the jungle somewhere well this is something it interested me - I think this is a very interesting story the chances are that there isn't because of the malaria and the heat and so forth but the natives down there and that they're always commanding with stories that they found a cave and ice loaded down with rice and sake and all of the things that you might think a Japanese soldier might have in a jungle and they they're convinced that there is Japanese still around and it could be for instance on Guam in 1960 they caught two Japanese Milas Hinshaw we want to thank you for coming on the program and telling us this fascinating story and ladies and gentlemen we we hope you enjoyed sharing more or less a page in American history of the history of what our men did in those days will we hope live forever in the annals of American history and we sure it will until we meet once again this is bill bird saying god bless you and goodbye [Music] [Music]