05 - Never Volunteer!
05 - Never Volunteer!
We were up on top of a hill and they needed someone to go down and get the natives and bring them up. I said I would go as we hadn’t seen a Jap for about a week. So I would not have to carry my old M1 I took a carbine (real light). On the way back I looked over to the side of the trail guess what. About ten Japs hiding out. I flipped what I thought was the safety of the weapon and released the ammo clip instead. Lucky for me the B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) man (Forest Nearhood) took care of them.
I was made 1st scout when I first joined the squad! They wanted me to carry the B.A.R. I said I would just as soon not, so they made me 1st scout to show me who was boss. It wasn’t too bad as you only had to lead the company once every fourteen or fifteen days at most. Except if you were good at it. The captain wanted the best scout forward so lots of times they would call me up to help out.
It helped me to be color blind since the color pattern of camouflage stands out if you are color blind like I am. I was real lucky all the time the war was going on!! I was never wounded and only came close twice but lucked out each time. The first time we were going forward and the light mortars were firing over our heads. All of a sudden I heard one leave the tube with a funny sound. Well it hit right beside my left heel buried it’s self in the ground and never went off! I took off as fast as I could go and put about 70 yards between me and it. As far as I know it’s still there. The other time they sent a M5 tank with a 105 howitzer mounted on it to knock out a pillbox. I was about twenty yards to the left when the shell hit the pillbox. A hot piece of shrapnel zinged over and burned a hole in my pants leg. No blood no Purple Heart. Thank God.
My second scout was a young fellow from Texas with a last name of Drennen.
Pvt. James Drennen address was 702 Pizer St. Huston, Texas. He was always limping so we called him step and a half. We got onto a hill when the Jap’s decided we should not be there. So they ran us off. Down the hill we went with a machine gun popping at our backs. Then we went under a log and into a deep hole. We had to stay there about two hours before we got more guys to help us get back. And drove the Jap’s out of the area. He didn’t limp going down that hill.
The jungle is never quiet, always noisy with birds, monkey’s etc. If you can’t hear noise ahead of you look out for an ambush as all the birds leave when humans are around.
One of the fellows was named McCullah. We called him eight ball. He never carried ammo, water or food. If he needed some he would beg for it. Years later in San Diego I saw him and he had enlisted in the Marines and was a Sergeant. When the Marines got to the border of China and Korea I thought of him and wondered if he got there and didn’t have any ammo?
Ken's World War II Experiences 01-Into The Army 02-California Living 03-Food, Drink & Rations 04-On Patrol <Previous 05-Never Volunteer! Next> 06-Jungle Patrols 07-Foxhole Lore 08-God In the Foxhole 09-Life As It Was 10-Humor 11-Entertainment 12-The End of the War 13-After The War 14-Coming Home 15-On Veterans