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.For example, while a radio operator receiving messages intended for theDivision Commander could take them down by hand, he would be far moreefficient in terms of speed and legibility using a typewriter.So, while atypewriter might not seem to be as necessary in the early stages of aninvasion as, say, a case of hand grenades, at least one typewriter would headfor the beach early on, probably with the first ammunition and rationssupplied.When all the priorities had been established and fine tuned, the ships of theinvasion force were ready to be "combat-loaded." This followed the logic of"Last On, First Off": Once The Division was on the Solomon Islands beaches,the supplies needed first would be loaded on last.Doing this was proving far more difficult than it sounded- the combat-loadingplanning for an amphibious invasion has been described as a chess game thatcannot be won.One major problem the 1st Marine planners faced- though it was by no meanstheir only major problem-was that since the ships were not originallycombat-loaded back in the States, the supplies had to be removed from theholds of the ships and sorted out before they could be reloaded.Page 196 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThis problem was compounded by the Wellington Longshoreman's Union, which hadvery strong views about how ships should be unloaded and loaded; and by whom;and on what days during what daylight hours.They had come to an understandingwith management regarding the role of longshoremen in the scheme of thingsonly after long hours on the picket line and extensive negotiations over manyyears.They had no intention of giving up these hard earned prerequisites foranything as insignificant as a war with the Japanese Empire.The Americans solved the labor problem by using a cut-the-Gordian-knotapproach: American Marines were unloading the ships around the clock, sevendays a week.At the same time, they let it be known that armed Marines wereposted at various spots around the Quay, with orders to shoot at anyone oranything interfering with unloading and loading of the ships.Jake hoped the threat would suffice.While it wouldn't have bothered him atall if half the longshoremen in Wellington got shot between the eyes, theflack in him was concerned with how "MARINES MASSACRE THIRTY NEW ZEALANDLONGSHOREMEN IN LABOR DISPUTE" headlines would play in the papers in theStates.Technically, it was not his problem, since he was not the PIO for the 1stMarine Division.But he was over here to "coordinate public informationactivities," and he suspected that if there was lousy publicity, he would getthe blame.While the supplies were being off-loaded for sorting, another major problemhad come up: There was no way to shelter the off-loaded supplies from thedismal New Zealand July winter weather (the seasons were reversed down under).It was raining almost constantly.For openers, the supplies for the First Marine Division- not only rations butjust about everything else, too-were civilian stuff.The quart-size cans oftomatoes, for example, had been bought from the Ajax Canned Tomato Company, orsomesuch.These cans had been labelled and packed with the idea in mind thatthey would wind up on the shelves of the "Super-Dooper Super-Market" inOlathe, Kansas.They had paper labels with pictures of pretty tomatoesattached to the metal with a couple of drops of cheap glue.There were sixcans to a corrugated paper carton.The carton was held together with glue; anda can label was glued to the ends.As soon as the cases were off-loaded from the cargo holds of the ships ontoAotea Quay and stacked neatly so they could be sorted, the rain startedfalling on them.Soon the cheap glue which held the corrugated paper cartonstogether dissolved.That caused the cartons to come apart.Not long afterthat, instead of neatly stacked cartons of tomato cans, there were piles oftomato cans mingled with a sludge of waterlogged corrugated paper that hadonce been cartons.And then the rain saturated the paper labels and dissolved the cheap gluethat held them on the cans.The people in charge of the operation had put a good deal of thought andeffort into finding a solution to the problem.But the best they had come upwith so far was to cover some of the stacks of cartons with tarpaulins; andwhen the supply of tarpaulins ran out, with canvas tentage; and when thetent-age ran out, with individual shelter-halves.(Each Marine was issued asmall piece of tentage.When buttoned to an identical piece, it formed asmall, two-man tent.Hence, "individual shelter-half")Page 197 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlAs he walked down the Quay, Jake Dillon saw this wasn't going to work: Therewere gaps around the bases of the tarpaulin-covered stacks.The wind blew therain through the gaps, and then the natural capillary action of the paper inthe corrugated paper cartons soaked it up like a blotter.Moisture reached theglue, and the glue dissolved.The cartons collapsed, and then the stacks ofcartons.Major Jake Dillon found Major Jack NMI Stecker standing behind the servingline in a mess fly tent-essentially a wall-less tent erected over fieldstoves.A line of Marines was passing through the fly tent, their mess kits intheir hands.As soon as they left the fly tent, rain fell on their pork chopsand mashed potatoes and green beans.It was the first time in Dillon's memory that he had ever seen Jack Steckerlooking like something the cat had dragged in.He looked as bedraggled as anyof his men.In China with the 4th Marines, Master Gunnery Sergeant JackStecker used to come off a thirty-mile hike through the mud of the Chinesecountryside looking as if he was prepared to stand a formal honor guard.He walked up and stood beside him."Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" Dillon said."There's coffee, if you want some," Stecker replied, and then walked a fewfeet away; he returned with a canteen cup and gave it to Dillon.Dillon walked to the coffee pot at the end of the serving line and waiteduntil the KP ladling out coffee sensed someone standing behind him, looked,and then offered his ladle.The coffee was near boiling; Dillon could feel the heat even in the handle ofthe cup.If he tried to take a sip, he would give his lip a painful burn.Thiswas not the first time he had stood in a rain-soaked uniform drinkingburning-hot coffee from a canteen cup.But the last time, he thought, was a long goddamned time ago [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.For example, while a radio operator receiving messages intended for theDivision Commander could take them down by hand, he would be far moreefficient in terms of speed and legibility using a typewriter.So, while atypewriter might not seem to be as necessary in the early stages of aninvasion as, say, a case of hand grenades, at least one typewriter would headfor the beach early on, probably with the first ammunition and rationssupplied.When all the priorities had been established and fine tuned, the ships of theinvasion force were ready to be "combat-loaded." This followed the logic of"Last On, First Off": Once The Division was on the Solomon Islands beaches,the supplies needed first would be loaded on last.Doing this was proving far more difficult than it sounded- the combat-loadingplanning for an amphibious invasion has been described as a chess game thatcannot be won.One major problem the 1st Marine planners faced- though it was by no meanstheir only major problem-was that since the ships were not originallycombat-loaded back in the States, the supplies had to be removed from theholds of the ships and sorted out before they could be reloaded.Page 196 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThis problem was compounded by the Wellington Longshoreman's Union, which hadvery strong views about how ships should be unloaded and loaded; and by whom;and on what days during what daylight hours.They had come to an understandingwith management regarding the role of longshoremen in the scheme of thingsonly after long hours on the picket line and extensive negotiations over manyyears.They had no intention of giving up these hard earned prerequisites foranything as insignificant as a war with the Japanese Empire.The Americans solved the labor problem by using a cut-the-Gordian-knotapproach: American Marines were unloading the ships around the clock, sevendays a week.At the same time, they let it be known that armed Marines wereposted at various spots around the Quay, with orders to shoot at anyone oranything interfering with unloading and loading of the ships.Jake hoped the threat would suffice.While it wouldn't have bothered him atall if half the longshoremen in Wellington got shot between the eyes, theflack in him was concerned with how "MARINES MASSACRE THIRTY NEW ZEALANDLONGSHOREMEN IN LABOR DISPUTE" headlines would play in the papers in theStates.Technically, it was not his problem, since he was not the PIO for the 1stMarine Division.But he was over here to "coordinate public informationactivities," and he suspected that if there was lousy publicity, he would getthe blame.While the supplies were being off-loaded for sorting, another major problemhad come up: There was no way to shelter the off-loaded supplies from thedismal New Zealand July winter weather (the seasons were reversed down under).It was raining almost constantly.For openers, the supplies for the First Marine Division- not only rations butjust about everything else, too-were civilian stuff.The quart-size cans oftomatoes, for example, had been bought from the Ajax Canned Tomato Company, orsomesuch.These cans had been labelled and packed with the idea in mind thatthey would wind up on the shelves of the "Super-Dooper Super-Market" inOlathe, Kansas.They had paper labels with pictures of pretty tomatoesattached to the metal with a couple of drops of cheap glue.There were sixcans to a corrugated paper carton.The carton was held together with glue; anda can label was glued to the ends.As soon as the cases were off-loaded from the cargo holds of the ships ontoAotea Quay and stacked neatly so they could be sorted, the rain startedfalling on them.Soon the cheap glue which held the corrugated paper cartonstogether dissolved.That caused the cartons to come apart.Not long afterthat, instead of neatly stacked cartons of tomato cans, there were piles oftomato cans mingled with a sludge of waterlogged corrugated paper that hadonce been cartons.And then the rain saturated the paper labels and dissolved the cheap gluethat held them on the cans.The people in charge of the operation had put a good deal of thought andeffort into finding a solution to the problem.But the best they had come upwith so far was to cover some of the stacks of cartons with tarpaulins; andwhen the supply of tarpaulins ran out, with canvas tentage; and when thetent-age ran out, with individual shelter-halves.(Each Marine was issued asmall piece of tentage.When buttoned to an identical piece, it formed asmall, two-man tent.Hence, "individual shelter-half")Page 197 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlAs he walked down the Quay, Jake Dillon saw this wasn't going to work: Therewere gaps around the bases of the tarpaulin-covered stacks.The wind blew therain through the gaps, and then the natural capillary action of the paper inthe corrugated paper cartons soaked it up like a blotter.Moisture reached theglue, and the glue dissolved.The cartons collapsed, and then the stacks ofcartons.Major Jake Dillon found Major Jack NMI Stecker standing behind the servingline in a mess fly tent-essentially a wall-less tent erected over fieldstoves.A line of Marines was passing through the fly tent, their mess kits intheir hands.As soon as they left the fly tent, rain fell on their pork chopsand mashed potatoes and green beans.It was the first time in Dillon's memory that he had ever seen Jack Steckerlooking like something the cat had dragged in.He looked as bedraggled as anyof his men.In China with the 4th Marines, Master Gunnery Sergeant JackStecker used to come off a thirty-mile hike through the mud of the Chinesecountryside looking as if he was prepared to stand a formal honor guard.He walked up and stood beside him."Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" Dillon said."There's coffee, if you want some," Stecker replied, and then walked a fewfeet away; he returned with a canteen cup and gave it to Dillon.Dillon walked to the coffee pot at the end of the serving line and waiteduntil the KP ladling out coffee sensed someone standing behind him, looked,and then offered his ladle.The coffee was near boiling; Dillon could feel the heat even in the handle ofthe cup.If he tried to take a sip, he would give his lip a painful burn.Thiswas not the first time he had stood in a rain-soaked uniform drinkingburning-hot coffee from a canteen cup.But the last time, he thought, was a long goddamned time ago [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]