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It was not until just recently my step dad introduced me to a friend of his, John Carey. In the short time I spent with him, I saw what a nice and kind person he was. During his lifetime, he was put through so many things our minds cannot even imagine. Even though he saw horror and so much evil in the world right before his eyes, he still has such an optimistic view on the world.
Boot Camp
John Carey joined boot camp in 1943, where he was trained as a scout sniper. He later on joined the third marine division. He spent most of his four years on Tutuila the largest island in Samoa. Later on he was moved to Guadalcanal and was in the assault wave on Bougainvillea. He spent two months of his time in the marines there and refers to his time there as, “hell on earth.” Before the war broke out John Carey didn't have to worry about having enough food or being drafted. He was not always Marine or a fighter but a regular child.
Boot camp was for about 8 weeks for an average solider. The point of boot camp was to get them in shape and prepared to be sent off to war. |
Bystander
He grew up in a suburb of Boston. In the 1930's as a teenager, it was a
very exciting time. Things were changing, people were trying to recover
from the Great Depression and the standard of living was improving for
families. During this same time John Carey recalls hearing information
here and there about the rest of the world being in different groups.
Barely anyone paid attention to this news, everyone was too busy with
their own problems. John Carey every week as a child remembers going to
the movie house to watch newsreels. Some of these newsreels featured
Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy but they were in a different
language that few adults could understand and they always cried.
When he asked adults about the newsreels most of them convinced him not
to worry they will never be affected. Those adults were far from being
right.
The War Begins
When the 1940's approached, a peacetime draft was started. Still people
doubted the war would affect them. In December of 1941, Japan bombed
Pearl Harbor. Everyone was in a frenzy unsure of what happened and the
reality of the situation. A few days following Germany and Italy
declared war on the US. The United States was unprepared, there were
only a few ships and most of the troops were untrained. Drafting
started and the calling for men increased. John Carey not being old
enough could only be a bystander to the chaos unraveling around him.
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| The solider in this image shows how an average marine would be dressed. Also this has the solider in pose he would most likely have during combat. the uniform they had was very simple and nothing fancy. |
Samona Islands
At the beginning of World War I the Samoa Islands were called German
Samoa. Later on in the war it was occupied by New Zealand, an Allie.
Still under the protection of New Zealand during World War II it allied
itself with the allies. Samoa was important and needed to be made sure
to not become invaded. If Japanese invaded Samoa they could set up a
supply base, build an airfield, and block all supply traffic between
the two continents. That possibility could result in Samoa base
controlling the entire South Pacific. To make sure of this not
happening just after Pearl Harbor happened a marine brigade was formed
for the sole purpose of defending the island.
A Flash of Reality
Soon the 1942's came around and he was finally able to join with his
parents needed consent. John Carey couldn't wait, he had
been begging his parents to let him go but hadn’t succeeded until
that year but now he looks back and realizes, "nobody knew what they
were getting themselves into, I was excited then but now I know there
was nothing to be excited about.” Most kids joined before they
were of age and faking their age. War was all around and as an act
of manhood kids wanted to prove themselves or for some it was an act to
show people their love for the country.
Before joining the marines, like all marines he first was first sent to
boot camp where he learned the harshness of life. The platoon was
forced to keep good hygiene and constantly shower. Also during
his time there all around he saw segregation. The sign on his room
said, “whites only”, “nobody wanted to mix with
them
like they had some unknown virus.” They were forced to
undergo
many obstacles and put through hardships to get them ready for the war.
They also spent most of their time at the shooting range. Finally
Record Day came and this was when you were given a title. You could be
a marksmen, sharpshooter or expert. He became a sharpshooter and was
sent
off.
Tutulia
From boot camp he was sent to Tutulia in Samoa. He arrived on ship to
harbor to be welcomed by sites he had never seen. The sun was hot and
there were many bugs. They had jungle training were they had to go
through water discipline. They weren’t allowed to even drink
unless they were told they could, no matter how hot they were. The
fighting killed many men but it was the hardships of the island that
also had a big affect on the troops. Diseases hit spreading among them
easily. Even a pong, a fruit from a tree if fallen from could
break a mans skull. John Carey spent his nights there restless not
knowingly if he would ever see home.
Sickness Takes Over
He got sick and was moved from one harbor to another until he permanently was moved to Guadalcanal. For the first time since he joined the marines he finally had to accept the fact that the USA was at war and he was part of it. Before arriving at Guadcanal he had been training and only preparing to fight but hadn’t yet been part of a combat. Even though it was tough before it was nothing like what was going to come.
Coconut grooves
Less then a year previous, Guadcanal was an island filled with coconut grooves: it was a paradise. When John Carey arrived to the island it was far from a paradise. Around the island scattered, was junk and broken pieces of equipment the Japanese had left behind, john carey recalls. In april of 1942 the Japanese invaded the island and took over. The natives on that island stayed in contact with the coast guards and informed them when they felt alarmed or suspicious of something the Japanese did. They sent a message saying that the Japanese were burning grass areas and making it flat land. This news alarmed the allies but there wasn't much they could do since the allies nearby to the island had weak defense. They thought that the Japanese were going to use the flat land to land aircrafts and this was not good. If they succeeded this means they would have air weaponry and more solider's resulting in them being able to take many near by islands. John carey was one of the marines that was assigned to go to Guadcanal but he was sent a moth after other marines had been sent. When he arrived there were only Japanese in the mountains, the others were gone. but when in Guadalcanal he was in many air raids. they had to stay in bunches and hide in the trees. he also had to help fix up the ships send unload them. during one of these times the Japanese attacked by air and bombed a couple of the cargo ships. Luck for John Carey he wasn't on a ship that got hit and when the alarms went off he was one of the marines sent under the ship.
Bougainvillea
The island itself contained death traps. It rained everyday making there weapons rust and made it hard to see in front of you. As John Carey thought back about his experiences on the island he said, "by then it wasn't even the Japanese that scared me, my biggest fear soon became nature." The grass grew very heavy and thick due to the heavy rain so the forest floor was concealed. This meant that your foot could get tangled in the heavy roots and your foot would get stuck. If you were lucky you could escape the roots only shoeless but this was just as bad. John carey recalls it happening to himself and it was the painful experience because he was then forced to take a shoe off one of the dead marines who you may have once been friends with. Covering the island there was small thorn vines and sharp grass that if you weren't careful could tear you body part to shreds. John Carey and his fellow marines were never warned about the quicksand if there was no one around you you probably would die.
| This is a map of the island Bougainvillea . this is where the assault wave John Carey was part of took place. |
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Bibliography
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John Carey. Photo. John Carey. A Marine from Boston. By John Carey. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
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