James Wilson's World War 2 record starts in the summer of 1941. He and his oldest brother out of seven children were in Birmingham [Annotator's Note: Birmingham, Alabama] working that summer before Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His brother was of draft age and decided to volunteer with the Marine Corps. He was assigned the 1st Marine Air Wing. Wilson was still in Birmingham when Pearl Harbor came along. He figured his brother would need some help so on his 21st birthday he joined the Marines for the duration. He went to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina]. His uncle, who was an engineer on the railroad, gave him a lucky medallion. He had it in his pocket until the day he got shot. Marine Corps boot camp changes you from "me" to "us" and "we." That made a lasting impression. He never had any KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police]. He then went to New River, North Carolina and joined the 1st Marine Division. That is now Camp LeJeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He was there four or five months in advanced training. The first time he saw the ocean he was at a huge sand mound. One day he ran up the top of it and saw the ocean. They shipped out to the West Coast on a troop train. They were ordered not to write about where they were. Everywhere they stopped they were greeted by Red Cross workers and train staff. He finally did write his folks and handed it to a Secret Service [Annotator's Note: United States Secret Service, federal law enforcement agency] man to mail. He was arrested and put in irons all the way to California. The sentry had a loaded rifle. It was not all that bad. He was always the first in line for everything because of that. They got to California and his battalion commander, Colonel Pollock [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps General Edwin Allen Pollock], called him out of ranks. Pollock asked him what had happened and then told the First Sergeant to take his chains off. They boarded a ship in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. Before they got situated on the George F. Elliot [Annotator's Note: the USS George F. Elliott (AP-13)], they were on two or three different ships. They were excited and wondering about the future. Some got seasick. They had a cruiser escort for about seven ships along with a submarine escort. Crossing the equator, a big deal was made with King Neptune [Annotator's Note: line-crossing ceremony; initiation rite that commemorates a person's first crossing of the Equator].

James Wilson landed in Wellington, New Zealand [Annotator's Note: on 11 July 1942] and it was cold and raining. They [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] unloaded the ships and then were ordered to load a combat load. They worked four hours on and fours hour off. They later got it to eight hours on and eight hours off. They left there and went north to make practice landings. They landed on Guadalcanal on 7 August [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. His part was almost unopposed. It was a great relief. There was a lot of fighting going on around them. In 45 minutes, they were completely lost in the jungle. They never did get to where they were going but did get into a grassy area and dug in around an airport. It was almost finished by the Japanese to be able to hit Australia. Business started picking up as the Japanese started coming back in. His battalion was assigned an area called the Tenaru River and they dug in. His platoon was in reserve. They got word the Japanese were on their way. On 20 August, they were told to standby to go into the lines. This was a clear water creek, so they took a bath and put on clean clothes. He left everything of his in his old dungarees. He could hear the battle already going on [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Tenaru River, also called Battle of the Ilu River or Battle of Alligator Creek, 21 August 1942, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. They started out and they started seeing artillery shells knocking trees down in a coconut grove. That was the most exciting experience of his lifetime. They had no cover whatsoever and were lying in the sand. Every one of them got killed or wounded within five or ten minutes. Wilson got hit in the front of his helmet. It went out the back after cutting the strap. It splintered his helmet and lodged pieces of it in his back. He was numb from the waist down and could not move. His buddy started for cover, and he could hear the bullets hitting him. Wilson wallowed in the sand until daylight. He did a little crying, a little praying, and a little cussing. He could tell they were winning but bullets were knocking sand in his face. About three or four hours he was paralyzed and having very serious thoughts. At daylight, one of his buddies came looking for home. Wilson had to crawl with his elbows to get to him and a corpsman. They pulled him by his rifle. He got a shot. He was not in much pain. They took him back to the first aid station. A couple of days before that, some converted destroyers were sent in with Air Force supplies. Wilson was put on one of them and taken away. They came close to the Japanese Task Force but got to a hospital on Espiritu Santo [Annotator's Note: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu] where he stayed for several days. His feeling came back, and he was able to walk within a few days. He was made an orderly.

James Wilson recuperated and was taken to New Caledonia [Annotator's Note: after being wounded during the Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division]. They got on the New Zealand ship Wahine [Annotator's Note: TSS Wahine] and were taken back to Wellington [Annotator's Note: Wellington, New Zealand]. He was on light duty. They got some liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. When he was released to return to Guadalcanal, he got on a ship and the New Zealanders gathered to send them off and started singing, "Now Is the Hour" [Annotator's Note: popular song first published in 1913 by Wh. H. Paling and Company]. It was very meaningful. He got back to Guadalcanal on 10 November [Annotator's Note: 10 November 1942]. The day before the second big naval battle [Annotator's Note: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes called the Battle of the Solomons or the Battle of Friday the 13th, 12 to 15 November 1942]. While on Guadalcanal, the Japanese sank most of the Navy, so they withdrew, taking all of the supplies and ammunition. They were at the mercy of the Japanese Navy then. When he got back in November, they had another big battle in Ironbottom Sound, Ironbottom Sea [Annotator's Note: Ironbottom Sound or Ironbottom Bay, nickname for southern stretch of The Slot, or New Georgia Sound in the Solomon Islands]. The George F. Elliot [Annotator's Note: the USS George F. Elliott (AP-13)] was sunk [Annotator's Note: 8 August 1942] with Wilson's worldly goods as well as food, ammunition, water, and clothing. He joined his same outfit up in the lines in the hills. He stayed with them for the next four years, through three landings at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester [Annotator's Note: Battle of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, New Guinea, 26 December 1943 to 16 January 1944], and Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau]. He missed the worst part of Guadalcanal by getting wounded. Everything that happened to him until Peleliu was a cakewalk. Around Christmas [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1942], the Army relieved them. They boarded a ship to another island. The Wasp [Annotator's Note: the USS Wasp (CV-7)] was there with a hole in it. On Christmas Day, they got ice cream and they were invited aboard ship for dinner. Wilson did not attend the full meal. They all had malaria [Annotator's Note: disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans] and jungle fever [Annotator's Note: severe variety of malarial fever] and were taken somewhere cold to recuperate it. They went to Australia for nearly nine months. Bonding with those nice people was a positive for him and he has returned three times. Once he went to find his old girlfriend. The people took them into their homes. He stayed with Frank Morrison's family [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify], and they had a beautiful daughter about his age. They became family and he stayed in constant contact with them. He would have been married if he had stayed there longer. They had a parade there with over a million people cheering them. The Marine Corps Band led the parade. Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller] was their battalion commander. They went to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds [Annotator's Note: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australian sports stadium, Yarra Park, Melbourne, Australia] and were put up in the stadium. They lived there for several months.

When James Wilson left Australia, they [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] were sent to Finschhafen, New Guinea then to Cape Gloucester [Annotator's Note: Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Solomon Islands] for advanced training. On Christmas Day 1943, they had their lunch on the beach. It started raining. They had creamed corn and the harder it rained the more he had. The 2nd Battalion was given a special assignment. Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname for all female, English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda during World War 2] was spreading the word that the "Guadalcanal butchers" were on their way. They landed about eight to ten miles below where the main force landed to cut of reinforcements [Annotator's Note: Battle of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, New Guinea, 26 December 1943 to 16 January 1944]. They were under emergency watch. When they bathed, they had to wash with their clothes on while under guard with loaded rifles. The security was tight. Marines like to scavenge around and their battalion commander, Colonel Masters [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Marvin Masters, Sr.], told them if they start stealing food they will get shot. One night, they got hit by the Japanese in his area. Wilson was dug in with his platoon leader about 30 or 40 feet away. There were not many of them and they only had two or three men killed. The Japanese withdrew. The problem there was the weather, and it was a mudhole. They marched back and joined the whole outfit around the airstrip. It is hard to describe how dark it would get. He was checking on his guards one night. Two of his guys were in an argument about which one was facing the front because it was so dark.

James Wilson got off Cape Gloucester [Annotator's Note: Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, February 1944] and was sent to Goodenough Island [Annotator's Note: Goodenough Island, Papua New Guinea]. They [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] recuperated there and then went to Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu Island, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands]. That was the worst experience he had outside of actual combat. There were land crabs. They had to clear out the mud and haul in gravel to make a bivouac area [Annotator's Note: temporary camp]. They then had advanced training for Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau]. They were on Pavuvu training with replacements. Whenever they came off combat, names would be put in a hat. The ones who drew a number got to go home. His best friend, Pat Shannon [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], drew two pieces out. One was a number, and one was a blank. They made him draw again. He had to stay and then was killed the first day on Peleliu. Peleliu is hard to describe. He and his wife have read a lot of books and watched a lot of videos. Peleliu was the most tragic thing that anyone could imagine. It was not necessary, it was a hurried operation, and MacArthur wanted them to land there to provide air support for him going into the Philippines. Halsey told him they did not need to do it. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] wanted it taken anyway. In that invasion, there were so many admirals and generals that their jurisdictions overlapped. General Smith [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Oliver P. Smith] had more stars than their division commander. The intelligence reports were bad. They went up on LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and in amphibious tanks. When they started up in the ship, the exhaust fumes just about knocked the soldiers out. Peleliu was noise, smoke, dust, heat, and thirst. The Japanese were dug in and had been there ten years. It is a coral island. Some of their dug outs had iron doors with small track railroads for the heavy artillery. The aerial and naval bombardments could not reach them and did very little damage. When he got in the beach in the second or third wave, he was in an amtrack [Annotator's Note: Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked]. They hit a coral reef and then got up on the beach. He looked back and the amtracks behind him were being blown out of the water. It was pandemonium on the beach. The Japanese had zeroed in on this area. They ran towards the Japanese emplacements and reached some cover. Looking back and seeing the other guys being blown up and bodies flying everywhere put him in shock. They made their objective. When he learned his best friend had been killed, he did not know if he would be able to function.

James Wilson's platoon leader [Annotator's Note: in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] had never been in combat before. They got to an anti-tank ditch. Bullets started whizzing around them. They had a ringside seat for the tank battle. They were small and fast. The Sherman tanks [Annotator's Note: M4 Sherman medium tank] came up off the beach and hit them. The American tanks had a duck shoot. Night came along and they dug in. His memory from there on out is not good. Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau] made everything else seem like a cakewalk. They ran out of water. Water brought in was in gasoline cans that had not been washed out. The heat was terrible. A lot of men fell out from exhaustion. About the third day, they were moving up and running on a downgrade. He suddenly fell to his knees with no idea what had happened. A corpsman threw salt tablets in his mouth. That was a miraculous restoration. He got up and went on to the objective. On the way, the boys on the ships sent in cold fruit juice. [Annotator's Note: There is a break in the interview.] When they had unloaded off the LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank], his best friend was in another amtrack [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked or LVT; also referred to as amtrack or alligator]. He smoked Lucky Strikes [Annotator's Note: brand of cigarette] and Wilson smoked Camels [Annotator's Note: brand of cigarettes]. They offered each other cigarettes. That was the last time Wilson saw him. They met their objectives under Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller]. One time, they were nailed down and lot of their men were getting killed and wounded. An officer told Wilson to take some men up a ridge. He went up with an 18-year-old boy named Elkins [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify]. Sergeant French [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] was on Wilson's left side and Elkins on his right behind a big rock. A bullet hit Elkins right in the face. The sergeant got hit in the artery in his thigh. The corpsman came in and was treating the sergeant and got hit in the same artery. He gave himself a shot and kept working on the sergeant. They got back and joined the outfit. He never saw that officer again. Wilson's commanding officer was Fournier [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Joseph A. L. Fournier] who was outstanding. They were badly understaffed. Wilson was acting a grade above what he was and also became acting platoon leader until they got relieved.

James Wilson left Peleliu [Annotator's Note: after the Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau] and went back to Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu Island, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division]. Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller] was a vicious, gung-ho-type Marine. He kept sending them up the ridges [Annotator's Note: on Peleliu]. They went up three times and they were knocked off three times. The last time they were sent up, Lieutenant Fournier [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Joseph A. L. Fournier] was directing them. Wilson looked back and saw a machine gun blast hit Fournier right in the face. He was killed instantly. They were about halfway up. General Smith [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Oliver P. Smith] had come down to check on them. He decided that Chesty Puller was out of touch with reality. He ordered Puller to pull them off. They were taken off the lines. Puller had shrapnel in his legs from Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. He was hurting so bad, and the fighting was just too much for him that he could only keep going. If it had not been for Smith, they would have been wiped out. They got to the rear area with what was left of them. He has learned from reading that it was the bloodiest conflict in the South Pacific. They lost over half of their men. Back on Pavuvu, a fellow came from battalion and wanted some eyewitness statements about heroic acts of men put up for medals. He asked Wilson if he wanted a promotion or a medal. Wilson said he wanted a promotion. Ten years later he got a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy. He looked into what had happened to his promotion and found out that while he was in the hospital with malaria, some derogatory information had been incorrectly put into his file for a different Wilson. He got his promotion over 60 years later with an apology from the Navy after years of work. At a reunion, the president of the 1st Marine Division Association and Wilson spoke. Within weeks the matter was cleared up and approved. That is how he got his promotion to Platoon Sergeant.

When James Wilson got off of Peleliu [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau], he was sent to Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina] as a drill instructor. He was healthy-looking, slim, and had a commanding voice. He went to a school for drill instructors until he was hit by a Marine Corp truck. He was an instructor for several platoons but only was with one all the way through. He was in the hospital the biggest part of that time. He was discharged on 13 September [Annotator's Note: 13 September 1945]. His parents had three sons in combat at the same time. He got home and his second brother, Bob, was packed up and ready to go to the University of Alabama [Annotator's Note: in Tuscaloosa, Alabama]. Wilson did not even unpack and went with his brother. They went through law school and graduated in 1949 in one of the largest and most prominent classes ever. Wilson went home and ran for District Attorney. He won. He lost contact with his old Marine buddies as he was too busy to think about it. He served eight years as District Attorney, four years as an intermediate judge, and then 12 years as a circuit judge. When he retired, that was the first opportunity he had to get in touch. He went back to Australia to look up an old girlfriend. She got him in touch with his old buddies. He went back to Guadalcanal on the 50th Anniversary [Annotator's Note: of the Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. His daughter wanted to see where he got shot. They had a big reception for the veterans. There were seven or eight of them. He and his daughter went to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds [Annotator's Note: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australian sports stadium, Yarra Park, Melbourne, Australia] where he and his daughter were guests of honor at a celebration.

James Wilson's good friend John Oliveri [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Sergeant John James Oliveri] was intelligent and a commercial artist in New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. On Cape Gloucester [Annotator's Note: Battle of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, New Guinea, 26 December 1943 to 16 January 1944 with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division], they realized how smart he was with maps and diagrams, and he was taken into Battalion Headquarters. He stayed with them into Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau]. On the third night, he was shot and killed by one of his own men [Annotator's Note: 15 September 1944]. Wilson's other best friend, Tom McLane [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Private Tom McLane] got shot up on the ridges [Annotator's Note: on Peleliu]. There were four of them that had bonded in Australia. Two were killed and McClane was evacuated home. Wilson did not get a scratch. That is the most important part of his experience. The second is bonding with his old buddies and his friends in Australia, being a drill instructor, and getting his promotion 62 years after the fact. Wilson was scared. There are different levels of being scared. The worst fright he had in his life was being on the boat that took him off Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: after being wounded at the Battle of the Tenaru River, also called Battle of the Ilu River or Battle of Alligator Creek, 21 August 1942], going to the hospital. The most exciting event was being deployed into the pitched battle on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943] where he got shot. The most thrilling was parading down the main streets of Melbourne, Australia after Guadalcanal. Colonel Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller] led the parade. There were over a million people cheering them on. He has gone back to Australia three times. The last time he went in 2002, he had a lot of Australian money. He took charge of it. He had been thinking a long time about expressing his appreciation to the family he had stayed with [Annotator's Note: during a rest period after Guadalcanal]. He sent the money for a plaque to be made for them. It is installed on a chair in the foyer of a historical building there. He had stayed with them a little over a week.

James Wilson did not see the bullets coming when he got shot [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of the Tenaru River, also called Battle of the Ilu River or Battle of Alligator Creek, 21 August 1942]. It was at night, and he was lying down in the sand. They [Annotator's Note: the Marines] were using single-shot, bolt-action rifles [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle] from World War 1. They were taught not to raise their heads up when opening the bolt [Annotator's Note: to reload the rifle], and he must have done that. The bullet hit his helmet and put him out of action. He revisited Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] in 2002. His daughter went with him. The terrain had changed so much that he hardly recognized where he got shot. It was so depressing that he saw all he wanted to see quickly and told his daughter he wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. A guide took them to the exact spot. The creek where he got shot was called Tenaru River, but it was really Alligator Creek. Wilson saw Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War] on either Goodenough [Annotator's Note: Goodenough Island, Papua New Guinea] or Pavuvu [Annotator's Note: Pavuvu Island, Russell Islands, Solomon Islands]. They had an outdoor movie theater, and it was not long before they went to Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau]. He is not sure he went to see him. It was a morale booster. Wilson is convinced that the hand of God intervened and supported them all the way through. When they decided to take the island back, they gave the General the authority to send three detachments of highly trained Japanese Imperial Forces. Colonel Ichicki [Annotator's Note: Japanese Army Colonel Kiyanao Ichiki] got there first and decided that his battalion was so good, and the Marines were so inexperienced, that he would take it himself. That is when he was blown off the map. If he had waited until the other people came, he would have walked all over them. In the Battle of Midway [Annotator's Note: Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942] he thinks the Lord was on our side. They [Annotator's Note: the Japanese] landed 34,000 troops on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: during the Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] who got lost and split up. If they had been able to get together, they would have walked all over them, but they did not. Something prevented them from doing that. In the Battle of Midway, the scout plane had not spotted the Japanese and they sank those three Japanese aircraft carriers. That was the turning point of the war. He knows the Lord was with him because he had survived two auto accidents before he went in the Marines.

There were different concoctions in the C-rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] and K-rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] that James Wilson and the servicemen got. On Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: during the Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], he would make hot chocolate out of the chocolate bars [Annotator's Note: D-ration bar]. It really hit the spot. In the cans, they got beef hash, beef stew, a few crackers, salt tablets, chlorine tablets. It would keep them alive. When they hit Peleliu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Peleliu, September to November 1944, Peleliu, Palau], and he got word his friend had been killed. He was not hungry for several hours. Once he became hungry again, he ate two cans of beef stew or hash. They had run out of water. He never mentioned the war when he got home. He had his nose to the grindstone for about 18 years. His daughter was in the sixth grade, and he was asked to come to school. That was probably the first time. He and his wife have read several historical accounts. Everybody has conceded now that the Peleliu operation was not necessary. They lost over half of their men. When Wilson went up the ridges there for the last time [Annotator's Note: on Peleliu], he was looking back and saw Fournier [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Joseph A. L. Fournier] get shot. He had ordered everybody who was up and walking into the lines. That was their last stab. The General [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps General Oliver P. Smith] decided Chesty Puller [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller] was out of touch with reality and pulled them out. Wilson saw the war dog handlers in the line. He thinks he saw one of them get shot and the war dog would not allow the medic to treat him, so they had to shoot the war dog. There was noise, smoke, dust, heat, and no water. All of the people in charge knew it was not necessary and not for it. They let up on their intelligence examination. While on the island, two of the newest battle wagons collided. The reserves were called in one afternoon and got to shore but were not allowed to land. They had to go back to the ship and stay all night on the water because the ships would not take them back on. It makes him want to brag about all that they did in spite of all of that. They had Black Marines in support battalions [Annotator's Note: on Peleliu; 11th Marine Depot Company and 7th Marine Ammunition Company; both in the 16th Field Depot, 1st Marine Division] who did not have live ammunition. They were watching the others getting blown out of existence. One night, a colored [Annotator's Note: ethnic descriptor historically used for Black people in the United States] fellow crawled up to him and asked if he wanted him and his buddy came up and helped them out. Wilson said sure and they did. They wanted weapons which were laying all over the place. They stayed with them that night. They had been unloading ships and getting supplies in which was very, very important but they wanted to get in the fight.

James Wilson shows the helmet he had on [Annotator's Note: when he was shot while serving with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division] at Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal Campaign, 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, Solomon Islands] at the Battle of the Tenaru River [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Tenaru River, also called Battle of the Ilu River or Battle of Alligator Creek, 21 August 1942, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. He shows where the bullet went through the helmet. The pieces of the helmet are still in his back today. They cause a lot of arthritis. One of the more positive aspects of the war is how the Veterans Administration has taken care of him. He shows the belt he had on when he was hit in the back by the shrapnel. He shows a picture of his girlfriend and one of him from Australia. He shows another at the swimming hole at the dairy farm of the people he stayed with in Australia. Another is of the Japanese ambassador at Guadalcanal taken when he visited there for the 60th Anniversary. They shook hands and agreed they would not shoot at each other anymore. He shows a picture from the anniversary when he went to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds [Annotator's Note: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australian sports stadium, Yarra Park, Melbourne, Australia]. He was at a book launch there. He was a guest of honor with his daughter. He shows pictures of Mark Clemens [Annotator's Note: Major Warren Frederick Martin Clemens, British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force] who was a Coastwatcher [Annotator's Note: personnel who worked with indigenous peoples on islands in the South Pacific to locate and report on Japanese forces] on Guadalcanal. Wilson does not recall when he made sergeant, but it was after Cape Gloucester [Annotator's Note: Battle of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, New Guinea, 26 December 1943 to 16 January 1944].