mg357
Absent Comrade
Leatherneck WWII
September 1942 edson's ridge
Private First Class Virgil George USMC is having a brief meeting with his commanding officer, Colonel Edson.
the colonel cleared his throat gently then he began to speak to the young Marine
"PFC George I am going to be brief and to the point, as you know the Japanese hit our ridge defensives last night and they gave us a severe beating a very severe beating."
"It was so severe that they almost broke through and got to the airfield, if we lose the airfield we will more than likely lose the island."
"If we lose the island our invasion will go down in history as a failure."
The young Marine cleared his own throat and he said
"Colonel what does all of this have to do with me?"
The colonel looked at the young Private First Class and he said to the young man
"as part of our defensives we had several companies of Marines who were at the bottom of the ridge and their job was to serve as a protective speed bump."
"When the Japanese hit those Marines they hit them hard very hard and now we don't have enough Marines to do that job.
"Your Job is to serve as a one man protective speed bump your dismissed. "
Private First Class Virgil George left the colonel's tent and worked his way down the ridge when he found a suitable location to perform his mission.
He dug a fox hole then he got into the hole and laid out the magazines for his weapon an M1 Carbine.
he also laid out a few hand grenades as well.
then he waited for the Japanese to come.
Shortly after sundown he started hearing the chatter of the Japanese in jungle that was directly in front of his position.
The young Marine picked up one of his hand grenades and he pulled the safety pin,
then he threw the grenade into the jungle where the chatter was come from.
After the grenade exploded he threw a second grenade for good measure.
After the second grenade exploded with a boom!
the Japanese started to run out of the jungle screaming and hollering like demons.
So he picked up M1 Carbine and started shooting at the Japanese who were running toward him.
He fired magazine after magazine of 30 Caliber rifle ammunition into the ranks of the enemy after a couple of hours of fighting the Japanese slowed and temporarily stopped their attack.
Virgil pulled out a pack of Camel's cigarettes and a zippo lighter from his pocket. He put one of the cigarettes into his mouth and he lit it with his lighter and he smoked for several moments.
When he was finished smoking he crushed the cigarette butt between his fingers then he took stock of his situation and he thanked god that he had plenty of 15 round magazines for his M1 Carbine.
when he completed his stock taking he smoked another cigarette and waited for the Japanese to attack again.
An hour later the attack came Virgil picked up his remaining grenades and threw them at the Japanese.
Then he fired his M1 Carbine at the Japanese with as fast and as accurately as possible he knew he had to make every shot count.
During his personal battle Virgil was in danger of being bayoneted by the Japanese several times but he did not care.
Mr. Virgil George was a Marine and as a Marine he was determined to do his duty or die.
When the sun was starting to rise the Japanese who had been bloodied by this very brave man, and they slowly began to retreat.
When the Japanese had completed their retreat into the Jungle Virgil lit up another cigarette and he savored it slowly very slowly.
When he finished his cigarette Virgil gathered up the empty magazines for his weapon and as quietly as possible he made his way back to friendly lines.
When he got back he bumped into his commanding officer, he saluted the Colonel then he said to him "Sir I need more 30 Caliber Ammunition for my M1 Carbine when he finished his request he saluted again."
The colonel put his hand on the shoulder of the young Marine PFC he said quietly "I will get you the ammunition that you have requested in the meantime get some rest."
Virgil left his commanding officer and found a place to rest among his fellow Marines, then he cleaned his personal weapon and waited to be resupplied with the ammunition that he had requested.
A little while later the Colonel brought over the ammunition and handed it to Virgil he said thank you then he proceeded to use the 30 Caliber rifle ammunition to refill the empty Carbine magazines.
When he was done filling the empty M1 Carbine Magazines l Virgil had some left over so he passed it
around to his fellow Marines who were desperately short of Carbine ammunition.
Then he returned to his resting place and got ready for the next fight with the Japanese.
Epilogue: Private First Class Virgil George stayed with
K Company 3rd battalion 5th Marine regiment 1st Marine division and fought beside them.
Through every Campaign that they fought from Guadalcanal until there last fight on Okinawa in 1945.
At the end of the war in 1945 they were sent to China for occupation duty.
In the spring of 1947 Virgil received his discharge papers and was sent back to the United States.
As he was leaving his assigned barracks for the very last time.
He shook hands with his fellow marines and he told him that he felt a great deal of pride and honor because he was able to fight beside of them.
He also passed out the remaining packs of cigarettes he had with him.
But he chose to keep his zippo lighter as a keepsake.
Shortly after arriving back in his home town of Farmhouse Indiana He did several things first he quit smoking then he bought some land and became a farmer.
He also met and married a nice woman named Marybeth and they had several children and later had lots of grandkids as well.
An Virgil and Marybeth made sure to spoil there many grandchildren rotten; he also shared his war stories and showed them his footlocker that contained his USMC uniforms and other mementos from his service in WWII.
In 2009 at the age of 89 Mr. Virgil George former WWII Marine Private First Class died and was buried in the cemetery in his hometown of Farmhouse Indiana with full military honors.
Bibliography
S&W Forum
Murphydog
PuertoRican
LoboGunLeather
MPDC
Joe Kent
MPDC
Semper Fi 57
Murdock
Gkitch
Gkitch
LoboGunLeather
LoboGunLeather
Joe Kent
Gkitch
Semperfi71
12a10
Vulcan Bob
JoeS
Opoefc
Chuck s
September 1942 edson's ridge
Private First Class Virgil George USMC is having a brief meeting with his commanding officer, Colonel Edson.
the colonel cleared his throat gently then he began to speak to the young Marine
"PFC George I am going to be brief and to the point, as you know the Japanese hit our ridge defensives last night and they gave us a severe beating a very severe beating."
"It was so severe that they almost broke through and got to the airfield, if we lose the airfield we will more than likely lose the island."
"If we lose the island our invasion will go down in history as a failure."
The young Marine cleared his own throat and he said
"Colonel what does all of this have to do with me?"
The colonel looked at the young Private First Class and he said to the young man
"as part of our defensives we had several companies of Marines who were at the bottom of the ridge and their job was to serve as a protective speed bump."
"When the Japanese hit those Marines they hit them hard very hard and now we don't have enough Marines to do that job.
"Your Job is to serve as a one man protective speed bump your dismissed. "
Private First Class Virgil George left the colonel's tent and worked his way down the ridge when he found a suitable location to perform his mission.
He dug a fox hole then he got into the hole and laid out the magazines for his weapon an M1 Carbine.
he also laid out a few hand grenades as well.
then he waited for the Japanese to come.
Shortly after sundown he started hearing the chatter of the Japanese in jungle that was directly in front of his position.
The young Marine picked up one of his hand grenades and he pulled the safety pin,
then he threw the grenade into the jungle where the chatter was come from.
After the grenade exploded he threw a second grenade for good measure.
After the second grenade exploded with a boom!
the Japanese started to run out of the jungle screaming and hollering like demons.
So he picked up M1 Carbine and started shooting at the Japanese who were running toward him.
He fired magazine after magazine of 30 Caliber rifle ammunition into the ranks of the enemy after a couple of hours of fighting the Japanese slowed and temporarily stopped their attack.
Virgil pulled out a pack of Camel's cigarettes and a zippo lighter from his pocket. He put one of the cigarettes into his mouth and he lit it with his lighter and he smoked for several moments.
When he was finished smoking he crushed the cigarette butt between his fingers then he took stock of his situation and he thanked god that he had plenty of 15 round magazines for his M1 Carbine.
when he completed his stock taking he smoked another cigarette and waited for the Japanese to attack again.
An hour later the attack came Virgil picked up his remaining grenades and threw them at the Japanese.
Then he fired his M1 Carbine at the Japanese with as fast and as accurately as possible he knew he had to make every shot count.
During his personal battle Virgil was in danger of being bayoneted by the Japanese several times but he did not care.
Mr. Virgil George was a Marine and as a Marine he was determined to do his duty or die.
When the sun was starting to rise the Japanese who had been bloodied by this very brave man, and they slowly began to retreat.
When the Japanese had completed their retreat into the Jungle Virgil lit up another cigarette and he savored it slowly very slowly.
When he finished his cigarette Virgil gathered up the empty magazines for his weapon and as quietly as possible he made his way back to friendly lines.
When he got back he bumped into his commanding officer, he saluted the Colonel then he said to him "Sir I need more 30 Caliber Ammunition for my M1 Carbine when he finished his request he saluted again."
The colonel put his hand on the shoulder of the young Marine PFC he said quietly "I will get you the ammunition that you have requested in the meantime get some rest."
Virgil left his commanding officer and found a place to rest among his fellow Marines, then he cleaned his personal weapon and waited to be resupplied with the ammunition that he had requested.
A little while later the Colonel brought over the ammunition and handed it to Virgil he said thank you then he proceeded to use the 30 Caliber rifle ammunition to refill the empty Carbine magazines.
When he was done filling the empty M1 Carbine Magazines l Virgil had some left over so he passed it
around to his fellow Marines who were desperately short of Carbine ammunition.
Then he returned to his resting place and got ready for the next fight with the Japanese.
Epilogue: Private First Class Virgil George stayed with
K Company 3rd battalion 5th Marine regiment 1st Marine division and fought beside them.
Through every Campaign that they fought from Guadalcanal until there last fight on Okinawa in 1945.
At the end of the war in 1945 they were sent to China for occupation duty.
In the spring of 1947 Virgil received his discharge papers and was sent back to the United States.
As he was leaving his assigned barracks for the very last time.
He shook hands with his fellow marines and he told him that he felt a great deal of pride and honor because he was able to fight beside of them.
He also passed out the remaining packs of cigarettes he had with him.
But he chose to keep his zippo lighter as a keepsake.
Shortly after arriving back in his home town of Farmhouse Indiana He did several things first he quit smoking then he bought some land and became a farmer.
He also met and married a nice woman named Marybeth and they had several children and later had lots of grandkids as well.
An Virgil and Marybeth made sure to spoil there many grandchildren rotten; he also shared his war stories and showed them his footlocker that contained his USMC uniforms and other mementos from his service in WWII.
In 2009 at the age of 89 Mr. Virgil George former WWII Marine Private First Class died and was buried in the cemetery in his hometown of Farmhouse Indiana with full military honors.
Bibliography
S&W Forum
Murphydog
PuertoRican
LoboGunLeather
MPDC
Joe Kent
MPDC
Semper Fi 57
Murdock
Gkitch
Gkitch
LoboGunLeather
LoboGunLeather
Joe Kent
Gkitch
Semperfi71
12a10
Vulcan Bob
JoeS
Opoefc
Chuck s
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