The Ghost Mountain Boys - James E. Campbell [32]
On September 11, MacArthur informed General Blamey, Commander of Allied Land Forces, of his intentions, and a day later dispatched a plane to Port Moresby. The plane carried Brigadier General Hanford MacNider and a very small group of intelligence and supply men, including Captains Jim Boice and Alfred Medendorp. The group’s task was to make arrangements for the arrival of the first American infantry unit to set foot in New Guinea.
MacArthur made the decision to send the 32nd to New Guinea despite General Harding’s objections that it was not yet ready. In a letter that foreshadowed the eventual clash between MacArthur and Harding, Harding wrote his wife Eleanor, “I prefer to get a crack at them [the Japanese] when the time comes…. When I go, I hope it will be with plenty of power—air, land, and sea—enough to make sure that none of those I am taking along with me will be sacrificed needlessly.” Not long after, he wrote his mother, “I want to bring back as many of the Red Arrow lads with me as I can. That ambition won’t be furthered if we move before we are good and ready to go.”
Harding was not surprised by MacArthur’s decision. In late August 1942, while the Japanese advanced down the Kokoda track, MacArthur showed up at Camp Tamborine (re-named Camp Cable by Harding for the first casualty of war in the South Pacific) with all of his colorful ribbons and medals, “decorated like a peacock,” according to a member of the 32nd Division who was on hand to see him. It was not an impromptu appearance.
At Camp Cable, MacArthur delivered what Stutterin’ Smith called a “gung-ho and inspired talk” full of the kind of grandiose language for which he had become famous. From MacArthur’s speech it was apparent that he, too, may have understood that the 32nd was far from battle ready. So instead of emphasizing the soldiers’ training, which was clearly lacking, he appealed to what the Japanese would have called their “seishin,” their will to fight.
“The Jap,” MacArthur told the men, “is no easy enemy. He is a hard fighter…. He gives no quarter. He asks for no quarter…. All Iask of you men when you go into action is that each of you shall kill one Japanese. If you do, we will win. But if, when you are hard pressed, you begin to look for a position in the rear, or begin to think it beyond human endurance to continue to fight, you will not only be destroyed physically, but you will lose your reputation in the eyes of your friends and your country…if a man has the fighting courage, even if he has poor equipment, poor training, and if he has the fighting spirit, he will win. Always, the fellow wins who fights to the end, whose nerves don’t go back on him, who never thinks of anything but the will to victory. That’s what I want of you men—and that’s what I expect.”
MacArthur finished his speech by invoking the image of a benevolent God watching over the men. “It won’t be very long now, probably, before you are in action,” he intoned. “It is possible that I won’t see a great many of you again; but I want you to know wherever you go, it will be my hope and prayer that Almighty God will be with you to the end.”
Despite their proximity, the island of New Guinea (the world’s second largest) and the continent of Australia have little in common. Created by the explosive tectonic forces of the Pacific Ring of Fire, New Guinea is geologically a much younger, more dramatic land. A series of immature volcanic mountain ranges run down the middle of the island like a bulging spine, spilling out toward the coast in a series of lesser but still imposing peaks. Rugged interior ridgelines rise to fifteen thousand feet and then fall off almost perpendicularly, only to rise again.
As the Americans would discover, New Guinea is also a land of staggering topographical contrasts. Savannas and vast malarial swamps of mangrove, sago and nipa palm, cane, and spear grass dominate the coastal region. Farther inland, savanna and swamp give way to grassland openings, mountain-fed rivers, and a lowland