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A Marine’s Life in the Pacific Donald Siepc*rt. iiou stationed at C'liapel Hill, had some thrilling, interesting and amusing experi¬ ences while fighting on various South Pacific hatllefronts. By VITA RICHTER Donald e. siepert, v-12 Marine at the University of North Carolina just missed being killed by the miracle of a deep breath when he lay uncon¬ scious in his bunk in Tarawa. Recently assigned to Chapel Hill after being chosen out of his bat¬ talion of 400 for training as an of¬ ficer, Don is still finding it difficult to adjust himself to the ways of American college life after his har¬ rowing experiences on the battle- fronts of the Gilbert Islands. Siepert, ex-corporal from Cedar Falls, Iowa, cut one of his classes in pre-engineering at State Teach¬ ers College a month after the Pearl Harbor disaster, joined the United States Marine Corps and was sent to San Diego. Cal., for training. Two months later he was in the hold next to the boilers in one of Uncle Sam's converted luxury liners . . . destination unknown. In the Samoans His battalion was one of the first to invade the Samoan Islands near Pago Pago. The Marines built Srass huts until bunks were nished, with double deckers made of boards and mattresses. Despite the mosquito netting, which covered each man, and the screens, more than half of them contracted tropical diseases, mainly elephan¬ tiasis, malaria and dengi fever. Don had dengi twice there, and the third time it recurred in the states when he spent a month in the base hospital in San Diego. The natives of the Samoan Is¬ lands were powerful and physically supple. They were capable of a tremendous amount of work for no more than two or three hours, when their innate laziness would assert itself. The women, mostly half- breeds. were exotically beautiful with coarse black hair adorned with white flowers denoting virgin¬ ity, and a lava lava or what we call a sarong. Primitive tribes draped loin cloths or discarded clothing entirely. Marriage and Divorce Customs The missionary converted them to Catholicism but not soap, and they were unbelievably dirty. In spite of this, some Marines, sta¬ tioned there for several years, mar¬ ried these girls. A simple ceremony followed permission of the wife’s parents, the Chief, the right-talk¬ ing Chief. Samoan Chief and finally the Priest. Then there was a celebration with dancing, sing¬ ing and feasting in one of the larger native huts, with all participants sitting around in a circle. The Don Siepert, USMCR. Marines were always glad to attend these festivals although one bite of the food was sure to sicken them, but they had to at least taste the offerings or risk offending the natives. Divorce was granted to a Marine when he left the island, if he said he was not returning. If a woman cheated, her husband killed her and he was not prosecuted . . . and if the lover could be caught, the spouse could also kill him. The Samoan Islands are in the tropical belt and it was so hot that the sun burned out the hair of many of the men, and it came out in handfuls. Most of the fighters wore nothing more than their shorts and even went barefoot. Tremendous rats and lizards were the only animals the Marines had to fear. Other Discomforts Don chuckled in telling about a bunkmatc who woke up the men in the tent one night with a screech yell, and although lights were against the rule, struck a match. Then he really did some shouting and cussing, for one of the rats had chewed his toenail right down to the quick and it was bleeding ex¬ cessively. The rats were wise in their search for food. Returning from an excursion to Pago Pago, Siepert brought back several five cent packages of Nabs, an unheard of luxury on the island. He craftily buried them in the middle of his seabag and went blissfully to sleep dreaming of the delicacy he would have on the morrow. Imagine his consternation when he discovered that the odious rodent, or perhaps a whole army of them, had tun¬ neled a hole clear through the navy canvas: and all the clothes that impeded their progress toward the precious crackers had sizable holes in them. Until new clothes were issued, Don had nothing more to show for his Nabs than holes. Siepert was in combat with the Japanese Imperial Marines, and contrary to general belief, they were well over six feet tall. They were well-trained and fought dog¬ gedly, preferring death to capture, a wish that the Marines readily satisfied. Prisoners tried to com¬ mit hari kari and when their weapons were taken away, became arrogantly sullen and recalcitrant. Heavily guarded they were sent to Pearl Harbor to be shipped to the States. The heavy camouflage made it difficult for the Marines to rccog- ( Continued on page 25)