Our soiree was a great success. We continued to make the trip to the other side of the Island every week for the remainder of our stay on Guadalcanal. But soon the weekly meetings of the warrior brethren would come to an end. Sometime between March and April 1942, the Japanese began constructing airfields across the island of Bougainville, an Island to the Northwest of our current location. These airfields served the Japanese with bases to support their attacks of the supply lines between the United States, Australia and the other friendly's of the Southwest Pacific Area.
On November 1st 1943, we invaded Bougainville. Bougainville was secured, and turned over to the Army dog faces on January 15, 1944. We returned to Guadalcanal to lick our wounds. While we were away taking care of business on Bougainville, several things happened. War in the Pacific was moving quickly to the north fast. The leadership decided there was no longer a need for four Raider battalions or the Special Weapons battalions on the Island.
The battalions moved out and I stayed in place but was transferred to another unit. I became a member of The Fourth Joint Assault Signal Unit attached to the Fourth Marines, which was one of the regiments of the First Provisional Brigade. Because there were now so many different units on Guadalcanal, we unanimously decided to change our club's name to The Guadalcanal Square & Compass Club.
The first officer in my chain of command, Lt. Dillenback, was a brother Mason from Fort Plain NY. I told him about our Masonic Club, and he let me know that our First Sergeant was a mason, as was Pfc. K.D. Smith, another member of our outfit. We attended every weekly meeting until it came time to board ship and liberate the people of Guam.
We hit the beach near Agat on the South West side of the Island of Guam in the morning of July 21 1944. Every day and every night thereafter through August 10 when the island was officially declared secure, there was some kind of a shootout. During these 21 days of fighting, the Division captured over 60 square miles of territory and killed over 5,000 enemy soldiers.
On 22 August, I was in the back of a truck heading for the ship to leave Guam and return to Guadalcanal. From the back of the truck, I saw a Jeep driving by, then make a U turn and pull up along side of the truck. I was surprised to see that the driver was Gunner Wilkerson. First words out of his mouth were, "Thank God, I see you came through without a scratch. Slugs didn't make it. He was hit on the landing." Hearing the bad news about our fallen brother, I couldn't help but notice the tears running down his cheek. And, that was the last time I saw the gunner.
Back on Guadalcanal our unit grew in size. The brigade gained two regiments, supporting units, and was formed into the Sixth Marine Division. We gained people and equipment and grew from a unit to a company known as The Sixth Joint Assault Signal Company. Again, we licked our wounds, reequipped and trained for what became the last battle of WW II, the battle for Okinawa. The landing on Okinawa was April 1, 1945. It took 82 days to secure the Island. Two days before the last shoot out, our brother Mason K. D. Smith took a hit and joined the Heavenly Guard Company.
We returned to Guam and a new camp site built by the CB's. Tents with wood floors, hot showers, mess halls with tables and benches. All a luxury many of us hadn't seen for a good, long while. We were in our new camp only a day when Lt. Dillenback told me a new Square and Compass Club was forming at Pago Bay. We became charter members of the new club.
With no rest for the weary, we began immediately to re-supply and train in preparation for the invasion of Japan. Dropping of the Big-One on August 6, 1945 changed all of those plans.
The war was quickly drawing down. We held our last meeting of the Square & Compass Club and voted to turn our treasures over, along with any donations we had collected that evening to the Masonic Lodge of Guam, which had been destroyed by the Japanese back in 1941.
I returned back home to the states and was discharged October 10, 1945.
Jack Hoag
