I'm planning on writing a short story about a man's experience during WWII, but set in the immediate postwar era (think late 1945, early 1946). His military experience will be told through flashbacks/memories and I'm thinking of putting him in an Army unit in the Pacific because I don't think those men get enough recognition and it'll be a good topic to explore. Other than that, I'm pretty much lost. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for the story (say, a character idea or an event to include) I'd love to hear them.
Thanks for the opportunity...There has been distressingly little about the Northern Australia Campaign...Darwin and New Guinea...The Australians were the first to hand Tojo his first major defeat...the Yanks were there with the Aussies, Kiwis, Dutch...Plenty of Aftermath. Plenty of Z-force stories... Remember a story of two young fellas whos village was overtaken by the Japanese...these two blokes ran into a huge cave system to escape the Japanese (they were told young blokes would be shot or put to work) They came out only in the dead of night back to the village to get some food and water...Anyway, several months passed and the Japanese finally moved on...the two blokes eventually came out of the cave into broad daylight for the first time in months...they were almost completely white! The pigment in their skin had dissapeared due to a lack of sunlight...or any light! The viilagers thought that they had been killed an that the spirits of these two blokes had come back to haunt them! Just one of thousands of stories...The Kokoda Track (Trail) is full of Stories...and Buna mentioned below...dont forget Gona!
Are you an experienced writer? There are lots of stories about the army in the Pacific that you could use. I think you could build a good story around: 1) The 32nd Infantry Division at Buna, a horrible battle in which the troops had practically no tank or artillery support and were forced into bloody attacks by an inept high command. 2) The 7th Infantry Division on Attu in the Aleutians. As at Buna, conditions (weather, terrain) were appalling--it was like Siberia, only fighting Japanese dug into caves and bunkers. Attu was the only WWII battle to take place on American soil, yet it has been nearly forgotten. 3) The story of the 27th Infantry Division, which got a very undeserved poor reputation for its performance on Saipan even though it broke a major Japanese attack on that island. 4) The 158th Infantry Regiment, a unique Arizona National Guard unit made up mainly of American Indians and Mexican Americans. The outfit performed very well in New Guinea and the Phillippines. 5) The 41st Division on Biak, another forgotten engagment in which the Japanese had to be literally burned out of the caves they were hiding in. 6) The ghastly battle for Manila in 1945, a Pacific Stalingrad in which the Japs massacred many thousands of Filipino civilians. Three US Army divisions fought there (37th Infantry, 1st Cavalry, 11th Airborne).
Buddy has been stationed on the island for months...After duty, he goes for a dip in the bay... A destroyer is patrolling close by - can hear Glenn Miller on the speakers. As buddy relaxes in the slow surf, rolling. Thinking of home. ...He see's the tell tail bubble path of an incoming torpedo.
