Bloody Front Line Combat on Guadalcanal with WWII Marine Bill Finnegan (Pt. 1)
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2021
- Heading toward the beaches of Guadalcanal, 1st Marine Division PFC William Finnegan was filled with confidence as he looked back at the armada of ships following him to shore. Finnegan had no idea his division would go down in Marine Corps lore, becoming known as “The Old Breed”, for their heroic defense of Guadalcanal in the early days of World War II.
Meeting little resistance upon landing, Finnegan and his fellow marines moved inland through the jungle to root out the Japanese defenders. They would dig in along the Tenaru River, known more famously as “Alligator Creek”, where they waited for the inevitable Japanese attack. The ferocity of the fight that followed would make Guadalcanal a household name back home.
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I thought his name sounded familiar so I looked at a book written by John Joseph in 1999 about his memories and sure enough they were in the same outfit, G-2-1, on Guadalcanal. My father was the weapons platoon sergeant and John Joseph was in his platoon. John said that Bill Finnegan was one good Marine in combat and anywhere else. They were all at the "Battle of the Teneru" two weeks after they landed on Guadalcanal and their battalion killed 800 Japanese. My father was later a Gunnery Sgt but never mentioned any details other than their troop transport with their supplies, the Elliot, was sunk with all their supplies. They survived on captured Japanese rice for quite a long time. These guys were all heroes. Bill Finnegan made a career in the Marine Corps. Charlie Spakes was the 1stSgt, James F. Sherman was the CO, Luther Jordan was on of the Platoon Leaders.
My Dad was assigned to the 1st. Marines when his landing craft was disabled on the beach. I don't know how long he was there but he never ate rice again.
Mike
I've been looking for you for awhile!
My dad was on Guadalcanal. 1-5.
The night before the invasion he had won a lot of money playing poker. He put his winnings in the ships safe... it was one of four that were sank.
When someone realized he was a farm boy he was set to making outhouses. The Japanese pilot waited till he was done to blow them t o bits.
Dad said they found a cashe of rice and canned salmon.
The black skin of the fish disguised the weevils in the rice. He never ate rice again.
Dad said Tulagi and New Britain were worse than Guadalcanal for him.
He served in Korea and retired in 57.
When he realized that there wasn't much call for machine gunners in the civilian world he took his GI Bill and Marine Corps GED to Corvallis and became a wildlife biologist with the Forest Service.
Dad was the steam that ran the family but mom was the glue that held us together.
God Bless you all!
What was this book called? Bill is my great uncle
😂silly me...
My memory of the name is the following
🎼There was an old man named Michael Finnegan
He grew whiskers on his chinnegan
The wind blew them off but they grew in again
Poor old Michael Finnegan
Begin again...😂
Respect for your service kind sir💪🏽
My dad was a member of g-2-1. He was a BAR man. Lt. Jordan was the commander. He joined the First Marine Division in 1978 and saw Lt. Jordan's name listed. He wrote a letter to him, saying, "Lt. Jordan, I doubt you remember me..." Dad said Lt. Jordan had told him he was the best BAR man in the Marine Corps. A few days later, he received a reply and it began, "Al, of course, I remember you. You were the best BAR man in the Marine Corps."
My dad was living in Jersey City when Pearl Harbor was bombed, too. He was 18 yrs old and 6'1",230lbs. I saw his enlistment papers. He was a big Pollock!
He went to the recruiting station but was turned down by the Army, Navy, and Marines due to a UTI. The Merchant Marines were at the end of the table and told him they didn't care if he had an infection or not because he would have one by the time he got out.
He was torpedoed off of Ireland, made two Murmansk runs, was in Italy, and the D-Day invasion force. Then, he was in occupied Japan.
Quite a tour. Glad he survived.
When he says, "Blah"..... Love this Guy!
haha yeah i genuinely laughed aloud =) that was perfect
My wife's uncle was in "Edson's Raiders." He fought in the battle of "Edson's Ridge" on Guadalcanal.
“We appreciated them charging our machine guns”…..yes sir, tell it like it is! I love his sense of humor, I could listen to him all day long. God bless you sir!
Rör
Wow
I think he was referring to the fanaticism of the Japanese:
"but we appreciated it (the fanaticism) when they charged our machine guns"
@@BulgeWizard exactly, thx
After my father passed away my mother continued going to the 1st Marine Division Association reunions and my oldest brother, also a Marine, just stood by with his wife and listened to them tell their stories. This one was at the Chicago reunion. My dad and my older brother were Marines, my youngest brother and I were Army as well as my son. I watch these stories on RUclips all of the time. It's history that should never be forgotten. Sadly, it is being forgotten today by the current generation and the current leaders. Those that do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.
My grandfather was in the first division at Guadalcanal. Pfc Harry W. Belles Jr.
Thank you Marine Finnegan, you guys are my heroes.
"Got an old gal". Me too. Thank you sir for all you've done for our freedom! Greatest Generation - no doubt.
This hero was in the other video I just watched on Peleliu, this man has more backbone than the majority of my generation
I salute you Sir.
Amazing story, greatest generation 💪🏻
Such a courageous man . God bless you sir
Thank you for this, every veteran story is invaluable. Had an uncle who reached Guadalcanal after the first battles, with the Americal Division. Said Japanese bombers would come at dusk and he'd hear the bombs "walking up the road toward us." He also saw a GI gunner spraying/butchering dead Japanese and said that all the other guys really resented that, weren't too sad when that gunner was later killed. Said they shot prisoners too because they had no men to spare guarding them. Got his Purple Heart for a chunk of shrapnel in his side.
One “squared away” Gyrine. In his generation it was common. Still exists today but in much smaller numbers. Semper Fi!
@MichaelKingsfordGray ...?
Bless this great American. Sharp as a tack. Fantastic Marine. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring courage, sacrifice and service for freedom. God Bless you .❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for your Service and Sacrifice 💯💯
Our country could sure use the old breed Marines back, my father was a forward observer of a mortar crew in the first Marine division, Guadalcanal, I have pictures of bloody nose ridge , my father lost most of his buddies fighting on that ridge.
How many Marines have the dress blues recruited over the years?
A whole lot! lol
At least two... I'm definitely sure of that lol
Thank you sir!
There is an amazing RUclips channel by a retired marine that lives on Guadalcanal called "Guadalcanal walking a battlefield" where he goes all over to talk about what happened at the actually places with photographs and reports and research from the time. It is really amazing and you can still see the foxholes and everything. Pretty sure if you are watching this video, you would like his as well.
Just subscribed. Thank you
It's videos like these that make me so thankful that we live in a time where video is a thing. These men, and stories are treasures that are now kept alive forever and should be watched by every generation so as not to be lost. thanks to channels and people like this we get to have these stories.
Well said
There´s a RUclips video about the naval battle and the loss of his transport ship in the Guadalcanal sound which was after that renamed to 'iron bottom sound'.
The stories this channel covers are incredible. I appreciate his service and sacrifice for our country. Is there any way beyond the comments section to write a thank you note? It kills me these videos end with no P.O. box with a C/O to say thank you.
very good question
Amazing hero! ✊🏽💯 he well always be remembered “ ww2 Veterans were a bunch of warriors with balls of steel! 5”that era Generation will never be replace, sorry to say! 😔
Your typing is bad
Thank you for these testimony stories. The past 10-15 years listened to many of these vide. Thank you for your service.
Thank you
He remembers taking a dump and contemplating on leaving after condition yellow😂.. I wished my grandfather was this cool and funny.. bless this man
This is my great uncle and he was also in Korea during the fighting at the chosin reservoir. When my dad was in the gulf war he sent letters talking about his experiences in combat and what to expect. Still have those letters
Excellent videos. My only request is that you include the links to the other videos in the description when you have more than one part to a veteran's story. Thanks.
We're losing them so fast now. Heroes.
There is another video with Bill Finnegan titled Brutal Combat on Peleliu. G-2-1 went back to Wellington New Zealand after they left Guadalcanal in December for rest and healing. They stayed at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds for several months. They later shipped out to Cape Gloucester for their next battle then they went to the island of the island of Pavuvu to regroup and get replacements. I believe the next battle was on the island of Peleliu. They accrued points based on their time in combat and after they had enough points they were shipped back to the United States for a while. Another company, K-3-5, was also on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester and Peleliu and the HBO series The Pacific was based off of K-3-5. A fellow Marine friend of my father was in K-3-5 and was also the gunnery sergeant. E. B. Sledge was a member also of K-3-5 and wrote a book titled, With the Old Breed on Peleliu and Okinawa. E. B. Sledge and R. V. Burgin (K-3-5) also have videos on RUclips. R. V. Bergen wrote a book called Islands of the Damned. Both were consultants when they filmed the HBO series The Pacific.
They depict 2-1 on The Pacific. Leckie was in H-2-1 and he was featured at the battle of the Tenaru and Cape Gloucester and Peleliu, too. They moved to the north to take the ridges and were decimated within 8 days.
@@roderickstockdale1678 H-2-1 did fight on Guadacanal and Robert Leckie and Sid Phillips were members of H company. Leckie wrote a book called Strong Men Armed which I have a copy. The first Marine regiment was depicted in the Pacific earlier as well as the third Marine regiment. Thurman Miller was a Gunnery Sergeant in K-3-5 and was on Guadalcanal. Eugene Sledge and R. V. Burgen came in after Guadalcanal was secured. They were in the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa. 11000 Marines landed on Guadalcanal. A typical regiment consists of about 2,000 men.
Mike Acord everything in the beginning just like I said minus the mention of Phillips. I read a bit of Helmet For My Pillow once in a library, still yearn to read the whole thing. I think I only got as far as boot camp. I know of Thurman Miller’s book and I know about Burgin and the others featured in the series. He later wrote a book himself and explained his whole story.
Where was your father Gunnery Sergeant? Okinawa?
@@roderickstockdale1678 I have been meaning to buy Helmet for My Pillow myself and also Islands of the Damned. My father was G Company weapons platoon sergeant but he never talked about the war. He joined the Marine Corps in January 1938 his term of enlistment was up in January 1942 but they would not let him out and sent him to Parris Island as a drill instructor. He was a corporal at the time. Later on they formed G company at New River now called camp lejeune. The Japanese crossed the sandbar very near where they were positioned.
Semper Fi, Marine.
incredible
This man was my great grandpa and I really never got to talk to him much. This is kinda the most I’ve ever heard from him 😅 I loved it when he said “bleh” 😂
It’s a damn shame they’re all gone now.
I’ll, NEVER FORGET !
So glad that there is still some of these brave guys still alive ,💯 they’ve been carrying some
Big ass balls all these years 🤣.
Carrying
One if my mist prized items is an original marine raiders fighting dagger. My grandfather was in Guadalcanal. He told a story if how average Joe's turned into heroes , malaria foxhole living . Great Great sacrifices for the sake of American citizens to live free .
This generation couldn’t do this. When someone yells or hurts your feelings and THAT gives you PTSD they’re no way they could go through the things the WW2 generation did. Pathetic! Makes me ashamed of what my country has become.
🗽 🇺🇸 AMERICA! 🇺🇸 🗽
Your patriotism is obscene. This guy's America isn't the same as it is now. America has fallen apart since WWII.
@UCOPVo4TR6whDm5IaJ2VTdtQ it’s fallen apart after Reagan. Only the last 4 years was it starting to come alive again, and then the manufactured Chinese virus was brought here to wreak havoc and kill many innocent people on the hopes to get Trump out of office, hence blame him. It worked. Now we have a man with no leadership skills who stranded Americans in Afghanistan.
@@markfrench8892 by the way idk why your name is a bunch of letters on my comment 🤷♂️ if you can see my first comment
Don't celebrate war.
@@atenachos6282 you clearly don't understand with your affluent parents, lifestyle, and outlook. You could not be me. You could not be any of my heros. You sir, are a LOSER internet commentor.
"We appreciated it when they charged right into our machine guns"
God bless.
The Chinese ran when they heard a Japanese Banzai charge coming? I never heard that before. His reply was priceless...we had no where to run
The entire free world appreciates the Japanese genius tactic of the banzai charge.....basically suicide against highly trained well entrenched American machine gun pits...nice shooting boys
The Marines were better armed and better trained than the Chinese were.
សុទ្ធតែជាកំពូលបុរសដែលមានការតស៊ូយ៉ងស្វិតស្វាញ ទំរាំបានប៉ុណ្ណេះ អស្ចារ្យ ណាស់ សូសកោតសរសើរ ពួកគាត់ 😎😎😎
Hero !!
Hero
Brave man
As ric flair would say,” you gotta beat the man to be the man” and Mr.Finnigan, “ You are the man” I cannot thank you enough for your brothers in arms that did not make it home for my freedom. True Americans!!!
Semper Fi
The bombing sounded intense, and also dealing with few provisions.
My uncle was station on the USS ARIZONA. HE WAS DECLARED DEAD. HE WAS ON LEAVE SO DIDN'T DIE. TOOK 2 WEEKS BEFORE HIS FAMILY FOUND OUT HE WAS ALIVE.
This is my great great uncle
GOOD IRISHMAN
American.
I'd like to visit "Galthatolgal" someday.
He sounds like if Brooks from Shawshank Redemption told his war story! 😀
Tip: Set the playback speed to 1.25x
You are a g 😂 I just tried it
Got An Old Gal aka Guadalcanal
In retrospect we should have dropped Fat Man and Little Boy sooner. We'd still have Marines fighting the Japanese if not for both.
Real American.
i want one of your coffee mugs... i want to show support... but i dot not trust paypal.. Thank you for your service.
Riddle me this
What has a head and tail but no legs????? 🎭
Snake
@@ekaprstya5097 no that's incorrect for the riddle. But obviously a good guess.
That never crossed my mind 😄
Arty rounds?
@@audiosurfarchive nope
@@jtheoriginal9775 A blown up dude with shrapnel stick from his behind..?
Playback speed: 1.25x
Thank me later
A legend!