IIUIIIIIUIUUIIIUIIIII
UOHosttoJim Howden
First Solomon Marine
(Continued from page one)
the sandy beach was furrowed
and torn by the barrage.
. . . Fire!
Jim’s boat was the first to
land, his captain the first to
go over the side, and Jim needed
no invitation. With a warwhoop
that would have made his boot
camp sergeant proud, he waded
and ran toward the jungle-fringed
shoreline—and he got there first.
Yes, Jim got his wish. At 8.21
a.m. Friday morning, August 7,
1942, he followed his captain up
the beach of Florida island in the
Solomon group to become the
first enlisted man of the United
States forces to land on Japan
ese-held territory in World War
II.
Bullets Wasted
Jim was a little disappointed.
Not because didn’t get ashore be
fore his captain, but because
there wasn’t a Jap in sight.
They had apparently all evacuat
ed Florida island and set up their
defenses on Tulagi, not far away.
At 8:24 a.m. the same morning
another party of marines landed
on the other side of the island
and together they soon had the
situation well in hand. Soon after
a third group raided Tulagi and
drove the Japs back into the jun
gle.
Target Practice
The next morning Jim's com
pany pulled out for Tulagi and
spent the rest of the day picking
off yellow-skinned snipers who
were harrassing the American
beachheads. Tulagi was soon set
up as headquaiters for the Solo
mon campaign.
As soon as Henderson field had
been captured from the enemy
the Tulagi group began making
raids on other Quadalcanal
points. The first big drive came
on October 5 at a point known
as Aaola, approximately 55 miles
from Henderson field. The ma
rines landed in the middle of the
night and made their way
through jungle trails with the
help of native guides.
Blackout
In darkness so dense they
“couldn't see the ground” they
filed through mythical trails, one
hand on the man in front, and
finally rested, awaiting the dawn.
When there was enough light to
distinguish one tree from another
they attacked'. In five days they
were back on the Tulagi with
thousands of dead Japanese to
their credit.
Then came tragedy for Jim.
After months of shooting it out
with the enemy in hand-to-hand
conflict he was assigned to a
squad whose job it was to evap
orate the crawling jungle water
and purify it for drinking pur
poses.
Mo Coward
For the evaporation process
they were using heavy ship's
diesel oil. In the struggle to get
it lit Jim was burned in the eye,
badly. But Jim was no coward
and he knew it would mean the
hospital if He told' i anyone. So
Jim kept quiet about his eye.
On October 29 • the >big drive
on Guadalcanal began and Jim
was right there, gradually begin
ning to see two Japs where there
was only one. After fighting all
day in the heat and dirt of the
tropics Jim would get a short
rest at night and have little time
to wash out his aching eye.
Toodleoo Tulagi
Eut it couldn’t last. In a few
days a lieutenant happened to be
around when Jim got up. That
morning, as every morning, his
eye was swollen and stuck shut
from running, painful ulcers. Or
dered to the first aid center at
Henderson field Jim was soon in
formed that his injury was dan
gerously serious and he was
flown off the island to a base
hospital “somewhere in the area.”
After two months of treatment
and recuperation he was brought
home to the San Diego base hos
pital for final examination. On
January 17, this year, Jim ar
rived back in the “good, old
U. S. A.” The doctors soon de
cided that it would be a long
time before he would be back in
the fight again.
Visits Campus
So Jim is home now, back on
his little farm near Arlington.
And on his way he stopped in Eu
gene to see Lyn, where she was
going to school at the University
of Oregon. Ji maud Lyn went
to the Military Ball together and
they “had a swell time.”
Sunday Jim left the campus,
still seeing double, still a little
restless from inactivity, but
proud of his olive-drab uniform
proud that he had been where the
fighting was, proud that he had
been there first.
Freshmen Stage Revolt
(Continued from page one)
insisted that there was much re
sentment in their group over the
sophomore class’ special grant to
the '46 lads—the right of wearing
“tin pants.”
The committee under Loud and
Olin, said that freshmen will wear
“jeans” on campus Tuesdays, in
direct defiance to sophomores and
upperclassmen:
“We are aware of the compli
cations,” stated Loud.
“We intend to see this thing
through to the end,” and with
that statement co-chairman Loud
retired to the privacy of a little
group of freshmen who were band
ing together in discussion groups.
It is the intention of the fresh
man class to aid its members
whenever they are in trouble in
the impending crisis.
Members of the sophomore
class, upon hearing of the frosh
rebellion, promised to battle the
situation from its out-set, and
plotted action late last night.
The freshman committee, new
ly organized, contains the follow
ing members: Dick Savinar, Lor
en Clark, Jim Elliott, Rollie Ga
bel, Kurt Olsen, Dutch Simmons,
Harold Faw and Marion Rushing.
Colby college is placing in
creased emphasis on American
history this year.
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Groundhog
Will Predict
(Continued, from page ona)
In other words, we don’t know
weather or not. In fact we don’t
know and mustn’t tell you any
way.
According to official army and
navy releases, we must not say
anything that is not according to
official army and navy releases.
Hence we can only give you some
inside dope from the expert in
siliology, polology, and psychopa
thophobia, the groundhog.
He appears each year on Feb
ruary 2, and although he is essen
tially on a government mission,
his coming is acclaimed with joy,
because he incidentally imparts
his “six lessons’’ to interested can
didates, from his superior knowl
edge. For while students are only
familiar with “pigging,” the
groundhog has had a vastly wider
range of experience by virtue of
his genealogy.
All that we are allowed to pub
lish, however, is his official state
ment, which your correspondent
has obtained exclusive of AP, UP,
INS and ISA. Mr. Groundhog,
whose observations between the
hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., will de
termine the course of the (cen
sored J for six weeks to come, was
finally induced to give a statement
today at approximately 5 a.m.,
before the symptoms had begun to
develop in the atmosphere.
He is spending his nineteen
hundred and forty-third research
period on Terra Firma, but inter
rupted his work to deliberate. Fi
nally with admirable restraint, he
profoundly observed, “Monoton
ous, isn’t it?”
The senior class at Saint Mary
of-the-Woods college, Indiana,
boasts four sets of twins.
Little Colonel Gets Rings'
All This and Orchids Too
By BETTY LU SIEGMAN
“First orchids, then diamonds, and now this,” was one of
the signs that greeted Oregon’s 1943 Little Colonel, H-elen Hol
den, when she entered the door of Hendricks hall after the
Military Ball Saturday night.
The Little Colonel, who has just completed one of the most
exciting weeks of her life, received an orchid and an engage
ment ring last Friday from Lloyd
Manning, ex-’41, who is with the
army engineers in Virginia. Add
ed to this, she was proclaimed
Little Colonel on Saturday, be
sides successfully playing the
part of the rowdy “Lil” in “Eve
of St. Mark’’ every night last
week from Wednesday through
Saturday.
Party Given
At a party in her honor at Hen
dricks hall, Helen said, in ex
pressing how completely sur
prised she was, “It didn’t occur
to me that I would be the Little
Colonel, when the officers ex
plained to the five finalists what
the Little Colonel would do, I
wasn’t even paying any attention.
Then after they announced my
name, they had to explain it all
over again to me.”
She continued, “I can’t remem
ber very much about the whole
evening, but I’ll tell you as much
as I can. I do remember sticking
one of the new pledges with a
pin and hearing him yell, “ouch!’
Seemed Like Play
“When I talked to Betsy Stef
fen, who played my twin in the
play, we both agreed that it was
lucky I didn’t go into my slangy
“Lil” talk, because I was up on a
stage with so many people
around,” she laughed.
Helen said that one of the main
reasons why she was so glad she
was elected Little Colonel was
because the honor went to an in
dependent.
When she entered her room af
ter the dance, a lighted enlars Y
ment of the Sigma Phi Epsilon
pin was 'facing her from the op
posite wall. The Sig Eps had lent
it for the occasion, because Hel
en’s new engagement ring was
from a former president of their
fraternity. >
>, ' .—- Ti
Valentine Day Is
Almost Here—
Make this year remem
bered always by that
certain person. See our
collection of lovely '
gifts for both coeds
and fellows.
Iffvistawjfa
JEWELRY STORE
620 Willamette
VALENTINES
SERIOUS ... SENTIMENTAL ...
SAUCY ... SEDATE
—even some that are mean!
Don't Forget the Boys in Camp
on February 14th
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