| As soon as the day dawned, the soldiers saw 10,000 Japanese
soldiers stationed on the kolombangar Island-three miles to the north-east
and some at the Vella Lavella-five miles to the west. A Japanese camp was
also seen almost one mile to the south. Kennedy ordered his men to keep
low so that the Japanese may not notice their silhouettes against the sky.
Two wounded men were asked to lie down in the boat, and the rest were ordered
to cling to the boat. The entire morning was spent in this way. When Kennedy
realized that the danger of the presence of the Japanese on the tiny island
had decreased three miles to the north-east, they began to swim towards
that direction. In any case, they had to swim as the boat was sinking down.
Those who could not swim also began to make an effort to move ahead with
the help of timber of the boat, which had been knocked loose by the collision.
Kennedy was swimming with the strap of a wounded engineer in his teeth.
Often the salt water lapped into his mouth and he ad to swallow it. There
was no other option. |
