WEBVTT - The Unbreakable Chain of Douglas Munro 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:20.796 Pushkin Hello, Hello. Before we get on with our show, 0:00:21.076 --> 0:00:23.596 I want you to know that your Pushkin Plus subscription 0:00:23.716 --> 0:00:27.476 grants you early access to Medal of Honor episodes one 0:00:27.516 --> 0:00:30.556 week before they were released to the public. That's one 0:00:30.596 --> 0:00:34.076 week of exclusive access. If you want to listen to 0:00:34.156 --> 0:00:37.836 more episodes a week before they're widely available, sign up 0:00:37.836 --> 0:00:41.956 for Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcasts or by visiting pushkin 0:00:42.316 --> 0:00:50.556 dot Fm, slash Plus. Now onto the episode. On a 0:00:50.596 --> 0:00:54.396 warm day in spring nineteen forty three, a woman stepped forward, 0:00:54.756 --> 0:00:57.676 raised her right hand and took an oath. She was 0:00:57.756 --> 0:01:01.636 dressed in a neatly tailored uniform, sharp shoulders and insignia 0:01:01.716 --> 0:01:05.636 pinon eche lapel. Her dark hair was carefully curled, her 0:01:05.676 --> 0:01:08.716 mouth a slash of red lipstick. She was in her 0:01:08.756 --> 0:01:13.956 late slim with perfect posture. Her face was lined with grief. 0:01:14.916 --> 0:01:17.156 Just an hour before, she had received the Medal of 0:01:17.196 --> 0:01:19.916 Honor on behalf of her only son. He had been 0:01:19.956 --> 0:01:22.916 a member of the Coast Guard, killed in battle at 0:01:22.996 --> 0:01:26.596 just twenty two years old. It was the middle of wartime, 0:01:26.876 --> 0:01:29.516 so there was no big medal ceremony. She had met 0:01:29.516 --> 0:01:33.316 with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Oval Office. From 0:01:33.316 --> 0:01:37.276 behind his desk, Fdr had dropped the medal into her 0:01:37.356 --> 0:01:42.116 outstretched hand, and then she traveled three short blocks to 0:01:42.156 --> 0:01:45.356 the headquarters of the United States Coast Guard, where she 0:01:45.436 --> 0:01:48.516 stood and swore an oath to support and defend the 0:01:48.596 --> 0:01:53.276 Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. 0:01:54.116 --> 0:01:57.276 It was the same promise her son had made. He 0:01:57.276 --> 0:02:00.356 had given his life to serve his country. Now his 0:02:00.556 --> 0:02:06.276 mother was entering the fight. I'm Malcolm Gabwell and this 0:02:06.396 --> 0:02:09.876 is Medal of Honor Stories of Courage. The Medal of 0:02:09.916 --> 0:02:13.116 Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States, 0:02:13.476 --> 0:02:17.316 awarded for gallantry and bravery in combat at the risk 0:02:17.396 --> 0:02:20.956 of life, above and beyond the call of duty. Each 0:02:21.076 --> 0:02:23.996 candidate must be approved all the way up the chain 0:02:24.036 --> 0:02:27.396 of command, from the supervisory officer in the field to 0:02:27.436 --> 0:02:31.476 the highest office in our nation. Not just approved by 0:02:31.476 --> 0:02:34.116 the Secretary of Defense, it has to be agreed to 0:02:34.676 --> 0:02:38.876 by the President. This show is about those heroes, what 0:02:38.996 --> 0:02:42.116 they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell 0:02:42.196 --> 0:02:46.996 us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Today we're 0:02:46.996 --> 0:02:50.236 telling the story of Douglas Monroe. Out of the two 0:02:50.276 --> 0:02:53.036 hundred and fifty thousand members of the United States Coast 0:02:53.036 --> 0:02:56.196 Guard who served in World War II, he was the 0:02:56.236 --> 0:03:00.276 only one awarded a Medal of Honor. In fact, he 0:03:00.356 --> 0:03:02.356 is still the only member of the Coast Guard to 0:03:02.396 --> 0:03:06.556 have gotten the medal because of one simple fact. In 0:03:06.636 --> 0:03:10.836 nineteen forty two, he saved an estimated five hundred marines 0:03:10.836 --> 0:03:14.996 from death on the island of Guadalcanal. And yes, yes, 0:03:15.676 --> 0:03:21.836 you heard that right, five hundred. The story of Doug's 0:03:21.876 --> 0:03:24.956 heroism is told to every man and woman who joins 0:03:24.956 --> 0:03:28.836 the United States Coast Guard. The Coastguard's headquarters are named 0:03:28.876 --> 0:03:32.196 after him. A legend class Cutter ship is too. He's 0:03:32.236 --> 0:03:34.796 the only non marine honored in the Wall of Heroes 0:03:35.036 --> 0:03:38.236 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and every 0:03:38.316 --> 0:03:41.596 year for the past five decades, the Navy League has 0:03:41.676 --> 0:03:45.996 given out the Douglas A. Munroe Inspirational Leadership Award to 0:03:46.076 --> 0:03:51.076 the person whose leadership and selflessness reflects the essence of 0:03:51.116 --> 0:03:54.796 who Doug was. And there's a reason that his story 0:03:54.836 --> 0:03:57.556 resonates so deeply. It's about more than what he did 0:03:57.596 --> 0:04:01.436 that day in Guadalcanal. Usually, the Medal of Honor celebrates 0:04:01.436 --> 0:04:04.436 a particular kind of leader. The lone man out on 0:04:04.476 --> 0:04:07.836 the front lines. In this episode, I want to think 0:04:07.836 --> 0:04:11.156 about a different kind of leader ship, a quieter kind, 0:04:11.396 --> 0:04:14.516 one that isn't built on enforcing a hierarchy, but on 0:04:14.596 --> 0:04:18.676 the opposite service to others and a depth of connection 0:04:19.476 --> 0:04:31.596 that lasts for decades. The day after the attack on 0:04:31.636 --> 0:04:34.116 Pearl Harbor, Fdr adjusts. 0:04:33.836 --> 0:04:40.036 Congress December nineteen forty one, a date which will live 0:04:40.396 --> 0:04:44.996 in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and 0:04:45.076 --> 0:04:49.876 deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire 0:04:50.316 --> 0:04:50.876 of Japan. 0:04:52.036 --> 0:04:55.836 Japan had launched attacks on Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, 0:04:56.156 --> 0:04:57.836 Wake Island, and Midway. 0:04:58.476 --> 0:04:59.196 It was war. 0:05:00.356 --> 0:05:03.916 As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I 0:05:03.956 --> 0:05:07.716 have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, 0:05:08.636 --> 0:05:13.196 no no matter how long it may take us overcome 0:05:13.356 --> 0:05:18.916 this premeditated invasion. The American people, in their righteous might, 0:05:19.716 --> 0:05:22.756 will win through to absolute picture. 0:05:25.116 --> 0:05:27.676 All this at the stage for the conflict Doug Monroe 0:05:27.716 --> 0:05:31.716 would find himself in Right away. The military focused on 0:05:31.756 --> 0:05:35.116 the Pacific Ocean. It was a race between the Japanese 0:05:35.196 --> 0:05:39.556 forces and the Allies to dominate strategic South Pacific islands. 0:05:39.996 --> 0:05:44.276 Because whoever controlled those would control the supplying communications lines 0:05:44.396 --> 0:05:48.356 between the US and our allies in Australia. One of 0:05:48.436 --> 0:05:52.236 America's first targets was the Solomon Islands, a tiny chain 0:05:52.516 --> 0:05:56.156 one thousand miles east of Papua New Guinea, in particular 0:05:56.476 --> 0:06:00.716 a small airfield on the biggest of those islands, Guadalcanal. 0:06:01.156 --> 0:06:05.156 All the forces that controlled Guadalcanal command the approaches to Australia, 0:06:05.796 --> 0:06:09.396 all mastery of the skies over the vitally important Solomon Islands. 0:06:10.876 --> 0:06:14.396 Japanese troops were already there, gaining a stronger foothold by 0:06:14.436 --> 0:06:18.636 the day the Americans had to stop their progress. In 0:06:18.676 --> 0:06:21.636 the early hours of August seventh, nineteen forty two, a 0:06:21.716 --> 0:06:25.236 fleet of more than fifty U S. Navy warships silently 0:06:25.316 --> 0:06:29.116 converged on the Solomon Islands. As the sun rose, Allied 0:06:29.156 --> 0:06:33.476 planes bombed the enemy, then Marines stormed ashore. Within a 0:06:33.516 --> 0:06:37.436 couple of days, the smaller islands were under Allied control, 0:06:38.276 --> 0:06:42.556 but not cordicanal. The Allies secured the airfield, but the 0:06:42.636 --> 0:06:47.756 enemy soldiers just regrouped, moving back further inland. Japanese aircraft 0:06:47.956 --> 0:06:51.676 tangled with Navy flyers overhead, dropping bombs on battleships and 0:06:51.756 --> 0:06:56.036 transport boats. The US was losing valuable planes and warships, 0:06:56.316 --> 0:06:59.876 so the Naval Aircraft Carrier Fleet decided to withdraw from 0:06:59.916 --> 0:07:03.396 the battle days before they were supposed to. With no 0:07:03.476 --> 0:07:08.716 air cover, the remaining ships were dangerously exposed bombed constantly, 0:07:09.596 --> 0:07:12.476 so the rest of the battleships had no choice but 0:07:12.556 --> 0:07:16.716 to retreat to safety as well. Here's the thing, the 0:07:16.756 --> 0:07:21.516 Solomon Islands campaign was a logistical nightmare, thousands of miles 0:07:21.516 --> 0:07:25.436 away from Allied land. When the battleships retreated, they left 0:07:25.476 --> 0:07:30.996 so fast they took half the supplies for Guadalcanal with them, food, medicine, equipment, 0:07:31.276 --> 0:07:35.756 the works. The remaining troops were essentially stranded. They were 0:07:35.796 --> 0:07:37.596 going to have to make do with what little they 0:07:37.676 --> 0:07:43.476 had for weeks. The military planners had optimistically named the 0:07:43.476 --> 0:07:48.556 Solomon Islands invasion Operation Watchtower, but as the Marines started 0:07:48.596 --> 0:07:53.036 scavenging for gear and food, they renamed it Operation Shoe String. 0:07:53.916 --> 0:07:57.756 It would prove to be one of the trickiest, most disorganized, 0:07:58.276 --> 0:08:02.316 and most lethal battlegrounds of the entire war. The Allied 0:08:02.356 --> 0:08:06.036 forces on Guadalcanal came down with danngy fever, and dysentery. 0:08:06.476 --> 0:08:10.516 They were clouds of malaria bearing mosquitoes, and most crucially, 0:08:10.796 --> 0:08:14.756 they faced an enemy whose home country was much much closer, 0:08:15.436 --> 0:08:19.836 which meant that the Japanese were constantly getting fresh troops. 0:08:20.436 --> 0:08:23.396 If the US couldn't hold its operation together on a 0:08:23.476 --> 0:08:28.476 logistical level, there was no chance of victory. And at Guadalcanal, 0:08:28.836 --> 0:08:32.836 responsibility for the most important logistical question of all moving 0:08:32.876 --> 0:08:36.516 men into battle fell to the Coast Guard, and one 0:08:36.556 --> 0:08:39.956 man in particular, the only member of the Coast Guard 0:08:40.236 --> 0:08:48.396 ever to win a Medal of honor, Douglas Monroe. Doug 0:08:48.476 --> 0:08:51.396 Monroe was born in nineteen nineteen and grew up in 0:08:51.436 --> 0:08:55.316 the little town of South clay Ellam, Washington. He did 0:08:55.316 --> 0:08:59.236 all the usual all American kid stuff, boy scout, basketball, 0:08:59.596 --> 0:09:02.796 trific dancer, a skinny kid would, slick back hair, and 0:09:02.836 --> 0:09:05.956 a big devilish grin. But he was maybe best known 0:09:05.996 --> 0:09:10.916 for one thing. His friendships had super close pals, and 0:09:10.956 --> 0:09:15.676 that gift for connection extended to a deep sense of community. 0:09:15.796 --> 0:09:18.036 He was in the Bugle Corps, and he volunteered to 0:09:18.076 --> 0:09:21.116 play tops at the South clay Elham Cemetery to honor 0:09:21.156 --> 0:09:25.436 local veterans. His oldest sister Patricia remembers it well. 0:09:25.956 --> 0:09:28.916 And he used to go out up at the cemetery 0:09:28.996 --> 0:09:31.476 on Veterans Day and he would go way out in 0:09:31.476 --> 0:09:33.796 the woods and he would play the echo on the 0:09:33.836 --> 0:09:37.556 bugle to taps, and he said he used to enjoy 0:09:37.596 --> 0:09:38.716 doing that for the vets. 0:09:40.076 --> 0:09:43.996 This to me is a quintessential Doug story. He's doing 0:09:44.036 --> 0:09:47.316 something out of a sense of duty and obligation for 0:09:47.356 --> 0:09:50.796 a group of people, but they can't even see him. 0:09:51.076 --> 0:09:55.556 It's not about the recognition. This was during the Great Depression, remember, 0:09:55.676 --> 0:09:57.956 and the little town of South clay Elam was hit hard. 0:09:58.636 --> 0:10:01.556 So Doug recruited one of his best buddies, Mike Cooley, 0:10:01.916 --> 0:10:04.396 to gather and split forward and deliver it to people 0:10:04.476 --> 0:10:07.956 who couldn't afford it. Then he watched as the war 0:10:08.036 --> 0:10:10.956 began in Europe. He already had the instinct to serve 0:10:10.996 --> 0:10:14.516 his country. His mom, Edith, came from a military family. 0:10:14.956 --> 0:10:16.756 One of her brothers had fought in World War One 0:10:17.076 --> 0:10:20.196 and served for years as lieutenant colonel in the Canadian Army, 0:10:21.036 --> 0:10:24.396 but the idea of her son willingly enlisting came as 0:10:24.396 --> 0:10:28.196 a rather unwelcome surprise when Doug mentioned it one night 0:10:28.236 --> 0:10:31.356 at dinner, she dropped her fork under her plate. He 0:10:31.436 --> 0:10:34.836 knew enough to change the subject, but Doug was undeterred. 0:10:35.436 --> 0:10:37.436 The only question to him was which arm of the 0:10:37.436 --> 0:10:38.316 military to join. 0:10:38.956 --> 0:10:41.516 So he had pals and various branches of the service 0:10:41.556 --> 0:10:44.836 who wanted him to come with them, and he checked 0:10:44.836 --> 0:10:46.156 it all out, and he said he was going to 0:10:46.196 --> 0:10:49.476 join the Coast Guard because he said they saved. 0:10:49.156 --> 0:10:54.516 Lives, saving not taking lives. That's what Doug believed in, 0:10:54.996 --> 0:10:57.116 and that's what the Coast Guard had been doing since 0:10:57.196 --> 0:11:01.476 nineteen fifteen. It was and still is the smallest of 0:11:01.516 --> 0:11:05.156 the armed forces, a nimble force focused on marine's safety, 0:11:05.676 --> 0:11:09.356 search and rescue, maritime law enforcement. If the name Tavy 0:11:09.516 --> 0:11:13.796 ruled the seas, the Coast Guard protected them. Doug joined up, 0:11:14.156 --> 0:11:17.276 and so did a young man named Ray Evans his Ray. 0:11:18.276 --> 0:11:20.676 They called me back in September and said are you 0:11:20.756 --> 0:11:24.196 still interested? We've got seven openings, and I said, yes, 0:11:24.276 --> 0:11:28.236 I am. When I got to the Federal Building on 0:11:28.396 --> 0:11:32.716 September eighteenth, Doug Monroe was there and that's how it started. 0:11:33.756 --> 0:11:37.036 That's how it started. Doug met Ray, the man who 0:11:37.076 --> 0:11:39.436 would be his best friend and the person who would 0:11:39.476 --> 0:11:41.636 be in the boat with him the day he saved 0:11:41.636 --> 0:11:45.756 those five hundred marines. We'll get to that after the break. 0:11:53.796 --> 0:11:57.076 Just before his twentieth birthday, Doug Monroe joined the Coast 0:11:57.076 --> 0:12:00.396 Guard and met Ray Evans. He and Ray were inseparable. 0:12:00.836 --> 0:12:03.596 They were so close that everyone referred to them as 0:12:03.596 --> 0:12:04.756 the gold Dust Twins. 0:12:05.476 --> 0:12:08.556 In those days, the soap was called a gold Dust Twins, 0:12:08.596 --> 0:12:11.796 you know, and the twins on the label, and that's 0:12:11.836 --> 0:12:14.756 what they called us. And many times couldn't tell us 0:12:14.756 --> 0:12:16.756 a part. I mean, it didn't look alike, but they 0:12:16.796 --> 0:12:17.836 wouldn't mix us up. 0:12:18.756 --> 0:12:22.716 The US, meanwhile, was inching ever closer to war. In 0:12:22.796 --> 0:12:26.276 nineteen forty one, the Navy, preparing for the conflict, tapped 0:12:26.316 --> 0:12:29.916 the Coastguard to train on their best weapon for amphibious warfare, 0:12:30.316 --> 0:12:34.276 Higgins boats. Higgins boats had just been developed as a 0:12:34.276 --> 0:12:37.036 new way to get troops and needed supplies onto beaches 0:12:37.316 --> 0:12:38.236 quickly and nimbly. 0:12:39.076 --> 0:12:42.236 You all know by now the nature of amphibious war, 0:12:42.636 --> 0:12:46.956 a combined land and sea operation against the enemy. Landing 0:12:47.076 --> 0:12:50.876 craft furnished that vital link between sea and shore, between 0:12:50.916 --> 0:12:52.556 the transports and the enemy beach. 0:12:53.476 --> 0:12:55.676 You could run them right up on the sand. They're 0:12:55.716 --> 0:12:58.276 those boats. You see in d Day footage. They could 0:12:58.316 --> 0:13:01.276 hold thirty six fully armed men, with a ramp at 0:13:01.276 --> 0:13:03.556 the front to let the troops off quickly, and two 0:13:03.676 --> 0:13:07.276 machine guns at the rear. The problem was that the 0:13:07.356 --> 0:13:10.356 Navy crews couldn't handle maneuvering the litle Higgins's boats into 0:13:10.396 --> 0:13:14.836 the surf. It just wasn't what they did. Coastguardsmen, however, 0:13:15.116 --> 0:13:18.356 were the most expert small boat handlers in government service, 0:13:18.996 --> 0:13:22.156 so in an amphibious attack, the coast Guard wasn't just 0:13:22.356 --> 0:13:24.956 part of the battle. Without them, there wouldn't have been 0:13:24.996 --> 0:13:28.316 a battle at all. It wasn't the most glamorous role, 0:13:28.396 --> 0:13:32.596 of course, it's all logistics, no glory, But glory wasn't 0:13:32.596 --> 0:13:37.196 what the Coastguard was about. Connection was Doug raised his 0:13:37.236 --> 0:13:39.596 hand to be part of the Higgins boat training. He 0:13:39.796 --> 0:13:43.316 always wanted to be more useful. Ray volunteered as well, 0:13:43.676 --> 0:13:46.276 and according to Ray, Doug wasn't just great at it, 0:13:46.876 --> 0:13:52.276 he was legendary. They called those specialized sailors. Coxin's Coxin 0:13:52.596 --> 0:13:55.356 is spelled like it ought to be pronounced coxway, but 0:13:55.436 --> 0:13:58.396 actually it's an Old English word. Like a lot of 0:13:58.436 --> 0:14:01.916 old English words, It's pronounced in a totally nutty way 0:14:02.636 --> 0:14:03.796 like Worcestershire sauce. 0:14:03.996 --> 0:14:04.516 Look it up. 0:14:04.876 --> 0:14:09.636 Is that how you thought Worcestershire is spelled anyway? Coxon 0:14:09.916 --> 0:14:14.196 has an old English definition. It means literally boat servant, 0:14:14.796 --> 0:14:18.196 and that makes sense. A coxon is the person who 0:14:18.236 --> 0:14:21.276 steers the boat and is responsible for taking care of 0:14:21.316 --> 0:14:24.316 everyone on the boat. It's a mix of two things, 0:14:24.636 --> 0:14:28.036 a leader and a servant. These days, if you're in 0:14:28.076 --> 0:14:31.636 the business world, you've probably heard it called servant leadership. 0:14:32.396 --> 0:14:35.196 But if you were in the Coastguard world, it didn't 0:14:35.196 --> 0:14:37.756 come with all the business branding. It was just something 0:14:37.796 --> 0:14:41.956 that you did. I mean, here's Admiral Linda Fagen, commandant 0:14:42.036 --> 0:14:43.116 of the US Coast Guard. 0:14:44.036 --> 0:14:49.756 I define leadership as showing up as confidence leavened with humility, 0:14:50.436 --> 0:14:55.156 and creating the environment where others can succeed and eliminating 0:14:55.156 --> 0:14:56.556 any barriers to their success. 0:14:57.636 --> 0:15:00.676 Linda Fagan is just a badass, the first woman to 0:15:00.756 --> 0:15:03.996 lead the Coastguard. But she's not talking about barking orders 0:15:04.156 --> 0:15:07.276 and basking in the glory. She's talking about creating an 0:15:07.356 --> 0:15:12.036 environment where leaders so of others and create positive change. 0:15:12.516 --> 0:15:16.716 That's the Coastguard in a nutshell, protecting people and in 0:15:16.796 --> 0:15:20.356 doing so, making connections that become part of a lasting, 0:15:20.756 --> 0:15:22.076 long reaching chain. 0:15:22.196 --> 0:15:23.036 Of good works. 0:15:23.796 --> 0:15:26.836 It's a creed that came naturally to Doug, and he 0:15:26.916 --> 0:15:29.836 was about to have to put it to test. At Guadalcanal. 0:15:35.996 --> 0:15:39.396 It was six weeks into the invasion of Guadalcanal. Supplies 0:15:39.436 --> 0:15:42.116 were short and men were surviving on rice and dried 0:15:42.156 --> 0:15:46.036 fish the Japanese troops had left behind. There were torrential rains, 0:15:46.596 --> 0:15:51.196 swarms of black flies and mosquitoes, leeches and scorpions, crocodiles. 0:15:52.036 --> 0:15:55.876 Doug Monro's friend Ray Evans remembers exactly how bad it was. 0:15:56.836 --> 0:15:59.716 He ended up with malaria, and there was a lot 0:15:59.756 --> 0:16:04.276 of dysentery and dangy fever. And it's jungle, you know. 0:16:05.396 --> 0:16:08.636 It was a mean place. It was a mean place. 0:16:09.796 --> 0:16:12.876 The gold Dust twins both had malaria, but it didn't 0:16:12.876 --> 0:16:15.676 seem to slow them down. They built themselves a little 0:16:15.676 --> 0:16:18.716 house out of scrap materials and packing boxes, one of 0:16:18.756 --> 0:16:21.236 the only houses on the base with actual screens in 0:16:21.276 --> 0:16:25.476 the windows. Doug was in charge of Guadalcanal's contingent of 0:16:25.516 --> 0:16:29.076 Higgins boats and was the go to person whenever anyone 0:16:29.116 --> 0:16:32.796 had questioned about them. The Marines loved him, how skilled 0:16:32.796 --> 0:16:36.556 he was, how seriously he took the responsibility of protecting them. 0:16:37.196 --> 0:16:40.036 Everyone trusted him as a leader, despite the fact that 0:16:40.116 --> 0:16:42.676 he was only twenty two. But it was clear that 0:16:42.756 --> 0:16:46.116 things on Guadalcanal couldn't keep going the way they were going. 0:16:46.836 --> 0:16:50.036 The Allies worried that the Japanese forces might eventually get 0:16:50.036 --> 0:16:52.756 strong enough to run them off the island, so that the 0:16:52.756 --> 0:16:56.516 commanding officers decided it was time to take decisive action. 0:16:57.436 --> 0:17:01.876 On September twenty seventh, nineteen forty two, the Marines launched 0:17:01.876 --> 0:17:05.756 an attack on enemy held territory along the Metanco River 0:17:06.156 --> 0:17:07.796 at a spot called Point Cruise. 0:17:08.476 --> 0:17:12.396 The next thing I know, commanders telling us that Doug 0:17:12.436 --> 0:17:15.156 and I that they were going to send this battalion. 0:17:15.196 --> 0:17:18.076 I guess it was a battalion of Marines to land 0:17:18.236 --> 0:17:19.156 at Point Cruise. 0:17:20.156 --> 0:17:22.996 The Marines loaded onto the coast guards little Higgins boats 0:17:23.276 --> 0:17:26.556 and they had it out. Things went sideways from the start. 0:17:27.116 --> 0:17:29.916 The troop transports couldn't land where they were supposed to. 0:17:30.796 --> 0:17:33.436 Unfortunately, they were supposed to land at the head of 0:17:33.476 --> 0:17:35.756 the cove, and we found the coral would not allow 0:17:35.836 --> 0:17:38.316 us to do that, so we had to make an 0:17:38.356 --> 0:17:40.476 abrupt right turn and land on the beach. 0:17:41.636 --> 0:17:44.676 The fleet of boats led by Doug dropped the Marines 0:17:44.756 --> 0:17:47.676 and headed back to base. The men who landed were 0:17:47.716 --> 0:17:49.636 supposed to meet up with two other of the groups 0:17:49.636 --> 0:17:52.836 of Marines, the Fifth and the Raiders, but those two 0:17:52.836 --> 0:17:55.556 groups couldn't make it to the meeting point. They had 0:17:55.596 --> 0:17:59.516 been decimated and driven back by Japanese troops. Because here's 0:17:59.516 --> 0:18:02.236 the thing, the Allies had thought there were only roughly 0:18:02.316 --> 0:18:05.836 four hundred enemy soldiers on the whole island, they were 0:18:05.836 --> 0:18:10.516 closer to four thousand. Marines had been dropped into a 0:18:10.556 --> 0:18:14.996 situation that was way worse than they imagined. The Japanese 0:18:15.196 --> 0:18:19.076 had anticipated their arrival and prepared battalions of infantry and 0:18:19.116 --> 0:18:24.276 machine guns on the ridge overlooking their landing site. William Shanahan, 0:18:24.476 --> 0:18:26.916 one of the Marines who was there that day, remembers 0:18:26.956 --> 0:18:27.876 it clearly. 0:18:27.916 --> 0:18:32.276 The Japanese had moved in behind us, between us and 0:18:32.356 --> 0:18:37.316 the beach, so we were effectively trapped there. 0:18:38.636 --> 0:18:42.196 Shots were coming from every corner. Motor shells exploded all 0:18:42.236 --> 0:18:45.956 around them, blasting men through the air. Their leader, Major Rogers, 0:18:46.236 --> 0:18:50.036 was killed instantly, and then a seemingly endless number of 0:18:50.116 --> 0:18:54.516 Japanese soldiers was coming over the hill. Even worse, the 0:18:54.596 --> 0:18:57.276 Marines didn't have any way to call for help. Here's 0:18:57.276 --> 0:18:59.836 another Marine who was there that day, Mac McLeod. 0:19:00.396 --> 0:19:05.676 We didn't bring a radio with us, and we didn't 0:19:05.756 --> 0:19:08.156 know that the Fifth Marines code got across and the 0:19:09.396 --> 0:19:12.796 they couldn't get a cross. So in the fact we 0:19:13.116 --> 0:19:17.356 lay on there and before guard man and everybody without 0:19:17.436 --> 0:19:17.956 any help. 0:19:18.836 --> 0:19:22.156 But the Marines are nothing if not resourceful, right They 0:19:22.196 --> 0:19:25.836 took off their white undershirts and spelled out help on 0:19:25.876 --> 0:19:28.876 the ground, and a dive bomber flying overhead saw it. 0:19:29.956 --> 0:19:32.076 Doug and Ray had just gotten back to the base 0:19:32.276 --> 0:19:35.076 when they saw their commander running towards them. He was 0:19:35.116 --> 0:19:37.676 waiting a piece of paper and yelling something they couldn't 0:19:37.716 --> 0:19:40.676 hear over the throttle of the engines. Doug turned to 0:19:40.756 --> 0:19:44.556 Ray with a sardonic smile and said, whatever he's yelling about, 0:19:44.996 --> 0:19:48.796 it ain't good. The commander wanted to know would they 0:19:48.796 --> 0:19:51.516 be willing to go back and rescue the Marines. It 0:19:51.636 --> 0:19:53.836 wasn't an order, it was a question. 0:19:54.796 --> 0:19:57.636 Word came down that they had to be evacuated, and 0:19:57.716 --> 0:20:00.356 so back we go as usual. 0:20:00.516 --> 0:20:03.316 Doug led the boats a group of about ten landing craft. 0:20:03.756 --> 0:20:07.756 He knew exactly what kind of nightmare he was going into. 0:20:07.956 --> 0:20:10.436 On a beach at that time. What was just the 0:20:10.476 --> 0:20:13.716 most chaotic place you would imagine, with all the shells 0:20:13.756 --> 0:20:18.196 falling in, the machine gun fire, water fire, and nobody 0:20:18.236 --> 0:20:20.156 in his right mind which got a boat to come 0:20:20.196 --> 0:20:23.556 in voluntarily to get us, But they did. They came in. 0:20:25.396 --> 0:20:28.556 As the landing craft approached the beach, enemy mortar fire 0:20:28.716 --> 0:20:33.156 caused giant eruptions of seawater that towered over the Higgins boats. 0:20:33.516 --> 0:20:36.956 One hit another. Dug and Ray were in the same boat, 0:20:36.996 --> 0:20:40.636 and they braced themselves as the water crashed down on them. 0:20:41.076 --> 0:20:44.316 Machine gun fires strafed the hull. One of the other 0:20:44.356 --> 0:20:47.436 boats pulled next to Dug and Ray and someone yelled 0:20:47.476 --> 0:20:50.916 that they should return to base. Doug pointed his finger 0:20:50.916 --> 0:20:53.236 at the beach and yelled back, were. 0:20:52.996 --> 0:20:55.436 Not leaving them there, We're going in. 0:20:56.436 --> 0:20:58.316 The group of boats pulled as close to the shore 0:20:58.316 --> 0:21:01.716 as they could get. Within minutes, nearly five hundred marines 0:21:01.796 --> 0:21:04.116 poured out of the jungle and dove into the water. 0:21:04.596 --> 0:21:08.236 They were exhausted, dragging the dead and the wounded, and 0:21:08.636 --> 0:21:11.676 they were well under attack from Japanese machine guns along 0:21:11.716 --> 0:21:15.196 one side of the beach, so Doug positioned his craft 0:21:15.476 --> 0:21:19.476 in between the incoming enemy fire and the Marines. He 0:21:19.596 --> 0:21:23.036 pointed the boat's machine gun to shore and began firing 0:21:23.036 --> 0:21:25.636 at the enemy and giving the Marines cover as they 0:21:25.676 --> 0:21:26.956 swam to the waiting boats. 0:21:27.996 --> 0:21:31.956 Doug said, we had two air cool Lowis machine guns 0:21:31.996 --> 0:21:35.756 between us, so we elected to stay on one boat 0:21:35.916 --> 0:21:39.996 with the two guns and act as kind of a 0:21:40.036 --> 0:21:42.276 covering fire hill. We sent the rest of the boats 0:21:42.276 --> 0:21:43.276 into load E Street. 0:21:44.476 --> 0:21:45.956 Here's William Shanahan again. 0:21:46.396 --> 0:21:49.596 There are people would have been sitting ducks going out 0:21:49.636 --> 0:21:53.356 to the boats, and so when he engaged them, it 0:21:53.516 --> 0:21:57.676 gave us the leeway to get the rest of our 0:21:57.716 --> 0:21:58.916 people off the beach. 0:21:59.916 --> 0:22:03.036 The boats were finally loaded with the rescued Marines. They 0:22:03.076 --> 0:22:06.196 started back to base, Doug and Ray with the last 0:22:06.236 --> 0:22:10.476 to leave, but as they turned arounded one of the 0:22:10.476 --> 0:22:14.036 boats had gotten stuck on a coral reef. Those Marines 0:22:14.076 --> 0:22:16.876 were back into water trying to rock it loose. Back 0:22:16.916 --> 0:22:19.636 in the line of fire again, Doug steered his boat 0:22:19.636 --> 0:22:22.596 over to hell. They had to move quickly. The enemy 0:22:22.676 --> 0:22:26.556 was repositioning their guns, getting them in their sights. Finally 0:22:26.756 --> 0:22:27.596 the boat was free. 0:22:27.916 --> 0:22:31.196 But then I saw this line of water spouts coming 0:22:31.236 --> 0:22:33.796 across the water, and I yelled a Doug to get down. 0:22:34.076 --> 0:22:35.916 He couldn't hear me over the engine noise. 0:22:36.556 --> 0:22:39.276 A stream of bullets ran across the surface of the ocean, 0:22:39.596 --> 0:22:41.396 straight towards their boat. 0:22:41.956 --> 0:22:45.156 And it hit him. There was one burst afire. 0:22:49.196 --> 0:22:51.276 Doug was shot in the back of the neck at 0:22:51.316 --> 0:22:53.676 the base of his skull. He crumpled to the deck. 0:22:54.276 --> 0:22:57.116 Ray took the wheel and raced the boat back to base. 0:22:57.476 --> 0:22:59.436 He drove it up on the beach, and then he 0:22:59.516 --> 0:23:02.636 knelt down and cradled his best friend's head in his lap. 0:23:03.276 --> 0:23:05.116 Doug opened his eyes. 0:23:05.716 --> 0:23:08.236 He said, did they get off? And that's about all 0:23:08.276 --> 0:23:11.716 he said. He died. I don't think he ever heard 0:23:11.716 --> 0:23:15.436 me answer. That's sky a guy who was He wanted 0:23:15.436 --> 0:23:17.436 to complete things. 0:23:18.036 --> 0:23:20.516 Doug wanted to finish the mission he had volunteered to lead. 0:23:21.076 --> 0:23:24.316 He made certain the men were ferried home to safety. 0:23:24.396 --> 0:23:27.236 He was serving those men in his boat, the men 0:23:27.436 --> 0:23:30.716 on the beach, Even when he couldn't stand at the wheel, 0:23:30.996 --> 0:23:34.916 he was still acting on their behalf. The definition of 0:23:34.956 --> 0:23:35.756 a servant. 0:23:35.516 --> 0:23:40.396 Leader without him and the leadership that he exhibited, and 0:23:40.436 --> 0:23:42.916 bringing all his boats in and assembling them that began 0:23:42.956 --> 0:23:45.756 when and bringing them in, I saved a hell of 0:23:45.796 --> 0:23:47.996 a lot of lives, including my own. 0:23:57.836 --> 0:24:00.756 Doug Monroe saved and estimated five hundred marines a day 0:24:00.756 --> 0:24:04.516 he died. He was two weeks shy of his twenty 0:24:04.556 --> 0:24:10.476 third birthday. Three weeks later, on the afternoon of October nineteenth, 0:24:10.916 --> 0:24:13.796 Edith Monroe looked out her living room window and saw 0:24:13.876 --> 0:24:19.396 three uniformed officers, two Navy and one Coastguard approaching her 0:24:19.436 --> 0:24:23.676 front door. They knocked. She pretended not to hear it. 0:24:24.596 --> 0:24:29.036 Doug's father, James, entered the room. They knocked again. Edith 0:24:29.156 --> 0:24:32.196 begged James not to open the door. She knew what 0:24:32.236 --> 0:24:36.636 this visit meant. Edith waited until the officers had left 0:24:37.236 --> 0:24:40.916 before she broke down in tears. She wanted to channel 0:24:40.956 --> 0:24:44.916 her grief into something positive to honor her son's service. 0:24:45.876 --> 0:24:48.396