Howard Brodie was a combat artist for the Army when he was sent to the island of Guadalcanal. He sketched this drawing for Yank magazine. Brodie depicts five tired infantrymen on the march. Brodie wrote on the drawing “the stench of dead Japanese was nauseating”. You see a dead Japanese on the left. The stench on the island was the least of the soldiers’ worries. The tropical island was hot and humid. Note the condition of their uniforms and the fact that several are not wearing shirts. The men had to deal with diseases like dysentery and malaria. They were given Atabrine tablets to avoid malaria, but many believed the rumor that the pills not only turned your skin yellow, but reduced your sex drive, so they would spit them out. In the first months, malnutrition was a problem and some Marines lost up to 40 pounds. Then there were the critters: crocodiles, spiders, wasps, mosquitoes. Not to mention a fanatical enemy that refused to surrender and liked suicidal banzai attacks. No wonder this poem was posted on the island:
Infantrymen on Guadalcanal – Library of Congress
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