Nice and brief coverage of the Goettge Patrol. My grandfather Platoon Sergeant Frank Few was the last one out.

My uncle was USMC SGT Robert J Stanfill R2 Intelligence Section 1st Mar Div , 5th Marines. He was from Quincy Florida. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to communicate with the families of SGT FEW, SGT STAUFFER form Pa. And last but not least the last living survivor of the patrol SGT CHARLES"MONK" ARNDT of Mississippi

This doom patrol points out a grim fact of war. To win, you have to become as hard and as ruthless as your enemy. The Marines never did anything like this again. Towards the end of the war, they were just as hard and ruthless as the Japanese as described by Eugene Sledge in his book, "With the Old Breed". By the end of the war, they were using shotguns, flamethrowers, napalm, and satchel charges against the Japanese. And they rarely took prisoners (again as described in Eugene Sledge's book).

Outstanding video... Thanks

All credit to the USMC who simply do not understand the meaning of the word "Surrender."

Outstanding presentation, one small correction though concerning medical personnel, Lt Cmdr Malcolm Pratt was also on the patrol, he was the 5th Marines Surgeon.

Great job ! Thank you. 👍🏻🇺🇸

Another good video ! Greetings.

Wow! I visited Guadalcanal in 1992 and was wandering around sightseeing right there in the area,i had no idea i was literally standing where that patrol had been...dang it! I wonder why they landed on the western side after they were told not to because of heavy japanese presence..A mistake? It was dark when they headed out,Maybe some sort of navigation hazard blocking the prescribed landing area?

I had read somewhere that the area was later leveled with Bulldozers to make a pad for fuel storage Tanks. There was confusion as to the actual location and if the bodies were actually buried. We know from after action pictures of the dead from the Ichiki Battalion that the tide and liquified sand can quickly swallow bodies. Those of the Goettge Patrol having been cut up and most likely left , were probably eaten by crabs and their bones sinking into the sandy beach that may have eroded over time. Some felt that a common trench grave was dug inland among the trees . Given the treatment of the bodies by the Japanese I think they would more likely leave them. They could also be useful to draw a recovery party into a ambush. Even burial inland would not protect the dead from being dug up by wild animals. About 15-20 years ago a casualty of the fighting in the Horse Shoe and Umbrugal Areas depicted in Jim Jones book The Thin Red Line and dramatized in the Movie of the Same name was partially found. He was a track and field star from Ashland Oregon who was a message runner who went missing . His Body was located and buried by friends in a shallow remote jungle grave. The war went and moved on . The jungle is in constant change like the rest of the world and many years later when a native youth noticed something that lead a recovery team to the site they found very little but enough to make a Identification. One of My Daughters got into Dog psychology and training. All kinds and is Training Her Belgian Malinois to identify scents. She told Me that there are Cadaver dogs that can pick up the scent of bodies that have long ago decomposed. Ground search radar is also used to detect soil densities that reveal old excavations , fills and buried objects etc. the trouble with the area of the Goettge Patrol is its proximity to the sea and salt air. If the area eroded into the sea they are most likely in the coral or nearby seabed sand. I am saddened by their loss and the inability to recover them but that is tempered with the knowledge that they rest as so many of their brave Generation do who were buried at sea in unmarked graves. If jt were possible to retrieve their bones to be brought back Home there will always be something left of them there , if not a bone certainly their flesh and blood their hope’ dreams’ etc. Think about that when You go to Vote. Think of That when You read The Fighting Bunch and the Story of Bill White one of the Marines who Fought on Guadalcanal and Came back to fight corruption and voter fraud in The McMinn County War.