On the Canal: The Marines of L-3-5 on Guadalcanal, 1942-1943 (Stackpole Military History Series)

On the Canal: The Marines of L-3-5 on Guadalcanal, 1942-1943 (Stackpole Military History Series) by Marion, Ore J.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780811731492.

A straightforward, gripping tale from the Marines that stormed ashore on Guadalcanal in World War II. Told with humor and honesty in a no-holds-barred approach that only a Marine who was there could tell. Excerpt on firing a rifle grenade: "I jammed the rifle stock tight against my shoulder, raised myself up off the ground to a kneeling position, and squeezed the trigger. The rifle went bang! And the recoil jarred it loose from my grip. The rifle smacked me hard in the jaw. With that, I went down on my face while the little bluebirds started going tweet, tweet, tweet around my head. Did I hit it? I asked. Yeah, you hit it, Flash said. The damn thing just didnt work. We finally ran into somebody from another unit, a guy who really understood how the new style grenade was supposed to work. We explained our misfortune to him, and he asked us did you pull the firing pin out . . . The god damn pin!"