MARINE RECALLS FEAR, FIGHTING DURING 'ISLAND OF DEATH' DUTY.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

The shells rained down daily, like monsoons, fired by the Japanese navy into the ranks of U.S. Marines hunkered down on Guadalcanal, a jungle island in the South Pacific nobody had ever heard of.

And Pfc. Jasper Hood and his Fox Company prayed for protection near the infamous airport known as Henderson Field.

``I was scared to death, and everybody with me,'' recalled Hood, 81, of West Hills. ``It rained shells for two to three hours. You could hear 'em whining.

``There isn't anything more frightening.''

For six agonizing months, from August 1942 through February 1943, Hood's 1st Marine Division fought the longest and bloodiest campaign of the Pacific War in World War II. It was the making of Marine mettle.

And it turned the tide of the war against Japan.

Hood first landed with the 5th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion, on Tulagi, a small island just north of Guadalcanal.

After it was taken by fellow Marines, he landed on Guadalcanal, an island thick with malaria-carrying mosquitoes - and Japanese soldiers bent on turning the nine-mile rain forest into an air base to strike Australia.

Hood was 18, fit, and in full command of his wits and his Springfield .03 bolt-action rifle. But supplies, hampered by the Japanese Imperial Navy, ran critically short.

``The first four weeks was hell because we didn't have anything,'' said Hood, whose hat, ring and belt buckle bear the proud Marine signature Semper Fi. ``Nothing to eat. No ammo. And no support.

``We survived by luck.''

Snipers raked the men from coconut palms.

On three occasions, Hood and his comrades drove the Japanese across the Matanikau River. The Japanese, well known for their ferocious ``banzai'' attacks, would return to their former positions.

``They would never give up - you had to kill 'em,'' said Hood of his foes. ``They wouldn't surrender. That's why they lost so many men.''

By February 1943, the end of the campaign on what became known as ``The Island of Death,'' the Japanese had lost 50,000 men. Some say it was the island nation's first defeat in 2,600 years.

Hood, in his first correspondence home, wrote a letter in pencil to his mom in Illinois on the back of four cigarette packs, which he now has. While he was fighting on Guadalcanal, his father, Jasper, died.

``Dear Mom,'' he writes. ``I've really seen some things I'd like to tell you about, but I can't write about them.

``I shaved Sunday for the first time in a month. It really made me feel better. I washed my clothes yesterday and really feel good. They were so dirty they would have stood up by themselves.''

The 5-foot-6 Marine would fight other battles, and later serve during the Korean War. After the war, he taught business classes at Van Nuys High School for 37 years.

``I was just proud to have served,'' he said from his rose and vegetable garden, ``and thankful to God he helped me get home.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 2; 1 color only) Jasper Hood, above, was ``scared to death'' at times as a young Marine, left, in the '40s.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer