Ancient Web: Rube Garrett Kept a Guadalcanal Marine Diary Online

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

On November 7, 1942, a Marine on Guadalcanal wrote that his battery had fired 122 rounds. He added that it was raining. The next day brought another 48 rounds. The combination of extraordinary danger and ordinary weather fills J. R. "Rube" Garrett's diary.

Read Garrett's November 1942 entries.

The surviving website divides A Marine Diary: My Experiences on Guadalcanal into August, September, October, and November. Garrett served with I Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Entries record artillery work, air attacks, shelling, hunger, rumors about relief, and the unromantic problem of moving ammunition.

On November 9, he reports hauling 11,000 rounds to the ammunition dump. On November 20, his unit moves across the Lunga River rather than being sent home as hoped. By late November the entries grow painfully repetitive: quiet periods, occasional bombing, and waiting to learn whether the division will finally depart.

A diary with a second layer of memory

The site does not merely scan notebook pages. Quoted recollections written or recorded long afterward sit beside daily entries, and an editor adds historical context about the naval battles surrounding the island. Garrett remembers a diet short on bread, unexpected discoveries in enemy supplies, and the sight of aircraft falling over Iron Bottom Sound.

Readers should distinguish his eyewitness memories from the site's later battle summaries. Some statements are retrospective, and even one November diary date appears as "1995" in the transcription. Such quirks are reasons to consult the artifact carefully, not to smooth it into a flawless record.

The index leads to photographs of Marines, equipment, ships, veterans' reunions, and links to a Japanese veteran's diary. It also preserves old guestbook invitations and editor contact information. The index identifies Garrett in a 2001 photograph and carries a 2003 copyright notice.

After Guadalcanal, Garrett recalls leaving on the USS West Point in December 1942, spending time in Australia, and later assignments before his 1945 discharge. That aftermath matters: the diary did not end when the battle ended.

A short entry saying "Same" can tell a reader more about exhaustion than another triumphant battlefield headline. This website kept both the terse wartime record and the older Marine's explanations together.

Explore the full diary index and accompanying photographs.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.