Frank Duesler, a Dogdeville, Wisconsin native, discusses his service in the Marine Corps in World War II as a radio operator with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, Company F, known as Carlson's Raiders. Duesler reveals he joined the Marine Corps in 1940 on a five dollar bet. He discusses boot camp in San Diego (California) and how his drill instructor made him drag buckets of wet sand from the ocean as a punishment. Next Duesler describes his radio school training: he learned Morse code, semaphore (flag signaling), and how to use field-operated radios. He mentions working with Native American radiomen who spoke Navajo to prevent the Japanese from understanding their messages. In 1942, Duesler joined Carlson's Raiders, a battalion run by Lieutenant Colonel Evans Fordyce Carlson. Duesler describes intense physical training and high dropout rates on Jacques Farm (California). He relates the Raiders went to Honolulu (Hawaii) and lived on a Dole pineapple farm, learning to survive off the land. Duesler recalls Companies A and B participating in the Makin Island Raid, although his company was not involved. Next, Duesler states the Raiders moved to Espiritu Santos for jungle training. While there, Duesler describes an incident in which a Marine with twenty-five years experience as a gunner was sent back to the U.S. for being gay. Duesler discusses at length his first major campaign at Guadalcanal. A speech by Lieutenant Colonel Carlson stood out in Duesler's mind because Carlson informed the troops that during the landing on Guadalcanal there would be no medical facilities and wounded men would be abandoned. Duesler comments that because of the unusually dangerous circumstances, Carlson offered the Marines the chance to return to the ship without penalty, but not a single Marine chose to leave. Duesler describes the landing and the difficulty of using radios in the jungle. After the siege, he got malaria and was sent to New Zealand to recover in the care of a civilian woman. He mentions he weighed only 100 lbs when he arrived, but due to this woman's care, he put on enough weight to be sent back to Carlson's Raiders. Duesler details his next mission: he was in the first wave of troops to land at Bougainville (Papua New Guinea). He states there were thirty-five men in his boat and only three made it across the beach. He describes vividly how several of his buddies were killed. Once he reached the beach, Duesler tells the story of encountering a snake in the jungle and getting the "most horrendous scare of my life." Duesler reports that after he stared down the snake, a Japanese soldier appeared where the snake had been and was "eyeball to eyeball" with Duesler until the soldier suddenly disappeared. Once Bougainville was secured, Duesler relates the Army came in to relieve the Marines, but before they would stay, they made the Marines dig a nine by nine mile square trench around the island. In 1945, Duesler was sent to Guam to prepare for the invasion of Japan. He recalls being on a troop ship headed for Japan when the news arrived that the war was over. The ship was rerouted to Tsingtao in North China. Duesler explains his mission was to round up Japanese soldiers in China who did not know the war had ended. He briefly describes the food in China and interactions with Chinese civilians, including a confrontation with a rickshaw driver who Duesler alleges was trying to rob or kill him and his buddies. Duesler describes coming home to Madison (Wisconsin) and having difficulty finding work. He states he opened a woodworking business and later sold plywood in Madison, and he refers to his marriage of twenty-seven years to an elementary school teacher. Duesler states he did not join any veterans groups or have an interest in attending reunions. He mentions that his closest friends from the Marine Corps were all killed in the war.
