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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 24, 2005 Arnold Meads of Ashland is a member of the �Forgotten Battalion� of World War II. He and other members are holding a reunion this weekend in Medford. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Forgotten battalion World War II Marines spent 3 years battling the Japanese, fought in five major battles By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune When Ashland resident Arnold Meads returned from World War II in November 1944, it had been nearly three years since he had seen his fiancee. "It was unbelievable just to have him back and alive," said Beverly Meads, now his wife of 60 years. "It still makes me cry to think about it." Meads, 85, was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Marines, 2nd Division, now dubbed the "Forgotten Battalion" because of its unusually long deployment island-hopping in the South Pacific Ocean. Desperately needed to block the advance of the Japanese, the artillery placement battalion was attached to various infantry battalions to fight in five major battles in Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Tarawa, Saipan, and Guam and in three years. "You begin to get the idea that in the area of rotation, three years and five major campaigns is a lot," said Nelson Roetter of Indianapolis during the battalion’s 19th annual reunion Friday in Medford. Advertisement About 20 of the 45 surviving battalion members gathered at the Rogue Regency Inn for the four-day reunion. While the number of battalion members diminishes every year, the stories about their adventures have continued to flow since the reunion began in 1986 in San Francisco, Meads said. Meads and Roetter, 83, were in charge of communications for the battalion. The problem was most of the time there was no one with whom to communicate, Meads said. After the invasion of the Guadalcanal and Tulagi islands in the South Pacific, the Marines were able to see the battle on the island of Savo on Aug. 9, 1942, in which the Japanese destroyed four major cruisers. Other U.S. Navy ships harbored at Guadalcanal and Tulagi to deliver provisions to the troops fled the islands after the destruction before unloading all the supplies. Some 12,000 troops, including about 500 from the "Forgotten Battalion," were left for more than two months with inadequate supplies of food, medicine and toilet paper and without any military air support. "We felt like we had been deserted, like we had been stood up," Roetter said. The Marines said they later learned that the Guadalcanal-Tulagi Invasion was key to preventing the Japanese from using an airfield in Guadalcanal to launch attacks on the Allied supply line from Australia. "The Japanese had a design to occupy part of Australia," Roetter said. "This was a hurry-up operation to stop the southeast movement of the Japanese." In fall 1944, U.S. military officials asked battalion members how long it had been since they had a furlough. When the Marines said it had been three years, the battalion was disbanded, and the soldiers went home. "It felt good," Meads said. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4496 or e-mail Forgotten battalion ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s