Americans on Nauru

PERHAPS this heading is misleading.

But to my way of thinking, they are still Americans, even though they are dead. They did not come here by any of the usual means, although a few years ago I do not suppose it would be considered unusual to have made your entry in a crashing aircraft. These fel lows did —four terribly fine men whose remains now lie in a lonely graveyard on a tiny island of the Central Pacific.

I say they were fine fellows, even though I never met them. There must be greatness in any person who is willing to risk his skin—and so far away from home. And they were not fighting for their soil, either; they knew Nauru was British and not American.

The Australians found their bodies shortly after the reoccupation, in Sep tember, 1945, and reinterred them in what has become known as the American cemetery. The four graves are well looked after; the Nauruans have a great respect for ‘the dead, particularly for those who acquire nobility by their deeds.

One of these fellows has been here since December 9, 1943, and another crashed on June 30, 1944. One would think the Americans would have been over by now and gathered up the remains of these heroes. Perhaps they are too busy in other parts of the Pacific, although we told their HQ in Tarawa about them the year before last.

Whatever happens, it may interest other Americans to know that four of their kith and kin are on Nauru, that their graves are bright with the colours of hibiscus and frangipanni, and that they are among friends.—A.S.