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VOLUME 15
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1972
NUMBER 22
On a recent slemleBs night we
got to thinking about some of
Oie Marines and their wives
who had New Bern as their
temporary home during Worid
War II.
Forgetting the bad eggs (and
there weren’t as maiv as
compiaining foiks would have
you believe) we recalled a host
of wonderful friends. They are
scattered, in sMne instances, to
points unknown now, but in that
unknown somewhere we hope
they have found the happiness
they deserve.
None was finer in those dark
days, 15 years ago and more,
than Sgt. John Teppe. You
probablv passed him on the
street dozens of times, never
knowing that here was heroism
dt its best
Just 21, lie didn’t lo(dc the part
of a hero. MQd-mannered—
almost effeminate in his
neatness, the blonde, smooth
faced serviceman wasn’t
exactfy what movies and TV
programs picture as the typical
leatherneck of that era.
John was with the first
raiders who landed on
Guadalcanal, and the figures be
gave us later speak for them
selves. Of the one thousand
Marine—950 enlisted noen and
50 officers—in the first force,
only 40 came off the idand
alive. Twenty of these 40 were
critically wmmded, and one of
the worst was Teppe.
Jap machinegunners had
drill^ Us right 1^ ftill of holes
from bis knee to Us Up. Tluree
bayonet stabs in his back bearly
missed the heart. A scalp wound
from another bayonet thrust
caused Um to lose an awful lot
of Uood.
Somehow, he managed to
survive it aU. His condition, and
that of one of his comrades, was
so bad that th^ couldn’t be
moved back from the fnmt lines
for some time. Eventually, he
was flown to Melbourne,
Australia. Later he was trans
ferred to a hospital in
California, and then, at long
last, to Cherry Pbiht.
For bravery at Grassy Knoll,
where the Japanese had to be
litmnlly blasted from caves, he
was awarded the Silver Star.
After Bloody Ridge be was
^ven the Oak Leaf Cluster.
When John entered action in
the Pacific, he wei^ied 197
pounds. Whra be came out of it,
he weitfied 118. For 36 days and
nights, he and his fellow
Marines were subjected to
constant bombardment from
the sea, from the air, and frmn
thehiUs.
Incidentally, Capt. Jimmy
RoosevUt (the President’s son)
was with the first raiders.
Teppe told us be was a great
solmer—asking no special
favors and taking more than Us
share of chances.
Another Marine we will never
forget was Pfe Raymond Smith,
udio hailed from Bedford, Mass.
He and Us wife, Ida, qpent their
firstmonthsof marriage in New
Bern.
A raider with the Fourth
Marines, he saw action on
Guadalcanal, Guam, Pelu,
Minda and the Mariannas. He
received campaign ribbons for
(ContUnied on page g]).. .
Where there are landmarks
Memories will last,
This doorway at Port Macon
Is your gate to the past.
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11
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