WWII - the New Guinea Campaign and images from the island - General Tiki

B Babalu Tiki Socialite Lemon Grove Joined: Nov 19, 2006 Posts: 2518	B Babalu Posted posted on Sun, Feb 14, 2010 9:43 AM Ok, one more thread if you all don't mind....this one has been picking at my brain for some time now... It's been well established that the presence of our troops in the South Pacific had a huge impact on "Tiki" here in the United States. Of course we had a presence in Hawaii prior to WWII, but I can't help but think that the battles with the Japanese in New Guinea that began in 1941 must have been one of the first huge influences on the way we began to think about "Tiki" here in the States... Imagine: Thousands and thousands of troops putting to shore in NG to fight...most of our boys (fresh off the farms) had never been anywhere in their lives...They are met with Paradise, yes, but also Hell....Thick jungle that can hardly be cut through...grasses that cut skin, heavy machinery at a virtual stand still - unable to move, unknown jungle diseases killing friends right and left, heavy daily down pours, trekking through knee deep mud 'everyday' carrying a 60lb pack on your back, guys huddling around fires at night, not to keep warm, but to try and keep their socks dry...all this before they even went into the extreme hell of battle. It must have just been something else!...oh, and the drums...the drums, penatrating through the thick steamy haze of the night...that same sound, that same beat, over and over again...damn the drums! [ Edited by: Babalu 2010-02-16 06:49 ]

Ok, one more thread if you all don't mind....this one has been picking at my brain for some time now...

It's been well established that the presence of our troops in the South Pacific had a huge impact on "Tiki" here in the United States. Of course we had a presence in Hawaii prior to WWII, but I can't help but think that the battles with the Japanese in New Guinea that began in 1941 must have been one of the first huge influences on the way we began to think about "Tiki" here in the States...

Imagine: Thousands and thousands of troops putting to shore in NG to fight...most of our boys (fresh off the farms) had never been anywhere in their lives...They are met with Paradise, yes, but also Hell....Thick jungle that can hardly be cut through...grasses that cut skin, heavy machinery at a virtual stand still - unable to move, unknown jungle diseases killing friends right and left, heavy daily down pours, trekking through knee deep mud 'everyday' carrying a 60lb pack on your back, guys huddling around fires at night, not to keep warm, but to try and keep their socks dry...all this before they even went into the extreme hell of battle. It must have just been something else!...oh, and the drums...the drums, penatrating through the thick steamy haze of the night...that same sound, that same beat, over and over again...damn the drums!

[ Edited by: Babalu 2010-02-16 06:49 ]

Post #511093 by Babalu on Sun, Feb 14, 2010 9:43 AM