The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present The Pacific Story. This is the story of the Pacific, the drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest seed, where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of keeping the peace. This is a documentary account of the situation in the Pacific, of the men and events which are today influencing world affairs for generations to come. The Fiji Islands. The World's Greatest Land. Earth Jesus came into my heart. Are you Cameli? What did you say? I say, is your name Cameli? Yes. Blake is my name. This is Dr. Caldre. Are you a doctor? A real doctor? Yes. You have just come to T.T.? Oh, it's been a few weeks now. Good, good. You at the medical school in Tuba? Yes. Dr. Cowdery was good enough to come up here to Laotoka with me to help me find a guide. Guide? Yes. You know that gold has been discovered up near Tavua? Yes. Well, I'd like to hire you to guide me up into the gold field. Me? Yes. The people here in Laotoka say you know that country around Tavua. Well, yes. Well, a great deal of gold has been taken out of there, and it would mean some money to you. No, no, no. I don't think so. You're not interested in the gold? Oh, gold is good, maybe. Well, about all we'll have to do if we get up into the gold country is stake out a claim. Can't be so very far from here. No, no, no. I have plenty of bananas and coconut. Plenty of maize and rice and sugar cane. Cowdery, does he mean it? Well, I think he does. Look, look, Kameny, all you're doing here is sitting outside your house singing to yourself. If you go up to Tavua with me, you'll get much gold. No, no, no. I stay here. Ha ha ha ha. Since Jesus came into my heart... I can't believe it, Cowdery. We might as well try to get somebody else. Yes, I think it's correct. Well, come on, let's go. Yes. Are you going back to the medical school in Tuba, Dr. Cowdery? As soon as I get Mr. Blake's pay, I'll fix it up, yes. Good. Since Jesus came into my heart... Since Jesus came into my heart... A couple of days later, we found a guide for Blake, and they went up into the gold country. I returned to Tuba. I thought about Kameny. Tall, muscular, a superior physical type. And I talked about him with Dr. Weldon. They are remarkable people, the Fijians. You know, I've never seen such a happy people. Well, they've got everything. And if they had their way, they'd laugh and live and sing songs. I had come to the Fiji Islands to help train Fijians to be what we called NMPs, Native Medical Practitioners. There were a few white doctors on the islands, and there was need for medical help to treat the half million people of the islands. The Fijians are a healthy people, Cowdery, as you've seen. Yes, I've noticed. They're a mixture of the Black Melanesians and the lighter Polynesians. That's why they have high intelligence, along with their superstitions and their savagery. You know, you hardly realize that they can be savage. Well, actually, Cowdery, some of the grandparents, or great-grandparents, are the people we're working with here at the school with cannibals. Well, then they've made enormous strides in the stage of a few generations. Yes, they have. A lot of credit for that must go to the missionaries. Oh, yes. Nearly every native is a Christian. That's why many of them are always seeing hymns. Oh, that explains it. But, as you know, when the white man brought in Christianity, he also brought in disease, hysteria, tuberculosis, measles, even neprosy. Yes. I know that, Dr. Weldon. They had, of course, their own diseases. Black water fever and other things. So, although the people here are fairly healthy, at the same time, they're plagued not only with their own diseases, but also with ours. That's why our work here training NMPs is so important. The Fijians who came to the medical school were alert, quick, eager. Everything they did showed their intelligence. For admission, all they had to have was the equivalent of a good high school education. The NMP course was four years of anatomy and surgery. Here is a letter for you, Dr. Caldre. Letter? Thank you. Oh, it's from Blake. Dear hell, I've been up here around Taboo now for six months, and the amount of gold being taken out up here is fabulous. I'd make a horseback guess that something like five million dollars worth of gold will be taken out this year. Of course, my part of that is going to be comparatively smart, but I'm getting squared around now for a bigger operation. Things are going along fairly smoothly. There's a little trouble here, as you would expect. I'm going to get out with some kind of a stake. Whatever you hold. I used to go down to the beach there in Suva and look out over the Pacific. New Zealand, more than a thousand miles to the south. Australia, more than 1,500 miles to the southeast. Samoa, 500 miles to the northeast. I used to look out over the fine harbor of Suva, big enough to hold a battle fleet. Between the barrier reefs of coral and the shore, many ships riding at anchor. Vita Levo here is the largest of all the Fiji Islands, Dr. Cowdrey. I used to talk with one of the NMP students. I was born up in Sigatoka. He was as proud of his hometown as any youth in the United States is of his. But I always wanted to come down here to the capital of Suva. Do you like it here, Dr. Cowdrey? Well, yes, I like it here. It's a different world for me, though. A different world, yes. In the months to come, I travel to most of the 80 Fiji Islands that are inhabited, to Vanua Levo and to Kandavu and to all the others. On my way back, I stopped off in the Tovua gold country to see Blake. Mr. Blake is gone. How long has he been gone? Long time now. Where did he go? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. No. Why did he leave? Trouble, maybe. Oh. What are his claims? Is it shut down? No. Still working. That's about all I ever found out about Blake. This was my first personal brush with the dark side of the Fijians. It was my first index of the side of the Fijians about which I knew so little, and I was to learn so much. I headed back for Suba. Going too loud, Toka, I heard a familiar voice and a familiar song. It was Kamali. I went up to him. Yes. I remember you. You are the doctor. That's right. When I finish my work in school, I want to come to Suba. Suba is an important city, biggest city in the island. Oh, it's not for that. I want to go to your school and become a native medical practitioner. You do? Yes. It's what I want to do. My mother died from a fever. My brother is sick with a yaw. His skin is very bad now. Hmm. How much longer must you go to school? Two years. Then I'm coming to Suba. Well, keep in touch with me, Kamali. Thank you. Yes, I will. I looked him over from head to foot as he talked. Magnificent specimen. Tall, powerful, dark skin, crisp hair, deep-set eyes. A modern man, only a few generations removed from savagery, yet interested in the humanitarian, eager to devote his life to helping others. Back at the medical school, I plunged into the work with renewed vigor. We are going to add a pathological laboratory and a bacteriological laboratory, Kalan. That's excellent. It's going to mean a great deal out here. And the Fijians are ready for this kind of work. Excuse me, please. But this word has just come. Yes. Hmm. Listen to this, Kadri. The situation in Europe has been complicated by the intervention of foreign nations in the Spanish Civil War. Germany and Italy are aiding the Syringes. And Russia is aiding the loyalists. So far, Britain has not become embroiled. Hmm. If Britain becomes involved, then we are involved. Hmm. Yes. Are we going to get into war? Probably not now. But it's coming. From this time on, when I stood on the beach and looked out over the seas, I knew that the sea could never keep war from affecting us. From this time on, we watched closely the trend of events in Europe and the growing tension in the Pacific. I came to understand more clearly how the Fijians were tied to the outside world. You see, until now, we've exported just about all our sugar to New Zealand. Now, we're exporting with shipping more and more of it to Canada. This was a planter. But rising sugar times hard work, and the Fijians have no necessity to work hard. It was the same old story. So we've got to bring in Indian coolie labour. But the Fijians are good agriculturalists, aren't they? Yes, excellent. But they don't care about working in the sugar plantations. That is as hard as the Indians do. Then the Indians are stiff competitors for the Fijians. Yes, the Indians are hard working and they're thrifty. And after they worked a while in the sugar plantations and saved up enough money, they leave the plantations and rise rice and cotton and goach for themselves. But what's worrying the authorities is that the Indians are beginning to have political ambitions. You know, there are almost as many Indians here in the Fijians as there are Fijians. But difficult as this situation was within the Fijians, it was overshadowed by the momentous events outside the islands. The Japanese have attracted Chinese outside their teams. They have, yes. It started in the Pacific, Cowdrey. Well, it's still a good many thousand miles from us here. It may as well be on our doorstep. It only matters time until it's here. Death Jesus came into my heart. Death Jesus came into my heart. Well, Kamily, so you did come to Suva. Yes, I've come to go to school. Your city? It's about becoming a practitioner? Yes, I'm here ready to start. Here are my papers. Fine. Well, come along. Let's see what we can do about it. Kamily showed an extraordinary aptitude for medicine. Sometimes as I watched him vaccinating or giving hypodermics, I marveled. Fingers as dense as those of a violinist. Gentle. Sensitive. A jolly sense of humor. Music brimming and bubbling out like water. And yet with a side that was tied to a thousand and ten thousand years of darkness. Dr. Kaljri, witch doctors cannot be right, can they? Of course not, Kamily. Of course they cannot. It is ridiculous. Quineen will do more for a person with malaria than any witch doctor. I know. They have a strong influence, though, Dr. Kaljri. We could teach him and the other Fijians how to treat the sick, but this part of them we could never touch. We train them how to fight infection, the importance of plenitude, how to reduce factors, how to deliver babies. One dark night, when we were on duty together, one of the boys brought a message. Britain has declared war on Germany. It has come. The Germans are marching in Poland and France, and Britain has both declared war on Germany. We will have to go to war now, Dr. Kaljri. Yes, if Britain's in the war, then we're in the war. Will we have to fight? Yes, I think we will. We kept tab on the progress of the war in Europe. We shuddered with England through the terrible months of 1940, through Dunkirk and the Blitz and the desperate days that followed. A contingent of New Zealand troops are going to land here at Sueva tomorrow, Kaljri. I've been expecting some such move. All seven seas are now a battlefield between us and the enemy. Yes. Let us hope that we do not also have to fight Japan. Yes. The next day, Kameny went with me down to the waterfront. Ah, they're a fine looking group, some of New Zealand's best. They're wonderful. Yes, wonderful. I knew from the way Kameny regarded those New Zealand troops that he would volunteer, the first chance he got, to help the enemy. Immediately when PG volunteers were asked for, he came to me. I want to join, Dr. Kaljri. Oh, you're only halfway through your NMP course. I want to join. You mean in the medical course? No, I just want to be a soldier. I can finish my work in medicine later. PG's came from every one of the 80 inhabited islands. Strong, strong, strong. I watched them train to the months of 1940 and 41. Oh, hey! New Zealanders became the officers of the PG infantry battalion. They and the PGians in battle dress were something to see. Japan is at war with the United States. Japan is at war with the United States and Britain. The Japanese are delivering powerful blows against both British and American positions. It's here, Kaljri. It's here. I've been hoping all along that it would not come, but all the time I knew it would. The PG's have now assumed new importance, strategic importance. We are the outpost for the defense of New Zealand and Australia. Do you think the Japanese will get as far as this? Well, Britain is crippled in the Pacific. The U.S. is crippled. The Japanese are already driving down Malaya into the Indies and Eastward toward us. If they take our islands here, they'll be able to cut off supplies from reaching Australia and New Zealand from the U.S. without a long roundabout tour. If the PG's fell, the American base 500 miles to the northeast in Samoa would be in danger and might be cut off from reinforcements and supplies. We work like men. Reinforcements were coming, but we knew it was a race with the Japanese. Then early one morning I was awakened. In the harbor were American ships, transports, and men of war. Hooray! The American ships are so good! The streets of Suba were strong with American troops, New Zealand troops, PG troops. In no time the Americans were speaking up PG in words. Hiya, boy. Bula. It's a bula. It's a fast family. Bula means hello. Bula, boy. Bula. Bula, bula. Sambula Vanaca. What was that, Les? Sambula Vanaca. That means, oh, God bless you. Oh. Hey, it's Sambula Vanaca, kid. It's Sambula Vanaca. What is that word they say, kid? Sambula. Say hello to me, kid. Hamilley was trained for commando operations. And when his outfit moved out, I went with him. The Americans had taken Guadalcanal. We landed there and then moved across the Channel There are something like 50,000 Japanese deployed on this island. They're short of rations. Our mission is to find out first how long their rations will last, and second what the Japanese commander is up to. The honor to carry out this dangerous mission has fallen to us, the first battalion of the PG Infantry Regiment. You've been trained for jungle combat, and with your own natural skill, you should be more than a match for the Japanese. We will move out into the enemy country and establish an outpost at Ibu on the other side of the island, 10 miles from the strong Japanese position at Numa Numa. Any questions? The transformation in the PG troops as they moved out into the enemy held country was amazing. Covered with ferns and brush, they became part of the jungle. But more than that, they slipped into the jungle with an eagerness, a sense of sureness, with a certain restrained delight that told me there were indeed only a few generations removed from their cannibal ancestors. Their skill and their deadliness in jungle operations did not fully impress me until later, when we received word by radio that they had penetrated the Japanese lines and had established their stronghold in the jungle in the Japanese rear at Ibu. Dr. Cowdery, I want you to go with me by air to Ibu. There were just three of us. Almost the instant we took off at Cape Torokino, we were over enemy territory. The jungle was in a state of panic. Yes, and it's filled with Japanese. We'll be over Ibu in about 15 minutes. Have you seen the new landings to Fairfax Pilot? Yes, sir. Very small. They hewed it out in remarkably short time. Yes, sir. My first glimpse of the landings was frightening. It looked like little more than a path. Hold on. We're going into the landing. The strip was not much more than 300 feet long. They ended it fell off into a canyon. The jungle stood like a wall at the edge of the landing ship. Tangled vines, palms, ferns, and trees. Tangled vines, palms, ferns, and a profusion of underbrush that was stifling. As soon as I heard that, I knew Camelay was near. Who are you, Dr. Cowdery? Camelay. I hardly knew you. The closet is colored silt? Yes. It's from parachutes. Camelay and the other Fijian troops decked themselves in the colored silt. And as I stood there looking at them, I had a fleeting feeling of satisfaction that these men were on our side. I went with them to raid Pibi Pai'ia. We should be within sight of Noma Numa now. A young New Zealander was in command. Walk now. Walk as we come over the top of this ridge. Move up. I looked back at Camelay creeping through the jungle as if he were part of it. He smiled at me and tapped the pocket on his chest. In that pocket was his testament. He had complete faith and no fear. The Fijians have remarkable eyesight and an incredible jungle sense. There is Noma Numa. It took me a minute to spot it almost hidden in the jungle. That's it. All right. Easy. We're getting close to the sentries. Move up. Camelay and the other Fijians moved through the jungle almost without making a sound. I crept as quietly as I could. There is a Japanese. It's a sentry. Down, down. All right. Move up. My heart pounded as we slipped by him. There is a clearing. That's Pepe Party. All right. Ready now. Suddenly the signal was given. Camelay was upon the sentry like a tiger. And suddenly the entire jungle was alive. The Japanese took form into the clearing. Not one Fijian was hit. Pepe Paiya clearing was strewn with Japanese dead. We caught them, Dr. Cowden. Yes, Camelay. I hope we shall be as lucky every time. We will. After this, the Fijians infiltrated the Japanese lines almost at will. No Japanese, alone or in patrol, escaped alive if he came across them. They even penetrated the Japanese perimeter of Numanuma and brought back information on the enemy installations, the kinds of weapons they were using, and the number and distribution of their troops. And what was, in a way more important, on their food situation. They have taken all the food from the native gardens, and they're now living on emergency rations. Good. They cannot be evacuated from the island because our aircraft are sinking every Japanese ship that comes near. And if they're that short on rations, we have inactivated their entire force on Duganview. Then came a report and an order from our headquarters at Cape Torokino. The Japanese are massing powerful forces here around Epirus Augusta Bay. Also, they are moving down the East Coast to Numanuma with the view to taking Ibu. Therefore, destroy and evacuate Ibu at once. Our mission at Ibu was completed. We must leave here, but we cannot return to Cape Torokino. We are cut off there. Your work here has been magnificent, and on the basis of your reconnaissance, we know now that we can leave the Japanese here to die on the vine. The remaining question is whether we can get out alive. Set fire to everything. We will evacuate at once. Except for the old mission house. We left nothing to the Japanese but ruins. Dr. Cousin. Yes, Kamily. I am one of five to be left behind. He has rear guard to cover the retreat of the company. Oh, Kamily. Just five of you? Yes. The Japanese are expected before dark. I think I will stay with you, Kamily. No, Dr. Cousin. Maybe I can help. You are needed. Back in Suva. I got permission to stay. We took up positions in the ruins of some huts. Kamily and another Fijian and I were in one hut. The three others were in another hut, situated so that we could catch the oncoming enemy in our crossfire. We waited. Just before dark, the Japanese began to shift into the ruins of Ibu. Those in the other hut have opened fire on them. Yes. They are advancing on the other hut. Yes, wait. Do not shoot yet. Wait. Now! Look! We scattered them! We stopped them! Now we must watch out! We are ready for them! She is hit, Dr. Cousin. I'll take care of him. Yes, I will hold him off. Kamily was shot through the neck. I gave him first aid in the gathering darkness. He smiled and tapped his breast pocket with a testament in it. I took it out and placed it in his hand. I kept my fingers on his pulse and felt his light ebbing away. And there in the darkness, in that burned out hut in the jungle, Kamily died. The End We left Kamily there. The other young Fijiian and I slipped out in the night and at last joined the rest of the Fiji Company. And now I'm back again in Suva, back in the Central Medical School. A new class of Fijians is in training to become NMPs. When I look at them, I think of Kamily. And then I know my place is here among the people that he wanted to serve. The End The End The End The Pacific Story is written and produced by Arnold Marquis. The music was scored by Henry Russell. The principal voice was that of Herman Waldman. And now, Gain Whitman has something of importance to say to you, Gain. The future catches up with us very quickly. Do you have today what you thought you'd have several years ago? To protect your future, buy United States saving bonds now. Buy them regularly every payday. And if you are already doing that, buy extra bonds now. These are difficult times for all of us. The one way to be sure of a better tomorrow is to provide for it today. Buy U.S. saving bonds now. Programs in this series of particular interest to servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This program came to you from Hollywood and is heard in Canada over the facilities of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
