User talk:Pastimer

I found this article about Espiritu Santo extremely interesting. I happen to be one of the GIs who was stationed there for almost two years during WWII. I found the Melanesian people to be quite friendly and good workers. Also, it was here that many people from what is now Viet Nam were brought to work the coconut plantations under contract and were stranded there when the war started. Some set up their own businesses and did laundry for GIs, or set up stands selling trinkets of all kinds. These people were called Tonkinese at the time. During this time, they rioted against the French police. Perhaps this was the beginning of their revolt against French occupation of their country. Yes, it is true that a lot of equipment was dumped into the ocean rather then take up shipping space to send it back to the states. I saw it happen.