Voice in the Dark

Lieut, (j.g.) Jay Odell, of St. Paul, was a Naval air liaison officer on Tarawa. The battalion he landed with lost nearly all its staff, so Odell served as Operations officer for a Marine battalion. Afterwards, back in Honolulu, he told this story:

"I returned from Tarawa on a transport which brought out many wounded. The Marine officer in the bunk below me said that first night, 'Can you see?' I said yes, I could see. He said, 'I can't see--I will never see again.'

"Then he continued in a calm, tired voice: 'Gee, it's going to be tough, not seeing. I don't think I would mind so much but for one thing. My wife had a baby not long ago. I will never get to see my own son.'"

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