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vaughn · 06-25-2006, 14:39 PM

I emailed the above story to Basil Duncan, a 4th marine friend who I knew was at Kwajalein and here's his reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh I remember exactly where I was on the day of the big explosion on Namur. I was standing on the tip of the next island from Namur and watched as a group of Marines moved toward the blockhouse. One marine threw a satchel charge in the entry and it appeared the whole world was going to explode. The concussion from the blast came across the small waterway between the islands in what seemed to be nano seconds, picked me up in the air and blew me backward about 12 to15 feet into a pile of rocks. The concussion was severe enough that I could feel nothing and had no idea if I was injured or not. I don't remember how many were injured by falling debris but it seem to last a long time. Other than being bruised somewhat with falling chunks of cement and being tossed into a pile of rocks I was OK. At the time I was with about 10 or 12 marines watching the action on Namur
And I think one or two of them were injured but not severely.
That was a few years ago.
The Marine Corp's 4th Division printed a complete history of the divisions battles in WW!! and gave each marine who had served with the 4th a copy. This explosion is detailed quite well in that history.
Talk to you later,
Basil

06-25-2006, 14:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
vaughn *Military Professional* Join Date: 01-06-06 Posts: 73 Country:	Another version of the explosion I emailed the above story to Basil Duncan, a 4th marine friend who I knew was at Kwajalein and here's his reply. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh I remember exactly where I was on the day of the big explosion on Namur. I was standing on the tip of the next island from Namur and watched as a group of Marines moved toward the blockhouse. One marine threw a satchel charge in the entry and it appeared the whole world was going to explode. The concussion from the blast came across the small waterway between the islands in what seemed to be nano seconds, picked me up in the air and blew me backward about 12 to15 feet into a pile of rocks. The concussion was severe enough that I could feel nothing and had no idea if I was injured or not. I don't remember how many were injured by falling debris but it seem to last a long time. Other than being bruised somewhat with falling chunks of cement and being tossed into a pile of rocks I was OK. At the time I was with about 10 or 12 marines watching the action on Namur And I think one or two of them were injured but not severely. That was a few years ago. The Marine Corp's 4th Division printed a complete history of the divisions battles in WW!! and gave each marine who had served with the 4th a copy. This explosion is detailed quite well in that history. Talk to you later, Basil __________________ Hamp USS LCI (L) & (G) 450 WW ll Gator Navy