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LIEUTENANT COLONEL LEWIS B. PULLER, Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines
(Note: LtCol Puller is being recommended by General Vandegrift for the Medal of Honor for leading his battalion, with 7 holes in him, continually for 24 hours. I met him the day he came out of the hospital. LtCol Puller had considerable experience in jungle warfare in Haiti.)
 "In handling my companies I take the Company Commander's word for what is going on. You have to do this to get anywhere. In order to get a true picture of what is going on in this heavy country, I make my staff get up where the fighting is. This Command Post business will ruin the American Army and Marines if it isn't watched. Hell, our platoons and squads would like the command post in the attack if they are not watched! As soon as you set up a Command Post, all forward movement stops.
"The 'walky-talky' the Japs have operates. Why can't we have a similar one?
"To HELL with the telephone wire with advancing troops. We can't carry enough wire. We received an order. 'This advance will stop until the wire gets in.' THIS IS BACKWARDS!
"The staffs are twice as large as they should be. The Regimental staff is too large. I have 5 staff officers in this Battalion and I could get along with less. The officers have to dress and look like the men. One time the Commandant of the Marine Corps asked me why our patrol failed in Haiti. I replied, 'Because of the officers' bedding roll.'
"In Haiti at that time the officer had to have a pack mule, and the enlisted men saw the officers lying around in luxury, etc. The patrols were actually held up for this pack mule. Your leaders have to be up front. Those that won't get up there, and are not in physical shape to keep up with the men, will cause plans to fail.
"It is okay to say an outfit cannot be surprised, but it is bound to happen in this type of warfare; so, therefore, your outfits must know what to do when ambushed.
"Calling back Commanding Officers to Battalion and Regimental CP's to say, 'How are things going?' is awful.
A platoon of D Company is attached to each rifle company because of the heavy country. C Company watches the rear. Each company is responsible for its flank. This is a time-tested and proven formation which works. If attacked from a flank, face and adjust.
"In marching or in camp, we have learned here that you must have an all-around defense.
"We need more [e]ntrenching shovels. Give shovels to men who have wire cutters. You need both the wire cutters and shovels.
"I wish we had the M1 rifle, and when we get relieved from Guadalcanal, I am going to make every effort to get it.
"I consider it imperative that the Army and Marines be equipped with knee mortars and only carry one type of grenade. Have the hand grenade fit in the knee mortar and be of use as a hand grenade and also as a rifle grenade. You need a rifle grenadier in each squad for use against enemy machine gun nests."
(Note: The following is the result of a conference with 5 of the best NCO's in the First Battalion of the Seventh Marines. The NCO's were selected by LtCol Puller.)
"The Japanese fire is not always aimed. It is harassing fire and scares recruits. Get the recruits so they are used to overhead fire. Japs who have infiltrated signal to each other by the number of shots. We get these birds by constant patrolling.
"The snipers tie their guns in the trees so they can't drop it carelessly or if wounded. In putting their light machine guns in the trees, they lash them in and have relief men ready to go up the tree.
"Their machine guns don't traverse and search.
"A Jap trick:"
 "The mortar men thought they were safe. The Japanese let them fire two or three rounds. They cracked down, killed 3 and wounded 2.
"The rifle grenade demoralizes the Jap. A Japanese prisoner told me in English, 'That 30 caliber cannon is terrible, sir." The Japanese sew grass and leaves to their shirts and hats.
"They hit hell out of our points. They don't wait until they could get more men. They seek to delay us. When the point goes down, teach men to get behind big trees, if close, but not behind saplings.
"If you shoot their officers, they mill around. Their NCO's are poor. You can tell they are officers by their sabers and leather puttees.
"A lot of these Japs who infiltrate have radios. Think of this advantage in respect to artillery, mortar fire, location of troops, etc. My platoon found 9 Japs slipping behind our lines. (Note by LtCol Frisbee, Regimental Executive Officer: We have killed 38 Japs behind our lines during the period of August 7, 1942, to November 29, 1942.)
"Their outpost at times is in trees. I saw one tree which was rotten inside. The Japanese had a light machine gun and a gunner down inside, and they had built a trap door on our side. Every once in a while, the door would open, and they would poke this machine gun out and fire. We took care of this.
When we cease firing, they cease firing. When we fire, they open up. They do this to conceal their positions."
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