The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James H. Couch. Couch was born in Murrayville, Georgia 4 January 1923. He quit school in December 1941 and joined the Marine Corps. Upon completing boot camp at Parris Island, he went to Camp Lejeune for combat training with the Browning automatic rifle. Assigned to Company G, Second Battalion, 1st Marine Division, he boarded the USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) and sailed to Wellington, New Zealand. Leaving there, the division went to Fiji where they made practice landings. On 7 August 1942, he was in the third wave during the invasion of Guadalcanal. He recalls advancing to the Tenaru River and describes the Japanese night attack on 21 August 1942, led by Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki, which resulted in hand to hand combat. His company had twenty-three men killed during the attack while the Japanese lost heavily. Couch also recalls the Japanese naval forces attacking the Marine positions and airfield on 14 September. During December he was sent to the 4th General Hospital in Melbourne due to a severe attack of malaria. He returned to the United States and entered the hospital at Balboa Park, California. Once he recovered, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James H. Couch. Couch was born in Murrayville, Georgia 4 January 1923. He quit school in December 1941 and joined the Marine Corps. Upon completing boot camp at Parris Island, he went to Camp Lejeune for combat training with the Browning automatic rifle. Assigned to Company G, Second Battalion, 1st Marine Division, he boarded the USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) and sailed to Wellington, New Zealand. Leaving there, the division went to Fiji where they made practice landings. On 7 August 1942, he was in the third wave during the invasion of Guadalcanal. He recalls advancing to the Tenaru River and describes the Japanese night attack on 21 August 1942, led by Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki, which resulted in hand to hand combat. His company had twenty-three men killed during the attack while the Japanese lost heavily. Couch also recalls the Japanese naval forces attacking the Marine positions and airfield on 14 September. During December he was sent to the 4th General Hospital in Melbourne due to a severe attack of malaria. He returned to the United States and entered the hospital at Balboa Park, California. Once he recovered, …