Code Talker: Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

Before Bougainville, Ned is happily reunited with Georgia Boy, his friend from boot camp. Georgia Boy greets him with a bear hug. The attempt to take Bougainville is called Operation Cartwheel, because the objective is “to turn things around” by putting the Allies on the attack instead of the defensive. D-day for Bougainville is November 1, 1943. It looks as if Japanese defenders are mainly concentrated in the southern part of the island. The Americans will attack from the western shore.

The terrain on Bougainville is very difficult—swamps, jungles, and hills. It’s thought that the Japanese will be unable to get reinforcements easily, so the Americans should be able to neutralize the whole island fairly easily. Meanwhile, General MacArthur’s forces will land on nearby New Britain Island to establish an airfield, thereby trapping the Japanese airfield at Rabaul between the two halves of the American forces. Ned notes, “Our leaders were still innocent about how many American lives it would cost” to beat the Japanese.

After a nearly sleepless night, the marines gather on the deck on the morning of D-Day, sharpening knives, making idle comments about baseball, and singing pointless songs. Ned prays silently for the Holy People’s protection. The naval bombardment begins right on schedule; its intention is to surprise and drive back the enemy. The shelling goes on and on, a deafening noise. Nearby, an excited marine tells Ned that surely nothing’s left alive on that beach. But Ned isn’t so sure. He suspects that the dug-in enemy is just waiting to kill them.