HOW THE WEST WAS WON
World War II came without warning or invitation for the people of the South Pacific and brought issues that few understood. The war became a period of excitement, hardship, and at the same time, of material abundance. Their islands, the place they called their homes, were abruptly exposed and used as never before to new outside influences and by uninvited guests. "Their harbours were used by fleets of warships, while onshore bases were built to house troops, and landing fields were constructed to service a suddenly created aircraft traffic," (Howe 156). Pacific Islanders were for the most part, observers of the war and the turmoil it generated, rather than constituents. Although there were a number of them who were actively and directly entangled and played crucial roles, there are still very few published accounts of Pacific Islanders' camaraderie in the war. Their involvement had gradually disappeared over the years in the record books, as so did their island paradise. World War II cast a dark shadow in the South Pacific. The Islanders were in no doubt victims of the war, mere bystanders, innocent, and oblivious to the outside world before the invasion. It was a terrible and untamed place to fight a war. The South P
Many local Japanese officers tried to establish good relationships with the indigenous people and often succeeded in winning their trusts. The men went fishing in the lagoons or streams; they climbed palm trees to gathered coconuts, and exchanged cigarettes and canned goods with the Islanders for fresh fruits like bananas, papayas, and mangoes. However, the environment that allowed the diseases to flourish in the first place made prevention and treatment all the more difficult. They entrusted the Allies and believed that ". The native people were a vital supply of manual labor. For those who were fortunate enough to be with the Allies, the war brought change, at times prosperity to the Islanders. The war gave the Islanders opportunities to obtain imported goods, by working for money, receiving gifts and fraternizing with not only the Japanese but also with the Americans. Large areas of the inland mountains of New Guinea had no or little direct organized contact with the Western world whatsoever, until the war. They began to see the importance of an organized colony; and aside from what they were already accustomed to, they began to adapt many of the Western lifestyles. For the most part, the war initiated it. Moreover, the people of the Pacific had a better understanding of who the outsiders really were. They learned how to use their resources efficiently and productively. There was no known cure for malaria and there was no alternative to enduring the attacks.
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Acceptance Essays
