July 27, 1943 (Tuesday)

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal

We have tanks on Munda now. The Jap opposition is still stiff. They have employed the usual tactics of digging in and resisting till death. The tanks go banging through the Jap positions and tear around the Munda field strip and taxiways shooting up all Japs in sight, while the Japs shoot futilely at the tanks. Our forces are almost to the east end of the field.

News broadcast from London said that the Army has instituted a “bomber-name censorship.” A plane named Lord Cesspool brought on the crisis. Bomber names in the Army have always been pretty low. We were rather surprised by them when we first came down here, and Captain Moffett forbade our adopting any wild ones ourselves. Some of the names I’ve seen on Army B-24s at Button are Vulgar Virgin and Crock of Crap, the latter being graphically illustrated by a full bed pot.