Ye fixed up a fine supper for them of boiled fish and rice with tomatoes.
and lima beans mixed in. By this time they had gotten used to their sur
roundings, had recovered their composure and their appetites, They really
stowed away the chow, This was followed by ice cream and cookies, heavily
sweetened grape ade and some bright colored hard candy we had left over
from last Christmas.
and happy.
The men were given cigarettes and all seemed contented
Finally, we showed them a movie and there was not the slightest
reaction of any kind from any of them the whole time.
It should be remembered that most of these natives had never been off the atoll and as far
as is known had never seen a movie.
The night was passed without incident and they seemed to rest well on
their straw mats. The weather continued good and since we were proceeding
downwind at a speed of only 11 knots there was practically no motion of the
ship. Next moming they ate and seemed to enjoy a big breakfast of hot
cakes, bacon, bread and jam. After considerable rubber necking as we entered Kwajalein harbor and during the process of mooring to the pier, the
natives were disembarked at about O50900M to waiting buses in custody of
ConNavStaKwaj.
As they went over the side one could not help but observe
and admire the innate dignity of these simple human beings and their naive
but forthright and optimistic attitude towards life. These seemed to be
expressed in a conversation with the native chief through the interpreter.
The chief was asked what they had seen and he replied with gestures
indicating a large explosion.
He was then asked what they thought of it
and his reply was not the negative one as might be expected that the world
was coming to an end, but, "The world, we think she etart over again."
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