2006年VOA标准英语-WWII Vet Leads Effort to Clean Up South Pacific

By Jim Malone
Washington
25 May 2006

A boy scavenges for saleable items at Red Beach dump, on Tarawa, Kiribati   
  
Monday is Memorial Day in the United States, a holiday set aside to honor the nation's war dead.  VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has the story of one man's effort to honor his fallen comrades from World War II.

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In November of 1943, U.S. forces invaded the small atoll of Tarawa in the South Pacific.

It was the first time that Americans in the Pacific faced serious Japanese opposition¹ to an amphibious landing.

U.S. Navy veteran Leon Cooper remembers.  He was piloting one of the landing craft that took Marines to the beaches of what Americans came to call 'Bloody² Tarawa'.

"As I say, it was a nightmare and repeated many times in dreams that I have had for some years afterwards of watching guys literally³ being torn to pieces by Japanese gunfire and watching mortars⁴ land in the areas where the boats were coming in, fortunately not mine, landing in the boats and killing⁵ everybody in the boats.  And I could see body parts flying everywhere," he recalled.

During the three-day battle, nearly 1,000 Americans were killed and more than 2,000 wounded.  Only 17 of the 2,600 Japanese troops who defended the island survived.

Leon Cooper went on to take part in other amphibious landings during World War II, but he never forgot the vicious fighting at Tarawa.

"I had a number of invasions afterwards, winding⁶ up with Iwo Jima, but Tarawa will stand in my mind as the worst experience in my life, young or old," he noted⁷.  "These kids were dying in my boat, some in my arms, as I was trying to comfort them and their wounds."

Cooper is 86 now, but the memories of his fallen comrades remain vivid and in order to pay tribute to them, he has a new crusade.

In recent years, the beach at Tarawa has become fouled⁸ by garbage and trash.

Tarawa is part of the island nation of Kiribati.  Cooper has pressed the government to clean up the beach out of respect for the men who died there.  He also wants a battle monument to those who died at Tarawa moved closer to the beach where the fighting occurred.

"At the very least, remove the garbage from the area where the landings have taken place and install at that location a decent memorial to the guys who fought and died there," he said.

Cooper has also appealed to Congress and the Bush administration, asking the United States to help clean up the beach at Tarawa.  So far, he has gotten little response, except for one congressman⁹ from his home state of California.

Leon Cooper says the response is frustrating¹⁰, but he is not giving up.

"That is what Memorial Day is really all about, to recall what so many guys, 18 million plus, who were involved in the war that literally saved our civilization," he said.

Navy veteran Leon Cooper has also written a book about his wartime experiences called 90 Day Wonder - Darkness Remembered.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》