Aggie1205 said:
Read Lonely Vigil: Coas****chers of the Solomons by Walter Lord.
Before reading this I was aware that coas****chers were used but didn't really know specifics of their contribution. I also had seen the Mother Goose movie on TCM back in the day but nothing in the book involved an alcoholic beach bum getting paid by sighting by the revelation of where the next bottle was buried. Lots of great detail about their activity and how they played a really large role especially in providing warning of attempts to bomb Henderson Field.
They were also key in rescuing downed pilots. One ended up rescuing a good number and started a club called the Ancient Order of the Rubber Rafters of Choiseul. Each pilot got a handwritten membership card upon getting rescued that said the requirement of the club was that every year on the anniversary of rescue the recipient was required to get drunk and try to get others equally drunk.
Lots in the book about the contributions of natives and local missionaries that were there. In many cases the coas****chers wouldn't have made it without them.
Other notable contributions were rescuing many of the USS Helena crew and in helping rescue a young guy from a well known family called Kennedy. He went on to bigger things of course.
