DEFENDER

DAN
A short work of fiction to accompany the Defender Dan Machine Gun toy, manufactured
in 1963 by the Deluxe Reading Toy Company of Newark, NJ

The following story accompanies an Ebay listing for a restored toy machine gun from the
1960’s. The writing is designed to portray the way a real gun of similar design might
have been used during WWII. It tells a made up story from an actual historic event.
August 21, 1942. Guadalcanal- Philippine Islands. The men were unusually quiet. Some
had spent their time after dinner writing letters home to their sweethearts, their wives,
their parents. Others passed the time distracting themselves from their fear by cleaning
their weapons. Or creating camouflaged faces designed to hide them. And when staying
hidden didn’t work, they hoped the paint would strike fear in the hearts of the enemy
when they got close enough to look one another in the eye. That moment would come,
and when it did, the other man’s hesitation upon seeing a GI’s fearsome Warface might
make the difference between life and death. Dan was part Sioux Indian and he believed a
man’s strength could be shown to his enemy even beyond arm’s length. His camouflage
was especially fearsome looking. He spent a lot of time preparing it. He avoided
conversation, and wrote no letters… Daniel Tallgrass was calm and at peace with himself
and everything around him. He understood the land. And with the coming dawn, he
would use the land as his ally. Daniel’s name was something of a joke among his platoon.
Tallgrass… Oh, he was tall alright; standing 6’5 he towered over most of his fellow GI’s.
but tall GRASS? That was anything but accurate. Daniel was more of an Oak tree than a
blade of grass. He weighed 240 Lbs and he was built like a rock. He often carried more
than anyone else in the squad, and he did so just for the exercise. His size and strength
also made him the perfect choice for the M2 Browning 50 Caliber Machine gun. The
beast weighed 128 pounds complete with the tripod and Daniel often carried ammo and
his own supplies to boot.

As dawn approached, an infantryman on recon came running into the platoon’s defensive
perimeter. After entering the command tent, word came back that the Japanese were on
their way. All year long the Japanese had tried to recapture Guadalcanal and the vital
airstrip they had built before American troops had routed them. The message had come
down that the Japanese had as many as 10,000 troops on the way. Fortunately, intercepts
of Japanese coded transmissions gave the Americans enough info to destroy most of the
ships and 6000 Japanese soldiers never made landfall. The 4000 that did make it, were on
land and had left the beach on their way right into Tallgrass’ position.

The first sound anyone heard was at 5 am. Thump… Thump, Thump, Thump from all
around. No one needed to be told what that sound was. More than two dozen Japanese
mortars went active. The Americans responded both with artillery and mortars of their
own. Flares from both side lit up the night sky but the airfield was well protected and
despite numerous attempts, Japanese soldiers never made it much past the tree line.
Daniel held the high ground and his accuracy was incredible. He was as lethal in single
shot mode as any man with a rifle and Daniel could pick a man off at 900 meters using
the 50 caliber cannon and shooting just a single shell. He knew with 4000 troops on the
attack he’d need to conserve his ammo. 4 times the Japanese tried to overrun the
perimeter screaming Bonzai!!! and throwing hundreds of men into the offensive. Daniel
would wait and when he knew it was right, he’d lay down a barrier of fire sometimes
hitting 2-3 men with a single round. His M2 would spray 550 rounds per minute. It was
like a brutal meat grinder. The Japanese lost more than a thousand men and another 1700
were injured. Daniel and his platoon held them off even to the point where Daniel’s gun
barrel had overheated and had to be replaced. He’d expended nearly 30,000 rounds.
As the sun sank, the Japanese relented. Many sought refuge in the dense forests of the
mountain island. That next morning at breakfast, Daniel’s CO offered a toast in his honor
for his ability to stem the tide of every Japanese wave of bodies they sent against him…
He said “Here’s to Defender Dan, to whom we all owe our lives today. You have the
strength of a bear, the eye of an eagle and the patience of the mountain lion. May your
hand be always steady and your warrior’s heart be always true.” Daniel didn’t usually
like being called DAN… But today, in a most rare event, Defender Dan smiled. In his
typical way, he said nothing. He did however, give a slight nod of his head to his captain,
indicating his approval. For Daniel, that was saying a lot.