A man Pfc. Ronnie "Kid" Gibson was a marine who served in Robert Leckie's unit in Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester before being incarcerated.
History[]
Guadalcanal[]
Pre-Battle[]
Gibson was first seen in a ship headed for Guadalcanal. He listened to Chucklers outrageous claim that he will take out an entire Jap Regiment all by himself, "like a turkey shoot". He then asked everyone why they were there. Runner, Sid, and Chuckler had a disagreement about it, before Lucky broke it up with the reason with a poem, before being interrupted by Hoosier, who asked for cigarettes.
Campaign[]
When the Marines landed, Gibson along with the rest of them were expecting resistance, but found none to their wonder. After moving up through the jungle, a corpsman named Lewis was killed by friendly fire, when a man thought he was Japanese. Gibson looked troubled by this, and was wondered if he ever said the password. He survived the battle over the Tenaru, and during the rummaging through the dead Japanese, he realized they were the ones that took Guam.
Start of Gibson's PTSD[]
At the airfield, Gibson was among the Marines that stole some Army rations. He later survived the ferocious bombing over the Airfield, and once told Leckie that he was with another soldier at the airfield in Guadalcanal when the Japanese soldiers bombed it, killing the other soldier and inflicting Gibson with Post-traumatic disorder. Gibson later received some Cigarettes from Lt. Corrigan, along with his friends, who thought it was "an act of a gentleman". He later shipped off the island to Melbourne with the rest of the 1st Marine Division.
Melbourne[]
Ronnie Gibson is among the marines on the train proceeding to the 100-mile hike. As Leckie contemplates at the front end of the boxcar, Gibson and a few other marines debate the accuracy of the M1 Garand and Springfield rifles (note the transition of weaponry from Guadalcanal to the "modernized" weapons for the remainder of the war). Gibson fires his newly issued M1 rifle at a cow, killing it instantly. After receiving a scolding from Leckie, Gibson is last seen being congratulated on his sharpshooting ability.
Cape Gloucester[]
Gibson later takes part in the Battle of Cape Gloucester. While his platoon is on a patrol, he encounters a dying Japanese soldier next to Leckie and Sid Phillips. Then, right in front of them, he chokes the soldier to death, only acknowledging them right after.
Later on, Leckie inquires about Gibson, to which Hoosier just rebuffs him saying, "He's all right".
Incarceration[]
When the 1st Marine Division rested in Pavuvu, Leckie was being treated for nocturnal enuresis. While at the hospital in the neighboring Banika, he comes across Gibson in a prison cell. Before leaving the hospital Leckie visits Gibson's cell, hands him some cigarettes, and listens Gibson's account of attempting to steal a plane from an airfield. Gibson then wishes that Leckie die a quick and painless death, for that would be better than fighting in the war.
His fate is left unclear, but according to Leckie in his memoir, he would have returned home after a while, and may have regained some of his sanity.
Trivia[]
- He is based off the "Kid" in Leckie's memoirs, however, he has a slightly bigger role as a supporting character in Leckie's regiment.
- In the series, Leckie gave him a pack of cigarettes in his prison cell on Banika while in the memoir, Leckie gave him some candy.