The Shawn Ryan Show

Podbit · The Shawn Ryan Show

#317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs During the Vietnam War

Explore episode Jun 29, 2026
History
The Mitchell Page Miracle on Guadalcanal

#317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs Du… · Jun 29, 2026 History

At a turning point in the Battle of Guadalcanal, every Marine machine gunner was dead or wounded. Marine Mitchell Page raced a Japanese soldier to the last operational gun. The enemy dropped to the ground and fired 30 rounds at point-blank range — and Page couldn't move. He felt total peace and complete paralysis. Not one round hit him. The moment his enemy's clip was empty, Page was released, chambered a round, and killed the soldier. He later told Clark this story on his deathbed.

7 min

Where this was said

Gunner's Glory: Mitchell Page, Guadalcanal, and the GI Joe Origin

At 2:42:10 · chapter starts 2:36:40

The research for Gunner's Glory leads Clark to Ted Elliston — a 5th Marines Guadalcanal veteran who punched a man out cold in the street at age 84 — and through Ted to Mitchell Page, the Marine Hasbro commemorated as the original GI Joe. Page's deathbed account, which Clark believes completely after his own parallel experience, describes the climactic moment of the Battle of Guadalcanal: every Marine machine gunner is dead, the Mahoney gun — modified to fire 900 to 1,200 rounds per minute — sits unattended, and a Japanese soldier with a Nambu races Page to the gun. The Japanese soldier wins the footrace, drops to the ground, and empties 30 rounds at point-blank range. Page is frozen, unable to move or even think. He feels complete peace. Not a single bullet hits him. The moment his enemy's clip is exhausted, Page is released, falls forward, chambers a round, and kills the soldier. His Bible falls open to Proverbs 3:5 — the verse his mother sent him to war with.

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