04. SGT SIWASH - The Mighty Devil Duck


He served with distinction in some of the bloodiest conflicts of WW2, participated in multiple beach landings in the pacific campaign, had a confirmed kill whilst defending his mates from an enemy attack and was nominated for a purple heart. All great accomplishments for a man to achieve. Even more impressive is the fact that these are all accomplishments of a duck. Yes, for all of you out there struggling to get recognition and promoted, just know that this duck both out ranked you and had probably seen more combat too. 

Now there are two origin stories of SGT Siwash. One of which is from the Marine Corps themselves, the other, from those present. I’ll let you decide which is more plausible but we will start with the Marine Corps. 

Marine Corps:

The story begins with a couple of marines from the Second Division, heading out for some nice hydrating beverages at a New Zealand pub. Here, they had a nice, polite and professional time, conversing with the locals about philosophy and fine art and during this time, only consumed a very reasonable amount of alcohol and definitely stopped, well before intoxication. Concurrently, they also ensured that they did not attempt to seduce any of the local women and theoretically if they did (which they didn’t) they ensured they used protection, maintained eye contact at all times and kept it strictly to the missionary position. Anyway, whilst these Marines were out at the pub, being exemplary citizens, they participated in a raffle where the grand prize was a…. Duck…. On this faithful night, this heroic duck was won by SGT Fagan, however the local Kiwis were so impressed with the Marines polite and well mannered attitude, that they would have probably gifted the duck to them anyway. 

Eye Witnesses: 

On the verge of sailing into the biggest hell-fire of war, the earth had ever seen, the Marines of the Second Division, went into town and got themselves absolutely maggotted. Whilst gambling in a game of poker, the Marines were on a hot streak and cleaning house. A down on his luck Kiwi made a last ditch effort to win back his money by putting down his prized duck and going all in. As fate would have it, the Marine, SGT Fagan would have a winning hand and would take the duck back to base with him, probably figuring he would decide what the fuck he was going to do with a duck the next morning.

Now you are free to believe what ever story you want, but at the end of the day, both stories agree that SGT Fagan walked out of that pub with a duck that night. 

Some wanted to cook and eat this duck, others wanted to just release the duck into the wild to live out its days in peaceful solitude. But Fagan saw a look in its eyes, one that said, these webbed feed were made for hate and discontent and to feel the life of its enemies fade into darkness as they pushed down on its throat… So anyway, they taught the duck to drink beer and named him SGT Siwash. I know, feeding a duck alcohol sounds bad and all but it could be worse, they could have got him addicted to quack.

Reportedly, SGT Siwash loved a cold beer and he was soon adopted into the crew as one of the boys. When it came time to be shipped out of New Zealand to fight the Japanese, loathed to depart with their drinking buddy, the Marines decided to take SGT Siwash with them. 

SGT Siwash participated in many battles but his finest hour came on 20 Nov 1943 during the l attack on Betio and the island of Tarawa-atoll. 

On this faithful day 18,000 Marines and one devil duck poured onto the beaches amidst a lethal hailstorm of mortars, machine gun, and rifle fire. By the end of the first day, the marines had a tenuous hold on the landing zones and no unit had penetrated more than 65 meters into the island. Being driven back into the ocean was a legitimate threat.

The island was protected by coral and thick vegetation, and the Japanese had the island well fortified to ensure that there was little room for the Marines to manoeuvre. With no way to tell how many men they had lost and with no way to withdraw, command were unsure on the outcome of this battle. For the duck however, the situation was never in doubt.

It was at this point, the line was charged by an enemy combatant. A rooster of Japanese allegiance. Taking the battle into his own webbed feet, SGT Siwash reportedly locked eyes with the enemy rooster and charged past the Marines to meet it in winged combat, bullets still cracking through the air around them as the two entangled themselves in a battle to the death. 

SGT Siwash sustained several pecks to the head however was able to repel the enemy ambush and save his fellow Marines. This act of heroism inspired the marines to keep pushing up the beach and in a couple of days the island was captured.

Seeing the wounds SGT Siwash sustained in battle, SGT Fagan and the boys attempted to nominate him for a Purple Heart. This would be declined, however command would still cite him for bravery on the battlefield.

This citation written by LTCOL Presley would state “For courageous action and wounds received on Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands, November 1943. With utter disregard for his own personal safety, Siwash, upon reaching the beach, without hesitation engaged the enemy in fierce combat, namely, one rooster of Japanese ancestry, and though wounded on the head by repeated pecks, he soon routed the opposition. He refused medical aid until all wounded members of his section had been taken care of”.

SGT Siwash would be involved in many more battles throughout the rest of WW2 before retiring on a farm in California. However, as stated at the beginning of this story, SGT Siwash was not a peace time duck. He found civilian life tedious and probably thought “thank fuck” when word came his way that America had entered the Korean War. SGT Siwash re-enlisted and once again served with distinction, this time touring the USA, selling war bonds.  

Sadly, SGT Siwash passed away in 1954 of liver disease. Shortly after, the Marine Corps released an official statement saying that there was in no way, any correlation with the ducks excessive amount of drinking during its service with the liver damage that caused its death (what a classic “not service related” cop out). 


SGT Siwash’s funeral was held in a taxidermy shop surrounded by his fellow Marines. He now resides in the National Museum of the Marine Corps as a hero and inspiration to all.