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Ventriloquist and his two charges entertain Marshall Islanders as part of a visit by Marine entertainers.

Two young Islanders wait on table in a military mess. One serviceman pours out a dose of Quinine Sulfate

First of its kind to land in this area, a U.S. Navy "Duck" seaplane fascinates village children. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

At Halavo Seaplane Base, Islanders teach black American Seabees (in shirts) how to make thatch for shading cooler barracks.

Just one month before being killed by a burst of machine gun fire on a small island off Okinawa, famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle enjoys a happy moment with local children.

Local coastwatchers on guard at their post overlooking Noumea harbor receive a visit from a "liberty party" of sailors from the USS Enterprise.

Solomon Islands Labour Corps and Seabees work on Guadalcanal airfield, 1943

After the Americans recaptured the island, a Pharmacists Mate treats the infected hand of a young Chamorro girl in a Navy dispensary constructed of local material

New public health measures were developed during the war to reduce massive troop casualties from malaria. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Navy Medical officers treating natives on New Georgia Is. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Dressed in native beads they received from the natives of (Mok Island) the crew traded cigarettes, razor blades, and odd bits of cloth for native handicraft and fruit. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Natives of a South Pacific island join a navy labor battalion as workers and guides. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Four Fais men sort newly acquired American money with advice from U.S. Marines. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Gift-giving druing the war flowed two ways, and many Islanders recall the presents they gave to Allied and Japanese servicemen. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

In return, "in the name of Admiral Nimitz," the Naval officeres present Islanders with a pile of military supplies including cigarettes, cigars, spools of thread, knives, and caramel candy.

Islanders and sailors from the USS Nicholas exchange grass skirts for cigarettes. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Members of the Fijian 3rd Battalion, dressed in traditional dance costume, honor officers of the Allied forces with a kava (yaqona) ceremony. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Fais Islanders try out a new custom: saluting the American flag. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

Hundreds of Marshallese natives, representing many atolls in these islands, staged an impressive ceremony on 4th of July, honoring American independence and their own recent freedom from the Japanese. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

On behalf of Solomon Islanders, Jacob Vouza of the Solomon Islandes Defence Force, and honorary Sergeant Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, presents a plaque of gratitude to the commander of U.S. forces on the island. [See "more images" below for complete caption]

An American Catholic priest, standing next to a makeshift altar set up on the bech to give a prayer service, presents a young Micronesian girl with a rosary.

The native-built chapel in an Allied cemetery is formally turned over to the Allied command at dedication ceremonies. "Island Encounters" photograph collection.

Lt. Geo A. Rollinsk, supply officer of 193 Inf. dickers with three natives with canes, grass skirts, et cetera, to sell.