Prior to the war, little was known about many of the islands in the South Pacific. One of the factors that contributed so much to our troop’s debilitation in the beginning of the war was those diseases that were spread by mosquitoes on these same islands. To this end, one of Pensacola’s sanitary engineers with the Escambia County Health Department was sent overseas to study the situation. David Byron Lee was also a captain in the Florida National Guard before being called up for active duty. He was born in Florida on September 23, 1907 before coming to Pensacola to join the health department. Here he met and married Miss Billie Rawls on July 28, 1939, the daughter of Major William Andrew Jr. and Ethel Rawls. Billie was a graduate of Pensacola High School in the class of 1936 and lived with her parents at the family home at 1625 East Lloyd Street.
Her grandfather was a veteran of the Civil War and was a cadet at the West Florida Seminary when he was called up for active duty to the Confederacy. His seminary was established in 1851 and would later become known as Florida State University. As the war neared its end, the cadets were suddenly dispatched to today’s Woodville, Florida near Tallahassee on March 6, 1865. Along with other teenagers and elderly citizens the cadets mounted the breastworks and bravely repelled the Federal soldiers from crossing the Natural Bridge on the St. Marks River. Their courage prevented the Union forces from seizing Tallahassee, which made it the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi River never to be captured by Union forces during the war.
As WWII progress, David and Billie moved into a house at 2105 North 15th Avenue before he and his unit left for the South Pacific. Upon his arrival on New Guinea, he set about eradicating the malaria carrying mosquitoes to keep American soldiers fighting on the front line and not laid up in field hospitals. The conditions on New Guinea were very harsh because of the dense jungle, tropical temperatures, constant rain, endless swamps, and mountainous terrain that made life all but unbearable. But mosquitoes loved this type of terrain and multiplied by the millions. Malaria and other similar diseases spread rapidly throughout the American forces debilitating thousands of combat soldiers. Although dysentery and beriberi took their toll, malaria was by far the most devastating of all the tropical diseases.
David's job was to organize and train special malaria control units in addition to educating local commanders as to the need for preventive measures. His efforts contributed to the research and development of an array of antimalarial drugs, insecticides, larvicides, and repellents.
Pensacola News Journal 8-3-1944
Pensacola News Journal 8-3-1944
The "enemy" of the South Pacific