Several Marines were wounded, and came from the 2nd Parachute Battalion of the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment that had been lost in the jungle and trapped by Japanese shore fire during the recent raid on Choiseul Island, still in progress. The trapped Marines originally numbered around 87, and had opposed as many as 900 Japanese during the height of the fighting. Kennedy was reluctant to have his gunners fire on the shoreline, afraid of hitting one of the Marines hoping to evacuate. The "59" acted as a shield, positioning itself between the Japanese shore battery and both the escaping Marines in the water, and one landing craft containing Marines, 250 yards from shore, that had been damaged after running aground on the coral reef. "PT-59" took aboard ten Marines near the crippled craft and fed them canned peaches, the first meal they had had in days. Three Marines were wounded, including a mortally wounded Corporal Schnell who died in Kennedy's bunk that night, attended by his Marine doctor, whom Kennedy had also picked up.