Guadalcanal: U.S. Marines in WWII

On August 7, 1942, eight months after Pearl Harbor, the Marine Corps struck back against Japan at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. It was America's first major offensive in the Pacific, and the stakes were high. Japan had been running roughshod across Asia, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. If the Marines failed to stop the Japanese in the Solomons, Samoa and Fiji almost certainly would fall, mortally threatening Australia.Guadalcanal was the first step in the long, bloody island-hopping road to victory in the Pacific. The 1st Marine Division's stand in Guadalcanal ranks with the most heroic, dramatic, and enduring of military history. Gripping official Marine Corps photographs, many never before published, combined with the expert narrative of military historian Eric Hammel, make Guadalcanal a fitting tribute to the Marines who served so gallantly in this difficult campaign . Read more