Guadalcanal

On Feb. 3, 1943, the battle of Guadalcanal ended after a more than six-month fight with the Japanese. The Battle of Guadalcanal can be divided into ground, air and naval forces with U.S. Marines, Army and Army Air Force and Navy ships and air forces. This combined forces action demanded constant communication and coordination. It marked the change for the U.S. from defensive to offensive actions with coordinated, ground, air and naval attacks.

Marine Gen. Alexander A. Vandergrift, commander of the 1st Marine Division during the battle, summed up the Battle with the following statement published in "A Concise History of the U.S. Marine Corps 1775-1969, HQ USMC":

"We struck at Guadalcanal to halt the advance of the Japanese. We did not know how strong he was, nor did we know his plans. We knew only that he was moving down the island chain and that he had to be stopped.

"We were as well trained and as well armed as time and our peacetime experience allowed us to be. We needed combat to tell us how effective our training, our doctrines, and our weapons had been.

"We tested them against the enemy, and we found that they worked. From the movement in 1942, the tide turned, and the Japanese never again advanced."

Guadalcanal was one of several South Pacific islands being occupied by the Japanese that needed to be taken for the Allied forces to use as bases moved closer to Japan. While most people can understand the reason for the battle for Guadalcanal, most do not fully realize the cost of taking the island for use as a base. The American losses from the 60,000 total who served at the Battle of Guadalcanal include 1,592 killed in action and several thousand dead from malaria and other diseases. The Japanese lost 24.000 troops but still managed to evacuate 12,000 from Guadalcanal.

The Battle of Guadalcanal saved Australia from the Japanese advance, and it, along with the Battle of Midway, turned the tide of the Pacific war against the Japanese.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.