Introduction to Guadalcanal

When U.S. Marines splashed ashore on Guadalcanal in August 1942, they set in motion a savage, seven-month campaign.

Guadalcanal’s thick jungle terrain made fighting an unbelievable ordeal for soldiers of both sides. The naval action was just as intense. For every American soldier that died on Guadalcanal, almost three Allied sailors perished in the water. The narrow seas north of Guadalcanal, scene of some of the most violent naval clashes of the war, became known as Iron Bottom Sound due to the number of sunken vessels. It took many months, many lives, and a number of humiliating defeats before the U.S. Navy was able to learn, adapt, and turn the tables on an enemy that relished fighting at night.

Guadalcanal is a WWII battlefield that few Americans have been privileged to see, and through our visit, we hope to fully understand the hardships, sacrifices, and heroism of that campaign and the beginning of the end of the war with Japan.