The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: twyacht on August 07, 2012, 09:22:23 PM
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Watching the PBS "The War" series, I encourage all to watch it. Yes they are the Greatest Generation. Casualties were estimated at 1600 Americans per day during the island hopping campaign to Okinawa.
The Marines and soldiers of Saipan, Peleliu, Solomon's, Iwo Jima, and many others,...listening to the real accounts from those now old men retelling their account, is very emotional. Reminds me of my Grandfather who fought in the Pacific, they lived a thousand lifetiimes in a short period of time.
Remember, the Japanese had no intention to surrender, 27 American Soldiers were awarded the Medal Of Honor from Guadacanal. 18 posthumously.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-forces-invade-guadalcanal
Aug 7, 1942:
U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal
Previous Day August 7
On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the first U.S. offensive of the war, by landing on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands.
On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. Operation Watchtower was the codename for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands. During the attack, American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.
But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance-at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. "I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting," wrote one American major general on the scene. "These people refuse to surrender."
The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships.
The first Medal of Honor given to a Marine was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he "contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment."
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Lest We Forget.....
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Secured sh!t.
They landed, the Island wasn't secured for months during which time the Marines were abandoned by the Navy under Adm Ghormley who left them to subsist on what ever they could capture from the Japanese.
3 USMC machine gunners earned the Congressional Medal of Honor Sgt. John Basilone, , Cpl Ted Eleston and then Sgt, (later Col.) Mitchell Paige. All three of these Marines survived, although Basilone was killed later.
I'm not sure about the dates the actual incidents occurred, but since the awards weren't made until the Division was back in Australia, and held a Division awards ceremony I would bet that Basilone got the first one because his name began with "B", so of course he would get his even before the Div Commander, Gen. Vandergrift.
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Secured was wrong wording, as it went back and forth several times. Watching the show, and posting at the same time,.. :P
Here's the link to the "The War".
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/
One of the better "shows" that come from PBS.
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The HBO series "The Pacific" is another excellent one.
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One of the more noteworthy leaders on Guadalcanal was Lt Col Merritt Edson, who commanded the 2nd Raider Battalion. He later became the Executive Director of the NRA. A short bio...
http://www.usmarineraiders.org/officersbn1.html (http://www.usmarineraiders.org/officersbn1.html)
Check out his MOH citation.http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/edson.html (http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/edson.html)