Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal

On August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines waded ashore in the Solomons, defended by warships of the U.S. Navy. The amphibious landing was the first major American ground campaign of the Pacific War, intended to prevent the Japanese from establishing naval and air bases in the island chain and to establish Allied bases for future operations. Most famously—and most gruelingly—the invasion marked the beginning of the months-long Guadalcanal campaign. Caught off guard, the Japanese swiftly regrouped for a sea