The battle-weary 2d Marines had seen its last infantry action of
Guadalcanal. A new unit now came into being, a composite Army-Marine
division, or CAM division, formed from units of the Americal and
2d Marine Divisions. The directing staff was from the 2d Division,
since the Americal had responsibility for the main perimeter. Two of
its regiments, the 147th and the 182d Infantry, moved up to attack
in line with the 6th Marines still along the coast. The 8th Marines
was essentially pinched out of the front lines by a narrowing attack
corridor as the inland mountains and hills pressed closer to the
coastal trail. The 25th Division, which was advancing across this
rugged terrain, had the mission of outflanking the Japanese in the
vicinity of Kokumbona, while the CAM division drove west. On the 23d,
as the CAM troops approached Kokumbona, the 1st Battalion of the 27th
Infantry struck north out of the hills and overran the village site
and Japanese base. There was only slight but steady opposition to the
American advance as the enemy withdrew west toward Cape Esperance.
The Japanese had decided, reluctantly, to give up the attempt to retake
Guadalcanal. The orders were sent in the name of the Emperor and senior
staff officers were sent to Guadalcanal to ensure their acceptance. The
Navy would make the final runs of the Tokyo Express, only this time
in reverse, to evacuate the garrison so it could fight again in later
battles to hold the Solomons.
Receiving intelligence that enemy ships were massing again to the
northwest, General Patch took steps, as Vandegrift had before him on
many occasions, to guard against overextending his forces in the face
of what appeared to be another enemy attempt at reinforcement. He
pulled the 25th Division back to bolster the main perimeter defenses
and ordered the CAM division to continue its attack. When the Marines
and soldiers moved out on 26 January, they had a surprisingly easy time
of it, gaining 1,000 yards the first day and 2,000 the following day.
The Japanese were still contesting every attack, but not in strength.
By 30 January, the sole frontline unit in the American advance was the
147th Infantry; the 6th Marines held positions to its left rear.
The Japanese destroyer transports made their first run to the island
on the night of 1-2 February, taking out 2,300 men from evacuation
positions near Cape Esperance. On the night of 4-5 February, they
returned and took out most of the _Sendai_ survivors and General
Hyakutake and his _Seventeenth Army_ staff. The final evacuation
operation was carried out on the night of 7-8 February, when a
3,000-man rear guard was embarked. In all, the Japanese withdrew about
11,000 men in those three nights and evacuated about 13,000 soldiers
from Guadalcanal overall. The Americans would meet many of these men
again in later battles, but not the 600 evacuees who died, too worn and
sick to survive their rescue.
On 9 February, American soldiers advancing from east and west met at
Tenaro village on Cape Esperance. The only Marine ground unit still
in action was the 3d Battalion, 10th Marines, supporting the advance.
General Patch could happily report the “complete and total defeat of
Japanese forces on Guadalcanal.” No organized Japanese units remained.
On 31 January, the 2d Marines and the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines,
boarded ship to leave Guadalcanal. As was true with the 1st Marine
Division, some of these men were so debilitated by malaria they had to
be carried on board. All of them struck observers again as young men
grown old “with their skins cracked and furrowed and wrinkled.” On 9
February, the rest of the 8th Marines and a good part of the division
supporting units boarded transports. The 6th Marines, thankfully
only six weeks on the island, left on the 19th. All were headed for
Wellington, New Zealand, the 2d Marines for the first time. Left behind
on the island as a legacy of the 2d Marine Division were 263 dead.
[Illustration: _President Franklin D. Roosevelt presents Gen Vandegrift
the Medal of Honor for his heroic accomplishments against the Japanese
in the Solomons. Looking on are Mrs. Vandegrift, and the general’s son,
Maj Alexander A. Vandegrift, Jr._
National Archives Photo 208-PU-209V-4
]
The total cost of the Guadalcanal campaign to the American ground
combat forces was 1,598 officers and men killed, 1,152 of them
Marines. The wounded totaled 4,709, and 2,799 of these were Marines.
Marine aviation casualties were 147 killed and 127 wounded. The
Japanese in their turn lost close to 25,000 men on Guadalcanal, about
half of whom were killed in action. The rest succumbed to illness,
wounds, and starvation.
[Illustration: _The temporary resting place of a Marine killed in the
fighting at Lunga Point is shown here. The grave marker was erected by
his friends. The Marine’s remains were later removed to the division
cemetery on Guadalcanal, and further reburial at war’s end either in
his hometown or the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Hawaii with the
honors due a fallen hero._]
At sea, the comparative losses were about equal, with each side
losing about the same number of fighting ships. The enemy loss of
2 battleships, 3 carriers, 12 cruisers, and 25 destroyers, was
irreplaceable. The Allied ship losses, though costly, were not fatal;
in essence, all ships lost were replaced. In the air, at least 600
Japanese planes were shot down; even more costly was the death of
2,300 experienced pilots and aircrewmen. The Allied plane losses were
less than half the enemy’s number and the pilot and aircrew losses
substantially lower.
President Roosevelt, reflecting the thanks of a grateful nation,
awarded General Vandegrift the Medal of Honor for “outstanding and
heroic accomplishment” in his leadership of American forces on
Guadalcanal from 7 August to 9 December 1942. And for the same period,
he awarded the Presidential Unit Citation to the 1st Marine Division
(Reinforced) for “outstanding gallantry” reflecting “courage and
determination ... of an inspiring order.” Included in the division’s
citation and award, besides the organic units of the 1st Division, were
the 2d and 8th Marines and attached units of the 2d Marine Division,
all of the Americal Division, the 1st Parachute and 1st and 2d Raider
Battalions, elements of the 3d, 5th, and 14th Defense Battalions, the
1st Aviation Engineer Battalion, the 6th Naval Construction Battalion,
and two motor torpedo boat squadrons. The indispensable Cactus Air
Force was included, also represented by 7 Marine headquarters and
service squadrons, 16 Marine flying squadrons, 16 Navy flying
squadrons, and 5 Army flying squadrons.
The victory at Guadalcanal marked a crucial turning point in the
Pacific War. No longer were the Japanese on the offensive. Some of the
Japanese Emperor’s best infantrymen, pilots, and seamen had been bested
in close combat by the Americans and their Allies. There were years of
fierce fighting ahead, but there was now no question of its outcome.
When the veterans of the 1st Marine Division were gathered in thankful
reunion 20 years later, they received a poignant message from
Guadalcanal. The sender was a legend to all “Canal” Marines, Honorary
U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza. The Solomons native in
his halting English said: “Tell them I love them all. Me old man now,
and me no look good no more. But me never forget.”
[Sidebar (page 48): The ‘George’ Medal
The George Medal is legendary among 1st Marine Division veterans of
Guadalcanal. Only about 50 were cast, in Australia, before the mold
gave out.
The medal commemorates the difficult situation of the division during
the early days on Guadalcanal, when ammunition, food, and heavy
equipment were short and the Japanese plentiful. When the issue was
no longer in doubt, Marines had time to reflect on the D-plus-3 Navy
withdrawal in the face of increasing Japanese air attacks and surface
action which left the division in such a tight spot.
In the recollection of then-Captain Donald L. Dickson, adjutant of
the 5th Marines, the Division G-3, then-Lieutenant Colonel Merrill B.
Twining, resolved to commemorate the occasion. Twining told artist
Dickson in general terms what he had in mind. Dickson went to work
designing an appropriate medal using a fifty-cent piece to draw a
circle on a captured Japanese blank military postcard.
Dickson’s design was approved and when the division got to Australia a
mold was made by a local metal craftsman and a small number were cast
before the mold became unserviceable. Those wanting a medal paid one
Australian pound for it and received a certificate as well. The medals
are now an even greater rarity than at the time. In recent years,
reproductions have been cast, and can be identified by the different
metal and a poor definition of details.
The obverse design shows a hand and sleeve dropping a hot potato in
the shape of Guadalcanal into the arms of a grateful Marine. In the
original design the sleeve bore the stripes of a vice admiral intended
to be either Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, ComSoPac, or Vice Admiral
Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander Joint Expeditionary Force, but the final
medal diplomatically omitted this identification.
Also on the obverse is a Saguaro cactus, indigenous to Arizona, not
Guadalcanal, but representing the code name for the island, “Cactus.”
The obverse inscription is _Facia Georgius_, “Let George Do It.” Thus
it became known as the George Medal.
The medal’s reverse pictures a cow (the original design showed a
Japanese soldier with breeches down) and an electric fan, and is
inscribed: “In fond remembrance of the happy days spent from Aug. 7th
1942 to Jan. 5th 1943. U.S.M.C.”
The suspension ribbon was made, appropriately, of the pale green
herringbone twill from some Marine’s utility uniform. Legend has it
that to be authentic the utilities from which the ribbons were made had
to have been washed in the waters of Guadalcanal’s Lunga River. Some
medals were provided with the oversized safety pin used to identify
laundry bags in Navy shipboard laundries.
Such unofficial commemorative mementoes are not uncommon in military
circles and recall, among others, the Soochow Creek medals recognizing
the defense of Shanghai’s International Settlement during the Japanese
invasions of 1932 and 1937 which were inspired by the Military Order of
the Dragon medals of veterans of the China Relief Expedition or Boxer
Rebellion.--_Brooke Nihart_
[Illustration]
]
_Sources_
The basic source work for this booklet is the first volume in the
series _History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Pearl
Harbor to Guadalcanal_, written by LtCol Frank O. Hough, Maj Verle E.
Ludwig, and Henry I. Shaw, Jr. (Washington: Historical Branch, G-3
Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1958). Other books used in
writing this narrative were: BGen Samuel B. Griffith II, _The Battle
for Guadalcanal_ (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1963); Gen Alexander
A. Vandegrift as told to Robert B. Asprey, _Once a Marine: The Memoirs
of General A. A. Vandegrift, USMC_ (New York: W. W. Norton, 1964); Col
Mitchell Paige, _A Marine Named Mitch_ (New York: Vantage Press, 1975);
Burke Davis, _Marine: The Life of Chesty Puller_ (Boston: Little,
Brown, 1962); George McMillan, _The Old Breed: A History of the 1st
Marine Division in World War II_ (Washington: Infantry Journal Press,
1949); and Richard W. Johnston, _Follow Me!: The Story of the Second
Marine Division in World War II_ (New York: Random House, 1948).
The correspondence of General Vandegrift with General Holcomb and
other senior Marines, held at the Marine Corps Historical Center,
was helpful. Equally of value were conversations that the author had
had with General Vandegrift after his retirement. In the course of
his career as a Marine historian, the author has talked with other
Guadalcanal veterans of all ranks; hopefully, this has resulted in a
“feel” for the campaign, essential in writing such an overview.
The literature on the Guadalcanal operation is extensive. In addition
to the books cited above, there are several which are personally
recommended to the interested reader: Robert Leckie, _Helmet for My
Pillow_ (New York: Random House, 1957); Herbert Merillat, _Guadalcanal
Remembered_ (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1982); John Miller, Jr., _The United
States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific_; _Guadalcanal,
The First Offensive_ (Washington: Historical Division, Department
of the Army, 1949); T. Grady Gallant, _On Valor’s Side_ (New York:
Doubleday, 1963); Robert Sherrod, _History of Marine Corps Aviation
in World War II_ (Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1952); Maj John L.
Zimmerman, _The Guadalcanal Campaign_ (Washington: Historical Division,
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1949); RAdm Samuel E. Morrison, _The
Struggle for Guadalcanal: History of United States Naval Operations
in World War II_, Vol V (Boston: Little, Brown, 1950); and a recent,
comprehensive account, Richard B. Frank, _Guadalcanal_ (New York:
Random House, 1990).
_About the Author_
[Illustration]
Henry I. Shaw, Jr., former chief historian of the History and Museums
Division, was a Marine Corps historian from 1951-1990. He attended The
Citadel, 1943-1944, and was graduated with a bachelor of arts cum laude
in history from Hope College, Holland, Michigan. He received a master
of arts degree in history from Columbia University. Mr. Shaw served as
a Marine in both World War II and the Korean War. He is the co-author
of four of the five volumes of the official history of Marine Corps
operations in World War II and was the senior editor of most of the
official histories of Marines in Vietnam. In addition, he has written a
number of brief Marine Corps histories. He has written many articles on
military history and has had more than 50 signed book reviews.
* * * * *
_The author gratefully acknowledges the permission granted by the
Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America to use the maps
from BGen Samuel B. Griffith II’s_ The Battle for Guadalcanal _and by
Doubleday Books and Jack Coggins for use of the sketches from his_ The
Campaign for Guadalcanal. _The author also wishes to thank Richard
J. Frank and Herbert C. Merillat for permission to reproduce their
photographs._
[Illustration]
=THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY=, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in
the World War II era, is published for the education and training of
Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, Washington, D.C., as a part of the U.S. Department of Defense
observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
Editorial costs of preparing this pamphlet have been defrayed in part
by a bequest from the estate of Emilie H. Watts, in memory of her late
husband, Thomas M. Watts, who served as a Marine and was the recipient
of a Purple Heart.