It is one of the most difficult campaigns in the history of the Marine Corps, indeed in the history of war. Many books have chronicled the epic battle for Guadalcanal, yet all of them depended on the after-action report compiled by Merrill B. Twining. Here General Twining reveals that he put this report together in Australia while he was suffering from malaria.

He also lacked the 1st Marine Division operations log, which had been destroyed at a critical point in the battle to prevent its falling into Japanese hands. Because of these handicaps, the after-action report contained a number of shortcomings that have been repeated in all subsequent histories of Guadalcanal.

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Now, General Twining sets the record straight. As the division D-3 (operations officer), he was at the very center of the 1st Marine Division's valiant defense of Guadalcanal. He reports at first hand the momentous effects of Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher's decision to pull the navy away from the beleaguered island and leave the Marines to fend for themselves.

Twining reports on all the battles and skirmishes that comprised the campaign for Guadalcanal from August to December 1942, when the 1st Marine Division was relieved by fresh troops. He also recounts heroic actions of Marine aviators flying from Henderson Field that were vital to preserving the Leathernecks' toehold in the Pacific during the darkest days of the war.

1. In his foreword to the book, retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Victor H. "Brute" Krulak, himself a Guadalcanal veteran and one of the Corps's most revered Marines, explains the importance of the campaign and General Twining's contribution to it.