A US Navy sailor survives off of Guadalcanal thanks to a life belt with a remarkable connection to home. 

The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers.

After a Japanese torpedo attack, a heavy cruiser survives to fight again -- with the help of a temporary bow fashioned from a tropical tree trunk. 

Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle (1990); Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire (1999); and MacArthur (2007); lectures on the decisive battles of the Pacific war.  

The August 1942 landing on Guadalcanal was a colossal improvisation, concocted on the fly to take advantage of a recent dramatic turn in the Pacific war. 
 

After the US strategic victories at the Battles of the Coral Sea (May 7–8, 1942) and Midway (June 4–7, 1942), the Japanese Imperial Navy was no longer capable of major offensive campaigns, which permitted the Allies to start their own offensive in the Pacific.

On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, severely damaging the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war.

In 1945, US forces bounded forward in the central Pacific as combat reached ever bloodier crescendos.

On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, decimating the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war. 

One of Japan’s main goals during World War II was to remove the United States as a Pacific power in order to gain territory in east Asia and the southwest Pacific islands. Japan hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and use Midway as a base to attack Pearl Harbor, securing dominance in the region and then forcing a negotiated peace.