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.
Join participants in the first cohort of the Museum's WWII Summer Teacher Institute as historian/author Richard B. Frank surveys the pivotal time period between the attack on Pearl Harbor and February 1943, including the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Browse the Summer Teacher Institute curriculum guide content here.
Read more about Guadalcanal here and here.
Studying the war in the Pacific with The National WWII Museum.
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.
The USS Stewart, a Clemson-class destroyer, earned the nickname after having the unique distinction of serving under both the American and Imperial Japanese navies during World War II.
While becoming an "ace" pilot requires a number of finely honed skills and exceptional aeronautical ability, it is even harder to achieve this status in only one day.
With Japan on the strategic defensive and her combat power waning, another fleet moving against the island nation also felt the wrath of Mother Nature.
The remains of Private Randolph Ray Edwards were identified and accounted for more than 80 years after his death.
In her September 16, 1943, My Day column, Eleanor Roosevelt reflects on her visit to Guadalcanal, where she witnessed the lasting impact of the sacrifices made by US soldiers.
Underscoring its ferocity, future commandant of the Marine Corps General Clifton Cates argued that “the fight for Peleliu was one of the most vicious and stubbornly defended battles of the war.”
While Peleliu remains a fixture of Pacific war memory, Morotai is overlooked and virtually forgotten in histories of the Pacific theater.
World War II was a global conflict involving nearly every country in the world. But who was on each side—and why?