On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, join Charles Neimeyer, PhD, as he discusses the history of the US Marine Corps and its ties to this defining battle. Neimeyer recently retired as Director of Marine Corps History and the Gray Research Center at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia.

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.

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 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.

The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal

Part Three: The Final Offenses and Legacy of Guadalcanal

Tenney was a tank commander with the 192nd Tank Battalion, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, and a dear friend of The National WWII Museum.

Dr. Rob Citino highlights the moments of celebration, as well as realization of the repercussions that followed Allied victory and the end of World War II.

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

The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal

Part One: Guadalcanal—An Overview

The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal

Part Two: The Naval Battles of Guadalcanal