Museum Distance Learning Manager Chrissy Gregg and Richard Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle, kick off an online learning series dedicated to the 75th anniversary of a pivotal battle in the Pacific war. 

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. 

Pomroy saw some of the fiercest, most brutal fighting of World War II at Guadalcanal.

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. 
 

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. 

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.