Pacific Theater
Combat Horror On Saipan
By David H. LippmanIn the high summer of 1944, the United States was coiling a massive fist in the Central Pacific aimed directly at the Mariana Islands, specifically Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. Read more
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Theater during World War II is generally regarded as the area of military confrontation between the Allied powers and Imperial Japan. The Pacific Theater consists of the entire operational expanse of the war from the Aleutian Islands in the north to Australia in the south, including island chains such as the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas. The China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater is also considered a major component of the Pacific Theater.
Pacific Theater
First Battle of Savo Island: The U.S. Navy’s Worst Defeat
By Eric HammelA United States naval task force bearing the U.S. 1st Marine Division arrived off Guadalcanal, in the eastern Solomon Islands, on the morning of August 7, 1942, and launched the first American offensive operation of World War II. Read more
Pacific Theater
Demise of the Japanese Navy
By Christopher MiskimonThe Japanese superbattleship Musashi was steaming east along with a fleet of other battleships, cruisers, and destroyers on their way toward what was expected to be a climactic battle at Leyte Gulf. Read more
Pacific Theater
Sgt. John Basilone: Marine Hero of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima
By Fred L. Borch & Robert F. Dorr“Banzai! Banzai!” screamed the Japanese at the top of their lungs as they launched a ferocious night attack against Marines dug in on Guadalcanal. Read more
Pacific Theater
The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center
By Borden BlackThe American Infantry’s illustrious history, which is older than that of the country, comes alive in an impressive, $100,000,000, 190,000-square-foot museum located just outside Fort Benning, Georgia. Read more
Pacific Theater
The Arisaka Rifle: Weapons for the Imperial Japanese Army Way of War
By Jon DiamondAs militarism grew in Japan in the early 1930s, conscription began at the age of 19, and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) cadet entered military service. Read more
Pacific Theater
WWII Aircraft: Nakajima Ki-43
By Patrick J. ChaissonAt the start of World War II, Japanese airpower ruled the skies over China and the Pacific. Read more
Pacific Theater
Coming of Age at Tarawa
By Nick CarielloIt was with great anticipation that I sprang up the snowy steps of a Milwaukee building in January 1942 and entered the Marine Corps Recruitment Center. Read more
Pacific Theater
NA-16 Wirraway: From Trainer to Fighter
By Glenn BarnettBy the mid-1930s many people in Australia were concerned that if war came to Europe that Great Britain would not be able to come to their defense against a growing and aggressive Japanese Empire. Read more
Pacific Theater
Raid on Darwin: Australia’s Pearl Harbor
By Arnold BlumbergThe sun was just rising and the day promised clear skies overhead. Since 5 am maintenance crews had been running the engines, making last minute adjustments, and arming the scores of aircraft sitting on the steel flight deck of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. Read more
Pacific Theater
Faces of the U.S. Marine Corps
By Eric HammelNoted chronicler of the Pacific Theater Eric Hammel recently spent three years sorting, scanning, cleaning, selecting, and captioning United States Marine Corps World War II photos for six pictorial books. Read more
Pacific Theater
Heroic Airacobras of the Cactus Air Force
By Patrick J. ChaissonShortly after 11 am on August 22, 1942, the roar of aircraft engines shattered the stillness over Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. Read more
Pacific Theater
Bernard Fergusson: Black Watch in the Chindit Campaign
By Jon DiamondBernard Edward Fergusson was born on May 6, 1911, and completed his public school education at Eton. A graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, he received his commission into the Black Watch Regiment. Read more
Pacific Theater
Rock Force Assault: MacArthur’s Invasion of Corregidor
By Gene. E SaleckerAmong the many objectives facing General Douglas MacArthur on his return to the main Philippine island of Luzon in 1945 was the recapture of the tiny island of Corregidor. Read more
Pacific Theater
Midnight Raid in Iron Bottom Sound
By John DomagalskiShortland Harbor was bustling with activity during the late morning hours of December 7, 1942. A group of warships were slowly getting underway, making for the open sea. Read more
Pacific Theater
Battle of Makin: Amphibious Assault on the Gilbert Islands
By Patrick J. ChaissonMakin should have been a pushover. On November 20, 1943, a force of 3,500 highly trained American soldiers invaded this Central Pacific atoll located 2,000 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Gilbert Islands. Read more
Pacific Theater
Leslie ‘Dick’ Groves: The Manhattan Project General
By George Davenport Jr.By the spring of 1945, the outcome of World War II was not in serious doubt. What was in serious doubt was the number of casualties that would eventually be required to bring the war to a successful conclusion. Read more
Pacific Theater
Joseph Bale: Naval Ensign at Iwo Jima
By Matt Broggie“There’s no greater feeling in the world than seeing Old Glory in a winning position.” Twenty-one-year-old U.S. Navy Ensign Joseph Bale watched the American flag raising on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi from aboard the attack transport USS Dickens County Texas. Read more
Pacific Theater
“The War Between the Smiths”: High Command Feud at Saipan
By David LippmanThe ferocious battle for the island of Saipan in the Marianas was won by U.S. Marines and U.S. Read more
Pacific Theater
Defending Bataan
By Arnold BlumbergIn 1941, the Philippine Islands, 7,000 in number, an American-controlled mandate, formed a natural barrier between Japan and the rich resources of East and Southeast Asia. Read more
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WWII
Battle of Reipertswiller: The 157th Infantry’s Heroic Stand During Operation Nordwind
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