Introduction

Two military-school graduates, one from America and the other from Japan, clashed in the tiny little island called Guadalcanal—so tiny that it could not even be seen on most maps. Nobody knew the bloody battle in Guadalcanal would turn the tide of the war in the Pacific Fleet.

William Halsey, Jr.

The admiral who led the Allied Force offensive to capture the islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi was William Halsey. Halsey graduated from the Naval Academy in 1904 and was soon assigned to USS Missouri. He was transferred to different battleships—most of them were destroyers—many times. During the World War I, Halsey was ordered as Naval Attache at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany; later, he was ordered as Naval Attache at the American Embassies in Christiana, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden. In October 1942, he was appointed as Commander South Pacific Forces and South Pacific Area. He assumed the command of the South Pacific Area during the offensive operations of the U.S. Forces. As such, he operated successfully against the Japanese in the Palaies, Philippines, Guadalcanal, Formosa, Okinawa and South China Sea. Later, his forces struck the Japanese mainland and successfully forced Japanese to surrender.

Haruyoshi Hyakutate

General Haruyoshi Hyakutate is associated with one of the worst Japanese defeats. Hyakutate graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1909. In 1942, Hyakutate was appointed as Commander of the 17th Army based on Rabaul. He and his army was preparing to capture strategic locations in the South Pacific region including Port Moresby, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. However, the defeats at Battle of Midway and a few other battles forced Hyakutate to defend the Solomon Islands. Despite his desperate attempt to defend Guadalcanal, his army, weakened by inadequate supplies, was overrun by the Allied attack.

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