April 26 2025

Dystopic Newsletter

A Postcard from the South Pacific- Part 2 Guadalcanal

Sunset Over the Southern Pacific 100 Miles Southeast of San Cristobal Island

We continue our journey across the South Pacific. I started this week with a day of relaxation and exploration far from civilization or the echoes of the Pacific War raging some 83 years ago. Our ship, the Paul Guaguin, quietly cruised through Milne Bay overnight, as we retraced our route past Ito Island through the narrow Ito channel under the mist and light rain of the equatorial Pacific wet season. We lie off the shore of Samarai Island, the former state capital of Milne Bay Province.

Samarai Island, Papua New Guinea

Until 1968, Samarai Island was the prosperous capital of the Milne Bay Province, the easternmost province in Papua New Guinea. When the seat of government was moved to Alotau on the mainland, both the jobs and the wealthy residents abandoned the island. Neglect and the decay of the jungle over the decades slowly destroyed what was once an island paradise. Paved roads once lined with island colonial villas were slowly taken over by jungle vegetation. The government docks and the warehouses that lined the quay were slowly destroyed by wind, rain, and the occasional cyclone. Even the library, left unattended, had its roof collapse, and the interior was decaying with mold and mildew. The primary school, the lone public building, remained functional to teach the children of the poor fisherfolk, the sole inhabitants of the once bustling Island.

Samurai Island is a metaphor for much of the Pacific. The islands strung across thousands of miles were once idyllic, lightly populated backwaters. Their indigenous people were content in the simple life offered by the sea, the palms, banana trees, mangoes, and the verdant tropical vegetation. In an instant, the tropical paradise idolized by James Michener in his books, Tales of the South Pacific and Return to Paradise, and the art of our ship's namesake, Paul Gauguin, were gone. Never to return.

World War 2 fell upon these islands and their inhabitants like a whirlwind. Small islands and atolls with communities of a few hundred people would be swarmed by the US and allied navies, whole cities erected in a few months, 10s of thousands of marines and sailors, along with their housing, equipment, and logistics, would swarm over these islands like a plague of locusts. The islands surrendered to the bulldozer, the airfield, and the qunset hut. The quiet sounds of wind through the palms and the tropical tropic rain of the banana trees were replaced by the roar of aircraft, the hum of machines, and finally the sounds of modern war, machine guns, and artillery. The islands and their people were forever changed by thet encroachment of the modern Western world.

Just as swiftly, the war ended, and when it did, the military personnel and the Navy ships, everything, simply vanished. The islanders were left with machines and buildings, and they had neither the labor, inclination, nor the wealth to maintain. Over the decades, nature, through storms and tropical growth, slowly returns the islands back to their true form.

That was the lesson I took away from Samaria Island.

As the sun set, we weighed anchor for two days at sea and a trek of over 1000 Km. Our destination: Honiara, Guadalcanal, around which the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy waged a 6-month struggle for supremacy of the seas in the Solomon Islands Campaign of 1942.

At Sea, Enroute to the Port of Honiara, Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands

It is two days and over 1000 Km from Papua New Guinea to Guadalcanal. We proceed almost directly due East in calm winds and fair seas. A far cry from the rains and ocean swells we experienced as we skirted a Pacific Cyclone on our way to Papua New Guinea.

As we make way, we pass the islands of “Conflict Group” and the Louisiade Archipelago to our South and the New Britain, and the Bismarck Archipelago to our North. New Britain and its port city of Rabaul were once the largest Imperial Japanese Navy base in the South Pacific and will play a critical role later in this newsletter. But I digress…

We approached Guadalcanal from the North, passing between Cape Esperance, on the northern tip of Guadalcanal, and Pavuvu Island. We turn south as we clear Cape Esperance, passing Savo Island, and cross over “Iron Bottom Sound,” the famous underwater graveyard, to tens of sunken U.S. and IJN ships from the 1942 battles of Cape Esperance and Savo Island. A few hours later, we make port in Honiara, Guadalcanal, home of the fabled Henderson Field, the marine airbase that was the epicenter of 6 months of war on land and on the seas between the U.S. and Japan. The “Solomon Island Campaign,” whose outcome would determine control of the South Pacific.

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It is also where my father, U.S. Naval Aviator John Struhsaker, begins his story as he enters service in World War 2 during the Guadalcanal Campaign. At one point in the campaign, he was forced to ditch his damaged plane and spend over a day fending off sharks before being rescued by a Catalina float plane. A squadron mate who ditched nearby and was not so lucky. My father watched helplessly as sharks did their work.

My father rarely ever spoke of the war. Most veterans of that era rarely spoke of the war experience. The ghosts of the past are sometimes left buried. When the war ended, he never flew again. “The war killed all the joy of flying for me,” he once told me in a rare moment of reflection about those days towards the end of his life.

Port of Honiara, Guadalcanal

The Paul Gauguin rounded the northern tip of Guadalcanal, sailing down Iron Bottom Sound as we passed Savo Island. Beneath our path lie the graveyard of at least 40 ships sunk in the Battle of Savo Island and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. It was midday, and there would be light tropical rain all day as my wife, Mindy, and I disembarked for a four-hour trip to the major war memorials on Guadalcanal.

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Honiara is a bustling port town with a population of roughly 120,000 people. A single main road, Honiara-Aola road, built by the British in the 1950s, connects the major towns around Guadalcanal, traversing about 2/3 of the outer edge of the island. Civilization exists within a mile of the ocean. The center of the island is rugged jungle, so deep and dense that not even the natives bother to develop or live there.

Bloody Ridge National Park

It takes us about an hour through a waterfront traffic jam and then a nearly Impassable, rough, hilly road to reach Bloody Ridge National Park. Bloody Ridge was a site of major combat where the US First Marine Division, led by Lieutenant Colonel Merritt "Red Mike" Edson, fought off the Japanese attack to recapture Henderson Field. The 3000-soldier-strong Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi crossed the Lunge River, assaulting hill #1 for nearly three days, September 12 to 14, 1942.

The HBO miniseries The Pacific depicted the horrific three-day fight and the heroics of John Basilone. Basilone used a machine gun and a pistol to kill 38 of the enemy from his emplacement and earn the nation's highest military decoration. He would later be killed in action in Iwo Jima.

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In 1942, the Marines stripped the hill of vegetation. They created a series of emplacements for machine guns and gun positions. Today, the jungle has covered and filled all those Marine positions. As I stood there and looked at Hill #1, it was unfathomable to understand why the Japanese would attack those heights with the Marines fully entrenched. It was suicide. An almost insane bloodbath. Seeing it in person, it is hard to believe the degree of carnage that took place over a space of a few football fields. The green space, pictured below, would have been stacked with the nearly 800 Japanese dead… Sobering

Henderson Field – Honiara International Airport

We leave Bloody Ridge, the tropical rain seeming to me as tears from heaven, weeping for the dead, and make our way to Henderson Field.

Henderson Field was the epicenter of the six months of cataclysmic fighting for control of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. During the entire campaign, the airfield would be attacked almost daily from the air, from the ground, or from the sea by naval bombardment. The stories of the Marines who protected the field and Marine aviators of the “Cactus Air Force” who flew from it are the stuff of legends.

The airfield never shut down. Today, it is the island's major airport, Honiara International Airport. The only historical reminders of those terrible days in 1942 are a small plaque inside the airport, a captured 75mm Japanese anti-aircraft gun, and a memorial garden.

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In 1942, the marines and airmen killed in combat were laid to rest in a temporary graveyard towards the end of runway #1. In 1947, the dead were exhumed and moved to a permanent National Memorial Cemetery in Fiji. A Memorial Park was built over the site of the graveyard. At the sight of each grave, a tree and a small plaque naming the deceased were placed. The trees have grown quite large, forming a peaceful wooden cathedral honoring the dead. My pictures below do not do justice to this monument to the bravery of these men and women and their sacrifice 83 years ago. The dead included several of my father's close friends whose names he never shared with me.

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US Guadalcanal Memorial

Our tour ended with a stop at the US Guadalcanal Memorial. A series of giant pink granite monoliths set at the top of a bluff overlooking Honiara Harbor, Iron Bottom Sound, and Savo Island. Each of the monoliths was inscribed with descriptions of the naval and marine battles that took place from August through November of 1942. One set of monoliths tallied the lost and damaged ships and the number of combatants killed in action in the campaign.

Despite the tropical rains, the view was breathtaking. The memorial left a deep impression that I will long remember.

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It was time to head back to the ship. We have two days of sailing to reach Espiritu Santo. Which will be the subject of next week’s final postcard from the Pacific.

Most of you reading this have little knowledge of the Guadalcanal Campaign. The war has been reduced to Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Since this is Dystopic, and my goal is to give you the details behind the story, I present you with a brief history of the Guadalcanal Campaign … I hope you find it interesting!

The Solomon Islands Campaign (aka Guadalcanal Campaign), August to November 1942

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You can read more about the evolution of the U.S. Pacific war strategy HERE​

With the U.S. victories in May at Coral Sea and in June at Midway, the U.S. Navy and Marines could finally go on the offensive. After a few months of repair and refit, the U.S launched Operation Watchtower, the amphibious assault and capture of Guadalcanal. On August 7, 1942, approximately 11,000 U.S. Marines from the 1st Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal. Within 36 hours, the marines seized both the airfield, later renamed “Henderson Field,” and the harbor on Florida Island.

This operation was part of the broader Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal. The United States Marines also nicknamed the operation "Operation Shoestring,” because of all the resupply and reinforcement they suffered over 6 months of brutal Naval battles, intent on destroying the supply lines of both combatants.

Within days, on August 9^th, the Imperial Japanese Navy, intent on obliterating the Allied landing force and fleet, counterattacked in what would be known as the Battle of Savo Island. This would be the first 5 major Naval battles that would ensue over the next 6 months, including:

• Battle of Savo Island (August 9, 1942)
• Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 23-25, 1942)
• Battle of Cape Esperance (October 11-12, 1942)
• Battle of Santa Cruz Islands (October 26, 1942)
• Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 12-15, 1942)

In addition, on September 15, 1942, Japanese submarine I-19 quickly fired six long-range torpedoes at the U.S. carrier WASP, which, along with her escorts, 350 south east of Guadalcanal. Three torpedoes struck their target, causing such damage that the task force commander ordered WASP to be sunk that night. The remaining three torpedoes raced on across several miles into a second carrier force. One torpedo slammed into the U.S. destroyer O’Brien, which would break up several weeks later due to severe hull damage.

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The U.S. Marine 1^st Division's initial invasion force of 10,0000 faced incredibly stiff resistance from the entrenched Japanese force, which grew to nearly 22,000 combatants, outnumbering the Marines 2 to 1. Here is a list of major Marine engagements during the campaign:

• Amphibious Landings and capture of Henderson Field, August 7-8, 1942
• Battle of Tenaru (Ilu River), August 23-25, 1942. The Marines repulse a major Japanese counterattack
• Battle of Edson's Ridge (Bloody Ridge), September 12-14, 1942. The Marines defend against a second strong Japanese counterattack

The fighting during the Guadalcanal Campaign was brutal, resulting in the following naval losses:

The Allies lost approximately 29 ships, including 2 fleet carriers, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 17 destroyers. Total Allied losses were approximately 7,100 men, 29 ships, and 615 aircraft

• USS Wasp Torpedoed by Submarine in September 1942
• USS Hornet sunk in the battel of Santa Cruz Islands
• USS Enterprise: Suffered serious damage from a bomb explosion in the flight deck during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, 1942.

The Japanese lost about 38 ships, including 1 light carrier, 2 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, and 11 destroyers. The Japanese lost 31,000 men, 38 ships, and 683 aircraft.

• The light carrier Ryujo was lost in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons

From the conclusion of Neptune’s Inferno, The US Navy at Guadalcanal by David Hornfischer …
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You can read more about the Guadalcanal Campaign HERE​

For an in-depth view of the naval battles, I recommend David Hornfischer’s book, Neptune’s Inferno. You can find the Book HERE​

Another excellent book on the Pacific Naval Campaign is Thomas McKelvey Cleaver’s Pacific Thunder: The US Navy's Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943–October 1944. You can find the Book HERE​

The marine explorer Robert Ballard‘s stunning underwater photographs of World War 2 Pacific wrecks are not to be missed in his book, Graveyards of the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Bikini Island. You can find the book HERE​

Let’s take a closer look at each of the major naval engagements of the Guadalcanal campaign.

The Battle of Savo Island – August 9, 1942

The Battle of Savo Island occurred early in the morning on 9 August 1942 when the Japanese 8^th Fleet surprised the Allied Task Force shortly after the landing at Guadalcanal. In approximately 37 minutes, the Japanese Navy destroyed four Allied heavy cruisers, the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, and three American heavy cruisers, USS Quincy, USS Vincennes, and USS Astoria. After this battle, the Savo Sound gained the nickname “Iron Bottom Sound.”

Strategically, the battle resulted in significant losses for the Allies, particularly the US Navy. However, the Imperial Japanese Navy, commanded by Admiral Mikawa, failed to exploit this victory by attacking the unprotected Allied transports.

After the disastrous Savo Island battle, Admiral Bill “Bull” Halsey replaced Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley as the commander of the South Pacific forces. Admiral Chester Nimitz, CINCPAC (Commander-in-Chief Pacific), relieved Admiral Robert primarily due to Ghormley's perceived lack of leadership and engagement in the Guadalcanal campaign. Ghormley's command was viewed as lackluster, his reports were pessimistic, and he was criticized for being distanced from the front lines and failing to oversee the conflict personally.

Halsey would be credited for hands-on post-battle assessment and adoption of a series of tactical and training improvements, especially the use of RADAR, that quickly turned the naval situation around during this critical period of the war.

Learn more about the Battle of Savo Island HERE​

Battle of the Eastern Solomons - August 23-25, 1942

What started out as a series of U.S. carrier sorties to interdict the famed “Tokyo Express,” the Japanese Guadalcanal resupply convoys operating out of the Japanese base at Truk, turned into the third major aircraft carrier battle of the Pacific following Coral Sea and Midway. The U.S. carriers Saratoga, Enterprise, and Wasp would face off against the Imperial Japanese carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and the light carrier Ryūjō. In a case of bad timing, Admiral Fletcher detached the Wasp, which was getting low on fuel, and the rest of TF 18 for the two-day trip south toward Efate Island to refuel just before the Japanese forces were detected.

U.S. scout planes detected the light carrier Ryūjō. The Saratoga launched a strike of 38 aircraft from Saratoga to attack Ryūjō. This first U.S wave severely damaged Ryūjō. She would be abandoned and torpeedoded by the Japanese to prevent her capture. At nearly the same time, the Japanese sited the USS Enterprise task force and launched an air attack from the Shōkaku and Zuikaku. The Enterprise would take three direct hits. Although Enterprise was heavily damaged and on fire, her damage-control teams were able to make sufficient repairs for the ship to resume flight operations only one hour after the Japanese attack ended.

The Japanese, believing they had hit and destroyed two U.S. carriers, continued their resupply mission. At the same time, the main Japanese battle fleet withdrew out of range of the marine aviation forces from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. Likewise, Admiral Fletcher retired to the south to get out of range of any approaching Japanese warships.

The next day, it was the Marines and a handful of Naval aviators, forced to land on the island the previous night, flying from Henderson Field, that concluded the battle. Sinking a destroyer (Mutsuki) and a troop transport (Kinryu Maru). The U.S. air group heavily damaged the destroyer Jintsu while mauling most of the Japanese transport.

The battle was a tactical and strategic win for the U.S. Navy. Nearly 6 weeks would pass before the next major battle.

You can read more about the Battle of the Eastern Solomons HERE​

Battle of Cape Esperance, October 11-12, 1942

On October 11, 1942, a Japanese Navy resupply convoy under the command of Vice Admiral Aritomo Gotō, head of IJN ( Imperial Japanese Navy) Cruiser Division 6, departed the Japanese base at Shortland via "The Slot" bound for Guadalcanal. The convoy’s orders were to drop supplies and then make a shore bombardment run at U.S. Marine positions on Guadalcanal

Close to midnight, a U.S. Navy (USN) force of four cruisers: USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), USS Boise (CL-47), USS Helena (CL-50) and USS San Francisco (CA-38) and five destroyers, under the command of Rear Admiral Norman Scott, intercepted Admiral Gotō's force as it approached Savo Island. The Americans took the Japanese by surprise and sank the Heavy Cruiser Furutaka and the Destroyer Fubuki. The Heavy Cruiser Aoba was also heavily damaged, with Admiral Gotō aboard mortally wounded in the attack. Afterwards, the remainder of Gotō's force abandons their shore bombardment mission and retreats. On the American side, USS Duncan (DD-485) was hit by naval gunfire and later sank. One cruiser (Boise) and another destroyer were heavily damaged.

This surface ship-only engagement was a tactical and strategic victory for the U.S. Just as important was the moral and confidence boost the battle provided after the poor U.S. Navy performance at the defeat of Savo Island 3 months earlier

You can read more about the Battle of Cape Esperance HERE​

Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, October 26, 1942

The battle took place amidst the ongoing Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal, where the Japanese army was trying to capture Henderson Field. The Japanese naval forces were positioned in the southern Solomons, hoping to draw out and defeat Allied naval forces.

On 15 September, Wasp was hit by three torpedoes fired by Japanese submarine I-19 while supporting a major reinforcement and resupply convoy to Guadalcanal and almost engaging the Japanese carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku, which withdrew just before the two adversaries came into range of each other's aircraft

With the Wasp lost, the U.S. fleet sortied from Espititu Santu with only two carriers, the Hornet (CV-8) and the Enterprise (CV-6). The outnumbered U.S. task force faced five IJN carriers: the fleet carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, Hiyō and Jun'yō, and the light carrier Zuihō, as well as the fleet carriers Hiyō and Jun'yō.

The battle began on October 25th when a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina located the Japanese force just beyond the range of carrier aircraft. The U.S. carriers steamed towards the contact and launched carrier aircraft less than 3 hours after initial contact. The American first wave failed to locate the enemy because the Japanese had turned to the north to stay out of range and returned to their carriers.

The next day, October 26^th, both fleets had located each other before dawn, and the fleets closed the distance to launch their respective strikes. By midmorning, the Hornet on the U.S. side had been fatally wounded and had to be abandoned. Mean while, the U.S. carrier strikes had severely damaged two IJN carriers Zuihō and Shōkaku. Perhaps the biggest loss for the Japanese was the 99 aircraft destroyed and the 400-500 air crew members were killed or missing in the battle.

During the battle, USS Enterprise (CV-6) was hit twice by bombs and suffered 44 Killed In Action (KIA) and 75 Wounded In Action (WIA). Despite serious damage, she remained in action and landed aircraft from USS Hornet (CV-8) when the carrier was damaged and abandoned.

At the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the US Navy lost the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) and the destroyer USS Porter (DD-356). Additionally, the US fleet carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) was heavily damaged.

The Japanese Imperial Navy also suffered losses, including damage to the carriers Shokaku and Zuiho, damage to the heavy cruiser Chikuma, and the loss of the destroyer Terutsuk.

The battle can be viewed as a tactical Japanese victory as they sank the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet and badly damaged another, USS Enterprise, while only suffering heavy damage to carriers Shōkaku and Zuihō in return. In strategic terms, however, it was ultimately a victory for the United States, as the Japanese failed in their objective to destroy American forces on and around Guadalcanal and suffered significant losses of experienced air crews.

Your can read more about the Battle of Santa Cruz HERE​

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12-15, 1942

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was not a single battle but a series of battles fought over a four-day period from November 12 to 15, 1942. The battle was fought by air forces from both U.S. carriers and Henderson Field, Navy surface action, and finally, the Marine ground forces against Japanese forces.

We can briefly summarize the action as follows:

• IJN launches a two-prong “Tokyo Express” mission to gain control of Guadalcanal. Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka leads a supply mission of high-speed transports and escort destroyers carrying 10,000 infantry to rout the Marines on Guadalcanal once and for all. Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe led a raiding force of Battleships and Cruisers to pound Henderson Field and the surrounding Marine positions to support the land attack.
• Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner's resupply mission. At the same time as the IJN mission, Turner leads Task Force 62, two heavily escorted U.S. transport groups, at the same time as the IJN mission
• Japanese Force Detected, 12 November. Air patrols reported powerful enemy forces moving toward Guadalcanal. Turner seized the opportunity to prepare a surprise. Despite facing a superior Japanese force having at least two battleships, Turner dispatches his entire force of cruisers and destroyers to protect Henderson Field under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan (Task Force 67.2)
• Cruiser Night Action, 13 November. Rear Admiral Callaghan‘s Task Force 67.2 contained 13 vessels: the heavy cruisers Portland (CA-33) and San Francisco (CA-38), light cruisers Atlanta (CL-51), Helena (CL-50), and Juneau (CL-52), and eight destroyers. The U.S. force was completely outgunned by the Japanese raiding force. IJN Admiral Abe’s raiding group consisted of the battleships Hiei and Kirishima, light cruiser Nagara, and 14 destroyers. U.S. cruisers would be taking on Japanese battleships. RADAR and the revised training Halsey implemented across the fleet would make their mark that night. Radar contact was made at 0124- Firing began at virtually point-blank range—less than a mile—at 0145, and the opposing formations held head-on courses to pass through one another in the fiercest since the age of fighting sail. In the end, Callahan and his second in command would be KIA along with 687 U.S. sailors, including the famous 5 Sullivan Brothers. The U.S. lost the cruisers USS Atlanta and USS Juneau, along with four destroyers, while the Japanese lost the battleship Hiei and three destroyers. Additionally, the Japanese battleship Kirishima was sunk in a later engagement.

Admiral Raymond Spruance credited Kelly Turner as foremost among those making courageous decisions prior to November 13:

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• Air Action, 14 November. Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka's supply mission of high-speed transports and escort destroyers is spotted heading for Guadalcanal. Air attacks from both Henderson and carriers sank one of the six cruisers in IJN supply mission, and three other cruisers were damaged, one severely. At the same time, six of Tanaka’s 11 transports were destroyed, and another was hit so badly that it had to turn back. Still, despite being mauled and at half strength, the Japanese supply convoy continued on.
• Battleship Night Action, 14-15 November: The climactic end of the battle of Guadalcanal would pit Admiral Halsey’s Enterprise (CV-6) task force, supported by Rear Admiral Willis Augustus "Ching" Lee’s surface force of the new battleships South Dakota (BB-57) and Washington (BB-56) and four destroyers against IJN’s Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo, commanding the Combined Fleet’s Advanced Force defding the reamianing supply transports. Kondo took personal command of the Japanese advanced force, which included the battleship Kirishima, heavy cruisers Atago (Kondo’s flagship) and Takao, two light cruisers, and nine destroyers. Just before midnight on the 14^th, the first fight between opposing battleships started when the South Dakota (BB-57) and Washington (BB-56) opened fire with their 16-inch main guns. When the dust cleared, less than 90 minutes later, South Dakota (BB-75) had been heavily damaged, two U.S. destroyers had been sunk, and a third was slowly sinking. On the Japanese side, the battleship Kirishima and a Japanese destroyer had taken so much punishment that they had to be scuttled. Kondo’s advanced fleet was forced to retire or face carrier air strikes at dawn.

So ended the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. At a cost of two battleships, a heavy cruiser, three destroyers, and the loss of 8,000 of the 10,000 troops,, the Japanese had taken both a tactical and strategic loss. So much so that on 12 December, the navy formally recommended abandoning the struggle for the island, and on the last day of the year Imperial General Headquarters directed a staged evacuation, which took place on 1-8 February 1943.

I hope this brief summary filled you in on the details of the most pivotal point in the Pacific War. The battles of Midway and Coral Sea had set the stage, but it was the Marines and Navy over six months of living hell that turned the tide. In the process, I lost my uncle, and I’m certain the experience of those days left permanent scars that forever bedeviled my father.

As for me … I’m still processing all that I have seen. Recording all of this, so we do not forget that sacrifice made by so many 83 years ago is part of that “processing”

You can read more about the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal HERE​

Epilogue

The Paul Gauguin exited “the Slot,” passing the southern tip of San Cristobal island at 2 PM Friday, April 25th, and entered the wide expanse of the Southern Pacific. We have two days at sea to cover over 1000 Km. We will have a day of “R&R”, rest and relaxation, on what is considered one of the 10 most beautiful beaches on the planet, Champagne Beach on the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.

I hope you enjoyed this special addition of Dystopic. Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone and everyone who is interested. As always, free of charge and free of advertisements. My aim is to enlighten, and your support is all the payment I could hope for,

Until Next Week ... Our Final Postcard from the South Pacific

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