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". . . this Reinforced Division not only
held their important strategic positions despite determined and
repeated Japanese naval, air and land attacks, but by a series of
offensive operations against strong enemy resistance drove the
Japanese from the proximity of the airfield and inflicted great
losses on them by land and air attacks. The courage and
determination displayed in these operations were of an inspiring
order." Presidential Unit Citation for the First Marine
Division, “Reinforced”
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This iconic image from the Battle of Guam testifies to the
strong bonds forged between the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard
over the course of World War II in the Pacific. (Photo from Coast
Guard Collection)
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Called “The
Canal” by the men who fought there, Guadalcanal was the first Allied
amphibious operation of the Pacific War and a laboratory for
analyzing the latest amphibious tactics and landing craft designs.
It was the first of the U.S. Navy’s famous “island-hopping”
operations and the first significant test of U.S. Marines against
experienced Japanese troops. It was also the campaign where the
Coast Guard forged a relationship with the Marine Corps that grew
stronger over the course of the war and continues to this day. The
two services fought side-by-side to defeat the enemy and a Coast
Guard coxswain or beachmaster was often the last comrade a marine
might see before hitting the beaches or marching into the jungle.
With its lush foliage and tropical waters, Guadalcanal was a
picturesque contrast of deep green and azure blue. But for all its
natural beauty, Guadalcanal was a fearful place to fight a war. On
the Canal, the Americans battled two enemies–the Japanese and the
jungle. In late summer and early fall, the island boasted a steamy
climate with searing temperatures and monsoon rains. Man-eating
sharks and saltwater crocodiles patrolled the local waters. Top it
off with swarms of disease-ridden mosquitoes carrying dengue fever,
malaria and yellow fever and its clear why Marines called
Guadalcanal “the green hell.”
Before the start of World War
II, American military tacticians foresaw the need to develop an
amphibious capability. In the spring of 1941, the Navy began
preparations for large-scale beach landing operations. It formed
Transport Division Seven out of former U.S. Army troop transports,
including the Coast Guard-manned USS Hunter Liggett, USS Leonard
Wood and USS Arthur Middleton. The planners also conscripted Coast
Guard boatswains, coxswains and surfmen to take advantage of the
service’s beach and surf-zone expertise.
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Rare photograph of the USS Hunter Liggett debarking troops
for the Guadalcanal landings. Notice the use of cargo derricks to
lower landing craft into the water. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo)
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By June 1941, the Navy began conducting amphibious training in
the Chesapeake Bay, near Solomons, Maryland, and on the North
Carolina coast at Onslow Bay. Coast Guard coxswains from boat
stations across the country reported for duty and demonstrated their
shallow water skills with landing craft. The stanza from a poem
composed by an anonymous Coast Guardsman aboard Hunter Liggett,
nicknamed “Lucky Liggett,” recounted the hectic training schedule
for the transport division at that time: “Some day will end this
squirrel race, and there’ll be many a smiling face, to see a cutter
take its place, in Trans Division Seven.”
During the spring
of 1942, the Japanese military juggernaut remained unstoppable in
the Pacific. By mid-summer, the enemy had captured Guam, Wake
Island, Hong Kong, Singapore, vast areas of China, the Philippines,
Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies as well as the Solomon
Islands. Earlier, in April, Allied naval strategists had decided to
make a stand in the Solomons at Tulagi Island, the capital of the
southern Solomons and the only significant settlement in the British
protectorate. The Japanese occupied the small island with a garrison
of 800 Imperial Japanese navy troops and used it as a seaplane base
for reconnaissance missions.
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A faded image of Marines landing on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942.
The Marines landing on Guadalcanal far outnumbered the unprepared
Japanese troops and civilian airfield workers on the island, so the
enemy fled for the cover of Guadalcanal’s jungle interior. (U.S.
Navy courtesy photo)
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Allied naval strategists later changed the Solomons assault plan
to include a large island located 20 miles west of Tulagi, after the
Japanese began building an airfield there. Named by Spanish
explorers for a town in Spain, the island of Guadalcanal featured an
8,000-foot mountain ridge stretching along its length. Enemy
aircraft flying from Guadalcanal could threaten Allied supply lines
to Australia and New Zealand. The remote island would prove one of
the farthest distances from home waters the Coast Guard had operated
since U.S. Revenue Cutter McCulloch fought in the 1898 Battle of
Manila Bay.
Beginning on Aug. 7, 1942, Coast Guardsmen served
alongside the Marines in the hard-fought battle for the island. They
operated a naval base of landing craft within the Marines’ defensive
perimeter ensuring the steady flow of fresh troops, supplies, and
equipment. Coast Guardsmen also volunteered to man Marine land
positions, serve artillery pieces and provide infantry support. And
when the Marines needed boats for reconnaissance, patrol and combat
missions, Coast Guard crews remained Semper Paratus, Always Ready.
Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman awarded the Medal of
Honor, received it posthumously for performing a traditional Coast
Guard mission—rescuing those who go in harm’s way and, in this case,
his boats rescued an ambushed Marine regiment at Pt. Cruz,
Guadalcanal.
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An artist's depiction of the NOB Cactus mission to save an ambushed Marine battalion at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal. Official recognition for this Coast Guard operation included a Medal of Honor, two Navy Crosses, and a number of Purple Hearts. Franklin D. Roosevelt later recognized all members of Dexter's Coast Guard unit with the Presidential Unit Citation as part of the First Marine Division. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy image.)
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By the end of 1942, the defeat of Japanese military
forces on the Canal appeared certain. U.S. Army units
relieved the Marines and, by February 1943, the U.S.
military declared Guadalcanal secured of Japanese forces.
However, Coast Guard blood would be spilled there once again
in 1945, when the Coast Guard-manned attack transport USS
Serpens carrying a full cargo of ammunition, and the
ordnance accidentally detonated while the ship lay anchored
offshore. The explosion disintegrated the ship killing
nearly 200 Coast Guardsmen. It proved the largest single
loss of life in Coast Guard history.
Coast Guard
personnel serving on the green hell distinguished themselves
in combat, making the campaign one of the most honored
combat operations in service history. President Franklin
Roosevelt awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) to
the “First Marine Division, Reinforced” with the word
“Reinforced” honoring support units, such as the Coast
Guardsmen serving on the island. In addition to the PUC
(which equates to the Navy Cross Medal on an individual
basis), various Coast Guardsmen received special honors.
These included the Purple Heart Medal, Navy Commendation
Medal, Silver Star Medal, and Navy Cross Medal, in addition
to Douglas Munro’s Medal of Honor. A number of these Coast
Guard heroes also became namesakes for military vessels and
Coast Guard cutters and installations, including the new
Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building in
Washington, D.C.
In the Pacific theater of
operations, the Coast Guard participated in all major
amphibious operations, including Tarawa, Saipan, Guam,
Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Coast Guardsmen also
operated hundreds of Army and Navy supply ships that
supported Allied troops and fighting fleets in the Pacific.
After the capitulation of the Japanese, Coast Guard-manned
ships participated in Operation “Magic Carpet,” transporting
thousands of troops home to the U.S.
During the
Guadalcanal Campaign, Coast Guardsmen lived up to the
service’s core values of honor, respect and devotion to
duty. After the hard-fought battle, the Allies would remain
on the offensive for the rest of the Pacific War while the
Japanese fought a lengthy retreat back to their home
islands.
By William H. Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian, USCG
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2017
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