The Evening Star (August 7, 1946)
Editorial: Guadalcanal Day
It has been just four years since the First Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal to begin the great American counteroffensive in the Pacific, and to commemorate that momentous occasion the Marine Corps has designated August 7 as Guadalcanal Day. Other days will be selected as anniversary dates to memorialize different epochal phases in the winning of World War II. Some will be more deserving of public support than others, but there can hardly be any question that the anniversary of the day which marked the reversal of the tide of war in the Pacific deserves to be remembered.
Guadalcanal was a close thing. The Marines, supported by Marine raiders and paratroops, hit the beaches of Guadalcanal, Gavutu, Tanambogo and Tulagi under the welcome cover of a dawn fog. Recoiling from the impact of the initial assault, the Japanese withdrew into the hills, but they soon regained control of the sea and the air, leaving the Marines faced with the danger of being cut off from their source of supplies and threatened with a re-enactment of Bataan. So great was the gamble in the early stages of the offensive that the late President Roosevelt, at a press conference, sought to minimize the importance of Guadalcanal, saying, in effect, that it was just another island. The president knew, of course, that Guadalcanal was vitally important, but, not knowing whether the assault would succeed, he felt that he had to prepare the country against the possibility that the Marines might be driven Into the sea.
Thanks to their magnificent fighting qualities, however, that did not happen. After six months Guadalcanal was secured, and the American amphibious offensive, by far the greatest military achievement of its kind that the world has ever seen, was under way. Certainly the day which marked its beginning should not be forgotten.