Guadalcanal--the Island of Fire

Book excerpt: Here is one fighter pilot's view of the bitterly fought struggle that began just eight months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Poorly equipped and low on rations, with low fuel supplies, inferior equipment, and uncertain support from the rear, the beleaguered Americans somehow maintained a precarious toehold on this strategically located island. A gripping account of the "six desperate months of combat" at Guadalcanal, Robert Lawrence Ferguson tells the story of the Army's 67th Fighter Squadron, the "Fighting Cocks, " or "Game Cocks." Eventually becoming the 347th Fighter Group, the squadron was attached to the last 1st Marine Corps division. These pilots gave air support to Marine and Army infantry forces with bombing and staffing runs that led to defeat of the Japanese at Guadalcanal over several months in 1942.