US Marine Corps in the Second World War

The United States Marine Corps played a leading role in the war against Japan from Pearl Harbor in December 1941 until VJ Day on September 2, 1945. Living up to its motto the "First to Fight," the 1st Marine Division landed on the Japanese—occupied island of Guadalcanal in the south Pacific on August 7, 1942 and fought its way up the central Solomon Island to Cape Gloucester in the territory of New Guinea.

In November 1943, the Marine Corps captured Tarawa Atoll and so began their advance ac...