Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal

I almost didn't buy this book; primarily because the dust cover made it appear to be rather juvenile. That would have been a serious mistake, however, for there is nothing juvenile about this book. Based on the recollections of numerous fighter pilots, recently returned from Guadalcanal, it is interesting, informative and action packed. Beyond that, and based upon its content, the book should be of some historical importance. For, rather than being based on some modern day historian's, most likely politically correct, interpretation of what he or she thinks may have happened there and why, you can read (many times in their own words) what these men saw; what they thought, felt, and experienced; and what really took place on and above Guadalcanal. Some younger readers may take issue with this book and the way it is written, for there can be no doubt that it is biased toward the Americans who fought there and against the Japanese. But being somewhat of that vintage, the book brought back a host of memories to me. I can still remember, for example, how the American people felt about the Japanese after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. I can even recall a Chinese man in San Francisco being murdered simply because someone mistook him for a "Jap." As one pilot in this book put it, "About the most honorable thing a Jap can do is die. And I hope that they keep right on feeling that way." And that was the way most Americans felt at the time. So, if you want to read an exciting story about a battle long past and get a feel for what people felt at that time, this would be a good place to start.

Max Brand's daughter, Jane Faust, did the community a favor by publishing her father's manuscript some 50+ years after it was written. This is as close to the bone and to the source of history the as you can get, not clouded by the 20-20 hindsight of 'historians'. This account describes the perilous work to establish a foothold for bases in the South Pacific in the days soon following the attack on Pearl Harbor. This was imperative for the U.S. and its allies to establish bases to keep the Japanese from taking the entire Pacific area, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. This exact and precise description is how VMF 212 Fighter Squadron's C.O. Joe Bauer recruited and trained his pilots to the standard of those who followed including Boyington (VMF 214), Blackburn (VF 17), and Morrell (VMF 216).

This book is a snap shot in time from the mouths of the Marines who made the history of Guadalcanal. The author compiled the story of the legendary 212th Marine Fighter Squadron by interviewing members of the squadron on leave in California. Because many of the pilots, and the author himself, returned to fight and die in combat their accounts of battle are true history undilluted by editors and contemporary cultural bias. This is a great story of triumph over adversity. Of Marines cutting an airstrip out of the jungle while fighting off mosquitos, monsoons, malaria and the Japanese. Don't expect War and Peace; the author cuts right to the point and tells the story in a journalistic "war correspondent" style. But as a Marine, that's how I think the boys on Guadalcanal would have wanted their stories told. Semper Fi.

Fascinating account of Guadacanal activity written by the author of Dr. Kildare series. He was killed in Italy during WWII, but had already written drafts of the book which had been constructed from interviews. His family had the book published in the 1990s. The fighter squadron was sent to a small island south of Guadacanal in Spring, 1942. The landing strip had to be prepared, etc. from the jungle. Later, it entered the Guadacanal campaign and was assigned to Henderson field. Well-told details of logistic problems, leadership, courage, and tragedies centered around this one squadron of fighter planes. Excellent for a WWII buff interested in the trials of that first year of WWII.

An excellent source of inspiration for Marine Aviators. I was touched by the courage of those brave men and any reader who thinks that the book was merely war driven propaganda knows very little about US Marines. The resolve and selflessness of the men of the Cactus Air Force parrallelled that of the Spartans at Thermopylae.