While the Guadalcanal campaign saw the vast majority of the heavy lifting done by the Marines, Army troops took part in the battles for Henderson Field, Point Cruz, Koli Point and other locations. Calling the operation completely a Navy/Marine operation isn't entirely accurate. That isn't to understate the valor and sacrifice of the Marines, of course.
“While the Guadalcanal campaign saw the vast majority of the heavy lifting done by the Marines, Army troops took part in the battles for Henderson Field, Point Cruz, Koli Point and other locations. Calling the operation completely a Navy/Marine operation isn’t entirely accurate.”
Thanks for pointing that out.
I would simply add that while the Guadalcanal/Solomons campaign was going on, there was a separate CINC for the SW Pacific Theater — Admiral William F. Halsey.
Nimitz had the Central Pacific; MacArthur the South Pacific. Theoretically they were co-equal, but I’m sure that Halsey reported to Nimitz and also had to reconcile his actions with MacArthur’s forces fighting on New Guinea.
Keep in mind that the Marines were a very small part of the Navy in WWII.
Of 248 amphibious landings, 48 were conducted by Marines, 200 by Army. Of the 48 conducted by Marines, 48 had combat photographers along. Of the 200 conducted by the army, 2 had combat photographers along.
The photographic record is misleading at least.
The Marines lost more men in Vietnam than in WWII.
The outstanding contribution of the Marines in WWII was their amphibious landing doctrine.