The medal created by Marines when ‘s— hit the fan’ on Guadalcanal
Almost no Marine of the U.S. 1st Marine Division stationed on Guadalcanal — an island 90 miles long and 25 miles wide in the Solomons Archipelago of the South Pacific Ocean — had experienced combat before stepping onto the island. The struggle, which had settled into a repetitive daily pattern since Aug. 10, 1942, had…
