Guadalcanal Marine

By Kerry L. Lane

In Guadalcanal Marine , Kerry L. Lane recounts the dark reality of combat experienced by the men of the 1st Marine Division fighting on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester. With eighty gripping... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578066646
• ISBN13: 9781578066643
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A great personal account & good introduction to the battle for Guadalcanal

Lane managed to get into the Marines at age 16 and was promoted to sergeant in action at 17! Initially with the 5th Marines, he becomes a demolition expert and is a member of the 1st Pioneer Battalion of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. He then serves at Cape Gloucester on New Britain with the 2nd Bn 17th Maries (Engineers) where he wins the Silver Star. He remained with the Marines beyond WW2, serving in both Korea and Vietnam. This book deals only with his WW2 service. Lane grew up on a poor farm and joining the Marines was an eye opening experience for him. He provides some very interesting material on the process and also as WW2 progressed, on the formation of 1st Marine Division and it's honing. He frequently provides informative context, for instance of the number of US ships sunk by U-Boats during this time and how perilous sea journeys were. The war was much closer to the US than is usually appreciated. This extra information continues once the division departs for the Pacific. There was a lot that was new to me. Lane writes considerably on the experiences of 1st Raider and 1st Para Marine in their support actions for Guadalcanal and of the deployments of the division itself. I'd never quite twigged that only the division's 1st and 5th regiments landed in the initial phase and that there were many gaps in the defense. One thing Lane makes clear is that a marine is always a rifleman first (he was personally a top notch shot) and a specialist second. So his `B' company is often in the line and asked to conduct combat patrols. He describes the challenges of patrolling the jungle exceedingly well. It is also on these where he writes of his combat experiences (one nightmare inducing), to the greatest degree. There is also a lot on the general conditions on Guadalcanal and he weaves in well the experiences of the navy and air-force into the story of his battle. Following a wonderful leave in Melbourne he goes to Cape Gloucester where the jungle was even worse. It is here that he wins the Silver Star (and Purple Heart) for driving a bulldozer under heavy fire to open a way for vitally needed tanks. He admits to having trouble remembering aspects of this episode, so it is not as detailed as other events. There were a few other events that I really wanted to know more about his actions (like 2nd Battle of Bloody Ridge) but in what he has revealed, we can see that Lane was a fighter who didn't flinch from killing in battle. Lane's memoir is very interesting. He has chosen well the `big picture' events that he has included to give his own participation appropriate context. He is a brave and exceedingly patriotic man and he is enormously proud to have been a marine. This book is informative on many levels. There are good maps and pictures. I recommend it as a starting point to get a clear picture of how dire those first months on Guadalcanal actually were and the utter heroism of the Marines. Highly Recommended!

HEROS ARE MARINES

Once again I am drawn to a book about the First Marine Division and the Pacific. Lt. Colonel Lane, now retired, takes us through Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester and offers an grunts point of view. He wasn't an officer yet. We get to see the basic training, learning, making friends and the call to war, then the true picture of the horrendous battles from combat Marine's perspective. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book, share it with friends.

A fantastic look backward at a pivotal moment in history

I was interested to know whether the Guadalcanal combat was dominated by shelling and bombing. Lt.Col. Lane, Ret. writes from the perspective of a sergeant in the first wave of marines who landed. He describes deployment of troops, support, leadership, joint operations, and detailed weaponry. He led several missions and described the danger of developing a "bunker" mentality in extreme combat situations. This was a comprehensive look at combat and the Guadalcanal turning point of the Pacific campaign. Lt. Col Lane was awarded a silver star for heroism in the subsequent campaign in New Britain. He does not make any pretenses about his own valor or superiority and always puts his experience in a larger perspective. The manner in which he carried out his duties is truly inspirational.