Do-Or-Die Men
The 1st Marine Raider Battalion at Guadalcanal
Excerpt
Chapter One: Background
When Adm. Chester W. Nimitz assumed command of the Pacific Fleet on December 31, 1941, a little more than three weeks after the disaster at Pearl Harbor, his orders from his boss, Adm. Ernest J. King, were to cover and hold the Hawaii-Midway line, maintain communications with the West Coast and try to protect the sea lanes to Australia.
There was no talk of any offensive action. That probably wouldn't happen until at least January of 1943, Nimitz was told.
America's first offensive priority would be directed at stopping Germany. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had reached an agreement with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the defeat of Adolf Hitler's regime was paramount to democracy's survival. Having overrun much of Europe, the Germans seemed poised to overwhelm England and Russia and move into the oil-rich Middle East. America had decided that every ship, every bomb, every ounce of war material and every unit not urgently needed elsewhere would go toward bolstering the Soviet armies and to build up Allied forces in Britain for ... read full excerpt from: The Do-Or-Die Men: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion at Guadalcanal ebook
