The Japanese positions at the foot of Guadalcanal Island were attacked by U.S. artillery fire. The bodies of Japanese soldiers killed in action were scattered around the Japanese positions. The Japanese response was slowed by the reinforcement of the Allied forces, resulting in increased losses.

　The Japanese positions at the foot of Guadalcanal Island were attacked by U.S. artillery fire. The bodies of Japanese soldiers killed in action were scattered around the Japanese positions. The Japanese response was slowed by the Allied buildup and losses mounted, and on August 7, 1942, U.S. forces made the first amphibious landing on Guadalcanal Island in World War II. Occupying Henderson Airfield, the Americans stopped the Japanese from cutting off supply routes, and after seven major naval battles, numerous clashes on land, and constant dogfights, the Americans occupied Guadalcanal Island on February 7, 1943, after six months of fighting.

　U.S. forces first landed on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands on the morning of August 7, 1942. U.S. Marines swept through Tulagi and Florida by August 9. On their way inland to secure airfields, they met no resistance from the Japanese. Shortly thereafter, Japanese naval aircraft attacked transports and convoys, and Japanese reinforcements arrived. The battle for control of Guadalcanal and its vital airfields and sea control lasted several months, with losses of men, ships, and aircraft on both sides.

　The battle for Guadalcanal was accompanied by difficult jungle terrain, bad weather, lack of infrastructure, starvation, and tropical diseases. Japanese soldiers fighting to the death were the first American troops to experience this in the Pacific theater of war. Japanese forces were assembled for a general offensive that began in October 1942. A furious Japanese offensive broke out against the U.S. forces, who had reinforced their defenses at Henderson Airfield. The Japanese began their attack on October 23, 1942, attacking several positions around the airfield over a four-day period. American losses were heavy, and Japanese losses were catastrophic.

　As fighting continued on Gadarkanal Island, the Japanese withdrew the last of their forces and surrendered Ganarkanal Island to the Allied forces on February 7, 1943. The Solomon Islands campaign cost the Allies approximately 7,100 men, 29 ships, and 615 aircraft. The Japanese lost 31,000 men, 38 ships, and 683 aircraft. Over the next two and a half years, the Americans gained more and more advantage as they took more and more Pacific islands from the Japanese. Each time the U.S. forces clashed with the Japanese death squads, they were forced to fight long and hard, and eventually the Japanese soldiers were crushed and defeated in the Pacific islands.