Showing posts with label Battle of Guadalcanal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battle of Guadalcanal. Show all posts

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Pride of the Marines -- November 11, 2017

www.listal.com
Happy Veterans Day, everyone.  Pride of the Marines told the true story of veteran Al Schmid, who was played by John Garfield.  Schmid was a cocky steelworker who resisted the idea of getting married until he met Ruth, played by Eleanor Parker.  Al volunteered for the Marine Corps.  At the Battle of the Tenaru, part of the larger Battle of Guadalcanal, Al and his friends Lee and Johnny, played by Dane Clark and Anthony Caruso, were a machine gun crew.  When the Japanese attacked, Johnny was killed, but Al and Lee kept fighting.  Al was blinded by a Japanese grenade, but kept shooting while Lee told him where to shoot.  Al returns to the States still blind.  He goes through rehabilitation and learns how to live with his blindness, but he doesn't want Ruth to know.  He tries to break up with her, but she won't cooperate.  She helps him realize that he should not be bitter, and should get on with his life.  Great movie. 


Monday, August 7, 2017

Battle of Guadalcanal -- August 7, 2017

www.listal.com
Seventy-five years ago today, on 07-August-1942, American Marines landed on Guadalcanal, an  island in the Solomons.  Japanese naval troops had occupied the island to block communications between the United States and Australia.  The Marines quickly captured an airfield which the Japanese had been building.  The fight for the island lasted six months in miserable conditions.

The movie Guadalcanal Diary was made and released the next year.