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The memorial is a series of marble walls that have been engraved with a short and what seems a accurate history of the Battle for Guadalcanal. You will also notice that the grounds are in perfect condition. The local village has been given some "ownership" in the property and they take care of it, guard it and keep it trimmed and looking good for a small yearly fee.

I guess I must enter something in the message body so hello!

View from Memorial and map. Just below is Point Cruz left center and the mouth to the Matanikau River right center where numerious actions happened. Including the disaster of the Goettge Patrol and the landing and withdrawal of Puller's 1st Battalion 7th Marines(more on Puller's 1st later)

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wall closeup

So many, many, many dead...[:(]

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Under this star some fragments of the remains of a unknown United States soldier found during the building of the Memorial. Most of the remains were returned to the US but some small fragments were left behind and now rest here.

The inscription says it all!

My uncle, who was on Adm. Burke's flagship USS Charles Ausburne, made a similar trip a few years ago. He said the people there showed a great deal of gratitude. Unfortunately, he got sick during the trip and had to leave...

WoW, Thank you again for sharing these pictures, truly amasing.

Many more photos to be posted over the next couple of days. We have now finished day one (wednesday where we spent 2/3rds out on Iron Bottom Sound and a couple of hours going up to the American Memorial. Thursday and Friday morning coming soon.

Now off to out-flank and cut the evil grass as I vainly try to prevent its relentless march to my front door.

Flamethrower?

Long time lurker.. first time post.

I'm glued to these pictures! More!

Perhaps this thread should be stickied?

I've said this before but I'll have to say it again. When you see pics like these in color you really realize that there were real people fighting there. Lot different than seeing B&W pictures in books and the History Channel. You just have to say "Wow"

One last shot from the American Memorial. Looking North NE, shows the Matanikau River, a key to the defense of Henderson Field. Many battles within a mile or less of this pic. Edge of Hill 67 at right side of photo. During Sept 25/26, Puller's 1st Battalion 7th Marines would of been moving North(away from me) along the road(not there then) on far side of river during a failed action designed to clear the Japanese out of the Matanikau area.

More on this later as elements of Puller's battalion would load up and make a landing just West of Pt Cruz in an effort to out flank Japanese forces defending this side of the river near the mouth. Puller's boys would get themselves in big trouble!

These photos are almost creepy - I always thought the Matanikau was much bigger. This really shows how compressed the battlefield is, and I'm getting a new sense of how desperate the fighting must have been. Reading it in a book just doesn't do it justice... Please keep posting!

Thursday starts with a visit to the Japanese Memorial at the Eastern edge of Mount Austen. Unlike the American Memorial, there is no local 'ownership' and thus the Japanese Memorial is not well taken care of and has been defaced slightly.