For more than fifty years, historians and social scientists have been questioning whether or not the United States was already "at war" prior to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because of the conflict that already existed regarding Japan's expansionist practices, the United States may or may have not needed to have its hand forced in the official designation of war in the Pacific. As the Japanese Empire had grown, so had its control over its territories. For example, in the early 1930s, Japan invaded Manchuria, a clear sign that the Japanese did not intend to lessen their efforts to gain control throughout Asia. The Japanese, who had blocked a number of Russian incursions into Manchuria, were moving in to gain control of the region's plentiful coal and iron, which Japan sorely lacked. In 1937, Japanese and Chinese forces fought near Beijing resulting in Japan's occupation of northern China. The United States ostensibly "disapproved" of such actions but refused to take any direct action in stopping it. Whether or not these conflicts began inadvertently or whether they were planned is unknown. Nevertheless, they led to a full-scale war known as the second Sino-Japanese

Regardless of such statements of the heroic nature of the battle, the fact remains that Guadalcanal serves as an example of the ways in which the Japanese determination to serve as the fundamental rulers of the various nations, regions, and islands throughout Asia was destined to fail. The same plagues (such as "jungle rot"), illnesses, lack of nutritional and medicinal supplies besieged Japanese troops as much as any others. It appeared that the tide of the war was turning drastically although it had not yet become fully or decisively turned against the Japanese. Nonetheless, the original goals and objectives of the Japanese in their attempt to master the fate of their neighboring countries were beginning to lose momentum and strength. The victory at Guadalcanal marked a crucial turning point in the Pacific War. No longer were the Japanese on the offensive. Some of the Japanese military's best infantrymen, pilots, and seamen had been beaten in hand-to-hand combat by the Americans and the Allies. Of course, history shows that there were still years of fierce fighting ahead, but there was now no question of its outcome.

Clancey, Patrick. "The marine campaign for Guadalcanal," Marine Corps Historical

That same veteran also described Guadalcanal as "a high stakes poker game." Japan had made an initial wager by appropriating the island and constructing an airstrip. The Americans "called and raised the bet" when they seized it. "The pot grew steadily as the two sides battled on land, on sea, and in the air to put more troops ashore to inflict heavy casualties on each other" (Stevenson 52). "While the Japanese regrouped, we waited. Tension from the endless vigil and dysentery from the meager diet were becoming endemic. Each dusk brought clouds of malarial mosquitoes . . . Morale was at its lowest" (Stevenson 52).

The engagement between the Japanese and the Americans in the Philippines was the terrifying sea combat that nearly prevented General Douglas MacArthur from fulfilling his famous promise of "I shall return." A decoy fleet under the command of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa lured Admiral William Halsey's task force away from the focus of battle, leaving unprotected the troops covering MacArthur's beachhead. The Japanese couldn't capitalize on this opportunity, however, partly because the beachhead ships put up an outstanding fight. And yet, the battle was also a painful series of mistakes and miscalculations on both sides of the engagement. For example, the Japanese strategists effectively destroyed the meticulous timing of the Japanese attack, just as American strategists sent the Americans into a duel of ship against ship with ammunition designed for battle between ship and shore.

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Approximate Word count = 3600
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)