No Bended Knee

by Merrill B. Twining

It is one of the most difficult campaigns in the history of the Marine Corps, indeed in the history of war. Many books have chronicled the epic battle for Guadalcanal, yet all of them depended on the after-action report compiled by Merrill B. Twining. Here General Twining reveals that he put this report together in Australia while he was suffering from malaria. He also lacked the 1st Marine Division operations log, which had been destroyed at a critical point in the battle to prevent its falling into Japanese hands. Because of these handicaps, the after-action report contained a number of shortcomings that have been repeated in all subsequent histories of Guadalcanal. . Now, General Twining sets the record straight. As the division D-3 (operations officer), he was at the very center of the 1st Marine Division's valiant defense of Guadalcanal. He reports at first hand the momentous effects of Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher's decision to pull the navy away from the beleaguered island and