Why U.S. Marines Let Japanese Troops Get “Too Close” — And Killed 800 in One Night

Untold War Archives

In August 1942 at Guadalcanal's Tenaru River, U.S. Marines defied instinct by refusing to pursue attacking Japanese forces and instead let Colonel Ichiki's 900-man detachment charge directly into their carefully prepared positions. The Marines held their fire until the enemy funneled onto a sandbar