Guadalcanal Diary

Guadalcanal Diary is a memoir written by war correspondent Richard Tregaskis and originally published by Random House on January 1, 1943. The book recounts the author's time with the United States Marine Corps on Guadalcanal in the early stages of the pivotal months-long battle there starting in 1942. It was the first book published by Random House to sell more than 100,000 copies. Almost immediately after publication, the memoir was made into a movie of the same name featuring William Bendix, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, and John Archer, marking the movie debut of Richard Jaeckel. Synopsis The book chronicles the author's experiences as a war correspondent for the International News Service (INS) during the first seven weeks of the Guadalcanal campaign, from the first landings on August 7, 1942 to his departure on September 26, 1942. Tregaskis was also around for Operation Dovetail, a practice run for the Guadalcanal landings, but while he was on board one of the troop transports involved, his book does not cover the operation or him being at Koro Island, where the operation took place. Tregaskis relates combat and conversation in vernacular, citing the full name, rank, and hometown of each of the Marines he encountered during the weeks he was on the island.