U.S. deployed its military personnel to the Solomon Islands amid World War II to prevent the Japanese Imperial Navy from creating a defensive opposition and disrupting supply routes to Australia. Thus began the Guadalcanal Campaign. For six months U.S. forces and its allies fought to hold the island of Guadalcanal from the Empire of Japan, unknowingly paving the way for the careers and lives of modern-day service members serving in the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
82 years later to the day, DPAA personnel, have returned to Guadalcanal to resume the search for those service members who never returned home.
“It’s insane to think that 82 years ago, my predecessors were landing on the beach here and starting the Guadalcanal Campaign,” said U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Aaron McCarthy, DPAA explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician. “Having the opportunity to come here feel like I’m able to pay homage to the men that died here. I like to think that if they were looking down here, they would see that my opportunity to be here and the pride I have with my service is what they fought for.”
DPAA is an organization of military and civilian personnel that fulfills the nation’s obligation to ensure the fullest possible accounting of its missing personnel to their families and the nation. Teams consisting of anthropologists, EOD technicians, independent duty medical technicians, public affairs specialists and more, are deployed worldwide to locations of past conflicts to investigate, excavate and recover U.S. personnel losses.
“I think this is one of the most admirable missions that [the military] has out there,” said U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Caleb Jones, DPAA team sergeant and EOD technician. “It says a lot about America; how we devote our time and resources to recovering those that fought for our country.”
The Guadalcanal presents a terrain of mountains and dormant volcanoes reaching heights over 7,000 feet high, as well as steep ravines and a coastline with no natural harbors. At the start of the campaign, the south shores were protected by miles of coral reefs, only the north central coast presented suitable invasion beaches. There the Japanese forces had landed in July 1942 and from there, the Americans would follow. Once ashore, personnel were welcomed by a hot, humid climate supporting malaria and dengue-carrying mosquitoes, and posed a continuous threat of fungal infections and various fevers to the unacclimated.
“This was a strategic point in the WWII campaign,” said Jones. “Surveying these battle fields where our guys fought 82 years ago helps imagine what it must have been like for them to battle in a brutal place. Knowing that these people are still out there, missing; it’s been moving.”
To date, there are approximately 72,000 U.S. personnel unaccounted for worldwide from WWII. Of those, 374 are unaccounted for within the island of Guadalcanal. Annually, on August 7, the Solomon Islands host a wreath laying ceremony at the Guadalcanal American Memorial to honor those who fought, the losses endured, and to strengthen their relationship with the U.S. and other Pacific allies and partners. Veterans and the families of the fallen and missing travel from around the globe to attend and pay tribute.
“This is the only job in the military that you can actively impact previous generations,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jackson Smith, DPAA recovery team leader. “The mentality of being a leader within the military is focused on developing the next generations and raising the incoming service members. This assignment allows us to not only see where our forefathers fought, but to meet those that have survived and developed the services into what they are today. We get to impact them or their decedents in return by bringing their loved ones home.”
