In the desperate battle for Guadalcanal, every American soldier had to walk a thin red line between life and death. On August 7, 1942, American Marines waded into the Pacific island called Gaudalcanal.

They encountered jungles, alligators, insidious malaris, and a particularly deadly adversary in the Japanese soldier. Only weeks after their defeat at Midwas, the Japanese were Gutsy, vicious, and prepared to give their own lives to take out just one American. There was no surrender.

Captured by combat photographers, here is thw real story of one of America's fiercest battles in the Pacific theater. Men, ships, carriers, and planes turned a certain defear into an excruciating yet decisive American victory. Taken in the air, at sea and on land, these are rarely seen photographs from the Battle of Guadalcanal.On August 7, 1942, American Marines waded onto a pacific island called Guadalcanal. They encountered jungles, alligators, insidious malaria, and a particularly deadly adversary in the Japanese soldier. Only weeks after their defeat at Midway, the Japanese were gutsy, vicious, and prepared to give their own lives to take out just one American. There was no surrender.

Witness firsthand the six months of hell that was Guadalcanal with the original combat photography of This is Guadalcanal -- the epic battle that was the inspiration for The Thin Red Line, the major motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox by writer-director Terrence Malick. Captured by combat photographers, here is the real story of men, ships, carriers and planes that resulted in the decisive American victory that turned the tide of war in the South Pacific in 1942.