Henderson Field Secured
August 9, 1942, in Marine Corps history.
On August 9, 1942, the 1st Engineer Battalion began work on an airstrip taken from Japanese forces on the island of Guadalcanal.
The work was done with captured Japanese equipment and three days later, on August 12, the first American airplane, a Navy PBY, landed on what by then was known as "Henderson Field" to evacuate two wounded Marines.
Over the next few months, as U.S. Marines fought to take control of the island, Henderson Field would be the staging area for the evacuation of almost 3,000 wounded Marines.
*Image info: Aerial view of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, April 11, 1943.
(U.S. Navy photo/released).
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