TheIronDiaries
Airman
- 11
- Oct 23, 2026
October 24th, 1942, Guadalcanal. Just before midnight, about three thousand Japanese soldiers of the Sendai Division came out of the jungle toward Henderson Field. In their path stood sixteen Marines with four heavy machine guns, led by Sergeant John Basilone.
I put together a short documentary on that night. Basilone kept two machine gun sections firing through the attack, carried a ninety pound gun across open ground under fire when one jammed, and fought through to bring up more ammunition when the supply line was cut. When the ammunition ran out he held the line with a pistol and a machete. By dawn only three of the sixteen were still standing, and about twenty six thousand rounds had gone through the guns.
What stayed with me is not just the night itself. Basilone came home a hero, was offered a commission and a safe job selling war bonds, turned both down, and demanded to go back. He was killed on the first day of Iwo Jima, and he is the only enlisted Marine of the war to hold both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
Video here:
View: https://youtu.be/iCYhxHwpJU4
Happy to be corrected on any detail. Sources are in the description.
I put together a short documentary on that night. Basilone kept two machine gun sections firing through the attack, carried a ninety pound gun across open ground under fire when one jammed, and fought through to bring up more ammunition when the supply line was cut. When the ammunition ran out he held the line with a pistol and a machete. By dawn only three of the sixteen were still standing, and about twenty six thousand rounds had gone through the guns.
What stayed with me is not just the night itself. Basilone came home a hero, was offered a commission and a safe job selling war bonds, turned both down, and demanded to go back. He was killed on the first day of Iwo Jima, and he is the only enlisted Marine of the war to hold both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
Video here:
View: https://youtu.be/iCYhxHwpJU4
Happy to be corrected on any detail. Sources are in the description.
