Operation Watchtower was the codename for the Battle of Guadalcanal, which was the first major offensive by Allied forces against Japan. It would mean the beginning of the end for Japan, despite the country’s “Fight to the Death” mantra. The U.S Marines led the Allied attack on Guadalcanal, starting with Henderson Field. Let by Lt. Col. Chesty Puller, the marines fought a bloody battle for the air field losing only 70 men, while the Japanese suffered over 1,400 casualties. In the latter half of the campaign marines took Tarawa on the Gilbert Islands in four days of intense fighting, as the Japanese fought until almost the very last man, and then Iwo Jima, in which the U.S Marines suffered heavy casualties over the five weeks of fighting. But in the end, the Allies were victorious and Japan’s mainland was in sight.