Re-thinking Guadalcanal...The Navy got raped by the Japanese...

This demands a wider audience. pic.twitter.com/D0KOqQ52oa

— Simon Harley (@simonharley) November 2, 2022

This one is a kick in the nuts to Marine Corps lore.

The lore is that the Navy abandoned the Marine Corps on the island.  In a sense that is true.  But the reason why is left unsaid for reasons of propaganda, national pride and during the time - wartime censorship.

The US Navy got its shit pushed in by the Japanese Navy.

The Navy didn't abandon the Marines.

The Navy was trying to preserve what was left of its fleet.

The lore is the lore and its fully engrained now, but the REAL lesson needs to be applied to future warfare.

Forces forward...whether Marines in the Pacific or Army outposts in the Middle East/Africa face a real danger of being cutoff and destroyed.

The Romans tried putting forts on its frontier to keep the tribals under control.

It didn't work then and it appears that it won't work now.  Forward presence is a only credible IF we have forces ready to surge forward in enough time to make a difference.

I'm not sure we have that ability anywhere anymore.