Pacific Campaign Commander's Pathfinder

By Charles Wexler

From 1941-1945, World War II encompassed the entire globe. Fighting occurred on the high seas in the Atlantic,
the Pacific, and the Mediterranean. However, the most intense and dramatic battles of the war revolved around tiny
islands in the Pacific Ocean, where men such as Halsey, Spruance and Yamamoto risked entire fleets in battles
determining who would reign supreme. When the dust settled in mid-August of 1945, the US Navy, with fleet
commanders Admirals Halsey and Spruance leading the way, emerged victorious over a shattered and morally
destroyed Japanese Navy with its legendary commander, Admiral Yamamoto, dead for over two years.
The Pacific Campaign made spots such as Pearl Harbor, Midway, the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf
legendary, and its combatants heroes. However, which hero performed the best under pressure, and as a result, which USN
fleet commander deserved a 5th star?

This pathfinder will examine the events of Pearl Harbor, Midway, Philippine Sea, and Leyte Gulf, along with
the actions of the major commanders involved in these fleet actions. By the end of this pathfinder, I will try to illustrate
the importance of these battles in influencing the course of the war.

Beginning advice
For this type of topic, a basic understanding of World War II and the Pacific Campaign is a must. Luckily,
a work exists on the Pacific Campaign that provides a basic, yet detailed understanding of the naval battles of the Pacific
Campaign:

Morison, Admiral Samuel Eliot. The Two-Ocean War. New York: Back Bay Books, 1963.
Morison, a World War II naval veteran serving on surface ships, wrote this condensed, one-volume work on the USN in World War II in the early 1960s. Morison picked the major events highlighted in his 15-volume work, History of the
United States Naval Operations in World War II, and condensed them into a 586 page masterpiece. His work is the last word on the history of the USN during World War II, and is a essential building block for those wishing to research more in-depth about the Pacific Campaign.