Using diaries, interviews, and firsthand accounts, this vivid narrative brings out the struggle waged in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942. The Battle of Guadalcanal was the first offensive operation undertaken by the US and their allies in the Pacific War. The three months of aerial combat during this period were perhaps the most significant of the Pacific War. “Cactus,” the island's code name, became a gathering point for Japanese naval and air power, as they suffered losses that could not be reversed. For 40 years, the late Eric Hammel resurrected more than 150 American participants in the Guadalcanal air campaign, who are no longer alive. These interviews are the most comprehensive first-person testimonies of the battle gathered by any historian. More importantly, they included the youngest officers and public servants whose stories and memories were not included in the official history, thus offering a unique perspective. In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to expand his collection with diaries, interviews, and firsthand accounts, creating a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.