Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation - Hardcoverby John R. Bruning (Author) The pivotal true story of the first fifty three days of the standoff between Imperial Japanese and a handful of Marine aviators defending the Americans dug in at Guadalcanal, from the New York Times bestselling author of Indestructible and Race of Aces. On August 20, 1942, twelve Marine dive bombers and nineteen Marine fighters landed at Guadalcanal. Their mission: defeat the Japanese navy and prevent it from sending more