Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal

• A unique perspective on the cost of war, both on the battlefield and at home 
• Examines a little-known yet emotionally charged facet of one of history’s great battles 
• Previously unpublished portraits and records bring long-dead heroes to life 
• Details ongoing efforts to find and identify servicemen of all branches in a race against time 

Nearly 400 U. S. Marines who fell in the Guadalcanal campaign have yet to be accounted for. They were the victims of pitched battles and lonely patrols, enemy ambushes and friendly fire, hard fighting and poor planning. Some were buried in makeshift military cemeteries or isolated graves, and others simply vanished. Their remains eluded search parties and confounded expert anthropologists.

They were reported as ‘missing’ or ‘not recovered’ or ‘presumed dead’, and their families left to wonder at their ultimate fate. An administrative decision closed the book on their lives. Now, seventy years later, researchers are writing the next chapter using archival sources, veterans’ accounts, family lore and battlefield archaeology.

Leaving Mac Behind examines the lives, last moments and legacies of some of these Guadalcanal Marines – and the history and future of the mission to bring them home.