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Fighting World War II in the Pacific: Company G, 182nd Infantry

  • Tracked amphibious landing vehicles (LVT) make their way ashore. In the distance, Talisay Beach is masked in thick smoke. The larger craft at center is an LCI, the type of ship Company G landed in. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-259254.
  • The blue and white insignia of the Americal Division, designed in 1942 on New Caledonia. The stars represent the constellation the Southern Cross, seen in the night sky of the southern hemisphere. Source: Dave Taylor.
  • In this undated photo from the Ecco Stores newsletter where he had worked before the war, Ed Monahan, wearing what appears to be a Japanese uniform hat, remarks "Sometimes I like this life, but today it's not so easy." Source: Edward Monahan Collection.
  • Jack Morton crouches here with a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). Behind him can be seen a primitive lean-to dugout. Source: Edward Gekosky Collection.
  • Ed Gekosky joined Company G as a replacement on Fiji in 1943. Source: Edward Gekosky Collection.
  • Men of Company G hold a skull, smoking a cigarette. (L-R: Robert Egler, unknown, Arnold West, Richard Roy, unknown, Inky Simmons, unknown standing, ? Doherty, and Jack Morton) Source: Edward Gekosky Collection.
  • Penetration of Japanese attack (in red) on the summit of the South Knob of Hill 260 on the morning of 10 March 1944. Source: National Archives.
  • Men of the 2nd Battalion of the 182nd advance with tanks from the Americal's 716th Tank Battalion, in the vicinity of Lahug Airfield on 28 March 1945. Source: National Archives.

Follow the exploits of a rifle company of the United States Army through four years in the Pacific during World War II. From their origins in the National Guard, the men of Company G, 182nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, were transformed into an efficient, island-hopping jungle combat team, veterans of four bloody Pacific campaigns and the occupation of Japan. Their story is as much about the ordinary details of daily life in the military, as it is about combat valor and tragic death. Years of painstaking research have brought their story to light again. The tale is told through personal photographs, letters, and artifacts from the men of the unit, as well as declassified reports, maps, and photographs from the National Archives. Ultimately, it is the story of a group of ordinary American men who served overseas on the front lines of combat in the most brutal war the world has ever known. Learn about the soldiers of the company, and the battles they fought in.