“We All Won That Fight”: U.S. Empire and Military Labor in the Battle of Guadalcanal

On August 7, 1942, Allied forces began their first offensive action against Japan on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Over the next few years, thousands of Solomon Islanders assisted Allied soldiers as construction workers, local scouts, and messengers. Based on oral histories and soldiers’ memoirs, this article argues that these islander war workers not only played a crucial role in the ultimate Allied success in the Pacific war but were also part of a longer history of foreigners in the service of the U.S. empire. In fact, recruiting and managing non-combat workers of color became an important source of U.S. military and imperial power during World War II. Despite pervasive racism and demeaning work conditions, Solomon Islanders managed to create new opportunities both for themselves and for their home societies.