November, 1942: Japanese and American forces had been fighting for control of Guadalcanal. Amid a seeming stalemate, a group of U.S. Navy carrier airmen helped form the Cactus Air Force, a motley assemblage of Marine, Air Force, and carrier-less Navy airmen tasked with holding the line. Under constant assault by the Japanese, pilots and gunners rarely lasted more than a few weeks. Yet when the Japanese attempted to take the island once and for all, these men miraculously turned back a warship armada, fighter planes, and a convoy of troops.