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These units flew and fought under the most austere conditions imaginable and defended the island from Japanese air assault, struck at Japanese reinforcement convoys, and performed limited close-air support missions. Crucial to the success of the invasion were the operations of the “Cactus Air Force”-a collection of USMC, USN, and US Army Air Corps squadrons-which flew from Henderson Field (named for Major Henderson). In August 1942, Marines landed on Guadalcanal Island. Success at the Battle of Midway allowed the United States to make its first offensive moves of the war in the Pacific. However, the Marine’s attack disrupted the flow of flight operations aboard the Japanese carriers and helped set the stage for the dramatic sinking of the Japanese carriers at the hands of carrier based U.S. One Dauntless returned to Midway with 259 bullet holes, and Major Henderson was killed during the action. VMSB-241’s efforts came with a very high cost-only 6 of the unit’s 19 SBD-2s survived (along with only 5 SB2U Vindicators). Nevertheless, the unit’s commanding officer, Maj Lofton Henderson, led a group of SBD-2s against the Japanese fleet. The unit had recently taken delivery of its new SBD-2s and some of its pilots had less than 10 hours of flight time in the type. During the battle Marine Scout/Bomber Squadron (VMSB) 241, equipped with a mixture of older Vought SB2U and new Douglas SBD-2s, made a valiant attack against the Japanese forces heading to Midway. This action is widely seen as the "turning point" of World War II in the Pacific. In a few hours, US Navy SBD squadrons sank four Japanese aircraft carriers supporting an invasion fleet heading for the small American outpost of Midway. The SBD found fame during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Though production of the Dauntless stopped in 1944 with roughly 5,400 manufactured, the SBD was one of only a few US naval aircraft to see action from the first day to the last day of WWII, and it served with the USMC through the entirety of the conflict. Lovingly referred to as the "Slow, But Deadly" by the Marines who flew and maintained it, the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber was the Marine Corps' most advanced bomber at the outset of World War II.