 and served in the Solomon Islands during World War II. Came a battlefield. Today as we have been every day since the former combatants are united here as partners in peace around the world. International order that is in the Indo-Pacific and around the world for generations can be ignored including by opening embassies in Tonga, Kiribati, and right here in We're truly honored to be here because as I stated 80 years ago it changed the Marine Corps history. It changed the history of the Solomon Islands and it changed the history of our nation. Now I stand before you as a Marine but this was a joint battle. A joint battle with all the services and various nations fighting together and today representing that very as Lieutenant General George Smith from First Marine Exhibition Force and the current First Marine Division CG the blue diamond Ben Watson has returned to this sacred ground. I'm afraid about what our predecessors think about us. We're worried about when they look down what would they think and Ms. Secretary I think with his time in combat operations here and all the work he did for world peace when he returned first he would be proud of his daughter and he would be proud of the United States Marine Corps and the Joint Force and certainly he would be very happy to see the success of Solomon Islands and wish the utmost best for this great great country. Ladies and gentlemen Semper Fidelis and peoples of the United States and the Australian High Commissioner His Excellency Lachlan Straughn on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. We're flying from its yard on the United States Marine Corps service flight. I like when Rose actions occurred relatively early in the US campaign in the Pacific and as we all know fighting would rage around the world for three more years. The world has changed much in the past 80 years and it will continue to change but some things remain the same. Straughn durable alliances and partnerships between longtime friends are the glue that hold us together and keep a peaceful free and rules-based world. The government and peoples of the United States. A little more than six weeks since landing on Guadalcanal at the first Raider Battalion of the US Marine Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Merritt A. Edson fought off a determined effort by Imperial Japanese forces to retake the airstrip the Marines had dubbed Henderson Field for months after the fight here on Bloody Ridge in the air overhead in the surrounding seas and of course throughout the jungles beaches and villages of the island of Guadalcanal. What so many history books overlook however is the critical role that Solomon Islanders played in the making that history possible. It was thanks to Solomon Island's scouts and post-watchers that Lieutenant Colonel Edson and his forces were alerted that enemy soldiers were massing some 20 miles away from this spot near the village of Tasamboco. A raid that revealed an attack was being planned to attempt to recapture Henderson Field. It was thanks to Solomon Islanders then that the Marines were able to assemble their defense of Henderson Field and to prepare for the assault on Bloody Ridge.