18. Sergeant Paige Heads to Guadalcanal
1940 saw Mitchell Paige back in the US, where he served in the Navy Yards at Brooklyn and Philadelphia. He then joined the 5th Marine Regiment, and took part in training exercises and maneuvers in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Paige was transferred back to the US in 1941, as part of the initial cadre that set up a new training base for the Marines at Camp Lejune, North Carolina.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor later that December thrust America into WWII, Paige was returned to overseas duty, this time with the 7th Marine Regiment. By 1942, Paige had been promoted to sergeant, in charge of his own platoon. In September of that year, he and his unit headed for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. There, within a few weeks of arrival, USMC Sergeant Mitchell Paige would earn his place in history.