Also on the obverse is a Saguaro cactus, indigenous to Arizona, not Guadalcanal, but representing the code name for the island, “Cactus.” The obverse inscription is _Facia Georgius_, “Let George Do It.” Thus it became known as the George Medal.
The medal’s reverse pictures a cow (the original design showed a Japanese soldier with breeches down) and an electric fan, and is inscribed: “In fond remembrance of the happy days spent from Aug. 7th 1942 to Jan. 5th 1943. U.S.M.C.”
The suspension ribbon was made, appropriately, of the pale green herringbone twill from some Marine’s utility uniform. Legend has it that to be authentic the utilities from which the ribbons were made had to have been washed in the waters of Guadalcanal’s Lunga River. Some medals were provided with the oversized safety pin used to identify laundry bags in Navy shipboard laundries.
Such unofficial commemorative mementoes are not uncommon in military circles and recall, among others, the Soochow Creek medals recognizing the defense of Shanghai’s International Settlement during the Japanese invasions of 1932 and 1937 which were inspired by the Military Order of the Dragon medals of veterans of the China Relief Expedition or Boxer Rebellion.--_Brooke Nihart_
The basic source work for this booklet is the first volume in the series _History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal_, written by LtCol Frank O. Hough, Maj Verle E. Ludwig, and Henry I. Shaw, Jr. (Washington: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1958). Other books used in writing this narrative were: BGen Samuel B. Griffith II, _The Battle for Guadalcanal_ (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1963); Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift as told to Robert B. Asprey, _Once a Marine: The Memoirs of General A. A. Vandegrift, USMC_ (New York: W. W. Norton, 1964); Col Mitchell Paige, _A Marine Named Mitch_ (New York: Vantage Press, 1975); Burke Davis, _Marine: The Life of Chesty Puller_ (Boston: Little, Brown, 1962); George McMillan, _The Old Breed: A History of the 1st Marine Division in World War II_ (Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1949); and Richard W. Johnston, _Follow Me!: The Story of the Second Marine Division in World War II_ (New York: Random House, 1948).