Before The Americal (Part Two): Task Force 6814 and Saving the British and French Empires in the Asia-Pacific, 1940–1942

Contributing Editor’s Note: Before the Americal in Vietnam was the historic formation of the Americal on New Caledonia after it arrived as Task Force 6814. But what were the conditions that shaped the Task Force to come to that part of the world which sealed the legacy of the Americal as a jungle-fighting infantry division? This article gives you the unique background to what was to become “The Americal Story.