In the summer of 1942 an American and a Japanese ace fighter pilot faced off during a dramatic dogfight over Guadalcanal.  Eventually the Japanese pilot shot down the American, who crashed behind enemy lines but escaped before being captured.  Using both pilots' memoirs, and following a forensic expedition to the recently-found American plane, Dogfight Over Guadalcanal examines and recreates every anxious second of this showdown over the Pacific.