On May 4, 1942, the 24th Infantry Regiment, with Lee, entered the Pacific War Theater. Initially, the regiment landed on the New Hebrides Islands. Members of this regiment, including Lee, served as stevedores, unloading and loading cargo onto ships in the Pacific. Eventually, they would see action in New Guinea and in Saipan.
On August 28, 1943, the 24th Infantry Regiment was deployed to Guadalcanal and assigned to the XIV Corps. The Guadalcanal Campaign was part of an American attack on the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to weaken the Japanese in the Pacific. Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, was strategically advantageous to the Japanese due to its proximity to Australia. There were 842,000 Japanese troops on the island by the time the American Marines made their assault on the island on August 7, 1942. Ultimately, the US military won the battle, with 14 times as many Japanese as American casualties. At this point, it is likely that the 24th Infantry Regiment along with Jerry was assigned to perimeter defense duty.