Dedication stone - Central Pacific military campaign. The Central Pacific Campaign opened abruptly on 7 December 1941, when carrier-based planes of the Japanese imperial Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Most of the Central Pacific Campaign took place in Micronesia, an area of the globe larger than the continental United States, where a multitude of islands lie scattered about a vast expanse of ocean. The campaign was mainly defensive, although the Battle of Midway and Operation GALVANIC were notable offensive operations. The former finally brought the Japanese offensive to a halt, and the latter marked the opening of the American drive across the Pacific that would eventually end the war.