I am currently writing a story in which my protagonist is a mafia associate. On December 7th, 1941 he is captured by police in Connecticut in the early morning. While in the police station, President Roosevelt comes on the radio and delivers the Infamy Speech. My protagonist is given pardon in exchange for joining the United States Marine Corps. Here's where I need help. If he joins the Marines at the point in time and in that location, where does he go? Where is he sent for training? What ships would he likely be deployed on and to what islands in the pacific would he have been able to go. My big thing is I don't want to have any historical inaccuracies or anachronic events.
I would recommend two books by Robert Leckie. The first is Strong Men Armed, his history of the USMC in the Pacific during WWII. It would give you all of the detail of the training and battles during the war, as well as the specifics regarding equipment and ships. The second book is his memoir, Helmet for My Pillow. In it, he gives a vivid account of his training, his own service in the early campaigns of the war, and being wounded. It is an intimate view of the war, and it really humanizes the war.
A Connecticut guy would wind up at Paris Island, you can pull the name of a liberty boat out of your butt just name it after a medium sized city, his first campaign would likely be Guadalcanal. Mention sand fleas.